4th Ashes Test : MCG

[whufc]

For the last test I'd drop Ponting down the order to bat at #6; Smith looks an ideal #8 Test batsman, Hauritz has to play at the SCG and if Clarke wants to be the next Test Captain he should bat at #3 and show some mettle. My team is:
Watson
Hughes
Clarke
Khawaja
Hussey
Ponting (c)
Haddin
Smith
Hauritz
Siddle
Hifenhaus or Johnson for the last spot.

wow Clarkes record at 4 is terrible and you wont to promote him to number 3

For me my side would be

1. Hughes
2. Katich (presuming he is fit)
3. Watson (would have to bowl but eventually to play as batsmen only)
4. Khawaja
5. Hussey
6. Ponting (only because he is captain and there is no next captain in the mix)
7. Haddin
8. Hauritz
9. Johnson
10. Siddle
11. Cameron/Copeland/George

[Jim05]

I didnt realise harris was injured when i did my last test selections. Time to bite the bullet selectors
Watson
Maddison
Katich
Khawaja
Hussey (c)
Ferguson
Haddin
Okeefe
Johnson
Siddle
Copeland

[whufc]

I didnt realise harris was injured when i did my last test selections. Time to bite the bullet selectors
Watson
Maddison
Katich
Khawaja
Hussey (c)
Ferguson
Haddin
Okeefe
Johnson
Siddle
Copeland

i forgot about Maddinson, i would bring him in my side instead of Katich, especially considering it would be on his own deck at the SCG.

[Gingernuts]

That Ponting & Clarke have done nothing this series, stated that Ponting got easy runs in Brisbane when the game was heading for a draw and that Clarke got runs in adelaide when the game was done and dusted, said both had failed when the going got tough in this series

He is correct though.

Ponting deserves chances to fix an extended run of failures IMO.

Clarke on the other hand is a frontrunning peaheart who never deserved to be picked in the side in the 1st place.
Lucky he's made himself available for IPL as I'm sure clubs will be queuing up for his services there.

Yep, I think Ponting & Clarke are the 2 biggest disappointments for the series. The captain & vice-captain have shown no leadership with the bat at all. Even 1 hundred from either of those and it would've been a very different series.

If selectors are really serious about Clarke being the next Aust captain, then he needs to have a spell. In fact he probably should've had a spell this series and spent the summer in the domestic comp getting his head right.

[whufc]

That Ponting & Clarke have done nothing this series, stated that Ponting got easy runs in Brisbane when the game was heading for a draw and that Clarke got runs in adelaide when the game was done and dusted, said both had failed when the going got tough in this series

He is correct though.

Ponting deserves chances to fix an extended run of failures IMO.

Clarke on the other hand is a frontrunning peaheart who never deserved to be picked in the side in the 1st place.
Lucky he's made himself available for IPL as I'm sure clubs will be queuing up for his services there.

Yep, I think Ponting & Clarke are the 2 biggest disappointments for the series. The captain & vice-captain have shown no leadership with the bat at all. Even 1 hundred from either of those and it would've been a very different series.

If selectors are really serious about Clarke being the next Aust captain, then he needs to have a spell. In fact he probably should've had a spell this series and spent the summer in the domestic comp getting his head right.

unfortunatly i think there is more than just match performances being considered when the teams are being selected.

how the hell Clarke is still in the test side and captaining the T20 side is an absolute joke, as was mentioned by someone else, how many adverts would have to be pulled of t.v if Clarke wasnt in the test side.

[FlyingHigh]

I know harris injured but pretty sure i just saw mj with crutches whats up there?
Surely clarke and ponting have to go the ashes are gone its a dead rubber in sydney lets plan ahead. Id love to see them throw in khawaja, maddison, fergy, okeefe and copeland but the gutless pricks will stick basically with same team apart from any injuries. We botched this whole series up in every way possible. The english prepared well while the aussies were playing useless one dayers in india. Whoever is responsible should be sacked. We had a captain with no form and no idea in the field. Has been a disaster for last 12 months time for some bloodletting

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

[Dog_ger]

All Carp aside.

Credit where it's due.

Well Done England.

I bet even our great queen is chuckeling/jumping up and down....

Explaining the finer points of this great game to Philip...

[spell_check]

I know harris injured but pretty sure i just saw mj with crutches whats up there?
Surely clarke and ponting have to go the ashes are gone its a dead rubber in sydney lets plan ahead. Id love to see them throw in khawaja, maddison, fergy, okeefe and copeland but the gutless pricks will stick basically with same team apart from any injuries. We botched this whole series up in every way possible. The english prepared well while the aussies were playing useless one dayers in india. Whoever is responsible should be sacked. We had a captain with no form and no idea in the field. Has been a disaster for last 12 months time for some bloodletting

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

We were in India playing what was originally a one-day series, because we are supposed to make up all the matches India played here over the years. So why aren't we in the West Indies every year or two making up their matches in the 80s and 90s?

[Pup]

That Ponting & Clarke have done nothing this series, stated that Ponting got easy runs in Brisbane when the game was heading for a draw and that Clarke got runs in adelaide when the game was done and dusted, said both had failed when the going got tough in this series

He is correct though.

Ponting deserves chances to fix an extended run of failures IMO.

Clarke on the other hand is a frontrunning peaheart who never deserved to be picked in the side in the 1st place.Lucky he's made himself available for IPL as I'm sure clubs will be queuing up for his services there.

How can you even justify what you just said?

[daysofourlives]

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?[/quote]

Would tend to agree with regards robinson, i havnt seen him play but his strike rate this year of 30 odd suggests to me he may actually leave the odd ball outside off unlike the rest of our top order.

Robinson ( would compliment hughes nicely)
Hughes ( needs an extended stay as he can play, was very unlucky to be dropped when he was and what other options are there? Dont want to expose maddinson yet)
Khawaja ( Not ideal to blood him at 3 but due to lack of foresight by selectors there is no other option)
D.Hussey ( We need an extra experienced head to compliment these young blokes, he appears to be the best of the older players, possibly White )
M. Hussey Captain , only player that couls possibly captain the side besides maybe Haddin
S. Watson ( Lets use his bowling more so that we never have to pick 4 ordinary quicks again)
B. Haddin
S. Smith ( perservere with him)

And the bowlers i just dont care who they pick its a lottery but given there is not much between most of the bowlers in the country lets go for young blokes with promise or proven untried players at shield level. Swan deserves a chance, Siddle perhaps can stay, and then copeland, george, cameron, pattinson

Perhaps Swan, Siddle and Copeland

Mitch and Clarke will be back but they can spend the rest of the summer playing shield cricket i.e dont pick them for the one dayers and rotate all these young fast bowlers through the one day series to gain exposure at international level

[Pup]

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

Thirty year old who averages 38 with only 2 centuries?

No thanks

[Pup]

Would tend to agree with regards robinson, i havnt seen him play but his strike rate this year of 30 odd suggests to me he may actually leave the odd ball outside off unlike the rest of our top order.

Robinson ( would compliment hughes nicely)

Huh?

So you want him in the side even though you haven't seen him play and because he has a strike rate of 30?

Interesting logic.

[smithy]

That Ponting & Clarke have done nothing this series, stated that Ponting got easy runs in Brisbane when the game was heading for a draw and that Clarke got runs in adelaide when the game was done and dusted, said both had failed when the going got tough in this series

He is correct though.

Ponting deserves chances to fix an extended run of failures IMO.

Clarke on the other hand is a frontrunning peaheart who never deserved to be picked in the side in the 1st place.Lucky he's made himself available for IPL as I'm sure clubs will be queuing up for his services there.

How can you even justify what you just said?

Many believe Ponting to be the 2nd best bat Australia has had.
Over a long period of time I'd say that should give him more chances of finding form than most other players, plus he is the captain.

As for Clarke, I have never been a fan of his the moment he got picked for Australia with a batting average of less than 40.
Other more talented players had to wait and prove themselves much longer than he did.
Since his silver spoon selection for Australia, besides his debut innings, he hasn't done much to justify his standing as vice captain.

[smithy]

Someone has to get in Steve Smith's ear and teach him to put more value on his wicket,he won't be much value while he plays the swashbuckling innings like he tried today.
He's not in the Viv Richards category so should stop trying to bat like him.

I think the entire country knows he ain't a test number 6, even himself.
A victim of poor selections and depth possibly ?

[EasyE]

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

Thirty year old who averages 38 with only 2 centuries?

No thanks

Saw Robinson hit a hundred against the redbacks last season (or maybe the one before). Looked very solid with a decent defence. Qualities not found with the current crop of NSW golden boys! Will never be a twenty20 star and probably isn't marketable so im sure Cricket Australia will be the ones saying "No Thanks".......

[Lightning McQueen]

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

Thirty year old who averages 38 with only 2 centuries?

No thanks

Saw Robinson hit a hundred against the redbacks last season (or maybe the one before). Looked very solid with a decent defence. Qualities not found with the current crop of NSW golden boys! Will never be a twenty20 star and probably isn't marketable so im sure Cricket Australia will be the ones saying "No Thanks".......

Well if he's scored half of his centuries against the redbacks that leaves him with only one, surely there's better options.

[Jase]

Johnson gone....Bowled by Tremlett....

[FlyingHigh]

Fully agree Jim. Poms were here acclimatising to the conditions. What were the Aussies doing? Some were playing 20-20, then tests in India, then one-dayers against Sri Lanka.
How about planning three Shield games where all players are required to play so they get back into the swing of Australian conditions, plus the fringe players get to bat against the Johnson's, Siddle's, Hilfenhaus's etc so the selectors know which players may actually have more of the whole package to play Test cricket? Who knows what we might find? Admittedly I haven't seen Robinson from WA play, but the scores seem to indicate he is a bit of a street-fighter at the top of the order rather than a Hughes, but how would the selectors know what he is capable of if he hasn't really palyed against our best bowlers possible?

Thirty year old who averages 38 with only 2 centuries?

No thanks

Never said he was the answer. I said we would have more idea if he and Hughes and whoever else had been batting against Australia's best bowlers in legitimate competition

[mal]

AU 7/254
2ND BEST BATTING KEEPER IN AUSTRALIAN HISTORY 53*[88]
SIDDLE 38*[44]
18 more for 100 partnership
WATTO still top score with his LBW 54 a disMissAL and a total all too often v EG

[valleys07]

Anyone know siddle's highest test score?