*Official* Pakistan in Australia

[Jono]

Very encouraged by Pakistan's performance so far against Tasmania

 

[TT Boy]

What a cricketer Jason Krejza is. Last 5 innings against international opposition, 5 big hundreds.

 

[aussie]

Aussie team for Melbourne, assuming Ponting, Hilfy and Siddle are fit should be:

Katich
Watson
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
North
Haddin
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger
Siddle (12th)

If Hilfy's not right, obviously Siddle comes in.

You know what i'm going to say Siddle doesn't deserve to be dropped once fit. Hauritz has to go (you could Hauritz for the SCG turner though since a spinner is always NEEDED there). All 4-quicks & Watson - let North do the spinning.

If Ponting's not right, Hughes in at opener, Watson down to number 3.

No problem with this TBF. Although Katich @ 3 also could work if Punter is not fit for MCG.

Hussey still yet to really convince he's shouldn't be the one closest to the axe, and North will want to score some more runs soon to continue to be secure in his spot - a series average of 33 against a Windies attack lacking Taylor or Edwards isn't overly convincing.

Batted better than average suggested TBF. Got some good balls from Bravo a couple times. Cant remember any dumb shots from him.

If Hughes does play, and score big, and one of Hussey or North fail, there would be a deal of pressure for one of them (probably North given the way things work) to make way for Ponting instead of the Prince.

Hussey will have to go if that happens instead of North for me. Hughes & Watson would then open & Katich back to replace Katich @ 4.

But yes knowing how things work North could very well & be dropped in such a scenario...*sighs*

 

[age_master]

You know what i'm going to say Siddle doesn't deserve to be dropped once fit. Hauritz has to go (you could Hauritz for the SCG turner though since a spinner is always NEEDED there). All 4-quicks & Watson - let North do the spinning.

Siddle has taken more than 1 wicket in an innings only once since his 5wi in England... If you take out that 1 spell in England he averaged just under 40... His bowling average against the WI was 70.66 with just 3 wickets.

Bollinger averaged 19.84 with 13 wickets.

I dont really think it should be a contest as to who plays between those 2 on boxing day.

I thought Hauritz bowled pretty reasonably through the series and i cant see him being dropped unless the pitch particularly green.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

I agree. Can't help the feeling that despite exceeding everyone's expectations since he came into the side, North is only one poor test match away from the axe... Especially given the selector's volatility of late and the fact they cleary want to dump someone to bring Hughes back..

This is probably baseless, but as much as I love North I can't help but feeling that he's not making runs when he needs to. Outside of that ton on debut, I can't once think of when he's made big runs when we're in trouble and can think of a lot of times when he's filled his boots when the top order has already done the work.

 

[Xuhaib]

I am usually pessimist so its not a surprise that I will be one in this case.

With so much talk about Pak's pace attack I feel the best chance of Pakistam to get anything out of this series is having Kaneria and Ajmal bowling in tendem. Asif will struggle in Australia Asif post elbow injury/drugs/brainfarts is very similar to Pollock to post 2000 and Pollock had a very dissapointing time in Australia in his last two tours. Aamir is good really good but atm he is to young and raw to play back to back tests let alone back to back away test series and Gul's form in the last 6 months has been shocking and there is a big possibilty he might loose his place to Abdur Rauf.

Having said all this I am pleasently surprised by Pak's show against Tasmania since I don't even remember the last time we were not thrashed by a state side in the tour opener.

Hopefully we will get a competitive series.

 

[NUFAN]

I love watching Ponting bat at the MCG, he has a fine record there, but I can't wait to see who Australia select if he's not fit.

I'm still thinking the selectors will go for Shaun Marsh. He made a very nice double in the match against South Australia. I think the selectors will consider Michael Klinger but in the end will think Marsh being in the Australian setup already will be a better selection for a likely once off appearance.

Hughes out for 7 in the second innings today has bought him back to the pack a bit.

 

[pasag]

Rogers not doing too badly, Jaques a dark horse, could be anyone really.

 

[Noble One]

Hughes and Siddle in Boxing Day squad | Cricket News | Australia v Pakistan 2009/10 | Cricinfo.com

Logical selection, Hughes has form.

Better than some other odd selection like Steve Smith as a specialist bat.

 

[aussie]

I am usually pessimist so its not a surprise that I will be one in this case.

With so much talk about Pak's pace attack I feel the best chance of Pakistam to get anything out of this series is having Kaneria and Ajmal bowling in tendem. Asif will struggle in Australia Asif post elbow injury/drugs/brainfarts is very similar to Pollock to post 2000 and Pollock had a very dissapointing time in Australia in his last two tours. Aamir is good really good but atm he is to young and raw to play back to back tests let alone back to back away test series and Gul's form in the last 6 months has been shocking and there is a big possibilty he might loose his place to Abdur Rauf.

Having said all this I am pleasently surprised by Pak's show against Tasmania since I don't even remember the last time we were not thrashed by a state side in the tour opener.

Hopefully we will get a competitive series.

Interesting point about Asif here Xuhaib. Was it that worrying in NZ recently?. Since i hate it if he has indeed lost anything in his bowling due to an injury at this ealry stage of his career still.

Not sure Pollock had any injury post 2000 TBF. He had an early career injury which made his slower - but he was always excellent. He declined post 2003 to be exact because he lost nip in his bowling. But overall yea i see what you saying..

 

[NUFAN]

Has Hughes really done enough to overcome his so called problems during the Ashes? I don't think he should have been dropped, but strangely don't think he's done enough to get back in.

 

[Xuhaib]

Interesting point about Asif here Xuhaib. Was it that worrying in NZ recently?. Since i hate it if he has indeed lost anything in his bowling due to an injury at this ealry stage of his career still.

Not sure Pollock had any injury post 2000 TBF. He had an early career injury which made his slower - but he was always excellent. He declined post 2003 to be exact because he lost nip in his bowling. But overall yea i see what you saying..

Control and nip of the seam looks the same but two of his best performances (SA,SL) he was bowling 128-138 since his return he's more in a range of 125-132. On NZL pitches he was able to cover his loss in pace duet o the movement of the deck but in Aus where pitches tend to be flatter I think that loss in pace might be telling.

 

[subshakerz]

Control and nip of the seam looks the same but two of his best performances (SA,SL) he was bowling 128-138 since his return he's more in a range of 125-132. On NZL pitches he was able to cover his loss in pace duet o the movement of the deck but in Aus where pitches tend to be flatter I think that loss in pace might be telling.

I still give Asif the advantage given that he will have more bounce to exploit. I would be more worried if he were facing guys like Hayden, Langer or Waugh, but this isnt the same Aussie batting lineup, especially if Ponting is not there. Asif's drop in pace usually happens in his second or third spells, but I'm hoping our attack is less reliant on him that they were in NZ.

In fact, I think all of the Pakistan bowlers will find the bounce to their liking. Gul in particular is very much a hit-the-deck sort of bowler.

 

[Julian87]

I'm almost glad Hilfenhaus is injured as it ensures Bollinger a spot in the XI. Though I'd rather Hilfy than Siddle.

 

[social]

Hughes and Siddle in Boxing Day squad | Cricket News | Australia v Pakistan 2009/10 | Cricinfo.com

Logical selection, Hughes has form.

Better than some other odd selection like Steve Smith as a specialist bat.

Hughes has bugger all form and especially when compared to Jaques and Rogers

 

[pasag]

I'm almost glad Hilfenhaus is injured as it ensures Bollinger a spot in the XI. Though I'd rather Hilfy than Siddle.

Would give the game up if Bolly got dropped.

 

[Xuhaib]

watching Younis Khan bowl in the quaid -e-Azam trophy final and he is bowling beautifully. Bravo's pace with seam movement both ways.

 

[NUFAN]

watching Younis Khan bowl in the quaid -e-Azam trophy final and he is bowling beautifully. Bravo's pace with seam movement both ways.

Yeah it's bizarre but his bowling would be very useful for Pakistan, considering they only had the 4 bowlers last Test match.

 

[turnstyle]

Seriously what does Chris have to do to get another go in the baggy green? He's been scoring bulk runs everywhere he goes for a while now, so surely it can't just age that's against him.

I really hate it how the selectors play favourites. Michael Clarke was another one of those who, no matter what he did (or didn't do), was always one FC match away from getting back in the baggy green, yet Hodge and now Rogers are lost to international cricket.

 

[Matt79]

It's unfair to an extent, and I've bitched about it in the past, but Neilsen has openly said that he and CA view the Ashes and the Border-Gavaskar tests as the 'big' series, and that the management of the team is aimed at building towards those. In that context, Hughes over Rogers makes some sense. I think Rogers obviously has more FC runs on the board, Hughes did better when given a run (although Rogers was too short to be conclusive), and Hughes is 10 years younger.

I don't mind selectors playing favourites if they feel a player has something special that will help the team for years to come. They did that with Steve Waugh, to an extent with Shane Warne, and Michael Clarke. All of them turned out, or are currently, absolutely top drawer players. If Hughes had consistently failed in his tests to date I'd share your view, but he did well, and was probably somewhat harshly dropped during the Ashes.

EDIT: The other thing is that it's pretty unlikely IMO that Ponting will miss this test, so it's like their Steven Smith selection in terms of letting a young player know that they're in the selectors thinking if they keep going well, rather than a cold judgement as to who would be the best replacement for the injured player on Saturday. Not saying I think that's particularly clever work by the selectors, but I think that's contributing to the decision-making.