*Official* Road to the 2010/11 Ashes

[Spark]

Can't understand all the flak Clarke is getting.He is a class act having a poor run of form and he won't be helped by every man and his dog constantly criticising him in the press.Add in that there are two other players who have vastly inferior records over the last couple of years and shouldn't be in the side anyway then it makes you wonder what the Aussie medias agenda is?

He's just not cut from the same cloth that say, a Merv Hughes or Matt Hayden is. He's not a particularly big, imposing, masculine character. He's probably the first cricketer to fully exploit "modern celebrity" life in this country, with his (ex-)girlfriend, his house, his car, his general lifestyle with the photoshoots and especially his appearance (especially when he had the blond tips). He's just not what certain segments of the public (the tabloid-crazed section mostly) expects their cricketers to be as a person.

None of this, you will note, actually has anything to do with cricket.

EDIT: And if you saw him on Sunday you wouldn't say he's having a run of poor form. He looks in scary touch, England are going to have to work hard to restrict him.

 

[pup11]

Can't understand all the flak Clarke is getting.He is a class act having a poor run of form and he won't be helped by every man and his dog constantly criticising him in the press.Add in that there are two other players who have vastly inferior records over the last couple of years and shouldn't be in the side anyway then it makes you wonder what the Aussie medias agenda is?

Clarke won't receive so much flak if he was just another player in the team, but he is the captain in waiting, and the problem is Clarke is no longer the fearless young cricketer who was loved by the masses and was tipped to become the next Australian captain.
Within the last few years he has kind of gone into his shell a bit, and that hasn't gone down well with many people who have grown used to seeing their captains leading the team from the front, and almost always rising upto the occasion.

 

[Spark]

He's become a better bat though. I can't see the logic behind him being so popular when he was a precocious 24-year old who was obviously supremely talented but otherwise not doing a whole lot, making starts consistently and throwing them away in the most irritating fashion.

Now he's become a lot less flashy with his batting but scored a veritable mountain of runs... and now he's recieving flak?

I just don't get it.

 

[vic_orthdox]

He's been bracketed with the same stereotype as Brett Lee; showy, flash, a marketer's dream but not the man that you want to turn to in a crisis.

 

[Spark]

And yet here we are having been forced to do precisely that for the best part of two years.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Unfortunately, he still hasn't been the last man left after a collapse on too many situations to launch the rearguard; he's usually been a part of the quick fall of wickets. Reference the Ashes for example. He's certainly batted very well in-between, and probably stopped it occurring more often, but perception is reality.

 

[Spark]

No arguing with that, really.

The only thing is that he's not the only batsman in this side, and we have been relying on him - and now we act all surprised that when he doesn't deliver, there are massive issues?

Blaming the bandage for the wound, there. (stretching my metaphors but you get my point, which is basically morgieb's)

 

[Jayzamann]

I'm not a fan of his limited overs efforts but to say he shouldn't be in the Test team is ridiculous.

Think we're expecting too much of our television 'experts' to be able to distinguish between the two?

 

[Themer]

Europe to Australia without flying

"You can go all the way from the UK to Australia or New Zealand by sea, a slow voyage by passenger-carrying freighter or occasional round-the-world cruise. Expect this to take 32-40 days and cost around £3,500 one-way including cabin & meals."

Think he might be a bit late.

He should have foreseen his illness. Its a skill you should posses as a cricketer looking forward to playing in the Ashes. I mean how was he going to cope if Johnson bowled at him? He'd have no idea where the ball was going as Johnson isn't sure himself.

 

[Howe_zat]

He should have foreseen his illness. Its a skill you should posses as a cricketer looking forward to playing in the Ashes. I mean how was he going to cope if Johnson bowled at him? He'd have no idea where the ball was going as Johnson isn't sure himself.

Johnson is the kind of cricketer who could only have appeared in the modern game. His wouldn't have been anything like as much a success against the great precognitive batsmen of the past.

 

[four_or_six]

The Confectionery Stall | Page 2 | Cricinfo.com

Katich is also reported to be suffering from an existential crisis of confidence after accidentally seeing video footage of himself batting... “Oh my god, no,” he said, dumbfounded, after watching himself ungainlily nudge a leg-side boundary. “I thought I played like David Gower.”


Nathan Hauritz... Successor to Shane Warne. In the same way that Graeme Smith is the successor to Rudolf Nureyev.

 

[Themer]

Nah, when Johnsons gets it right he'd make any batsmen in the world struggle. Even those who can foretell the future. When he doesn't however...

 

[Prince EWS]

I'd go:

Bollinger
Johnson
Hilfenhaus
Clark
Siddle
Harris
McKay
George
Geeves

I've listed a longer one because I think all of those players could do a job at Test level. That's just my personal order though - the selectors definitely won't pick Clark ever again IMO and the order of their top three is probably Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger (something neither of us have gone for despite both picking those three players in our top three, haha). Copeland would be right up there ahead of McKay if he'd played a bit more cricket - I really like the look of him and he's started his career excellently, he just needs to prove it for a little bit longer. Those bottom three are all incredibly equal in my eyes; I'm sort of surprised Geeves didn't get more of a mention when we were searching for backup bowlers in India. Cutting took a lot of wickets last season too but I don't really rate him ITBT, so I've left him off, but I reckon the selectors would have him in the mix as well.

I'd have Nannes in the mix too if he was fully fit, but he never really is so he's basically irrelevant.

Cameron's properly fit again after a year off cricket, so I'm going to include him.

Cameron
Daylight
Bollinger
Johnson
Hilfenhaus
Clark
Siddle
Harris
McKay
George
Geeves

 

[Oscillatingmind]

Johnson to seek form in club cricket

Good to see him bowling as much as possible, hopefully it comes together.

 

[Spark]

You would've thought that by now the powers that be would've learnt that resting Johnson is a dangerous, dangerous move especially in advance of anything important.

 

[Howe_zat]

I'd go:

Bollinger
Johnson
Hilfenhaus
Clark
Siddle
Harris
McKay
George
Geeves

I've listed a longer one because I think all of those players could do a job at Test level. That's just my personal order though - the selectors definitely won't pick Clark ever again IMO and the order of their top three is probably Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger (something neither of us have gone for despite both picking those three players in our top three, haha). Copeland would be right up there ahead of McKay if he'd played a bit more cricket - I really like the look of him and he's started his career excellently, he just needs to prove it for a little bit longer. Those bottom three are all incredibly equal in my eyes; I'm sort of surprised Geeves didn't get more of a mention when we were searching for backup bowlers in India. Cutting took a lot of wickets last season too but I don't really rate him ITBT, so I've left him off, but I reckon the selectors would have him in the mix as well.

I'd have Nannes in the mix too if he was fully fit, but he never really is so he's basically irrelevant.

Kind of makes you wonder/worry about the England selector's equivalent lineup -

Anderson
Broad
Finn
Tremlett
Bresnan
Shahzad
Woakes
Harris
Plunkett
Mahmood?

 

[Top_Cat]

Unfortunately, he still hasn't been the last man left after a collapse on too many situations to launch the rearguard; he's usually been a part of the quick fall of wickets. Reference the Ashes for example. He's certainly batted very well in-between, and probably stopped it occurring more often, but perception is reality.

Has been right in the middle of some 1st dig collapses too. What's made it worse has been how he's gotten out, missing full straight balls and whatnot.

 

[Spark]

I laughed at the Headingley 1st innings dismissal. It was just so... predictable.

 

[iamdavid]

I'm seriously beginning to question Johnson's value. I know he's a ridiculous talent and when he hits his straps then he's on another level to probably every other paceman in the world besides Steyn. But imo he just doesn't get it right often enough to justify this status as the leader of the the attack that the selectors and press seem to have bestowed upon him.

It's a risk v reward thing, and for the past 18 months he really hasn't been providing the rewards often enough to offset the rubbish that he dishes up most of the time.

It's not yet at the stage where I feel he should be dropped. Counting in his favour is his knack of picking up a wicket out of the blue, against the run of play even though he's bowling terribly. Also the fact Watson is bowling so consistently of late, which gives them more leeway to persist with a Johnson.

That said, an attack of Hilfenhaus, Bollinger (fully-fit) and Harris, with Watson as backup looks pretty tempting to me. Might not have the hostility Johnson provides, but that's an attack you could bank on.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I'm seriously beginning to question Johnson's value. I know he's a ridiculous talent and when he hits his straps then he's on another level to probably every other paceman in the world besides Steyn. But imo he just doesn't get it right often enough to justify this status as the leader of the the attack that the selectors and press seem to have bestowed upon him.

It's a risk v reward thing, and for the past 18 months he really hasn't been providing the rewards often enough to offset the rubbish that he dishes up most of the time.

We had the same thing with Harmison.Yes when he got it right he was deadly but more often than not he was Harmlessone and his poor displays meant the team suffered.What will be more annoying is that he will keep being picked and producing nothing and that someone who carries the side will be jettisoned after a couple of poor games (or 1 in our case with Hoggard).