Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Sober Symonds;381765 said:
Not at all Boris - I'd be happy to hear from any "Friends of Shane", so I can perhaps better understand the person.

Could this be one?:
"Watson is clearly battling with unresolved mental issues. It looks like a case of esteem abuse and/or a peroccupation with rejection which can boil over when adrenalin rises to maximum. It seems like getting a rare success over a player far superior to him was too much for Watson to handle. I don’t like the look of him as a long-term prospect for Australia. Already shown to be weak in terms of match fitness and a choker when approaching a century, the damaged psyche he carries with him on the field is by no means an asset for the Aussies. Cut him loose quick so he can receive therapy and maybe turn his life around."
- from cricket with balls Shane Watson forgets he may have to bowl to Gayle again - join sehwagology

I like the way in that video from the link you posted when Watson is doing his best premaddona Ponting is running up to congratulated him, but then suddenly stops and looks as if he is say 'what the hell are you doing?!' then 'I'm not going to be a part of this' and just stands there with his head to the ground as Gayle walks past him, ashamed. Classic.

I wouldn't be surprised that quote that you have posted is correct. He's not quite a professional cricketer. Nobody would go out there and intentionally do that in front of cameras. The adrenalin must get to him.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Thumbs up;381770 said:
All opinion and fair enough at that.


This will be a little hard to support... factually.


Not sure I agree with you but OK.


What? That's like me saying I didn't see the last 2 years of cricket but I am assuming Hussey is still smashing it.



It is hard to understand how you have so much against him and have made so many broad sweeping generalisations on him, his attitude, his performance... based on what seems more and more like a preconceived perception/attitude with zero flexibility.

I could be wrong here Boris but I was sure I had read comments from you on his performance in South Africa, only to find out now that you didn't see it.

You can't back those statements up factually. Not everything in cricket is factual statistics. Daniel Vettori has a bowling average of 26 and a batting average around the same, and yet we call him one of the best spin bowlers around today, and always puts in his best effort with the bat, ball and with his captaincy and fielding, yet the stats don't show that. How do we know this? By watching him play. There are so many little things that can be picked up from just watching instead of analysing figures. Like Hussey's last few scores (with the exception of his very last innings because I think that was fine) - he made good scores but how he got there was very painstaking and really showed him struggling. If you were comparing two players and they both got the same score you would have to look at that. This is the information on Siddle I have gathered when I have watched him. I find it a struggle to be inspired by the way he bowls. Not interested whatsoever. And please don't say that I am looking at it from an enjoyment point of view, because I find Dravid scoring a double century over 2 days as entertainment.

He builds up pressure to only release it a few balls later. People are calling Johnson bad because he throws down a four ball every over. Siddle does the same sort of thing, just over a longer term. One spell is excellent, the next he is going for 6 and over and Ponting doesn't know what to do.

Don't get me wrong though, I would be playing him if all three pace bowlers were fit.

EDIT: Oh and about the not seeing South African series... I watched parts of it when I could due to the time differences, but that doesn't mean I watched Siddle's bowling. Couldn't bring myself around to it :D hahahaha joking.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Don't really have that much of a problem with that but my intent in the factual assertion was that I don't think you are right
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Thumbs up;381783 said:
Don't really have that much of a problem with that but my intent in the factual assertion was that I don't think you are right

What do you seem him as then?

I don't think he is consistent enough between spells. I hate to use such a great as an example, but McGrath's worst spells were ones the he didn't get wickets in. He still put in a solid effort and tried his best to restrict the opposition even if he was bowling to Brian Lara on 200 n.o.

Obviously Siddle is no McGrath, nobody is, but if he is going to be a line and length bowler like everyone is playing him up as, that's what he needs to strive for. No getting hammered one day, and then getting five-fors the next.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

T.A Offspinner;381825 said:
well rest assured i'm no fan of his so, let the bashings begin...

Does liking his cricket count?

I like his skill levels and his role in the team, just not, well, everything else about him.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

well the way i see it, if things were like in america, nsw would be america (the best), you guys would be canada, and victoria would be mexico...
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

But would that make Tasmania the West Indies? Because that would be unfair, they aren't cool enough.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

yeah i suppose your right...they aren't. hmm they can be somewhere else... anyway should we pull this convo back on topic?
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

well if i stick around then i'll be joining you a fair bit...so ontopic conversation


do you think they'll just rest ponting anyway...
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Boris;381786 said:
What do you seem him as then?

I don't think he is consistent enough between spells. I hate to use such a great as an example, but McGrath's worst spells were ones the he didn't get wickets in. He still put in a solid effort and tried his best to restrict the opposition even if he was bowling to Brian Lara on 200 n.o.

Obviously Siddle is no McGrath, nobody is, but if he is going to be a line and length bowler like everyone is playing him up as, that's what he needs to strive for. No getting hammered one day, and then getting five-fors the next.


I consider him to be an aggressive deck hitting bowler, who despite your assertion is fairly consistent in line and length and getting better. He is not a big swinger of the ball but can extract some seam from a deck and is constantly attacking the batsman, and his arsenal of wicket taking deliveries is growing. Like Bollinger he is a bowler who will give his all constantly, if you don't agree refer to commentary from the English and south African series and you will hear this sentiment constantly (non bloody stop really).

Over time I'm sure he will continue to add to his bowling but he like Hughes has nothing to gain in the domestic competition, these guys are need to be honing their craft against better opposition.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Thumbs up;381916 said:
I consider him to be an aggressive deck hitting bowler, who despite your assertion is fairly consistent in line and length and getting better. He is not a big swinger of the ball but can extract some seam from a deck and is constantly attacking the batsman, and his arsenal of wicket taking deliveries is growing. Like Bollinger he is a bowler who will give his all constantly, if you don't agree refer to commentary from the English and south African series and you will hear this sentiment constantly (non bloody stop really).

Over time I'm sure he will continue to add to his bowling but he like Hughes has nothing to gain in the domestic competition, these guys are need to be honing their craft against better opposition.

The biggest thing that annoys me is that he hadn't honed his skill in the domestic comp first. He had one good season really and was picked. There was very little behind it. The same with Hughes, very little time to show if they have any consistency. Normally I like to see players at least have a few seasons behind their belt to show they aren't one hit wonders with a burst of form.

He will get better, no doubt, as everyone will, but when there are players like Bollinger who have had those couple extra seasons I would really swing towards them because they have shown that they have already improved, that they have found their mark. Whereas with Siddle, you have to wait a couple of years with him playing International cricket and him honing in, perhaps at the team's expense. He has shown a very large learning curve, starting off quite terribly, then got better. But in England he wasn't learning anything. He looked like he wasn't. He would pitch the ball over and over in the wrong spot, he would seemingly accommodate for swing when there wasn't any.

Let me tell you know, up here in Queensland there are few that like him. I'm about one of his biggest fans around here. If you go down to the pub or the golf club and he comes on for his every over there are murmurs and people turn away from the screen, sometimes the drunks boo him. Every over there is a mistake of some sort and we shake our heads. From my experience with him so far that is not what I like to see with international cricketers. May be different down south, but up here we struggle to see why he is there, especially considering there have been Queensland bowlers who have spent the same amount of time domestically and have similar records, yet I would laugh my head off if they got picked - and they are from my home state.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

For example, Ben Cutting from Queensland has to play only 5 more games before he has played the same amount of domestic games as Siddle was before he was picked (EDIT: that was 15). Cutting is also 22. Cutting currently has only a few less wickets (EDIT: 30 wickets difference but he has another 5 games to make up the difference), but an average of 17.57 compared to Siddle's 26 (EDIT: 25.7 accurately), the same economy rate (EDIT: 3.16 vs 3.53) and one less point in strike rate (54.7 vs 56.3). He has a couple of less five wicket hauls (EDIT: 4 to Siddle, 2 to Cutting) but has gotten many 4 wicket hauls having watched him play and has been unlucky not to get more. He also has best bowling figures better than that of Siddle under the same time frame, and almost matches his figures for the match. Not to mention he is a better batsman than Siddle, averaging higher (EDIT: 20.1 to Cutting, 14.7 to Siddle) and he has a match winning fifty to his name batting at number 9 (EDIT: with Chris Hartley in that match helping him to a century and reaching the target after a huge collapse), compared to Siddle's 10 or 11. So far he has a pretty identical run from the same games. I don't see him getting picked any time soon...
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

As has been mentioned time and time again it is all about timing

Hughes got picked because he is from NSW, there were senior players scoring just as many runs and still are but they have pissed someone off

But with Siddle, injuries struck to Bollinger and Nofke and a couple of others, Siddle had just come off a 9 wicket haul against the full strength NSW lineup on a pitch similar to Indian pitches and luck fell his way. But they stuck with him because he impressed everyone outside of QLD and NSW and most importantly he impressed the captain
 
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