*Official* Australia in England

[pasag]

wd England. A few little tweaks and there's no reason this side can't be one of the best on the world.

From our perspective, batting has been below par all series however the bowling has steadily improved and had Tait played from the start, who knows.

I think England missed a trick not batting first at all this series, they need as much practice at that before the WC as possible.

Good series though a bit irrelevant in the greater scheme of things, mainly because of the conditions leading up to the WC.

 

[Prince EWS]

Could see a case for Hilfy, but based on what I've seen Sid only has youth over Harris.

Yeah, the selectors really like him though. I can't see them leaving him out if he's fit and has some cricket under his belt before the Ashes start unless, as I said, Harris does something remarkable in Tests before then. I have no idea if he'll actually even be fit by then though; I don't know much about his injury. There's still Hilfenhaus too anyway.. he's actually fit(ish) now, and they won't be leaving Bollinger or Johnson out.

 

[pasag]

Just start the Ashes now ffs

 

[Jarquis]

Never was quite this bad either...think he averages under 5 with the bat from his last 15 innings...in the 25 innings before that he averaged just under 22


Alternatively...before teh 2008 season, he averaged 29.71, since then he's averaged 7.2

Well that is quite something

 

[zaremba]

Well played Australia. That's a good fightback from a pretty poor start, and a blistering, tone-setting performance by Tait and to a lesser extent the other quicks early in the England innings.

 

[akilana]

England's middle order was exposed.. Yardy, Wright etc in the middle order? compare that with Aussies. But Aussies got their own problems, the top order.

 

[slowfinger]

Taity got .1 off the world record, bummer.

 

[Jono]

Learn to play genuine pace England ffs.

 

[Umar_Akmal]

Learn to play genuine pace England ffs.

Nobody can play a 100 mph bowler with ease. Heres how Aus batsmen play another 100mph bowler.

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar in Australia (5-25)

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar v Ricky Ponting (" Fastest Over Ever Bowled " - Langer)

 

[Nate]

I heard what you said. But I didn't like it. Here are some clips of Australia vs Pakistan.

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar in Australia (5-25)

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar v Ricky Ponting (" Fastest Over Ever Bowled " - Langer)

 

[Top_Cat]

Nobody can play a 100 mph bowler with ease. Heres how Aus batsmen play another 100mph bowler.

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar in Australia (5-25)

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar v Ricky Ponting (" Fastest Over Ever Bowled " - Langer)

haha, most irrelevant post I've seen on here in a while.

 

[Top_Cat]

Genuinely shocked to see no mention of Tait being a chucker on here.

 

[Burgey]

Nobody can play a 100 mph bowler with ease. Heres how Aus batsmen play another 100mph bowler.

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar in Australia (5-25)

YouTube - Shoaib Akhtar v Ricky Ponting (" Fastest Over Ever Bowled " - Langer)

Ponting made 199 in that second match. If her hadn't "failed" he might still be batting.

 

[iamdavid]

Hypothetically, if he were to get himself reasonably fit (big if), I could see Tait having an impact in the Ashes...you couldn't play him as part of a four man attack though, especially if Hauritz or Smith are there too. Becuase then they'll effectively be left with two bowlers half the time...

It would take a bit of a reshuffule of the side to accomodate him, but could be done...

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Smith
Haddin
Johnson
Harris/Hilfenhaus
Bollinger
Tait

Would be pretty harsh on North, but really Smith playing ahead of him wouldn't weaken the batting too much if at all, and that's a very useful looking attack. 6 bowling options, and even on the days when Tait/Smith are ineffective they've still got 4 seamers to carry them.

Time to take a gamble and take advantage of the balance that having two good allrounders in Smith and Watson can potentially offer the side.

 

[Top_Cat]

Can't understand the clamor for Smith at 6, tbh. The batting's been all collapsy for a while now, last thing we need is to weaken it even more I reckon. He's a good, innovative hitter and has hit a few good tons for NSW but I'd rather see him picked on the strength of his bowling.

And picking a bloke who isn't likely to bowl many overs, can't bat and can't field on top of a fairly inconsistent batting line-up seems a step too far for mine. Love Tait but should be nowhere near Test consideration with the current available players, especially since Watson's been bowling pies for a while and has only just cemented his place in the side as a batter.

 

[Goughy]

I love the idea of Australia playing that team. 6 options are too many if England are bowled out for 250-300 and if England score 300+ and the 6 options get a work out then Aus having just 4 specialist bats is wonderful news.

 

[Malleeboy]

Is North in the top 6 Australian batsman, is his spin bowling that much better then Smith's?

If the answer is no to both of the above (and I think the answer is no) then what do Australia loose in playing Smith in Hauritz absence.

Clarke is good part timer and Katich can add a few odd overs of spin.
Johnson is a good enough number 8.

 

[Top_Cat]

I love the idea of Australia playing that team. 6 options are too many if England are bowled out for 250-300 and if England score 300+ and the 6 options get a work out then Aus having just 4 specialist bats is wonderful news.

AWTGoughy. Smith needs a 900-1000+ season for NSW to be in line for a number 6 spot for mine.

No way would any team interested in winning Test matches rely on Clark/Katich for overs either. It's like when NZ were claiming for years they had the longest batting line-up in the world because everyone down to 11 could hold a bat; sounds great in theory just meant they held out longer for a mediocre score. Having fewer excellent options >>>> a lot of below average ones.

 

[Noble One]

Is North in the top 6 Australian batsman, is his spin bowling that much better then Smith's?

No. But it is highly unlikely the selectors are going to change paths with North. They stuck with him through a very poor form slump and he did score plenty of runs in New Zealand.

The selection of North almost has nothing to do with his spin bowling ability now. He almost never bowls due to Watson taking the all-rounder slot. Smith as a straight swap at number 6 will mean Smith will hardly bowl. Is Smith a better bat than North currently? Not sure, North has probably done enough to retain his spot.

 

[Pothas]

AWTGoughy. Smith needs a 900-1000+ season for NSW to be in line for a number 6 spot for mine.

No way would any team interested in winning Test matches rely on Clark/Katich for overs either. It's like when NZ were claiming for years they had the longest batting line-up in the world because everyone down to 11 could hold a bat; sounds great in theory just meant they held out longer for a mediocre score. Having fewer excellent options >>>> a lot of below average ones.

Agree with that, is why I hate the idea of England playing 5 bowlers with Bresnan, Swann and Broad.

Luckily Bresnan's been poor of late so it probably will not happen.

Can understand the appeal of Smith though but would probably agree on balance.