Adelaide Hawk wrote:NFC wrote:I'm a bit staggered, maybe even upset, at the bagging Hughes has receieved. He's 20 years old. Sure he's not perfect, and has weaknesses but by nature he's an attacking, agressive batsman. He's just been given a last minute call-up, is playing his first test in Aus and chances are this will just a one off match. He's playing on a wicket that is massively in favour of the bowlers and all the pressure is on to perform. He saw a few short balls and tried to give them the treatment. He handled the short ball fine IMO. He's a friggen kid, he's got unbelievable natural talent, give him a bit of time before we bag him so much he's a spent force. Lets not go Damien Martyn on this one very talented youngster.
I'm a supporter of Hughes, but the wicket had nothing to do with his dismissal yesterday. He flashed at 3 balls that he should have been letting go, was dropped once, played and missed at the second, caught the third time.
What worries me is two things. After the first let off, he really needed to put the cue in the rack for awhile and have a good look at the bowlers. Playing a natural game is all well and good, but sometimes a Test opener cannot afford to do this .. not from ball 1 anyway.
So he has a propensity to flash early outside the off stump which is something he needs to eliminate from his game if he wishes to succeed as a Test opener, and he also appears unwilling to make adjustments to his game. Batting in conditions favourable to bowlers is a huge part of being an opener.
For the record, I think he'll make it, but I'm not convinced he's quite up to Test standard at this time. A 2nd innings 100 will help me change my mind.
I agree Hughes is Micheal Slater.....minus the talent. But I can't say that apparently because he's 20. Shocking technique which is fine when you are scoring runs but clearly an area of improvement when you are not.
regards,
REB
anyone who has played cricket knows why you are WRONG!
