***Official Australia in India***

[Uppercut]

Clark's similarity to McGrath is getting a bit ridiculous when you look at those stats.

 

[George.Hinton]

Oh, George, you're such a dear

If you're going to use statistics as the basis of class, well, then...


Glenn McGrath
Australia 21.64
New South Wales 27.40

Shane Warne
Australia 25.41
Victoria 34.72

Yes, Mcgrath and Warne were exceptions....the stats for the vast majority of players though won't shoiw that trend though.

I didn't base my assessment of Clark purely on stats....I have watched him and I don't think he is quite in that class. Seriously do people think he's as good as the likes of MArshall, Ambrose, McGrath...I don't think so.
The strength of Mcgrath was his ability to hit the right lengths in pretty much any condition he played in. Clark didn't show that adaptability in ODI cricket and I will be surpised if he shows it in test cricket.
He has not been tested sufficiently yet Clark - so lets wait and see.

 

[pup11]

Very happy with Hussey' batting effort, i wasn't able to watch the game but from the looks of it, he dropped the anchor and guided the Aussie innings with a lot of patience when every other batsmen were falling after getting starts, btw pleasantly surprised to see Clark score some runs, so were they just chucking pies at him or did he really bat well?

 

[Uppercut]

Yes, Mcgrath and Warne were exceptions....the stats for the vast majority of players though won't shoiw that trend though.

I didn't base my assessment of Clark purely on stats....I have watched him and I don't think he is quite in that class. Seriously do people think he's as good as the likes of MArshall, Ambrose, McGrath...I don't think so.
The strength of Mcgrath was his ability to hit the right lengths in pretty much any condition he played in. Clark didn't show that adaptability in ODI cricket and I will be surpised if he shows it in test cricket.
He has not been tested sufficiently yet Clark - so lets wait and see.

Clark's fantastic, but he doesn't get the extravagant bounce McGrath got to go with his accuracy. That's why he's a class below, especially in one day cricket IMO.

 

[Woodster]

The bounce Mcgrath got did give him that bit extra. I think he accounted much of his success down to not only the accuracy he had but the added bounce he could extract.

 

[pup11]

Because - and this may surprise you - he's crap. Better than White as a bowler, granted, but still not really at all likely to do any damage at international level. Krejza for mine was worth the gamble in the squad but Casson most certainly wasn't.

Well that's your opinion of him, but from where i see things he is a good prospect and a spinner that could do a decent job for Australia in the longer run, his injury problems bothered him for a while and he had a rough time of it during his first season at NSW, but last season whatever part he played in FC games he did a good job with both bat and ball, you may say he got a few cheap wickets, but still he had decent stats to show at the end of the season.

That is the reason he got a central contract and that's why he was a part of the touring party in West Indies, ok now let me clear this that at no point am i saying he is gonna be extraordinary with the ball, but he would do a fairly decent job as compared to the other spinners that are around in Australia atm (except for McGain).

 

[pup11]

Clarke' bowling in this practice game has also given us a look into what could happen if the Aussies are going to rely to heavily on Clarke' spin on this tour, he is a decent part-timer and can get a you a few wickets now and again, but if the Indian batsmen start to attack him, he won't stand much of chance against them.

 

[Lambu]

Things not looking good for Aus esp considering that Harby is in top form..and Micheal Clarke looking toothless.

 

[pup11]

Things not looking good for Aus esp considering that Harby is in top form.

I am only worried about Clarke and Hayden' poor form, rest of the batting is not in bad shape atm, Ponting might not have scored many in the first innings but whatever time he spent out there he looked confident and looked in good touch, the back-up bowling is the real concern for me, Lee and Clark would do a good job, you can expect that much from them but if the 1st and 2nd change bowlers are not upto the mark, Indian batsmen won't have too many problems scoring big runs.

 

[social]

I am only worried about Clarke and Hayden' poor form, rest of the batting is not in bad shape atm, Ponting might not have scored many in the first innings but whatever time he spent out there he looked confident and looked in good touch, the back-up bowling is the real concern for me, Lee and Clark would do a good job, you can expect that much from them but if the 1st and 2nd change bowlers are not upto the mark, Indian batsmen won't have too many problems scoring big runs.

Johnson has bowled well and should be in for a good series

The question is whether the likes of Watson/Clarke/Krezja/White/Katich can keep things quiet for long enough to give Lee, Clark and Johnson a breather

By the same token, it'll be interesting to see who India pick

If they go with Zaheer/RP/Ishant/Harby/Kumble then they have a massive tail with Dhoni, who is not a particularly good test batsman, having a massive weight on his shoulders at no.6

If they drop a paceman, then they'll have no choice but to provide for spinning pitches or else they'll be in the same, or even worse, shape as Australia

I also agree with your thoughts on Clarke - he's been spoon-fed most of his career and its about time he started making important runs consistently

 

[Woodster]

The Indian selection will be interesting, I think the inevitable inclusion of Ganguly at least gives them a further option of loping medium pace, however could be fairly economical and serve a purpose of resting their key pacemen.

It would be a mistake, for me, if they go with Kumble, Harbhajan and three of Munaf, RP, Ishant and Zaheer. The batting will be weakened and it's ok looking like you're going to bowl a side out twice, but it's unlikely if you've only 400 on the board after 2 innings.

Therefore with Ganguly at 6, Dhoni at 7, the two spinners likely to both play it'll probably be Ishant and Zaheer for the remaining two spots, despite Munaf impressing recently. Which brings big pressure on young Ishant operating as one of only two specialist quicker men. At least Ganguly now offers a slight reprieve for the quicker bowlers.

 

[social]

The Indian selection will be interesting, I think the inevitable inclusion of Ganguly at least gives them a further option of loping medium pace, however could be fairly economical and serve a purpose of resting their key pacemen.

It would be a mistake, for me, if they go with Kumble, Harbhajan and three of Munaf, RP, Ishant and Zaheer. The batting will be weakened and it's ok looking like you're going to bowl a side out twice, but it's unlikely if you've only 400 on the board after 2 innings.

Therefore with Ganguly at 6, Dhoni at 7, the two spinners likely to both play it'll probably be Ishant and Zaheer for the remaining two spots, despite Munaf impressing recently. Which brings big pressure on young Ishant operating as one of only two specialist quicker men. At least Ganguly now offers a slight reprieve for the quicker bowlers.

The Oz batsmen should look to pummel Ganguly in the same way that the Indians will go after Oz's fourth or fifth bowler - he really doesnt have any business bowling any more than acouple of overs at test level anymore

That being said, Sehwag looked a better bowler than Harby in Australia, so he will bowl quite a bit

Zaheer will be interesting.

IMO, he's overrated (a decent inning here and there doesnt yet compensate for the crap he's bowled over the years) and injury prone and if he fails to step up to the mark for the umpteenth time in his career then India could be in big trouble as well

 

[Manee]

The Indian selection will be interesting, I think the inevitable inclusion of Ganguly at least gives them a further option of loping medium pace, however could be fairly economical and serve a purpose of resting their key pacemen.

It would be a mistake, for me, if they go with Kumble, Harbhajan and three of Munaf, RP, Ishant and Zaheer. The batting will be weakened and it's ok looking like you're going to bowl a side out twice, but it's unlikely if you've only 400 on the board after 2 innings.

Therefore with Ganguly at 6, Dhoni at 7, the two spinners likely to both play it'll probably be Ishant and Zaheer for the remaining two spots, despite Munaf impressing recently. Which brings big pressure on young Ishant operating as one of only two specialist quicker men. At least Ganguly now offers a slight reprieve for the quicker bowlers.

It is a tough one indeed. The credentials for six of India's bowlers are so strong. Zaheer, Ishant, Kumble and Harbhajan make up the first string and rightfully so but Munaf has impressed recently and Mishra took 6 wickets today against New Zealand A.

 

[pup11]

Johnson has bowled well and should be in for a good series

The question is whether the likes of Watson/Clarke/Krezja/White/Katich can keep things quiet for long enough to give Lee, Clark and Johnson a breather

By the same token, it'll be interesting to see who India pick

If they go with Zaheer/RP/Ishant/Harby/Kumble then they have a massive tail with Dhoni, who is not a particularly good test batsman, having a massive weight on his shoulders at no.6

If they drop a paceman, then they'll have no choice but to provide for spinning pitches or else they'll be in the same, or even worse, shape as Australia

I also agree with your thoughts on Clarke - he's been spoon-fed most of his career and its about time he started making important runs consistently

I won't go to the extent of saying that he hasn't been scoring runs consistently, the guy has scored 5 test centuries in his last 11 test matches, so one can't say he hasn't been consistent, all i am saying here is that since the last two ODI's in West Indies till now he has looked slightly off-colour, so as an Aussies fan i am just worried that he is just not looking in any sort of touch going into such a high-profile series.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Odds on Zaheer making it through an India-Australia series uninjured?

 

[pup11]

Odds on Zaheer making it through an India-Australia series uninjured?

Well if he could last through the series in torrid Sri Lankan conditions, can't see any reason why he can't do that in this series, yeah he has had a history getting injured in Indo-Aus series of the past, but can't see that happening this time around.

 

[ret]

5 for 89 for Chawla!!! .... good to see the leggie deliver in test matches too

 

[NUFAN]

5 for 89 for Chawla!!! .... good to see the leggie deliver in test matches too

It wasn't a Test buddy.

 

[Manee]

Not even an unofficial Test.

 

[Nate]

Was supporting India this morning. White got selected this afternoon. Nothing has changed.