Test XI Selection Thread

the future is beginning to look rather bright, base the team around cummins and pattinson, look like absolute jets.


in 2-3 years time, we should be back where we belong, Our bowling stocks look very promosing as to our all rounders and keepers, the batsman remain a question mark and with ponting and hussey to go soon and with marsh's injury concerns, replacements are needed.
these are the men i see getting us back the ashes.

Batsmen:
- Michael Clarke(30)- Will be captain, there is no other viable option, has proved he still has alot of ability, 2 huge score in 3 test matches.
- Phillip Hughes(23)- The kid is filled with talent, just needs to work on his technique, a real confidence player, still developing, jury is out.
- Usman Khawaja(24)- Rate him highly, great temperament, good teckers, just hope they keep him in the side from now on in, is also versatile and can play anywhere in the top 6.
- David Warner(25)- The big hitting star is emerging in test cricket, jury is out, will watch the next test with intent to see how he copes with the test environment.
- Shaun Marsh(28)- Injuries aside, will play consistently, looks a regular top 3 player for next 5 years.
- Nick Madinson(19)- Don't know too much about this kid, but from all reports he is an absolute jet, apparently isn't that far off selection, although that wouldnt surprise me he is a blue bagger!!
- Callum Ferguson(27)- Yet to be given an opportunity, looks a quality player was close prior to injury however i think he will play a role in the future, is a leader aswell.
*** special mentions to Ricky Ponting, and Michael Hussey, who i rate highly, however will not be around in 2-3 years you would assume.

All Rounders:
- Shane Watson(30)- simply, our best player, reigning allan border medallist, so crucial to the side. could open, or bat at 6, depending on the make up of the side post hussey and ponting and who comes in to replace them.
- Mitchell Marsh(20)- hope they don't burn this kid out, he is a real star of the future, will be a future captain. A class top order batsman who will likely take pontings place in the team if he stays around for another 12 months allowing mitchell marsh to serve his trade for WA.
- Steven Smith(22)- Jury is out, still young, has time, but isn't a good enough bat at this stage for top 6, isn't a good enough bowler for the spinning option. Not sure where he could fit in, but the selectors are doing the right thing letting him go back to state level and work on his game.

Wicket Keepers:
- Tim Paine(27)- looks the likely replacement for Haddin, looks all class, just needs to stay fit which is an issue, would probably be playing now if he was fit.
- Matthew Wade(24)- Really rate him, a quality bat, averages 40 in sheffield shield, which is higher than paine which shows the quality of the kid, some question his keeping but i rate him highly, and some may disagree but i see him as a better option than Paine. (Victorian Bias)
***Brad Haddin, will not be around in 2-3 years time, a great servant none the less.

Bowlers:
- Nathan Lyon(24)- looks a handy bowler, an amazing story. Young, spins it, attacking, really looks the goods and streets ahead of competing spinners, from all reports they are sticking with this kid for a while yet.
- ??- random spinner....(unknown, as selectors pluck them from all areas)
- Peter Siddle(27)- Currently the father of the pace attack, although he doesn't swing the ball, is still performing adequately to retain his position. with the injuries to Johnson and Harris, Siddle must remain in the side with his experience at the level.
- Ryan Harris(32)- In my opinion our best bowler when fit, but that is the problem, with a persisting knee injury the man is never fit, may find selection hard to come by.
- Mitchell Johnson(30)- Cross roads, long term injury, god knows what will happen to this man, to be honest don't see him taking us back to where we belong.
- Pat Cummins(18)- Young, quick, level headed, swings it, what more do you want.
- James Pattinson(21)- see above.
- Mitchell Starc(21)- real interesting one, sits behind pattinson and cummins in terms of young brigade, but has an enormous level of talent, can hold a bat aswell, is a long term prospect.
- Josh Hazlewood(20)- another young future star, will be around the mark soon enough, with consistent shield performances.
** special mention to- Mcdermott and richardson who is another youngster who shows promising signs.

Anyway, so my team in 2013/2014
1. Shane Watson
2. Shaun Marsh
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Nic Maddinson
5. Michael Clarke
6. Mitchell Marsh
7. Matthew wade/Tim Paine
8. Peter Siddle
9. Pat Cummins
10. James Pattinson
11. Nathan Lyon
--
12. Steven Smith
13. Callum Ferguson/Phil Hughes
 
I agree mostly Sidvic. In 2013/14, I'd like to see this team:

1. Dave Warner- I think his technique is a lot better than Hughes's and he'll get better, Sehwag style. Gun fielder as well.
2. Usman Khawaja- Has the temperament and technique to open, good partner for Warner.
3. Shaun Marsh- If he can get on top of injuries, he should be at number 3.
4.Shane Watson- Should bat at 4, and shoulder a lot of bowling in England.
5. Michael Clarke- Should stay at 5.
6. Nic Maddinson- Lot of class and should be next in line for first drop should Marsh be injured/out of form.
7. Mitch Marsh/Andrew McDonald- I'd love to see Marsh develop into a bowling all rounder capable of bowling 1st change. Gives us a lot more batting depth. McDonald is a good steady containing bowler and batter who plays well in England.
8. Tim Paine/Matthew Wade- My preference is Paine as he is a better keeper, but Wade bats better. Either ok.
9. Pat Cummins- Exciting!
10. James Pattinson- Ditto
11. Nathan Lyon- Coming along nicely.

The big question is Mitch Marsh/Andrew McDonald at 7 as a bowling all-rounder. Seeing as Lyon isn't a great bat, we need some batting depth at 8. Be great to develop a bowling all-rounder so that our attack looks like-

Cummins and Pattinson- quicks
M.Marsh/McDonald and Watson- fast/med all rounders
Lyon- Spinner

In my opinion, a fit Watson is almost our best bowler, and will be suited to bowling in England. The attack is balanced with two quicks and two medium pacers, plus a good off spinner.
 
Well outlined CJ.I just hope the selectors take a more enlightened approach for the future and move away from this closed shop mentality which has plagued Australian cricket. Batsmen should be put on notice that they are only as good as their last performance and dropped quickly if they fail. There are a lot of very good kids coming through and they should be given every chance to develop.Great opportunity to rotate the keepers and keep them fresh as well as the fast bowlers instead of bowling them into the ground. The 2013 Ashes tour selection meeting will be a very interesting one and could take quite a few hours with the players at their disposal.
 
I think the interesting thing will be depth, and who will be in the touring party.

I guess the following players will be discussed as bowlers:

Siddle and Hilfenhaus (both getting older)
Starc
Cutting
Copeland
Hazelwood
O'Keefe

So there's a bit of bowling depth, but unsure where the batting depth is. Which is why I think Khawaja should play every test possible from here on. He is clearly the best of the young bunch imo. Marsh is very prone to injury, Hughes is completely hit or miss, and the verdict is still out on Warner, although I think he has what it takes.
 
I agree mostly Sidvic. In 2013/14, I'd like to see this team:

1. Dave Warner- I think his technique is a lot better than Hughes's and he'll get better, Sehwag style. Gun fielder as well.
2. Usman Khawaja- Has the temperament and technique to open, good partner for Warner.
3. Shaun Marsh- If he can get on top of injuries, he should be at number 3.
4.Shane Watson- Should bat at 4, and shoulder a lot of bowling in England.
5. Michael Clarke- Should stay at 5.
6. Nic Maddinson- Lot of class and should be next in line for first drop should Marsh be injured/out of form.
7. Mitch Marsh/Andrew McDonald- I'd love to see Marsh develop into a bowling all rounder capable of bowling 1st change. Gives us a lot more batting depth. McDonald is a good steady containing bowler and batter who plays well in England.
8. Tim Paine/Matthew Wade- My preference is Paine as he is a better keeper, but Wade bats better. Either ok.
9. Pat Cummins- Exciting!
10. James Pattinson- Ditto
11. Nathan Lyon- Coming along nicely.

The big question is Mitch Marsh/Andrew McDonald at 7 as a bowling all-rounder. Seeing as Lyon isn't a great bat, we need some batting depth at 8. Be great to develop a bowling all-rounder so that our attack looks like-

Cummins and Pattinson- quicks
M.Marsh/McDonald and Watson- fast/med all rounders
Lyon- Spinner

In my opinion, a fit Watson is almost our best bowler, and will be suited to bowling in England. The attack is balanced with two quicks and two medium pacers, plus a good off spinner.

McDonald? Are you serious? The guy is absolute rubbish. Watson is our leading all-rounder with M. Marsh and Butterworth from Tasmania behind him. McDonald will never play for Australia ever again.

Well outlined CJ.I just hope the selectors take a more enlightened approach for the future and move away from this closed shop mentality which has plagued Australian cricket. Batsmen should be put on notice that they are only as good as their last performance and dropped quickly if they fail. There are a lot of very good kids coming through and they should be given every chance to develop.Great opportunity to rotate the keepers and keep them fresh as well as the fast bowlers instead of bowling them into the ground. The 2013 Ashes tour selection meeting will be a very interesting one and could take quite a few hours with the players at their disposal.

Dropping someone quickly after a failure isn't the way to go. I'd give a guy at least three or four test matches before making a decision on them, you can make a judgment on a player better this way by giving them some time to settle in.
 
It is reported that Cummins is out of the India series and may not play until January. He is also in demand and could sign contracts valued at 2.2 million.Not bad for a couple of shield matches and one test. Dennis Lillee must shake his head in disbelief......
 
if only mitchell johnson turned out as planned, then the bowling all rounder idea was solved. What a shame.

Haven't seen much of Marsh as a bowler, but from all reports he is a good one. I always thought he was more of a batter though. I agree with you on Watson, although if Warner fails, there are no other options, Hughes needs to step up, Marsh is injury prone, although Khawaja looks the goods though, he may very well open.
We really need some state players to step up and put pressure on for batting positions, keepers, bowlers and allrounders look all strong and full of depth its just the batting im worried about, barring captain clarke and Watson it is only really Khawaja who looks a long term option at the moment, and even he only has one test match 50, Marsh is too injury prone, younger marsh is un proven, Hughes and Warner appear inconsistent. Maddinson another unproven. It is an area that needs addressing for mine.
 
Why? Have a look at his FC stats for the last twelve months. He's exactly the sort of bowler we need if Pattinson and Cummins combine.
 
Neither his bowling OR batting will ever be up to it at Test level, so it's completely pointless to select him.. I have nothing against the bloke and enjoy seeing him play for Victoria but he will never be good enough at either discipline to make the Test side, pseudo all-rounders should never ever be selected for the Test side.

I'm not against these sorts of players in the shorter formats but in the longer form a player has to make it completely as either a bowler or bat and the other all rounder aspect should just be a bonus.
 
Gentlemen, we have just lost a Test to a team widely labelled as the probably the worse Kiwi team to come to our shores for over 25 years.Their opening bowler is a 37 year old honest toiler. We are officially ahead of Bangladesh,Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. When will these highly paid rocket scientists at Cricket Australia finally make the call and get rid of, Hughes,Ponting, Hussey, Haddin.We have taken huge chances with young bowlers and they have done the job, but when it comes to batsmen it is a closed shop. Captain courageous back to his best and failed when needed most. He will live off that South African innings for the next five years.I appreciate what Ponting and Hussey have done for Australian cricket, but let us remember them for their brilliant innings and not for the two old blokes who put money before duty and had to be sacked.If Michael Clark was the leader he makes out to be he would be telling them it is over and if they did not retire he would go to the press with his thoughts. i am sick and tired of hearing how good Hughes is as a batsman. If they had perservered with Hodge in the same manner they have with Hughes then goodness knows how many runs he would have made.
 
Calm down Clocker, don't become a sore loser ;)

Us kiwis didn't expect there was a chance in hell of us beating you guys in Tazzy but hey, we did. :D Chris Martin bowled, just like all our bowlers and all your bowlers (not Starc) they bowled brilliant lines and brilliant lengths. This made for a amazing test match so please stop being such a pessimist and give credit when credit is due. We were better on the day, leave it at that

On Australian cricket. We all know Hughes is going to get dropped. I feel Hussey should also get dropped so Watson opens with Warner and Marsh comes in for Hussey batting at 6. Please don't get all doom and gloom because you have discovered a few young Dale Steyn's in Cummins and Pattinson. Any team in the world would love having them and plus, you have Warner getting a century in probably the hardest batting conditions of the last 10 years. Your team is not doomed just because you had a shock loss
 
Gentlemen, we have just lost a Test to a team widely labelled as the probably the worse Kiwi team to come to our shores for over 25 years.Their opening bowler is a 37 year old honest toiler. We are officially ahead of Bangladesh,Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. When will these highly paid rocket scientists at Cricket Australia finally make the call and get rid of, Hughes,Ponting, Hussey, Haddin.We have taken huge chances with young bowlers and they have done the job, but when it comes to batsmen it is a closed shop. Captain courageous back to his best and failed when needed most. He will live off that South African innings for the next five years.I appreciate what Ponting and Hussey have done for Australian cricket, but let us remember them for their brilliant innings and not for the two old blokes who put money before duty and had to be sacked.If Michael Clark was the leader he makes out to be he would be telling them it is over and if they did not retire he would go to the press with his thoughts. i am sick and tired of hearing how good Hughes is as a batsman. If they had perservered with Hodge in the same manner they have with Hughes then goodness knows how many runs he would have made.

Didn't take long for the Hodge argument to come out. The guy was a dud.

Hughes is almost certainly gone, he needs to go back to Shield cricket and work on his technique, getting caught in the slips four times in four innings is not acceptable, particularly to the same shot. Ponting is just about done, as I said earlier he needs to be told this is his last summer and then promptly asked to retire or be dropped. You could also argue that Hussey is in trouble if he doesn't start making some runs also.

The rest would be relatively safe but on notice mainly due to a lack of options (not too convinced on Matthew Wade). Khawaja looks good at times but seems to keep getting out for scores of 20-40, Haddin is not prepared to work hard enough with the bat. When he knuckles down and toughs it out he is a good batsman but he seems too concerned with playing the big shots. The most frustrating thing is he gets himself out rather than the opposition actually taking his wicket on merit.

The bowling was great though, couldn't ask for much more. Harris to come back in if fit with the rest to stay in the squad you'd feel. Starc would be the first to go though if Harris were to come back in.

My Squad

Warner
Watson
S. Marsh
Ponting (last series)
*Clarke
M Hussey (needs to start making runs)
+Haddin (on notice)
Harris
Siddle
Pattinson
Lyon

Starc
Khawaja/Ed Cowan
 
If we are going to lose, why lose with players who are past it? Doesn't make sense to keep Punter and Huss. Haddin's pretty safe unfortunately, but we can't keep the rest of that cabal in the middle/late order intact. It's just laziness on behalf of the selectors, not wanting to take tough decisions.
 
Gentlemen, we have just lost a Test to a team widely labelled as the probably the worse Kiwi team to come to our shores for over 25 years.Their opening bowler is a 37 year old honest toiler. We are officially ahead of Bangladesh,Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. When will these highly paid rocket scientists at Cricket Australia finally make the call and get rid of, Hughes,Ponting, Hussey, Haddin.We have taken huge chances with young bowlers and they have done the job, but when it comes to batsmen it is a closed shop. Captain courageous back to his best and failed when needed most. He will live off that South African innings for the next five years.I appreciate what Ponting and Hussey have done for Australian cricket, but let us remember them for their brilliant innings and not for the two old blokes who put money before duty and had to be sacked.If Michael Clark was the leader he makes out to be he would be telling them it is over and if they did not retire he would go to the press with his thoughts. i am sick and tired of hearing how good Hughes is as a batsman. If they had perservered with Hodge in the same manner they have with Hughes then goodness knows how many runs he would have made.

I couldn't have put better myself clocker. Those four have to go, our batting is disgraceful................hodge wouldve made 10000 test runs had he had the chance!
 
Didn't take long for the Hodge argument to come out. The guy was a dud.

Hughes is almost certainly gone, he needs to go back to Shield cricket and work on his technique, getting caught in the slips four times in four innings is not acceptable, particularly to the same shot. Ponting is just about done, as I said earlier he needs to be told this is his last summer and then promptly asked to retire or be dropped. You could also argue that Hussey is in trouble if he doesn't start making some runs also.

The rest would be relatively safe but on notice mainly due to a lack of options (not too convinced on Matthew Wade). Khawaja looks good at times but seems to keep getting out for scores of 20-40, Haddin is not prepared to work hard enough with the bat. When he knuckles down and toughs it out he is a good batsman but he seems too concerned with playing the big shots. The most frustrating thing is he gets himself out rather than the opposition actually taking his wicket on merit.

The bowling was great though, couldn't ask for much more. Harris to come back in if fit with the rest to stay in the squad you'd feel. Starc would be the first to go though if Harris were to come back in.

My Squad

Warner
Watson
S. Marsh
Ponting (last series)
*Clarke
M Hussey (needs to start making runs)
+Haddin (on notice)
Harris
Siddle
Pattinson
Lyon

Starc
Khawaja/Ed Cowan

I cant agree with you on Haddin, hes a flat track bully, he does not value his wicket & doesnt work hard enough when the going gets tough.......& hes a crap keeper also!
 
It would appear that this was a better test of Clarke as captain than we have seen before. I have been prepared to eat humble pie over Clarke but he blew it by hanging Hughs. After all Hughs actually did quite well in the second innings. The only bowling change i would make would be Stark out for Harris but the bat, MMM. Let's see who is fit shall we but my team if i could have them is below. The selector chairman and senior coach need to council Clarke heavily or he will be the next Kim Hughs.

Rogers over looked for some reason
Warner earned his chance
Marsh. S over injury
Clarke questions about leadership for me, but has had good form
Khawaja deserves the chance so many other great batsman have had starting at 5 or 6
Watson Clearly not a big score maker best at six. a century is stretching him
Wade The reality is that Haddin is had it. He just cannot dig up an effort of real quality.
Siddle Earned his chances, still think it's more than bad luck
Pattinson He and Cummins will lead us to the future if they stay fit.
Harris Fit he is a must against india. But only fit
Lyon A good solid spinner, see him being around for a while, unless the next Warne is found.
12th Stark Reward for a big heart.
 
It would appear that this was a better test of Clarke as captain than we have seen before. I have been prepared to eat humble pie over Clarke but he blew it by hanging Hughs. After all Hughs actually did quite well in the second innings.

I thought it was fair. He's backed him 100% but has repeatedly failed, I don't much problem with telling him he needs to find some runs.

Hughes should have been out for a duck in the second innings anyway. He really needs to go back to Shield cricket and work on his game because it just isn't up to it at the moment.
 
Hey Lip,
Just for the record.
Matches 6
Runs scored 503
Batting average 55.88
Top score 203*
Be big enough to give credit where credit is due.He was a Vic who for some reason got on the wrong side of Ponting and had his career stamped never to play for Australia again.
When Haddin knuckles down? You are joking. A swinging ball and he plays the same shot twice and then throws his head back in shock when he goes out. The reason he plays these shots is because he is afraid. Easier to swing at everything then put your body behind the ball. Wade has proven he can knuckle down and will fight it out. His record for the Vics demonstrates this.
If Zaheer Khan is fit he will cut through the Aussies. The new selectors are just bureaucrats with rubber stamps doing what they are told. What's the joke going around? If Hughes nicks himself shaving, guptil will be there with the band aid.
 
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