Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

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Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

eddiesmith;382469 said:
But you cant put Clarke at 6 and question marks about whether he could bat 4
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Exactly, which has made question marks in my head for quite a while. It's like they selected North and are warming him up for the big time in a position that doesn't suit him.

a for effort;382470 said:
It's not. (Unless they drop North for him which would make me sad)

Can't see them changing the bowling lineup, bar the possible inclusion of Hilfenhaus for Siddle (Bollinger and Johnson are surely both undroppable at this point).
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Johnson is beyond undroppable IMO. He just became the fifth only player ever to take 50 wickets and score 500 runs in a calender year. And that was while he had a bad form patch in the middle. Johnson is being underrated lately.

Bollinger has proven his point while Siddle has been in the team. Siddle, now he is playing I believe hasn't done enough to do what I said and keep himself included in the side. If Hilfy's fit, I think he will be playing.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

a for effort;382470 said:
It's not. (Unless they drop North for him which would make me sad)

Can't see them changing the bowling lineup, bar the possible inclusion of Hilfenhaus for Siddle (Bollinger and Johnson are surely both undroppable at this point).
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Yeah, unless Siddle performs, I'd say this scenario is most likely.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Boris;382473 said:
Exactly, which has made question marks in my head for quite a while. It's like they selected North and are warming him up for the big time in a position that doesn't suit him.



Johnson is beyond undroppable IMO. He just became the fifth only player ever to take 50 wickets and score 500 runs in a calender year. And that was while he had a bad form patch in the middle. Johnson is being underrated lately.

Bollinger has proven his point while Siddle has been in the team. Siddle, now he is playing I believe hasn't done enough to do what I said and keep himself included in the side. If Hilfy's fit, I think he will be playing.
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Siddle has had a disappointing summer, whether or not he has been carrying an injury all summer is unknown, but often when there is a lot of competition for bowling spots you will find bowlers carrying injurys.

Steve Waugh makes that point in his autobiography and cites the SCG 2003/04 Test against India.

Siddle has regressed since his tour to South Africa early this year and at the moment his spot is under pressure, not just from Hilfenhaus, but also possibly from the likes of McKay and Geeves i'd imagine.

In saying that, he has a chance tomorrow on his home ground so he may yet put his hand up.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

His performance in Sydney earlier this year and in past Shield games will see him survive another match I would imagine and McKays disappointing return despite bowling alright means there is no pressure

Geeves? What a joke :D
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

eddiesmith;382447 said:
The only possible selection of Smith would be at Norths expense at no6, dont think Watson could be expected to take on a 3rd quicks overs yet

They could always pick McDonald again in Sydney, couldnt do worse than North with the bat currently and likes the SCG pitch, could even then afford a 2nd spinner, maybe McGain or Holland
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McGain is rubbish, won't play for Australia ever again. Holland's a development player at the moment.

eddiesmith;382460 said:
I suppose its just the SCG will suit Pakistan better and if Kaneria is back and maybe even Gul they have a far stronger attack, add in the possibility of Younis Khan then Australia may need another bowler who can bowl long spells, whether its a spinner or McDonald who knows
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Australia will be tempted to play another spinner, if they do it'll probably be Smith as they seem to love him at this point, maybe at the expense of Siddle. North did take four wickets at the Brit Oval in that last test in England so that might hang in their minds also. As for Pakistan, they will probably go with two spinners in my opinion, Kaneria is a decent bowler and Rauf is easily the most expendable out of the quicks with Aamer bowling well and Asif holding his end up of the bargain. Ajmal will play even though his return in the current test hasn't been great.

eddiesmith said:
As for North, he is really pushing it, not sure how much longer Australia can carry his inconsistent form just because every 3-4 matches he makes a century
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Maybe. North would be safe for the rest of the summer, but he will need some runs soon to keep the others at bay. He has had a modest summer so far, not as good as what it should be though.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Pakistan will probably bring Umar Gul in for Rauf if he's fit. Can't see him missing out two games in a row, although they may be tempted to play 2 spinners.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

a for effort;382539 said:
Gul was fit this game and they left him out. Couldn't believe it.
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He was? He's been leading their attack for so long, he was talked up to be there most dangerous bowler and they leave him out?:eek: Has he had form issues?

His last 6 bowling innings have yielded:

2/129, 3/41, 2/21, 0/41, 1/114, 0/24.

Compare this to Rauf who has:

2/59, 1/49, 1/38, 1/13, 1/86, 0/83.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

A summer of nervous nineties | Cricket News | Australia v Pakistan 2009/10 | Cricinfo.com
Wonky selection

Pakistan's bowling was supposed to be their route to success this series, but an injury and a strange decision before the Test even began spoilt the shape of an attack that served them so well in New Zealand. Danish Kaneria's injured finger was not thought to be bad enough to keep him out yesterday, but it did, depriving Pakistan of their leading wicket-taker from the last tour to Australia and a man in form; he has 20 wickets in his last three Tests. The decision to drop Umar Gul, however, was more surprising, given his role in Pakistan's pace trio. Gul is fit, insisted Pakistan's team management, which means he was dropped on form. Since his heroics for Pakistan in the World Twenty20 in June, Gul has struggled to adjust to Tests; in six Tests in Sri Lanka and New Zealand since, he has picked up 15 wickets at over 45 though that hides a few good, luckless spells in New Zealand in particular.
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Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Interesting, I'd imagine Rauf would be expendible. He has done nothing this test.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Agreed - Rauf should be dropped. What about Sami - I heard he has been brought over for this tour. Maybe he should come in instead of Gul? Consider also next test is Sydney - they may want two spinners. I think Ajmal was pretty hard done by in this test - on a very unconducive wicket.
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Perhaps so. We could then encourage input from Pakistani followers in order to gain some insight into the strange decisions they make. It's always been like that though, and I guess we have to appreciate they go about things quite differently to the way we do here. May seem strange to us, but the way they tend to think is to seemingly make decisions based more on standing/personality or knee-jerk reactions.

It has been said that after leading the attack in NZ, Gul wanted to rest instead of participate in the warm-up game. Wrong decision. Like Younis withdrawing from captaincy a while back. Just a couple of weeks ago they don't even pick him for the squad ... now after a predictable First Test result, who do they call?
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Just putting this one out there:

I like Haddin. Always have, since I saw him playing for ACT over 10 years ago. His batting is great to watch, and seems to be better when we need it most. I've always thought his glovework to be more than good enough. But ...

Aus 5/454 - 128 overs - 2 byes

Aus 225 - 73 overs - 2 byes

SAf 343 - 108 overs - 1 bye

SAf 133 - 50 overs - 0 byes

Eng 9/574 - 170 overs - 0 byes

Pak 251 - 72 overs - 13 byes

Doesn't compare well, does it?
 
Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Sober Symonds;382684 said:
Just putting this one out there:

I like Haddin. Always have, since I saw him playing for ACT over 10 years ago. His batting is great to watch, and seems to be better when we need it most. I've always thought his glovework to be more than good enough. But ...

Aus 5/454 - 128 overs - 2 byes

Aus 225 - 73 overs - 2 byes

SAf 343 - 108 overs - 1 bye

SAf 133 - 50 overs - 0 byes

Eng 9/574 - 170 overs - 0 byes

Pak 251 - 72 overs - 13 byes

Doesn't compare well, does it?
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An average of around 3 byes per 100 runs over an entire career denotes a good gloveman as the general rule states, and a difference of 1 run can make a lot with this average. As a point of comparison Gilchrist's average is 2.4 and Boucher 2.1 (from memory so it may be wrong). Haddin is quite obviously going for more than that, but in a way it may be a little hard to blame him... with Johnson in your team you may get a couple of fours from crazy bowling, which in itself amounts to 8 runs, way over the average.

Haddin isn't the best keeper, but over the past at least two matches I think he has been sensational with the gloves. Has really stepped up since the other couple of keepers have shown their worth in international cricket of late.
 
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