*Official* Australia in New Zealand

[NUFAN]

Is no one predicting P Hughes for the tour? Earlier I said I wanted White and Bailey, but realistically Hughes will definitely tour and he's in awesome form.

The number 6 spot will either go to North or White I would imagine.

Also if there was ever a time for Ponting to slip down the order, this would be the perfect time to put Hughes at 3 OR Katich if he was prepared to move down. I think Katich has done enough though to bat where he likes.

 

[Days of Grace]

I really think Ponting wants to be in that no.3 spot for yet another Ashes revenge mission. He wants to lead from the front.

 

[age_master]

I really think Ponting wants to be in that no.3 spot for yet another Ashes revenge mission. He wants to lead from the front.

Yeah hes not going anywhere.

 

[Nate]

Marsh out injured, Hussey senior comes back in. A win for cricket.

 

[dikinee]

Is no one predicting P Hughes for the tour? Earlier I said I wanted White and Bailey, but realistically Hughes will definitely tour and he's in awesome form.

The number 6 spot will either go to North or White I would imagine.

Also if there was ever a time for Ponting to slip down the order, this would be the perfect time to put Hughes at 3 OR Katich if he was prepared to move down. I think Katich has done enough though to bat where he likes.

Why the hell would you want to move Ponting out of no3? In his last test match he scored 200+ and 80+. I think Hughes is much better suited to bat at 5 than he is opening. He has the worst technique of any opener in the country. He is a Gilchrist type of player, see the ball hit the ball. He is the type who will score a lot of runs fast or no runs quickly but an opening batsman needs to be able to play at more than one speed.

 

[Mister Wright]

Is no one predicting P Hughes for the tour? Earlier I said I wanted White and Bailey, but realistically Hughes will definitely tour and he's in awesome form.

The number 6 spot will either go to North or White I would imagine.

Also if there was ever a time for Ponting to slip down the order, this would be the perfect time to put Hughes at 3 OR Katich if he was prepared to move down. I think Katich has done enough though to bat where he likes.

For a 2 test tour and both openers in great form they're not going to take a reserve opener. However if they left North at home and took White & Klinger and one of the openers got injured they'd have Klinger there as back up.

 

[Halfpast_Yellow]

Anyone else disappointed the NZ selectors have been conservative and haven't picked Kane Williamson for the Aus ODIs, on the basis of him bashing the door down with his domestic form, coming off another good performance in the 50 over final?

Would be a good continuation for him, looking forward with the hope he would establish himself as one of the top 6 NZ ODI batsman when the world cup rolls around.

With the selectors hat on, I would build in the hope of having an available top 6 of McCullum, Guptill, Williamson, Styris, Taylor, Ryder, and not necessarily in that batting order in the lineup.

One feels Broom doesn't fit the needs of the team, and while Pinga was 'ok' against the mighty Deshis, its was more obvious from his second and third knocks that his gameplan is better suited to test cricket.

#7 is almost a specialist batsman position in this lineup as well, should be Oram/Franklin or Stewart contesting this and providing injury cover.

Vettori, Bond, + bowlers and it's a great lineup worthy of finals, barring injuries and big form slumps. Plenty of experience + talent there.

But I can just see the selectors muddling through a buildup to the world cup though with players like Broom getting a lot more gametime.

 

[Polo23]

Anyone else disappointed the NZ selectors have been conservative and haven't picked Kane Williamson for the Aus ODIs, on the basis of him bashing the door down with his domestic form, coming off another good performance in the 50 over final?

I'm happy they haven't picked him. Reckon he still needs another season of domestic cricket. If he again has a great season then sure, get him in there.

Do we have any A tours in the off season?

 

[howardj]

My Final Squad for NZ Tour

God
Clarke
Katich
Watson
Hussey
Hughes
Smith

Haddin

Hauritz

Bollinger
Johnson
Harris
Cutting

Let the the two young bulls fight it out for the number six position.

 

[age_master]

For a 2 test tour and both openers in great form they're not going to take a reserve opener. However if they left North at home and took White & Klinger and one of the openers got injured they'd have Klinger there as back up.

There is always Hussey as well who could easily cover the role for a test or 2 if needed.

 

[Julian87]

Don't think they can leave White out. He's just stepped up his game at international level over the past 12 months. Yeah it is a different form of cricket but it is what the Aussie selectors like to see. Would also allow Ponting to move to somewhere else in the field where he would be more effective. (I'd like to see Watson and White slipping in test matches)

 

[Julian87]

Marsh out injured, Hussey senior comes back in. A win for cricket.

Agree with this. We're crazy not to have M. Hussey in that middle order anyway. Can't worry about him not being a 'hacker', he'll get more runs than the likes of Birt and we can always promote Haddin if the run rate is high.

At full strength there is no spot for Marsh in the team. Just doesn't compare to Watto and Warner. And with Haddin and Clarke in the side you don't really need a reserve opener.

And just on Clarke. I love his captaincy and all of a sudden I think his batting at 3 will be a plus for Australia. He'll come in and bat with either Warner or Watson who'll be trying to hit big. He'll walk at the batsman and hit to the leg side to get off strike and all three are brilliant between the wickets. I'll be happy with a few innings over 20 at about a 110 or so strike rate from Clarke because that's probably all he's going to need to do.

And his captaincy has been top rate thus far.

 

[dikinee]

Does anyone know who has the coverage in Australia, ch9 or Fox? I have had a look through the guides but cant seem to find anything about the games from NZ.

 

[AlanJLegend]

Fantastic to hear that Hussey is playing in the T20 team. It's always baffled me as to why he hasn't been, he seems like an ideal player to have at the crease during the middle overs and towards the end.

Side should be;

Watson
Warner
Clarke
White
D Hussey
M Hussey
Haddin
Smith
Johnson
Harris/Bollinger/McKay/whoever
Tait

Looks pretty damn formidable. And I agree with the compliment's on Clarke's captaincy. Everybody has a role to play within the team and I believe he will play his very well. If he can come out and nudge singles around while Watson/Warner and then White/DHussey consistently hit boundaries then from his POV it is basically a perfect innings.

 

[howardj]

Does anyone know who has the coverage in Australia, ch9 or Fox? I have had a look through the guides but cant seem to find anything about the games from NZ.

Foxtel mate.

 

[Nate]

and all three are brilliant between the wickets.

Clarke's running between the wickets this summer has been nothing short of diabolical.

 

[dikinee]

Foxtel mate.

Cheers Howard

 

[Riggins]

Clarke's running between the wickets this summer has been nothing short of diabolical.

does diabolical mean good or bad?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Bad.

Interestingly, pretty sure that White has always been a first slipper for Victoria, with the Duss at 2nd. He's looked right at home though in there for Aus.

 

[Riggins]

Yea, IMO you can either catch them in the slips or you can't, all pretty similar.