Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Well it wouldnt count for Lee or Bracken as they wont be pulling on the whites again, but for Johnson he can be 'rested' due to play all forms of the game

His bowling is a bit hit and often miss, alot like Lee but atm they need his batting

There is still plenty of chances for bowlers, Lee is likely to break down time and time again
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

There has been a full strength team for a long time, it's just recently that things have happened.

You can't go making predictions that Lee will breakdown. Siddle, Bollinger, Hiflenhaus, Tait and the other full time bowlers are just as likely to have an injury. Just because he has had a long run of injuries over his career doesn't mean you can say that in a few months time he will be injured again. I'm actually inclined to say Lee is fitter then the rest of them, just needs to rest up for a month.

Don't get mixed up between Lee's Test performances and ODI performances. There is doubt over his Test abilities, but not over his ODI abilities. He is ranked about the 3rd or 4th best Australian ODI bowler ever. Can we just let youngsters walk over a legend of the game because he faultered in another form of the game?

I say once the team is together let them stay that way. That line up is obviously what the selectors are aiming to get together and the way they are trying to keep it. I just hope Bracken is not forced out of the team when he should be allowed a free passage back in.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Boris;373340 said:
But that also leads to another problem.

This is the full strength bowling line up:

Bracken
Lee
Johnson
Hauritz
Hopes

When you have all of those bowlers bowling at their best, which is very likely to happen, how can you justify dropping one for a random horses for courses selection? Say you are playing at the WACA and you drop Hauritz for Tait. How would the selectors explain to Hauritz that you have been playing very well, going for about 3 and over and an average of 25 with plenty of wickets. Now move aside so we can put in a bowler plagued with injury and is very very hit and miss.

How could Siddle get a game? By dropping Lee or Bracken, and seriously who would drop either of them?

How would Bollinger get a game? By dropping Johnson I suppose. How would you tell Mitch, the best player in the world currently as just appointed, that he is to be dropped for him?
If that's our full strength bowling lineup- then no wonder we're struggling! ;)
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

el-capitano;373363 said:
If that's our full strength bowling lineup- then no wonder we're struggling! ;)

That is the line up the selectors are trying to make if it weren't for injuries, and as far as I am concerned they are the five best ODI bowlers in Australia.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

I think it is a bit of a stretch on these forums when people make comments about players intentions, fitness, team orientation and popularity within the rooms. You have no way of knowing these things and yet state them as fact.

Oh yeah and the "obviously the selectors..." comments are rubbish why not try "...it looks like the selectors are..." Then you dont't come off as putting up opinion as fact. Before you get up in arms with "That's what these forums are for..." think about the level of honesty in making comments which are deliberately false, or increadibly misguided.

Having said all that obviously the selectors didn't/don't like hodge who is clearly unpopular in the rooms despite being fitter and working harder than any athelete in any sport.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Hodge is fitter and works harder than any athlete in any sport? Come on. There's enough to be said in favour of Hodge without resorting to that kind of hyperbole.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Hodge is an unfortunate case. A lot of factors have hurt him. The prime of his career was very poorly timed, and he probably didn't take full advantage of the few opportunities he got. He was probably a little unlucky to get dropped after his double ton, but if he'd followed it up then perhaps it'd be a different story.

I don't know if he's been the victim of politics or his own personality in the dressing room, or whatever. Wouldn't surprise me if he was - dropping him for Martyn seemed like an odd decision. But his whinging in the media certainly has never helped his cause either.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Caesar;374417 said:
Hodge is fitter and works harder than any athlete in any sport? Come on. There's enough to be said in favour of Hodge without resorting to that kind of hyperbole.

That is the point (its called sarcasm)
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

I heard Brad Hodge is a jerk and I only have anecdotal evidence to back it up, but the way he tries to drop a passive-aggressive crack at the selectors into every media appearance makes me inclined to believe it.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

a for effort;374438 said:
I heard Brad Hodge is a jerk and I only have anecdotal evidence to back it up, but the way he tries to drop a passive-aggressive crack at the selectors into every media appearance makes me inclined to believe it.
The other side to that coin is that maybe he is entitled to be a bit jaded
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Thumbs up;374439 said:
The other side to that coin is that maybe he is entitled to be a bit jaded

He's certainly not the first bloke to peak at the wrong time (think Lehmann, Siddons, Cox) but he's by far the most vocal in expressing how hard done by he is.

courtjester said:
Can you change it to Hodgey?

It stays until somebody can prove that they have had a seizure as a result of it :p
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

courtjester;374437 said:
Bollinger's one day form may spell the end for Nathan Bracken?
Bollinger is useless outside of the SCG and India, even County players have no trouble playing him :p
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

a for effort;374444 said:
He's certainly not the first bloke to peak at the wrong time (think Lehmann, Siddons, Cox) but he's by far the most vocal in expressing how hard done by he is.

If anyone could be excused for letting off a bit of steam about the selectors, then surely Hodge could. Do we know if they've ever been honest with him and explained the situation with the guy?

Many players have let fly when they've felt aggrieved with selections. Roy did quite sensationally, and all was later forgiven. Others have even resorted to calling them names. Hodge should be commended for his restraint, I would have thought. These guys are not robots, not without brains, feelings, or burning ambitions.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Hodgeys biggest problem is the lack of communication by selectors to players so I doubt they have ever discussed anything with him
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

As I said, you can hardly blame him for showing some level of frustration. After all, he has a pretty overwhelming case for being a part of that side just about any time in the past 10 years.
I don't know that his personality is that disruptive. He seems pretty quiet & humble, perhaps if anything he sounds a touch "basic".
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

courtjester;374437 said:
Bollinger's one day form may spell the end for Nathan Bracken?

If it does, I'm just going to say now that I'm not going to be happy.

Bracken is one underestimated guy. He has been number one in the world on a number of occasions, won so many games on behalf of his team, been a great ambassador and, as has been showed before he was injured, that when he is out of form he is still averaging about 26, 3.6 an over and getting about a wicket per game. That is his out of form. His in form is much better.

To be serious I haven't seen more then two Australian bowlers who are better death bowlers than him.

I don't want to sound like I am reminiscing again on what they were, instead of what they are and can be, but I think he is a legend of the game who has played 100+ games and should be in the team as soon as he is fit. Many people don't take ODIs seriously because they favour Tests, as almost all would, but to play ODIs for your country and be the best at it is surely how you become a legend.

Don't get me wrong though, I like Bollinger too. Maybe not quite yet, but he is definitely doing his part as fill in.
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Bracken is not underestimated by the selectors. He has always been given a reasonable opportunity, and eventually became a very good limited overs bowler. He still is, although just last summer wasn't it, the opposition (prob.Sth.Af) worked him out and gave him some awful pastings at the death? I don't think that will have any bearing on his selection, but shortcomings such as that might just prevent him from being classified "a legend of the game".
 
Re: Australian ODI XI - Selection Thread

Every bowler has a bad game. Like McGrath's 0/79 off ten against the Saffas, Murali's 0/99 off ten against Austaralia... the list goes on. Bracken has had a couple more than a few of those already noticed legends, but he would, in my books, be in the top five ODI bowlers ever.

Saying this, though, he has always been an Australia bowler as a general rule. Take him overseas and he generally doesn't go as well. He has been out of form since the South Africa tour in South Africa but still is going for 3.8 an over with an average of 25 over that time. I think that's what makes a legend: a player that can make the Australian team even though they are middle of a form slump.

To bounce back from a forgettable start to his career to be number 1 is a great thing for him and I would like to see him playing until he decides to give it up himself. There is no way I would have Bollinger, Siddle or Hilfenhaus in front of him.
 
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