**Official** Tour Matches

[Noble One]

Johnson bowled very well in IND, ran in @ 90mph in blazing sun on some flat decks. He was the only AUS bowling that looked like penetrative until Krejza played. That series was sort of stepping stone for him.

Agree entirely. India 2008 was the defining series of Johnsons career thus far. Took the responsibility of leading the attack, made some crucial dismissals only to have little support down the other end, and simply looked a far superior bowler to his performances the previous Australian summer and in the West Indies.

 

[Pigeon]

Johnson bowled very well in IND, ran in @ 90mph in blazing sun on some flat decks. He was the only AUS bowling that looked like penetrative until Krejza played. That series was sort of stepping stone for him.

The only bowler who looked consistently Aussie in that tour was Watson. and to some extent Clark. Johnson was mediocre.

 

[Ikki]

I'd say Watson looked the best with Johnson behind him, not far though. Pretty miserable series for the bowlers though.

 

[Pigeon]

I'd say Watson looked the best with Johnson behind him, not far though. Pretty miserable series for the bowlers though.

Johnson was lucky to get the number of wickets he ultimately ended up with imo. It was a stepping stone in the sense that he got to play in the most difficult conditions for a fast bowler to bowl in against the best batting lineup in the world.

 

[Frakstar]

Lee with the first two wickets today.....Even if he gets all ten he shouldn't play

 

[Bloody Hell]

It was only two weeks ago that he got dropped tbf

Time a foreign concept to you, it seems.

I was thinking since the second test - but anyway same comment still stands.

 

[Athlai]

Bet Lee will bowl himself back into the team just to make things more interesting for the last Test.

 

[pup11]

Bet Lee will bowl himself back into the team just to make things more interesting for the last Test.

Tbh, if we're likely to play with only three quicks in the 5th test, then I think either Clark or Lee should be playing ahead of Siddle.

People might say he took 5-for in the last game, but still anyone who has followed the series closely, would agree that Siddle has been patchy and inconsistent, and hence it would make sense to have an experienced bloke like Clark or Lee playing ahead of him.

 

[Bloody Hell]

Tbh, if we're likely to play with only three quicks in the 5th test, then I think either Clark or Lee should be playing ahead of Siddle.

People might say he took 5-for in the last game, but still anyone who has followed the series closely, would agree that Siddle has been patchy and inconsistent, and hence it would make sense to have an experienced bloke like Clark or Lee playing ahead of him.

Could remove Siddle from your post and add Johnson and the same would stand.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Good stuff Lions, confirm Hauritz's place in the Oval side.

 

[andyc]

Given that Lee is almost certainly not going to play the 5th Test, why has he bowled 11 overs to Mitch's 6 and Clark's 5? Not quite sure what Ponting's doing.

 

[pup11]

Could remove Siddle from your post and add Johnson and the same would stand.

Nope...

There is a huge difference in the bowling performances of both of them in that game, Siddle's 5-for consisted of four lower order wickets, on the contrary Mitch ripped through the English middle order in the 2nd innings and produced an exceptional spell to do so.

Mitch is very much a match-winner atm, whereas Siddle despite all his potential still has few things to learn.

 

[Son Of Coco]

He's lowered his career average in this series as well actually. Broad pretty much had a mare at Cardiff, and bowled some good stuff amongst a lot of dross at Lord's. As the Edgbaston Test progressed, he found his line and bowled well - sure, we can point to the game being dead when he started to bowl his best stuff of the series, but I also think he was buoyed by having batted well. And then he carried on a Headingley where he was the pick of our bowlers by a mile. He obviously hasn't bowled any spells as good as Johnson's in the last Test, but at the same time at his worst he was nowhere near as bad as Johnson was at Lord's.

People can keep talking about how Broad is this and that, but I've watched most of the Tests he's played and he's improved so much it's not funny. He's well worth his place in our team and before long nobody will be talking about his average.

I'm sure he has, but the last test at Headingly went a long way to seeing it drop I'd wager. It was going up there at one stage. I think he can be a good player, his batting's not bad at all and when he recognises the value in pitching it in the batsman's half on a regular basis he could be a good bowler too.

 

[pup11]

Given that Lee is almost certainly not going to play the 5th Test, why has he bowled 11 overs to Mitch's 6 and Clark's 5? Not quite sure what Ponting's doing.

Maybe he is playing in the next test, or is still in the mix of things, anyhow its too early to rule him out.

 

[GIMH]

I'm sure he has, but the last test at Headingly went a long way to seeing it drop I'd wager. It was going up there at one stage. I think he can be a good player, his batting's not bad at all and when he recognises the value in pitching it in the batsman's half on a regular basis he could be a good bowler too.

Yeah, but he was the pick of the bowlers when bowling at the batsmen, as well as picking up the tailend wickets. I agree that he needs to pitch it in fuller much more often, but to say he isn't already a good bowler...nah, not having it

 

[pasag]

Given that Lee is almost certainly not going to play the 5th Test, why has he bowled 11 overs to Mitch's 6 and Clark's 5? Not quite sure what Ponting's doing.

Maybe he will play.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Good to see Watto getting some overs under the belt.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Yeah, but he was the pick of the bowlers when bowling at the batsmen, as well as picking up the tailend wickets. I agree that he needs to pitch it in fuller much more often, but to say he isn't already a good bowler...nah, not having it

No worries, I'll agree to disagree.

Ravi Bopara was a good batsman against the Windies too, so I'm not really taking Windies form into account.

Will agree he has the potential to be a good bowler though, and has been at times in the series.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah it's fair enough to discount Bopara's Windies form, though I think if you had seen Broad bowl against the West Indies it's a slightly different situation. For one the wickets he took was an impressive list and he outbowled Anderson, Flintoff, Harmison, Sidebottom

 

[Nate]

Lee in for Siddle, Hauritz in for Clark?