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***Official*** South Africa In Australia
- Thread starter grapedo
- Start date
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
I don't think anyone is suggesting he is. Picking the best six batsmen in the country isn't always the best option for balance, though. I don't think he's good enough to bat #6 at Test level really but he's far from hopeless and whilst I wouldn't pick him, I can see the logic in his selection.
aussie
Hall of Fame Member
As i keep saying. Given that all upcoming selection should be made with the SA tour & Ashes in mind. Picking McDonald just for the sake of balance to have a 5-man bowling attack, may give Ponting more options but it weakens the batting which is our strenght.
Australia need a strong top 6 for these series. So with the Watson position as an "all-rounder" not even assured for the Ashes. The best balance has to be 6 batsmen, Haddin & the 4 best quicks of constrasting variety.
Uppercut
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Looked like he should be batting below Mitchell Johnson on that performance tbh. Not that it's anywhere near enough to judge him on, but with the bat it was an extremely unconvincing debut.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
I actually agree with all of that. My point was that saying that McDonald isn't one of the best six batsmen in Australia without expanding on that statement would be like saying that Boucher isn't one of the best seven batsmen in South Africa - no-one's under the illusion that he is.
Prince EWS
Global Moderator
He actually took quite a while to get settled in First Class cricket as a batsman as well; he was in and out of the team for a few seasons despite dominance at Grade level and eventually got to the point where he was batting nine and playing as a bowler. Something eventually just clicked though and he finally lived up to the potential he showed in age group levels and in Grade cricket with the bat.
I guess my point is that he seems to struggle to immediately rise his batting up a level at first. Whether Australia can afford to wait for him to click and whether he'll even be genuinely Test class when/if he does (no IMO) is a separate matter though, obviously.
TBH it's fair to say this discussion is premature regardless though as he's only played one innings. Personally I think he's a Test #7 and a Test fifth-bowler in a five-man attack. Generally that's not a player you can carry unless your wicket keeper is a particularly strong batsman or you have a really good batting or bowling allrounder to balance him out as such, but we'll see.
I agree with those saying Australia would be better off picking a specialist batsman (or at least someone good enough to play as a specialist batsman in Test cricket) but I don't think McDonald is as bad with either bat or ball as some people are making out. He's an excellent First Class cricketer and only a fraction below Test standard.
Briony
International Debutant
That's a different situation though because most teams have a keeper in their top seven and providing the keeper averages around 30+ it's considered acceptable. A Gilly is a once in a generation player and you will suffer the consequences of picking batsmen who keep. England is struggling with that. A good solid Boucher/Healy type should suffice. My point about McDonald, was that if he's nowhere near the top six batsmen in the country, the selectors have become obsessed with a Flintoff like all-rounder to the detriment of the batting strength. You then have to counterbalance his below par batting with his bowling. Does his bowling compensate for him being inferior to other batsmen in the country? Most would probably say no, given that he didn't really set the world on fire on a pitch which was custom-made for him. On a pitch with even bounce, his 120k deliveries wouldn't prove too threatening. It's time to focus on specialists unless a genuine all-rounder comes along and let Clarke, Katich et al do some bowling on a part-time basis. SA has improved its test team by focussing on specialists, as opposed to all-rounders who aren't quite up to it. Lucky for them they have Kallis, but if you don't, you shouldn't try to cultivate one for the sake of it.
Briony
International Debutant
Yeah, he doesn't get enought time to settle in. Anyone here think he's ever up to test level, if for eg. AB was the keeper instead of Boucher, which would open the door for another batsman, bowler or all-rounder?
MendisNuffSaid
Banned
He's very underrated imo, his control and variation of flight with his deliveries is alike Vettori. The Australian batsmen might fall under the trap of being overly aggressive against him like with Paul Harris, although i rate Botha miles ahead of him. He's also a classy batsman as well.
Athlai
Not Terrible
Well if you kicked Boucher out of the test team surely you'd want Prince and Duminy both in first?
TT Boy
Hall of Fame Member
There was some talk that he would be in the test squad for Aus but a shoulder injury put pay to that. Albie a few years ago was a 'proper' bowler, took the new ball for the Titans and bowled good out-swing at a lively pace but in recent years his workload with the ball has got smaller and smaller due to injuries. Defo think his good enough unlike say Justin Kemp to bat five in ODI without the bowling but not for test cricket. Also from what Mickey Arthur has been saying, Boucher will be replaced by another wicket-keeper.
social
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
That's the point
Logically, Oz needs 5 bowlers as there have only been 2 teams in history that have had any amount of success with 4 man attacks and they were both comprised of some all-time greats - the current team does not have that luxury
We need somebody to bowl quite a few overs to take the pressure off Johnson, Siddle etc or they will be bowled into the ground
I suspect (like most) that Macdonald is not good enough with the bat to play at 6 and may not be good enough with the ball to compensate for it. However, he did perform a role in Sydney and I'd be surprised if he wasnt taken to SA
pup11
International Coach
I think Australia needs a guy who can bat well at no.6 and then bowl some handy overs, given the current balance of the side, so if Watson was fit then he would have been a very good option, but in his absence Australia are much better off either sticking with Symonds or picking a batsman like Dussey, McDonald really didn't do anything special in the SCG test, he bowled stump to stump and the pitch helped him out every now and again, now he is rarely going to get pitches like those everytime he plays, and then in no way he looks capable of batting in the top 6 of the Aussie line-up, therefore really can't see the merit in sticking with McDonald.
pup11
International Coach
What?
pup11
International Coach
Does Botha really have the credentials to captain the South African side, he might be doing well leading his province, but at the international level he is still is feeling his way through, and with likes of Kallis, Boucher in the side, shouldn't they have ben prefered ahead of Botha to lead the side in Smith' absensce.
As for talk about Ronchi' technique, when he is in full flow things like technique really don't matter to him, but he is in awful form atm, but then i don't think Ronchi would make much of difference to the game batting at no.8.