***Official*** India in Australia

[Jono]

The trouble is that Sehwag is so woefully inconsistent. His average is boosted by massive double centuries - I don't think he's as valuable to the team as his average might suggest.

Lol @ "boosted by double centuries".

Yeah those damn double centuries, do no good at all.

 

[Laurrz]

Australian XII for the boxing day test has been announced :-
1.Phil Jaques NSW
2.Matthew Hayden QLD
3.Ricky Ponting TAS
4.Mike Hussey WA
5.Michael Clarke NSW
6.Andrew Symonds QLD
7.Adam Gilchrist WA
8.Bradley Hogg WA
9.Brett Lee NSW
10.M.Johnson QLD
11.S.Clark NSW
12.S.Tait SA
I am happy with the squad we have picked now let's hope they do well.

Hogg v Tait is really hard i cant split em

 

[SJS]

Lol @ "boosted by double centuries".

Yeah those damn double centuries, do no good at all.

 

[Top_Cat]

Lol @ "boosted by double centuries".

Yeah those damn double centuries, do no good at all.

Yeh, and just imagine how much Bradman's average was boosted by those pesky triples.

Over-rated, he was.

 

[Burgey]

Australian XII for the boxing day test has been announced :-
1.Phil Jaques NSW
2.Matthew Hayden QLD
3.Ricky Ponting TAS
4.Mike Hussey WA
5.Michael Clarke NSW
6.Andrew Symonds QLD
7.Adam Gilchrist WA
8.Bradley Hogg WA
9.Brett Lee NSW
10.M.Johnson QLD
11.S.Clark NSW
12.S.Tait SA
I am happy with the squad we have picked now let's hope they do well.

Is there a realistic chance Australia might drop Johnson and play both Tait and Hogg at Melbourne? I remember in 93-94 the selectors had trouble splitting McGrath and Reiffel who were both new onthe test scene, and they kind of played alternative tests through the summer.
Guess it comes down to whether they think it's that line-ball bewteen Johnson & Tait, or whether the former has done enough to cement his spot for a little while.
Edit: Wonderful to see not a single Victorian in there!

 

[Top_Cat]

Is there a realistic chance Australia might drop Johnson and play both Tait and Hogg at Melbourne? I remember in 93-94 the selectors had trouble splitting McGrath and Reiffel who were both new onthe test scene, and they kind of played alternative tests through the summer.
Guess it comes down to whether they think it's that line-ball bewteen Johnson & Tait, or whether the former has done enough to cement his spot for a little while.

Based on the fact he's a Test newbie, it'd be tempting to go that way but with Johnson, what's been really good about his bowling is how he's gotten his wickets and the obvious thought that's gone into his bowling. I can't really explain it other than to say it seems to be the cricketing equivalent of menschkeit; the stuff between the wickets. Couple that with his ball against Sinclair the other night (that was a great 'Test' wicket, if you catch my meaning; on a length, moving away, great bowling) and I reckon we'd see why it'd be harsh to drop him. Sure he didn't take a bag in QLD or Tas but the wickets he got were important (all were top-order wickets from memory), he didn't go for many runs and always looked dangerous, the occasional short one notwithstanding.

I guess what I'm saying is that picking either Tait (runs conceded) or Hogg (effect on good players of spin) is a gamble whereas I reckon Johnson is not far off being a banker. Deserves a long run in the team and the results will come I'm sure. I also reckon Ponting is a fan so he'd be fighting for him at the selection table.

 

[pup11]

Based on the fact he's a Test newbie, it'd be tempting to go that way but with Johnson, what's been really good about his bowling is how he's gotten his wickets and the obvious thought that's gone into his bowling. I can't really explain it other than to say it seems to be the cricketing equivalent of menschkeit; the stuff between the wickets. Couple that with his ball against Sinclair the other night (that was a great 'Test' wicket, if you catch my meaning; on a length, moving away, great bowling) and I reckon we'd see why it'd be harsh to drop him. Sure he didn't take a bag in QLD or Tas but the wickets he got were important (all were top-order wickets from memory), he didn't go for many runs and always looked dangerous, the occasional short one notwithstanding.

I guess what I'm saying is that picking either Tait (runs conceded) or Hogg (effect on good players of spin) is a gamble whereas I reckon Johnson is not far off being a banker. Deserves a long run in the team and the results will come I'm sure. I also reckon Ponting is a fan so he'd be fighting for him at the selection table.

But its not ideal preparation for Johnson sitting on the bench in C-H series if he is scheduled to play in the boxing day test, Tait is being prefered ahead of him in the C-H series so that could be a hint of the things to come, but TBH Johnson has done quite well in the two test's he has played so far without being brilliant so it would be a harsh call to drop him for Tait (though his recent wicket-taking form has been superb and he almost demands a place in the XI on current form) but now its very clear that they won't play with 4 pacers because they probably won't have picked Hogg in the squad if that was the case, so IMO its down to Tait v Johnson for a berth in the final XI.

 

[Evermind]

Social is right.

Sehwag has a 50+ every 3.6innings or so, including the patch of the last 10-20 innings where he's been out of sorts. Similar to Ganguly (1 in 3.6), not too different than Laxman (1 every 3.4 innings) but behind folks like Dravid (1 in 2.6) and Tendulkar (1 in 2.7).

He has 3 double centuries in those 87 innings, none against minnows, so his average is not artificially boosted by a few innings.

He's had a very long bad patch(ongoing, needs to get out of) and a very long good patch (over a few years). Not really inconsistent as most people would understand the term. Couldn't have peaked at the #2 spot in player rankings if he was.

But nevermind.

ps. I dont believe he should be in the present Indian squad until he finds domestic form (was rooting for Chopra).

Yep, agreed with that.

Sehwag has never really filled me with much confidence - he's generally a hit or miss kinda guy, and while sometimes it does come off, of late he hasn't been as good with the bigger scores.

Though I understand that it was mostly his form in ODIs that had suffered, not so much in tests. In any case, Karthik fills me with even less confidence than Sehwag, for some reason, in spite of the England series scores.

 

[Mister Wright]

Disapointed Noffke isn't in the 12, but Tait has been bowling well. Hopefully Johnson isn't dropped, but you never know.

 

[TheLad]

A very real concern for me with India is how little adjusting time they have before the first test.

One warm up match against Victoria is hardly enough. Pitches in Australia are different from most of the cricketing world and Indian pitches are about as far away as you can get. I rate the Indian batting line up but its a big ask getting up adjusted in time for the 26th.

 

[honestbharani]

You forget Ganguly's terrible run of scores in England.

no, I didn't... It was in July or August and the tour to RSA happened around December, I think...


Anyways, the point is just that while Sourav had at least THE ODD big score, Sehwag hasn't even had that....


Neither guy had the scores to merit selection at the respective stages but Sehwag even less so than Sourav..

 

[AKkAz]

Whose pankaj singh?

 

[AKkAz]

id go with hogg

 

[Top_Cat]

But its not ideal preparation for Johnson sitting on the bench in C-H series if he is scheduled to play in the boxing day test, Tait is being prefered ahead of him in the C-H series so that could be a hint of the things to come, but TBH Johnson has done quite well in the two test's he has played so far without being brilliant so it would be a harsh call to drop him for Tait (though his recent wicket-taking form has been superb and he almost demands a place in the XI on current form) but now its very clear that they won't play with 4 pacers because they probably won't have picked Hogg in the squad if that was the case, so IMO its down to Tait v Johnson for a berth in the final XI.

I think you're right. That Johnson hasn't got a game in the ODI's is a harbinger for the MCG. It would appear that the preference is for Tait and the fact that he got spanked initially but came back well in the Adelaide ODI would only strengthen his case.

Such a shame for Johnson, though. Just made the team and nothing short of a 5-fer would probably have secured his spot. Still, there's heaps of cricket to be played in the next 18 months. He'll be in the mix if there's an injury or even slight loss of form, I reckon.

 

[Jono]

Anyone know what time the India vs. Vic game starts tomorrow at Junction Oval?

 

[Dasa]

Anyone know what time the India vs. Vic game starts tomorrow at Junction Oval?

The game starts at 11AM. There are meant to be thunderstorms over the next three days though.

 

[Laurrz]

i'll probably be there on sat

hope the rain goes away

 

[biased indian]

how about the Melbourne weather

 

[howardj]

Hope India get a decent hit out in this match. It bodes poorly for the Summer otherwise.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Relieved Johnson got picked. His naturally short length bodes for hefty yields this series.