**Official** Australia in West Indies

[chaminda_00]

yea i was gonna say about Murali..
is he out of form?

either way he wouldnt get punished as much as if it was India!

Harris is a pretty defensive bowler.. not hard to negotiate..
that new kid Mendis really did make em look clueless though

Murali still bowled quite well at times. It just the West Indies batsmen did their homework. Harris is defensive, but in the past they usually tired to play too many big shots against that type of bowling. But the likes of Samuels, were really patient against him. Mendis had the wood on them in the first match, but for the rest of series they played him quite well.

MacGill wont get smacked around as much as against a team like India. But I doubt he will take many wickets, if West Indies bat the way they have recently against spinners. He not in the greatest form himself. He might have bowled some good spells in the last couple FC matches in Australia. But overall struggled to maintain consistency over a long period. You can get away with that in FC cricket, but not at Test level.

 

[roseboy64]

Im not sure if it will be flat tracks..

Same here. Most of the grounds had work done on them for the WC and am pretty sure quite a few included redoing the pitch. No telling what kind of track it'll be until you see it before the match. Queen's Park Oval wasn't flat. Providence was because they were using a road making machine to roll the pitch. WICB ............

 

[howardj]

Can we afford to play symmonds they are flat batting tracks,its not as if symmo is a front line bowler.i would rather have casson or noffke at 7 to bowl the windies out.We did this last time,doubt symmo will take a 5 for especially after his miserable 20/20 form.

Yeah, but Lara was in their team last time. There is nothing to suggest that we will have trouble knocking over their batting line up, regardless of how flat the pitches. Anyway, Symonds will be one of the first guys picked, regardless. He has earnt his spot by sheer weight of performance.

 

[howardj]

What times are the tests on AEST?

I think the Tests kick off at 11:30pm EST.

Matches in Jamaica, from memory, are an hour later.

 

[Laurrz]

Murali still bowled quite well at times. It just the West Indies batsmen did their homework. Harris is defensive, but in the past they usually tired to play too many big shots against that type of bowling. But the likes of Samuels, were really patient against him. Mendis had the wood on them in the first match, but for the rest of series they played him quite well.

MacGill wont get smacked around as much as against a team like India. But I doubt he will take many wickets, if West Indies bat the way they have recently against spinners. He not in the greatest form himself. He might have bowled some good spells in the last couple FC matches in Australia. But overall struggled to maintain consistency over a long period. You can get away with that in FC cricket, but not at Test level.

Yea fair enough

the thing is thought one of the main weaknesses in Aussie is the spin bowler.. and you really have to exploit that to have a chance of winning i reckon [ie. playing him well and only not letting him take bagful of wickets may not be good enough]... MacGill is in poor form but im not sure if they can, in fact its probably a 50-50 bet in whether Macca will do well imo..

 

[andruid]

Looking forward to see how The West Indies Seamers will face up against the Ausi top order.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Nash on 89* at last check against Trinidad and Tobago in the Carib Beer Cup final. What are the odds that he gets picked to play against Australia at some point. What are the odds that he gets past 30 if he does?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

that new kid Mendis really did make em look clueless though

As Tharmi said, West Indies handled him better after the initial shock. He's the type of bowler who will usually have his biggest effect when he first faces a team, due to the mystery factor.

 

[roseboy64]

Nash on 89* at last check against Trinidad and Tobago in the Carib Beer Cup final. What are the odds that he gets picked to play against Australia at some point. What are the odds that he gets past 30 if he does?

Made his century and with Dyson there too. Will at least get into the tour match XI.

 

[gettingbetter]

Can we afford to play symmonds they are flat batting tracks,its not as if symmo is a front line bowler.i would rather have casson or noffke at 7 to bowl the windies out.We did this last time,doubt symmo will take a 5 for especially after his miserable 20/20 form.

The more we want him out of the team, the better he gets. FFS he is averaging 40+ and probably close to 60-80 in his last 12-18 months.

 

[chaminda_00]

Yea fair enough

the thing is thought one of the main weaknesses in Aussie is the spin bowler.. and you really have to exploit that to have a chance of winning i reckon [ie. playing him well and only not letting him take bagful of wickets may not be good enough]... MacGill is in poor form but im not sure if they can, in fact its probably a 50-50 bet in whether Macca will do well imo..

The thing with MacGill and even worse when it comes to Casson. Is when they are not taking wickets, they still will go for plenty of runs. So they will just take pressure of the batsmen to score quickly of seamers and allow then to just see them out. As there will be easier runs down the other end.

 

[pup11]

Kk. You do realize putting your number on the net is a tad silly though?

Its not as if Permsy is a beautiful girl that people would be dying to get his number, but still its never too smart to flash your number on the net.

 

[aussie]

The selectors need to find a place for Watson on the ODI leg for this tour at least.

 

[gettingbetter]

At this moment in time Hopes>Watson and I don't think what either do in the IPL will have an influence upon selection.

 

[Flem274*]

At this moment in time Hopes>Watson and I don't think what either do in the IPL will have an influence upon selection.

Is that for ODIs? Watto is better than Hopes. TBH Hopes looks like a number 8 and when bowling doesn't seem all that quick from what I've seen. Watson is a batsman who can bowl, not a bits and pieces allrounder.

Noffke>Hopes as well.

 

[chaminda_00]

Watson can't last 100 overs. Should just stick to Twenty20 cricket and become the first Twenty20 specialist. Isn't he playing for Hampshire as Twenty20 specialist as well.

 

[Burgey]

The test side picks itself, doesn't it?

Haddin in for Gilly and MacGill for GBH. The rest won't change, surely.

I'd think, though, that Phil Jaques will want to make some consistent runs. Not beyond the realms to bring Katich in as an opener mid-series.

Also, this isn't directed to any specific posters in this thread, but the anti-Symonds stuff is getting a bit OTT really. He may not be everyone's cup of tea, but he's done enough recently to have a bit of credit in the bank at test level, surely.

 

[gettingbetter]

Is that for ODIs? Watto is better than Hopes. TBH Hopes looks like a number 8 and when bowling doesn't seem all that quick from what I've seen. Watson is a batsman who can bowl, not a bits and pieces allrounder.

Noffke>Hopes as well.

Yeah, thats for ODIs, but just like Katich is better than Symonds, Hopes and Symonds have done enough to keep out their rivals for a while yet. Hopes may look like an 8, but what he did in the CB series has been close to Watson, and his bowling has been better than anything Watson has ever done (bare in mind, I don't rate eithers bowling and whenever each get a wicket, I think it is mainly via luck).

 

[Mister Wright]

Is that for ODIs? Watto is better than Hopes. TBH Hopes looks like a number 8 and when bowling doesn't seem all that quick from what I've seen. Watson is a batsman who can bowl, not a bits and pieces allrounder.

Noffke>Hopes as well.

Haha. Crazy talk. Hopes anything but a no. 8. And you don't have to be a quick bowler to be effective in ODIs, this coming from a Kiwi is shocking considering Zing Zang used to play for your side. Should know better.

 

[Flem274*]

Haha. Crazy talk. Hopes anything but a no. 8. And you don't have to be a quick bowler to be effective in ODIs, this coming from a Kiwi is shocking considering Zing Zang used to play for your side. Should know better.

Going on domestic records (I'm probably about to mix him up with Noffke) and from what I've seen he looks a lower order player to me, especially with the power of the line up ahead of him anyway, which gives him no choice.

Yeah I know medium pacers can be very effective, I just think Noffke is a better bowler and since they compete for basically the same place, Noffke gets my vote.

EDIT: And Watson before either.