*Official* Tour Matches

[treamcast34]

Great to see Anderson in the wickets; looks indeed like a wet summer this year which is what we would've been hoping for no question. If he can get some reasonably consistent swing, what a change to the dynamic of the series it will impart.

 

[chalky]

England resting the 1st choice bowling unit for the last tour game against Australia 'A' who does that leave to pick Monty, Tremlett, Fat Tim ???. Could get a bit ugly definately not the way I would have went.

 

[superkingdave]

England resting the 1st choice bowling unit for the last tour game against Australia 'A' who does that leave to pick Monty, Tremlett, Fat Tim ???. Could get a bit ugly definately not the way I would have went.

I suppose it gives them a chance to put the Phil Tufnell amongst the Glenn McGraths.

Presumably someone from the performance squad will be used to augment the attack, perhaps Shazhad.

 

[Prince EWS]

England resting the 1st choice bowling unit for the last tour game against Australia 'A' who does that leave to pick Monty, Tremlett, Fat Tim ???. Could get a bit ugly definately not the way I would have went.

I don't think England really want to give Khawaja, Ferguson or Smith a chance to put their first choice attack everywhere and get the perfect boost of confidence before an Ashes campaign, particularly given I think they'd be pretty happy to see Hussey and North play.

At first I thought it was a silly way of doing it, but the more I think about the more it makes sense. Australia are the team with selection problems that need answering, so a game between a full-strength England and Australia's bench strength would benefit Australia a lot more than England. For England's bowlers it was just a matter of getting used to the conditions, which they were able to do against South Australia and Western Australia as much as they'd be able to do against Australia A, but without the opportunity for all Australia's fringe players to shine.

 

[Howe_zat]

I don't think England really want to give Khawaja, Ferguson or Smith a chance to put their first chance attack everywhere and get the boost of confidence before an Ashes campaign, particularly given I think they'd be pretty happy to see Hussey and North play.

At first I thought it was a silly way of doing it, but the more I think about the more it makes sense. Australia are the team with selection problems that need answering, so a game between a full-strength England and Australia's bench strength would benefit Australia a lot more than England. For England's bowlers it was just a matter of getting used to the conditions, which they were able to do against South Australia and Western Australia as much as they'd be able to do against Australia A, but without the opportunity for all Australia's fringe players to shine.

This is basically the point. It's a win-win situation for Australia if England put out their full side - either Oz A do well, in which case they get a confidence boost and England are embarrassed, or they don't, in which case hey, they're playing the test side, no surprises.

This way, it becomes an audition match for both sides. That takes the pressure right off England. Meanwhile, the main bowlers are in Brisbane acclimatising.

 

[Nate]

Then again, this could have been a good step-up for the bowlers. It could be interesting going from bowling to average State batsmen to the Australian ones.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Glad they have done this,hopefully they just call in Shahzad for this match to complete the attack.

 

[Howe_zat]

Confirmed, England's attack will be Tremlett, Bresnan, Shahzad and Panesar.

I'd expect Morgan and Davies to be playing too.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Good,and at least we know who we will call up if there is any injury doubt.Not that there was much debate there anyway.

Still a useful attack,wouldn't be too surprised if Shahzad outbowled Tremlett and Bresnan to be honest.

 

[Woodster]

Yes I suppose without giving it too much thought, I expected one or two to get a rest against SA, then the full side to take to the field against Australia 'A', to fine tune one or two things leading into the Test, but off hand I don't see too many problems with what they seem to be doing.

I think the step up in class would have been beneficial, but I guess they've weighed the pro's and con's up and see a bit of rest to the bowling attack and preparing in Brisbane ahead of the Test as the ideal preparation. Time will tell.

 

[social]

This is basically the point. It's a win-win situation for Australia if England put out their full side - either Oz A do well, in which case they get a confidence boost and England are embarrassed, or they don't, in which case hey, they're playing the test side, no surprises.

This way, it becomes an audition match for both sides. That takes the pressure right off England. Meanwhile, the main bowlers are in Brisbane acclimatising.

Is that the best justification that they could come up with?

They're moving from SA to Queensland not Mexico City

 

[Howe_zat]

I gather that it's not much of a point, it's just an extra, I gave what I suspect to be the main reasons.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Is that the best justification that they could come up with?

They're moving from SA to Queensland not Mexico City

To be fair, the talk from the English camp was about getting used to the heat with regards to acclimatising, and that Hobart wasn't the best place to prepare for that.

They've been pretty open about it all since they got here, so at least it shows some degree of planning more than a week ahead. As for us...

 

[pup11]

Haha, bit of an anti-climax this in the end. Was really looking forward to the England v Australia A game just too see how players from both teams perform against each other.
Kind of a weird situation this now for all the test contenders, because if they perform then it won't be considered a big deal as its the second string side, but if they fail here then that could force them down the pecking order.
Also not happy that Mckay has been picked to replace Starc, would have liked to see someone like a Walter or Cutting who atleast have test potential.

 

[Jarquis]

Haha, bit of an anti-climax this in the end. Was really looking forward to the England v Australia A game just too see how players from both teams perform against each other..

What are you getting now?

 

[Themer]

I think he wanted to see how the players in Australia A would go against a full strength England bowling line up.

Somewhat of a hidden bonus is keeping players who could potentially be playing in the test series against England from getting batting practice against the bowlers.

 

[BoyBrumby]

In all fairness we're still playing four blokes with test caps, one with well over 100 wickets too. Not like we're sending Effing Sodbury's 4th XI attack out.

 

[Adamski]

Andy Flower has made the point that it is unlikely that the 4 man attack will make it through 5 tests without at least one injury breakdown. I think that he has seen enough of Swann, Anderson, Broad and Finn to know that there are no obvious problems; so it makes sense to have a look at the alternatives. From England's perspective it's much easier to replace a batsman, but if one of the 4 bowlers goes, there needs to be a clear idea about who the No1 replacement will be.

 

[Athlai]

Can't see Finn playing all 5

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Andy Flower has made the point that it is unlikely that the 4 man attack will make it through 5 tests without at least one injury breakdown. I think that he has seen enough of Swann, Anderson, Broad and Finn to know that there are no obvious problems; so it makes sense to have a look at the alternatives. From England's perspective it's much easier to replace a batsman, but if one of the 4 bowlers goes, there needs to be a clear idea about who the No1 replacement will be.

It will also depend on the series score at the time.For example if England are ahead they may go with Bresnan to add extra batting and preserve what they already have and make it tougher for Australia to win.If it is Finn who drops out then Tremlett is an obvios replacement due to his height.

I agree they won't play all 5 matches and it will probably be Finn who needs dropping due to mental fatigue as he is only a pup.