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***Official*** First Semi-Final: Australia vs. England

pup11

pup11

International Coach
There are a few things that I'm worried about from an Aussie POV, the batting is looking overly dependent on Ponting and Huss, and if they have an off-day then the going could get pretty tough for us, so the likes of Watto, Ferguson and White need to step-up, if we're to do well at business end of the tournament.

I'm particularly disappointed with White, he has always been seen as this natural leader and very reliable batsman at the domestic level, but in tough situations he has mostly been found wanting (and I'm not just talking about his dismissal yesterday), so that is the sort of the thing he needs to improve on, if he wants raise his stocks as a player.

Anyways, has a replacement for Clarke yet been sent over to South Africa?
 
NUFAN

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on Tim Paine's batting?

I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of this series, nor the last part of the one day series where he scored his century.

I think as Cameeel said, I wouldn't mind Huss in for Hopes if we are going to continue with Siddle or another pace bowler. Huss can bowl a few overs of spin and I think it's a bit of crime whenever Hauritz is bowling tidy but not getting through his 10.

Pretty confident that we beat England, I'm looking to Brett Lee to do all the damage with the ball.
 
Hurricane

Hurricane

Hall of Fame Member
If I was a betting man which I am - I would put $20 on Aussie. Brett Lee will be too much.
 
straw man

straw man

Hall of Fame Member
Think Australia will be too much for England in this match, given recent history.

If so, I quite like that the winner of the other semi would have to beat Australia (who are still world champions) in the final to win the tournament. Will be good to see if anyone can manage that in a big tournament, or whether Australia have just been pretending to be mediocre at ODIs over the last 12 months. Suspect Ponting will score a hundred when it matters.
 
aussie

aussie

Hall of Fame Member
NUFAN said:
I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on Tim Paine's batting?

I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of this series, nor the last part of the one day series where he scored his century.

I think as Cameeel said, I wouldn't mind Huss in for Hopes if we are going to continue with Siddle or another pace bowler. Huss can bowl a few overs of spin and I think it's a bit of crime whenever Hauritz is bowling tidy but not getting through his 10.

Pretty confident that we beat England, I'm looking to Brett Lee to do all the damage with the ball.
Click to expand...
Paine i'd say has improved every game with the bat, not sure if opening is his best position, but he has adapted to it well enough. Overall a solid back-up to Haddin fpr the near future.

Would persist with Hopes for the semi, but maybe presuming AUS win & face PAK in the final, D Hussey can replace him given PAK bowling strenght.
 
Prince EWS

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
NUFAN said:
I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on Tim Paine's batting?

I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of this series, nor the last part of the one day series where he scored his century.

I think as Cameeel said, I wouldn't mind Huss in for Hopes if we are going to continue with Siddle or another pace bowler. Huss can bowl a few overs of spin and I think it's a bit of crime whenever Hauritz is bowling tidy but not getting through his 10.

Pretty confident that we beat England, I'm looking to Brett Lee to do all the damage with the ball.
Click to expand...
Would much rather see Voges play if we're going to go down the route of a batsman at 7. And given he was already in the squad, I think it's more likely.
 
NUFAN

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
Prince EWS said:
Would much rather see Voges play if we're going to go down the route of a batsman at 7. And given he was already in the squad, I think it's more likely.
Click to expand...
Ah I figured Voges may have pulled out of the tournament for his honeymoon or something.
 
four_or_six

four_or_six

Cricketer Of The Year
Australia's bowling looks very strong, just because of strength in depth, but I reckon if we can get them in first and restrict them then we have a decent chance.
 
Uppercut

Uppercut

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Australia have been worryingly collapse-prone for a while now, while England have had a special ability to induce collapses. Could see Australia either winning comfortably or getting absolutely stuffed.
 
pup11

pup11

International Coach
NUFAN said:
I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on Tim Paine's batting?

I haven't had the opportunity to watch any of this series, nor the last part of the one day series where he scored his century.

I think as Cameeel said, I wouldn't mind Huss in for Hopes if we are going to continue with Siddle or another pace bowler. Huss can bowl a few overs of spin and I think it's a bit of crime whenever Hauritz is bowling tidy but not getting through his 10.

Pretty confident that we beat England, I'm looking to Brett Lee to do all the damage with the ball.
Click to expand...
I think Paine has been pretty good and has done a lot better than what most people expected, and for me he has established himself as Haddin's understudy, but still I think he has a long way to go, he has generally struggled to rotate the strike in the first 15 overs, and for a modern day opening batsman, his strike-rate has been pretty much on the lower side.

Also, don't agree with the idea of having Huss at no.7, having Hopes in that position offers much more value to the side, as not only he gives us a pretty decent bowling option, but his lower order batting in recent times also has improved.


aussie said:
Paine i'd say has improved every game with the bat, not sure if opening is his best position, but he has adapted to it well enough. Overall a solid back-up to Haddin fpr the near future.

Would persist with Hopes for the semi, but maybe presuming AUS win & face PAK in the final, D Hussey can replace him given PAK bowling strenght.
Click to expand...
I don't know whether you know this, but Paine opens in OD cricket for Tasmania, so he is not a makeshift opener like Haddin, and given the fact he struggles to find gaps even with the field up in the first 15 overs, it would disastrous to push him into the middle order, because he would struggle even more to maintain a decent strike-rate, so whenever he plays, he just has to open.
 
pup11

pup11

International Coach
Uppercut said:
Australia have been worryingly collapse-prone for a while now, while England have had a special ability to induce collapses. Could see Australia either winning comfortably or getting absolutely stuffed.
Click to expand...
Australia have always been a bit collapse-prone side, its just that these days the bowling attack is a lot more weaker, so its not easy to defend 220-240 scores as easily as we use to do in the past.

As I said initially, the batting remains to be my biggest concern, both Hussey and Ponting are probably due to have a bad game somewhere down the line in this tournament, so its imperative someone from the younger lot steps up.
 
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