***Official*** Commonwealth Bank Tri-Series

[meatspx]

Michael Clarke was

 

[mikeW]

Clarke I think.

yep Clarke got it.

 

[McKanga]

.....BTW who was man of the match? I would of thought it was Hussey again, but maybe McMillan......

If that was the first time Hussey had done that the he'd have won for sure. Worryingly it seems the team are beginning to expect it and the media not notice. McMillan would have been a worthy winner if they had won, but to get it when they lost would have been cruel (Nathan Buckley in the 2002 AFL GF all over again).

 

[brockley]

Hayden and white have to go without a doubt,voges with a cool head for white,dunno who you replace hayden with hodge i guess,not katich tho.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Hussey is getting a bit of a reputation for being a lucky cricketer. Good player but thats two games where he should have been gone early and went on to win the game for his side.

You think? Reputation from whom?

 

[andyc]

I'd personally bring in Haddin.

Maybe even let Clarke open, and Watson slide back into the middle order when he comes back. Watson is not an ODI opener though, I think that's fairly apparent.

What makes you say that? He's gone well recently while opening...

 

[vic_orthdox]

Hayden lucky to get back in the first place. Jaques not making runs this year was probably the only reason.

@ dropping White already. Give the guy time, should have the spot till Watson comes back.

 

[Prince EWS]

What makes you say that? He's gone well recently while opening...

I'm a big Watson fan but he has played some really ordinary shots while opening amongst some solid batting and good strokeplay. I think he'd be best at 4. He's certainly better utilised opening than he is batting at 7 or 8 though.

 

[Prince EWS]

Hayden lucky to get back in the first place. Jaques not making runs this year was probably the only reason.

@ dropping White already. Give the guy time, should have the spot till Watson comes back.

Yeah, dropping White would be harsh. I was arguing about that matter on another forum just then - I was completely outnumbered though, with most of members (ridiculously) insisting that Hogg would be better on batting alone. Obviously two ODI failures is enough for them to decide that White is "rubbish" - better give Ponting and Gilchrist the axe too.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

and a dove started to cry.

Nah, I think Bracks is just like his father, too bold.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Yeah, dropping White would be harsh. I was arguing about that matter on another forum just then - I was completely outnumbered though, with most of members (ridiculously) insisting that Hogg would be better on batting alone. Obviously two ODI failures is enough for them to decide that White is "rubbish" - better give Ponting and Gilchrist the axe too.

Let me guess.

It starts with a 'B' and ends with an 'igFooty?'

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Went to the match today, from about the 30 over mark of the NZ innings on. Was pretty good fun, though it would have been nice if NZ made a few more. Clarke and Hussey were great, and Symonds played some brilliant shots. Gillespie and Mason were really impressive for NZ, and McMillan batted well also. NZ's fielding was really dire though. Even aside from the dropped catches, they just looked really sloppy out there, which is a massive turnaround from the first game against Australia.

Anyway, there were a few funny moments, mainly revolving around the crowd in the Doug Walters stand chanting "SIGN OUR ****" at one of the NZ seamers (Gillespie, I think) who wouldn't sign something. They kept it up for several minutes until he eventually ran a fair distance to give some autographs and shut them up.

Also enjoyed the charmer of a Kiwi fan I had sitting directly behind me for the whole day. He kicked things off by going ape over McMillan's dismissal (how the **** was that not a no ball? cheating Aussies), added in some light racial abuse directed at Andrew Symonds when he came out to bat, and finished by ranting about how Hussey is a filthy cheat and was out caught from edges three times, but the umpires were too scared to give him out.

 

[kwigibo]

I think it's worth giving Clarke a shot at the top, push White up with Hogg at 7 or bring in David Hussey (apparently I'm still the only one who considers him a viable national player). Otherwise bring in Jaques and give him more than one game to prove himself and you might just be half way to an unbeatable world cup lineup.

Hodge, Katich and Hayden are not ODI players, never were, never will be. There are younger guys with better one day skills and/or stats who need to stop being overlooked.

 

[aussie]

big Matty has got to be carefull here, needs a big score pretty soon with so many other good players pushing for places.

 

[Prince EWS]

There are younger guys with better one day skills and/or stats who need to stop being overlooked.

Jaques is lucky to be in the NSW side at the moment - he's going that bad. You made a plea for younger players and then brought up David Hussey.. quite contradictory really.

I also don't think you could contemplate playing White at 6 and Hogg at 7.. would be a freakishly weak batting lineup.

 

[aussie]

I think it's worth giving Clarke a shot at the top, push White up with Hogg at 7 or bring in David Hussey (apparently I'm still the only one who considers him a viable national player). Otherwise bring in Jaques and give him more than one game to prove himself and you might just be half way to an unbeatable world cup lineup.

Fair idea on Clarke opening but not on the White/Hogg batting positions. I haven't ruled out D Hussey as a possible option myself but i feel he's a bit to far down the pecking order ATM to be seriously considered for the WC.

Hodge, Katich and Hayden are not ODI players, never were, never will be. There are younger guys with better one day skills and/or stats who need to stop being overlooked.

I'd give you Katich but not Hayden & Hodge. Hayden would not go down as a great ODI opener but at his best he was very dangerous while Hodge IMO has been unlucky in that he gets these one off games & hasn't really cashed in, i've seen him playing for Lancashire & he's ODI material no doubt..

 

[Prince EWS]

big Matty has got to be carefull here, needs a big score pretty soon with so many other good players pushing for places.

I think that's a bit of a myth actually - as far as one day cricket is concerned anyway.

Jaques and Cosgrove are having dire seasons... Katich and Hodge have been tried and failed.... Rogers is not a one day player - can't even make the WA side.

Australian backup one day batting stocks are looking a bit thin actually.

 

[marc71178]

An in joke between me and a few mates of mine. We were watching Hayden in the outfield at an ODI in Wellington a couple of years back and noticed that his rear end was roughly equivalent in circumference to Jupiter.

Uranus, surely?

 

[kwigibo]

Jaques is lucky to be in the NSW side at the moment - he's going that bad. You made a plea for younger players and then brought up David Hussey.. quite contradictory really.

I also don't think you could contemplate playing White at 6 and Hogg at 7.. would be a freakishly weak batting lineup.

He's significantly younger than those 3 (29 as opposed to 31, 32, 35), younger players does not mean <25, australian batsmen usually aren't good enough that young anyway. Jaques and Hussey are far better one day prospects than Hodge, Katich or Hayden. Jaques has had a patchy season, sure, but NSW is not so blessed as to be in any position to drop him. Still, his next innings will need to be very good before he'd be worth a spot, which is why he was not my first suggestion, though he would have been early in the season.

Hussey however is coming off a good innings, he's a big match player like his brother, with the same mix of shot player/accumulator that makes a great ODI player. If anyone's worth a shot in the middle order, it's him, he's got the je ne sais qua.

I don't see what's wrong with White and Hogg as a lower middle order myself if you get a decent partner for Gilchrist, that should be plenty of batting, you only need a specialist at 7 if you can't trust your top order. White was not selected for his feats at no 7 but for at 3, 4 and 5. I like a deep batting order, I really do, but who else do you put down there who's a good enough bowler and a better lower order bat than Hogg and who's not wasted or out of place at 7? Hopes? (leading ranger cup wicket taker) Assuming Watson returns a 4th specialist seamer is superfluous and hogg's your no 8 anyway.

White is better suited at 7 than Watson, but I still think it's too low. Unless Clarke opens there's no room in the middle order anyway so it's moot. Then they have to replace Hayden from the outside, in which case Jaques couldn't be any worse than Hayden, or better yet give Klinger (leading ranger cup run scorer) a go. Hayden is not a long term option, so he has to be performing outside of his skin to justify his spot where the alternatives might actually benefit from a little good faith.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Uranus, surely?

Dire and predictable