Tour of India
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Scotty
David Codey (61)
It is no surprise we are extremely vulnerable to collapses:
1 Warner - has the talent but his technique means he is likely to continue to be hit and miss
2 Cowan - has neither the talent or technique and is not a test batsman IMO
3 Hughes - has the talent and most of the technique but should be opening
4 Watson - has the technique but not the talent to be a top order test batsman. He should only be in the side when he can bowl - and bat 6 or 7
5 Clarke - ha it all but should bat 3
6 Wade - getting better and better but should really be at 7.
We have an extremely weak top order and basically rely on Clarke plus lower order contributions to get decent scores.
I would change the batting to:
1 Warner
2 Hughes
3 Clarke
4 Khawaja
5 Voges
6 Watson
7 Wade
1 Warner - has the talent but his technique means he is likely to continue to be hit and miss
2 Cowan - has neither the talent or technique and is not a test batsman IMO
3 Hughes - has the talent and most of the technique but should be opening
4 Watson - has the technique but not the talent to be a top order test batsman. He should only be in the side when he can bowl - and bat 6 or 7
5 Clarke - ha it all but should bat 3
6 Wade - getting better and better but should really be at 7.
We have an extremely weak top order and basically rely on Clarke plus lower order contributions to get decent scores.
I would change the batting to:
1 Warner
2 Hughes
3 Clarke
4 Khawaja
5 Voges
6 Watson
7 Wade
Torn Hammy
Johnnie Wallace (23)
These guys are very young and deserve more time.
I would keep the same batting line up except I would replace Watson with Khawaja. To me, Watson looks unfit. His gait, flexibility and lateral movement remind me of a 50 year old ex rugby league player. He has played too often with injuries and his time has passsed.
I would keep the same batting line up except I would replace Watson with Khawaja. To me, Watson looks unfit. His gait, flexibility and lateral movement remind me of a 50 year old ex rugby league player. He has played too often with injuries and his time has passsed.
Scotty
David Codey (61)
I think it is pretty obvious that Cowan, while a tryer, is in over is head. Now that we have 4 openers (if you count Watson, which I personally don't), there is no point in having Cowan in the team. Pick a lower order form player such as Voges, Rogers or even Haddin.
But that is entirely the point- who is in form? Nobody. No batsman has been consistently scoring runs in the Shield. Rogers is well past it, as is David Hussey. Guys like Forrest, Doolan, Voges, Marsh and White have been erratic at best.
Khawaja would appear to be next in line but he failed in both tour matches in India.
There is just no-one better than our current bats at the moment IMO.
.
I don't mind Cowan. As an opener his value is not just his test average. It is also his ability occupy the crease.
Warner needs a higher average to provide the same value as Cowan for example because he scores much faster.
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Warner needs a higher average to provide the same value as Cowan for example because he scores much faster.
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Scotty
David Codey (61)
I have heard this theory before, but I don't subscribe to it. That is cricket pre-90s style.
Give me the bloke that scores more every day of the week over the bloke that has a limited attacking game and just 'occupies' the crease.
Sandpit Fan
Nev Cottrell (35)
Well that was pretty ordinary. This article seems to sum up the situation pretty well, in my opinion.
Nailed it from the start:
Nailed it from the start:
mark_s
Chilla Wilson (44)
What a debacle. India is tough at the best of times but its hard to believe we couldn't offer more resistance than what was shown this test. Has a team ever declared their first innings before and then lost by an innings?
Don't get me wrong, I don't think we have the players to beat India at home. The underlying problem is that our team's strength right now requires pitches suited to fast bowling - we have four openers in positions 1 to 4 and our best 5 or 6 bowlers are all quicks. The cupboard is pretty much bare otherwise. The challenge now is to minimise the damage for the rest of the Indian tour so that we aren't a complete rabble when we turn up to England.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think we have the players to beat India at home. The underlying problem is that our team's strength right now requires pitches suited to fast bowling - we have four openers in positions 1 to 4 and our best 5 or 6 bowlers are all quicks. The cupboard is pretty much bare otherwise. The challenge now is to minimise the damage for the rest of the Indian tour so that we aren't a complete rabble when we turn up to England.
No4918
John Hipwell (52)
It would be tough to drop any batsmen given there form on this tour alone when all bar Clarke have been rubbish. Going back to the past series, Cowan is probably the one that has been down the longest and Watsons value must be questioned if he is not bowling. As an allrounder he is well ahead of the rest, as a batsmen he is run of the mill. The obsession with allrounders is just not paying off with Maxwell and Henriques being average state players at best. Khwaja is a class act and can play spin so is worth giving a chance.
Really don't know what i'd do for the next test, no good options really. Johnson is worth a try, don't see Siddle getting any assistance from these pitches.
Cowan
Hughes
Clarke
Khwaja
Watson (must bowl)
Warner
Wade
Maxwell (toss a coin to decide between he & Doherty)
Johnson
Pattinson
Lyon
Really don't know what i'd do for the next test, no good options really. Johnson is worth a try, don't see Siddle getting any assistance from these pitches.
Cowan
Hughes
Clarke
Khwaja
Watson (must bowl)
Warner
Wade
Maxwell (toss a coin to decide between he & Doherty)
Johnson
Pattinson
Lyon
The Red Baron
Chilla Wilson (44)
Unfortunately Watson won't bowl. I think he is following some rehabilitation program aimed at having him bowl in the ashes.
I am really at a loss here. The initial squad picked wasn't the right squad for India, so our selections were never going to be spot on.
I would bring Khawaja in also, but at the expense of Hughes. Unfortunately Hughes has been clueless against the Indian spinners. His technique and footwork are all over the place. And at this stage, we may as well give Khawaja a run, hell he can't do any worse than any of the others.
I would still persist with Henriques too. He is tight with the ball, and brings value with the bat. Something Maxwell does not seem capable of doing. Johnson should get a run, so a pace bowling attack of Johnson, Pattinson and Henriques should be sufficient for us to play 2 spinners. I would play Lyon as one spinner and have O'Keefe on the next plane to India for this match.
But then again, even with all those changes we are still likely to be toweled. Although I must say that Clarke was a very angry man at the post match press conference the other day. I would have hated to have been in the dressing room just after the match.
I am really at a loss here. The initial squad picked wasn't the right squad for India, so our selections were never going to be spot on.
I would bring Khawaja in also, but at the expense of Hughes. Unfortunately Hughes has been clueless against the Indian spinners. His technique and footwork are all over the place. And at this stage, we may as well give Khawaja a run, hell he can't do any worse than any of the others.
I would still persist with Henriques too. He is tight with the ball, and brings value with the bat. Something Maxwell does not seem capable of doing. Johnson should get a run, so a pace bowling attack of Johnson, Pattinson and Henriques should be sufficient for us to play 2 spinners. I would play Lyon as one spinner and have O'Keefe on the next plane to India for this match.
But then again, even with all those changes we are still likely to be toweled. Although I must say that Clarke was a very angry man at the post match press conference the other day. I would have hated to have been in the dressing room just after the match.
As much as I'm a fan of Phil Hughes, he is completely at sea against spin.
They should send him to England now to play as much cricket there as he can before the Ashes. He is only going to lose more confidence struggling in India.
They should send him to England now to play as much cricket there as he can before the Ashes. He is only going to lose more confidence struggling in India.
Elfster
Dave Cowper (27)
I would question the actual tour in the first place. They sent the team over in dribs and dabs whilst an 'Australian' side was playing various cricket games against the Windies. This has probably led to a rather listless and chaotic feel to the side which may be a reason for their performance.
Though there has been a brittleness in the batting to this Australian side I haven't seen for a while.
Though there has been a brittleness in the batting to this Australian side I haven't seen for a while.
No4918
John Hipwell (52)
With Hughes - is it his technique or is he psyching himself out?
In addition to O'Keefe on that plane I want Matt Hayden sent over to teach these crackers how to sweep a spinner. None of them can do it. The article today about CA turning down Saqlain Mushtaq's offer of teaching our spinners the doosra just says everything that is wrong about CA at the moment. They did not take this team to India to win, they took the squad they wanted for the Ashes and said do your best boys.
In addition to O'Keefe on that plane I want Matt Hayden sent over to teach these crackers how to sweep a spinner. None of them can do it. The article today about CA turning down Saqlain Mushtaq's offer of teaching our spinners the doosra just says everything that is wrong about CA at the moment. They did not take this team to India to win, they took the squad they wanted for the Ashes and said do your best boys.
Leaving O'Keefe out of this tour was outrageous. He has the best record of a spinner in four day cricket this year in Australia and was a clear second option behind Lyon.
I agree with your point regarding Hayden. Being able to sweep in India is crucial. You look at Hayden's 200 at Chennai and he must have scored half his runs or more from the sweep shot.
Recently, Alistair Cook dominated the England vs India series by playing the sweep beautifully. It is essential on Indian pitches, particularly if you're not willing to use your feet like Michael Clarke.
Australia has the reverse problem that India has touring anywhere else. Australian pitches generally aren't spin friendly so none of our batsmen face a lot of quality spin bowling on spin friendly pitches and as a result don't learn to sweep.
Hughes' problems would seem to be partly technique and partly mental. He kept getting instantly bogged down against the spinners. Excluding his second innings dismissal in the first test which would have got anyone out, he has prodded around against the spinners, the pressure has built and the bat has been surrounded by close in fielders until he eventually gets out.
I think he needs to lift his aggression a little bit. It is fairly clear that he isn't picking the ball out of the hand though. This is a problem for several of our batsmen though. Warner is very much the same. He plays back and really late and relies on watching the ball. This has been his downfall a couple of times because as soon as the ball stays low or something you get trapped in front LBW.
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