Test XI Selection Thread

[Boris]

Test XI Selection Thread

I'm not going to bother arguing that point, as it's completely irrelevant from my original debate.

Sorry, kinda melded two things in at once.

I was moving on from the Hayden topic onto a new one.

Anyway, what are people's thoughts on North now?

Will he be around for New Zealand?

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

He will but he shouldnt be, would like to see White make alot of runs with some chances higher up the order during the upcoming one day series against Pakistan and the Windies and see if that increases the pressure on North and earns him a trip to NZ

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

He will but he shouldnt be, would like to see White make alot of runs with some chances higher up the order during the upcoming one day series against Pakistan and the Windies and see if that increases the pressure on North and earns him a trip to NZ

I'm not convinced on White in the long form just yet actually. I think he has been talked up a little bit too much.

Personally I would rather see Dussey, but not sure his form will allow him.

Probably someone like Bailey or even Hughes would get the spot first.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

No doubt Phil "I have never made a test run outside of Durban" Hughes will go, the selectors love him no matter how shit he plays

As for Bailey? Where does the love of Bailey come from? He has a worse record than White and is older although I did see someone talking him up as a young player recently

 

[breeno]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

No doubt Phil "I have never made a test run outside of Durban" Hughes will go, the selectors love him no matter how shit he plays

Johannesburg, 75.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Oh wow, 75! Thats the sort of score that should see a player given another 50 chances

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

As for Bailey? Where does the love of Bailey come from? He has a worse record than White and is older although I did see someone talking him up as a young player recently

I have no idea where the Bailey idea came from either. Just the word on everyone's lips.

Haven't seen him play in recent times so I can't say anything in objection.

 

[breeno]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Oh wow, 75! Thats the sort of score that should see a player given another 50 chances

If it was a Victorian you'd be calling for them to be given another 100 chances.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

If it was a Victorian you'd be calling for them to be given another 100 chances.

Yet unlike Brad Hodge, Phil Hughes doesnt have 10,000+ first class runs behind him

Basically thrown into the side on the back of a couple of good performances and his test career so far has shown he is nowhere near ready for test cricket

It would be like a Victorian claiming that Matthew Wade should replace Haddin now

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Hughes should have had at least three full seasons behind him, with which two of them he must have been performing and performing consistently.

The same must be said of a certain bowler...

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread



But bowlers will always come and go alot quicker due to more injuries, Hughes jumped players with lots of years of form behind them because he was the latest NSW superstar

Siddle jumped no one, they all fell over in front of him

 

[breeno]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

But bowlers will always come and go alot quicker due to more injuries, Hughes jumped players with lots of years of form behind them because he was the latest NSW superstar

Siddle jumped no one, they all fell over in front of him

He is so lucky Hilfenhaus is injured, that's all I have to say on the matter.

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

But bowlers will always come and go alot quicker due to more injuries, Hughes jumped players with lots of years of form behind them because he was the latest NSW superstar

Siddle jumped no one, they all fell over in front of him

I cannot believe the luck he had to get past about 10 guys I would have had selected before him. Just very, very lucky for him that almost all of them had one lean game when he got a 9fa. That's all there was to it.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

I cannot believe the luck he had to get past about 10 guys I would have had selected before him. Just very, very lucky for him that almost all of them had one lean game when he got a 9fa. That's all there was to it.

Who were the 10 fit bowlers you would have picked ahead of him?

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Who were the 10 fit bowlers you would have picked ahead of him?

I knew you were going to ask this. A touch of exaggeration may have occurred.

All I know is that when he was called to the side, I hadn't a clue who he was or what he was doing there. Looked at his stats and they weren't great, especially in the 'innings' column. Around the country I found players like Hilfenhaus as one, and there are some others, and just wondered why the selectors went with Siddle of all players. I hadn't heard of him in the media, hadn't seen any articles on any websites about him or ever seen him play. It's not as if I don't pay attention to the world of Australian cricket, either.

Just made me wonder who he was sleeping with to get him there in one swift movement. Even you have to admit he isn't an absolute superstar, and if he came from any other state where you wouldn't have seen him play you would have wondered the same thing too.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Hilfenhaus is easy, they were going to India, not England and he had just been belted all over the park by every team in the previous Shield season

Got any others?

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

Hilfenhaus is easy, they were going to India, not England and he had just been belted all over the park by every team in the previous Shield season

Got any others?

I can't remember back to the time of his debut. I wasn't exactly looking for fast bowlers since Clark and Lee were doing more than a good job.

Exaggeration is great!

 

[metric]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

the push for steve smith just got louder....

HOBART - Former Australian selector John Benaud has said that 20-year-old New South Wales leg-spinner Steve Smith should replace struggling Marcus North for the tour of New Zealand, starting next month.

Benaud is adamant that North must be sacked after a horror series against West Indies and Pakistan, allowing Australia to give Smith his first baggy green cap and blood him for the Ashes series, which is just 10 months away.

“If the selectors see Steve Smith as a potential Test player against England next year, then they should give him a chance - and a short tour of New Zealand would be a good opportunity,” The Daily Telegraph quoted Benaud, as saying.

“He has the ability to bat No. 6. At some stage, the selectors will have to find another young batsman. North is getting on in age and so is our top order, guys like Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting, so a bit of new blood wouldn’t be a bad thing with the Ashes not too far away,” he added.

North’s place in the Test squad is in doubt after he had a disastrous series against Pakistan, where he scored just 41 runs in three Tests with a top score of 21 and an average of 10.25.

Talking about North, Benaud said: “His form warrants being dropped. The danger with North is that he is out of form and you tend to hang onto these blokes hoping they will bat their way into form … when you could have blooded a younger guy and given him three or four Tests to find his feet.”

Smith was earlier called up to the Australian Test side to cover for spinner Nathan Hauritz, who was in doubt for Boxing Day Test against Pakistan, but Hauritz managed to recover. (ANI

http://blog.taragana.com/sports/201...truggling-marcus-north-former-selector-66739/

 

[Boris]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

I'm not completely sure on Smith. I'm not sure he is a good enough batsman or a good enough bowler for the side. This is number 6 we are talking about, he really does need to be able to bat at this level, and I have always heard of him as a bowling all rounder (correct me if I'm wrong). If he were in the side I would have Haddin batting above him.

It would be good, however, to have another bowler. There are times when all 5 bowlers seem down on luck and nothing goes their way, and when this happens they are too young and inexperienced to regroup and make things turn their way. If everything starts going their way then they blast through an opposition, but if one good partnership starts against them they seem to implode and every ball they are screaming at something or someone. Safety in numbers, I say.

But the only trouble is that he is just another youngster to add to the list that is already too big on the list. By my calculations by then end of careers, Hughes, Smith, Hauritz, Siddle, Bollinger, Hilfenhaus, and probably any other young batsman lining up for a turn will all retire at around the same season. And is that just going to be great in 15 years time?

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Australian Test XI - Selection Thread

More NSW obsession, Cameron White is a better bowler and batsman