***Official Australia in India***

[pup11]

Shouldn't that acted as a pumping up for the Aussies as well? "See there are talks that we took last test with help of umpires, so lets show 'em what we really got"?

And besides, was not Perth the most "Aussie" ground?

And wasn't the most hyped pace bowler returning?

All this ideally should have won the match for Australia.

They coped a lot of flak from every corner and that certainly took out a bit of a spunk from the Australian team, they were pretty subdued in their approach, and as far as Tait is concerned he was having a few problems during that and to be fair to him he even took a break from cricket after that.

 

[pup11]

I can't wait for this series to start. It has been awhile since Australia have played a test, too long actually. It looks like it will be on at a good time in Aus as well, I think 2pm- around 10 sounds very good to me.

I hope the coverage on Fox 3 is good, anyone know what commentators there will be?

Ohh yeah also do you think that some of the Aussies would want to perform particularly well in India because of the IPL, try and increase their perceived value?

If they think all about that then they could be doing themselves a lot more harm, than doing any good, they should concentrate on playing good cricket for their country, and rest of the things would follow.

 

[iamdavid]

I've got alot of faith in the Australian batting lineup heading into this series, Hayden, Katich and Clarke have all done well in test cricket in India before and I have every confidence that Hussey and Haddin are capable of adapting. Ponting has a patchy record in India and Jaques' game is not really suited to the conditions and bowling he will face, however even if they have poor tours there is plenty of batting to fall back on.

The bowling is obviously the major worry, presumably Lee and Clark will continue to do well however the depth behind them is a worry and an injury to either of those two and we'd be in big trouble. Noffke is steady and capable however he has minimal experience at international level let alone in India, Johnson was pretty woeful in the West Indies and Bollinger is a bit of a wildcard.
I think Bracken could be a suprise pick given his variations with cutting the ball and the fact that there is no established spinner, I dont think he's cut out for test cricket generally however he is very versatile and reliable and could be useful on a wearing pitch.
I'd pick McGain as the only spinner in the squad as he's the only one I can realistically see having any impact at all..

If I were a selector and the squad was limited to 14 I'd bring -
Hayden
Jaques
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Symonds/Watson
Haddin
Lee
Johnson
Clark
McGain
Bracken
Noffke/Bollinger
Katich

 

[pup11]

My Australian 14 (or is it 15) for the series would be :
1.Phil Jaques
2.Matty Hayden
3.Ricky Ponting
4.Mike Hussey
5.Michael Clarke
6.Andrew Symonds/ Shane Watson
7.Brad Haddin (wk)
8.Beau Casson
9.Brett Lee
10.Mitchell Johnson
11.Stuart Clark
12.Simon Katich
13.Doug Bollinger
14.Luke Ronchi

 

[Precambrian]

Indians will be glad to get Bracken and Johnson bowling in tandem on a hot afternoon on a kotla pitch.

And Aussies didn't look convincing against much weaker Windies some months back, their top order collapsed frequently, memorably once for 18-5. It helped Windies didn't have much penetration in their bowling and also a let off again for Symonds. But still Aussies did well to come back and win them.

 

[pup11]

Indians will be glad to get Bracken and Johnson bowling in tandem on a hot afternoon on a kotla pitch.

And Aussies didn't look convincing against much weaker Windies some months back, their top order collapsed frequently, memorably once for 18-5. It helped Windies didn't have much penetration in their bowling and also a let off again for Symonds. But still Aussies did well to come back and win them.

I live in New Delhi, and it tends to get pretty chilly by October end here, so don't know what you are talking about.

 

[Precambrian]

Ah well then. Make it Bangalore.

 

[Prince EWS]

Indians will be glad to get Bracken and Johnson bowling in tandem on a hot afternoon on a kotla pitch.

Bracken should be pretty much be the first bowler picked for this tour AFAIC. If he plays and averages over 30, I'll be extremely surprised.

 

[Uppercut]

Hussey better than Tendulkar? Lol!! Hussey's average in WI was in the 20s. And Hussey has hardly toured anything. Neither on recent form nor on track record such a comparison can be justified.

Dravid Vs Ponting? Ponting's a proven dud on indian pitches. No comparison there too.

Clarke Vs Ganguly? Tough call. But Clarke has the upperhand.

Sehwag? A league of his own. At current form capable of averaging 60-70 per series.

Dhoni Vs Haddin - Dhoni definitely has the upperhand.

So, it's very obvious Indian batting lineup wins hands down atleast on paper.

Hussey is one of the most underrated batsmen ever IMO, probably because he doesn't look so classy as someone like Tendulkar does. How he manages to average 68 and somehow always be forgotten when the world's best batsmen are talked about is beyond me.

Ponting vs Dravid? Dravid's a proven dud on all pitches. Has been for almost two years now. No comparison there.

One opener apiece i'd say, Hayden+Sehwag a class above the others.

Other than that, not much to argue with.

 

[Precambrian]

If i get international matches in my backyard most of the time, where I've played more than a decade of cricket averaging top in first class, against relatively poor bowling attacks, i'd also average in the 70s.

Let him play away cricket for a while and let's see. He has had his first real 'away' tour, and came out a cropper.

 

[silentstriker]

2-1 Aussies IMO

So you're pegging the Indians to be the same force at home, as they were away, in Australia?

I'm going to say 1-1 draw.

If we prepare the type of pitches we should, it could be a 2-1 win. If we prepare the type of pitches we have been recently (e.g, Ahemdabad), it'll be a 2-1 loss. And if we get lucky with one of the pitches, as I'm hoping, it'll be 1-1.

 

[silentstriker]

An attack like the South African one caused India serious amount of problems even on pre-dominantly spin friendly tracks

No they didn't. The game in Ahemdabad was a South African wicket. India won the third Test securely even though they batted last on a spin pitch, and the other test was a bore-a-thon.

 

[social]

I said it months ago, recently and I'll say it again now - I'll be amazed if India don't win by a convincing margin

Oz have no spinner, no third seamer and every one of their best bats (Hayden/Ponting/Hussey/Symonds) is either out of form or unfit or has been dropped.

Basically, thy're stuffed

 

[GIMH]

Hey does anyone in England know if this will be on Sky? Looking forwards to it.

 

[duffer]

I said it months ago, recently and I'll say it again now - I'll be amazed if India don't win by a convincing margin

Oz have no spinner, no third seamer and every one of their best bats (Hayden/Ponting/Hussey/Symonds) is either out of form or unfit or has been dropped.

Basically, thy're stuffed

Someone will step up. They always do for big series.

 

[Precambrian]

Someone will step up. They always do for big series.

Except for sometimes like Ashes 05.

 

[duffer]

Meh

 

[Top_Cat]

Have been saying for a while I expect a fairly convincing 2-1 win for the Aussies on the back of their batting which looks very, very settled with excellent back-ups. I think the Indian team has been guilty for a while of under-estimating their opponents and I reckon they'll do the same for the Aussies.

Key players for the Aussies I reckon will be Haydos and Stuey Clark. If those two fire, will go a long way towards winning matches. Hussey will be the fixer in a bad situation but hope he's not required. Symonds will also be a key player and would be surprised if he didn't get significant overs.

A couple of areas the Aussies can go wrong, though, would be if they pick a spinner purely because they think they need one. If an option doesn't materialise, I reckon they should accept it and play to their strengths, picking a bloke who, whilst not a spinner, would still be effective in spinning decks. Of course, it's Bracken I speak of. Potential sub-continental specialist if ever I saw one.

Reckon Jaques will be a liability on this tour too. Be very surprised by a 30+ average from him for the series.

 

[pup11]

Except for sometimes like Ashes 05.

Meh... it was Tresco and those dreadful Murray mints that got the better of the Aussies that time around.

 

[Precambrian]

Have been saying for a while I expect a fairly convincing 2-1 win for the Aussies on the back of their batting which looks very, very settled with excellent back-ups. I think the Indian team has been guilty for a while of under-estimating their opponents and I reckon they'll do the same for the Aussies.

I don't think so. They have seen more than enough international cricket to understand not to underestimate any international team, particularly India. I don't think they'll do what Australia did at Perth last time.

And their batting looks very, very settled? Hayden is still iffy due to the injury. And Jaques, how much experience has he got at the top? Ponting's been a joke in india. Then? Hussey? He looks searching for form since the bad tour in Windies, and is yet to prove on away surfaces.

Key players for the Aussies I reckon will be Haydos and Stuey Clark. If those two fire, will go a long way towards winning matches. Hussey will be the fixer in a bad situation but hope he's not required. Symonds will also be a key player and would be surprised if he didn't get significant overs.

Absolutely agree. Only doubt is whether Haydos will be fully fit and whether Symonds will tour. Can't wait to watch Haydos sweep the spinners out.

A couple of areas the Aussies can go wrong, though, would be if they pick a spinner purely because they think they need one. If an option doesn't materialise, I reckon they should accept it and play to their strengths, picking a bloke who, whilst not a spinner, would still be effective in spinning decks. Of course, it's Bracken I speak of. Potential sub-continental specialist if ever I saw one.

Lol, an left arm spinner camouflaged as medium fast? On these slow tracks, he will be taken for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner by the Indian batsmen. Watch out for the "cute paddle" from Tendulkar.

Reckon Jaques will be a liability on this tour too. Be very surprised by a 30+ average from him for the series.

That will only compound Australia's issues. Personally I found him to be a bit on the defensive side. But again, wait and watch.