*Official* First Test at the Gabba

[NUFAN]

It's really odd that they didn't even include Hauritz in the 'A' game if they weren't even planning on picking him in the 14. Such a lack of continuity in selection policy. Hauritz may not be notably better than Doherty but he's been growing really well into the role of Australia's first-choice spinner, the obligatory smashing in India aside. What's to be gained by not even having him around the squad? Usually I can see the reasoning behind their decisions but this just looks bad.

With a full round of domestic matches, I don't really see the problem with him not making the A team. It was just unfortunate for Hauritz that he bowled just the one over for 7 runs, got a first ball duck and dropped the catch that would have won the match for NSW.

Good to see a few more people supporting Siddle in the last half dozen posts!

 

[Furball]

I'm not getting the Siddle hate. Anyone who doubts what the boy can do should look at his performance in the Headingley test last year. Presented with a seaming wicket he ripped it up.

I know Australian conditions are a very different beast, but, based on what I've seen of the two, I'd have to think very long and very hard if the choice was between him & Bollinger.

He got the ball to do a bit through the air and off the pitch in England, but I thought he was pretty dire in the last Australian summer. Was also dire against Sri Lanka - ok, I'll bow to the guys like Cribb who say he's not a one day bowler, but he bowled utterly brainlessly.

Plus, he's got a face you'd never tire of punching.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Plus, he's got a face you'd never tire of punching.

I kinda like the way he's a one-man rejoinder to all those Aussie jokes about crappy British teeth.

It looks like he made his gnashers out of the wood he's so adept at chopping.

 

[pup11]

With a full round of domestic matches, I don't really see the problem with him not making the A team. It was just unfortunate for Hauritz that he bowled just the one over for 7 runs, got a first ball duck and dropped the catch that would have won the match for NSW.

Good to see a few more people supporting Siddle in the last half dozen posts!

I still can't gulp down the fact that Hauritz just bowled one over in the whole game, I mean yeah... the conditions weren't exactly spin friendly but then Doherty bowled a decent amount of overs for Tassie.
...Also I don't think anybody is saying that Siddle is a hopeless bowler, but there is no denying that he tends to get preferential treatment despite the fact that his bowling has gone downhill in the last 12 months or so.
Siddle has recovered from a pretty severe injury and has only played a handful of games, but still he finds himself in the Ashes squad, with a very realistic chance of playing in XI ahead of Bollinger.

 

[pup11]

Nathan's dad sprays selectors | Herald Sun
Haha.. Hauritz senior has pretty much ensured that his son won't be bowling a single ball for Australia ever again!!

 

[Jono]

Doherty

Poor Hauritz. Would have been better off pulling a hammy before the Indian tour.

 

[zaremba]

I was surprised to read that Hauritz's Test average in Australia is 28. Given how everyone bangs on about how Oz is an offie's graveyard, that's a pretty damned good record. The guy's a handy number 9 batsman too. So I'm surprised they've jettisoned him. Warnie got it right when he said that they can give him a go and if he doesn't perform they can bring someone else in, but if X fails, it's not so easy to go straight back to Hauritz.

As for picking X, well I'm surprised. I know next to nothing about the guy, except that his FC average is a miserable 48.80, and that he's performed well over the last 12 months. But given that O'Keefe bowled pretty well at Hobart, and is a seriously useful lower order bat, I'm pretty surprised they didn't go with him if they were committed to ditching Hauritz.

 

[vcs]

Was watching some highlights of the recent Ind-Aus series, people are forgetting some of the utter dross Hauritz served up on a consistent basis. Atleast Doherty bowled an excellent spell against the Lankans who are good against spin (and he's pretty much guaranteed KP's wicket. ).

 

[Jono]

If you're going to justify Doherty's spot, do it on his improved first class record, not a single ODI.

 

[Woodster]

Was watching some highlights of the recent Ind-Aus series, people are forgetting some of the utter dross Hauritz served up on a consistent basis. Atleast Doherty bowled an excellent spell against the Lankans who are good against spin (and he's pretty much guaranteed KP's wicket. ).

I agree that Hauritz didn't bowl particularly well against India, but let's not forget how well India play spinners there, they put slow bowlers under a lot of pressure, and I'd be surprised if there's a bowler in Australia that would have done any better.

 

[howardj]

After what has been a tough week for our Test players and the 'A' players, it is nice to cap things off with Johnson finding form with bat and ball. Johnson is so key to our Ashes fortunes. If Johnson plays well, then Australia should win back the urn. He is that critical.

.

Yeah well, we saw how Australia's fortunes waxed and waned from South Africa in SA in 2009 (when Mitch was on fire), and then to England in 2009 (where he was well below par). We're world-class when he's on his game.

 

[Prince EWS]

I agree that Hauritz didn't bowl particularly well against India, but let's not forget how well India play spinners there, they put slow bowlers under a lot of pressure, and I'd be surprised if there's a bowler in Australia that would have done any better.

Krejza did okay...

Fact is, Hauritz's bowling was completely unsuited to Indian conditions and he was always going to struggle. However, to say that he's a good bowler at home because he took cheap wickets against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand flies in the face of the excuse usually trotted out to defend his First Class record - that the pitches here don't suit him and he'd do better abroad.

 

[pasag]

I'm not getting the Siddle hate. Anyone who doubts what the boy can do should look at his performance in the Headingley test last year. Presented with a seaming wicket he ripped it up.

I know Australian conditions are a very different beast, but, based on what I've seen of the two, I'd have to think very long and very hard if the choice was between him & Bollinger.

He's not that bad, he's just not that good. But no way it should be between him and Bolly. Bolly is first man on the teamsheet after Watto, period.

My first post in this thread, wanted to start proceedings by telling all the poms to GAGF.

Next point of interest was the laugh I had when I saw Hughes was sacked by fellow selectors. Love the way they've laid all the blame on his feet when Hilditch should have been first out the door.

The print and web media leading into this series has been pathetic. It's like some journos just realised that Aus aren't number one anymore. The problem with the cricket season here is every man and his dog gets to write about cricket in the newspaper. They're almost as annoying as some of the Indian trolls reminding everyone of the rankings going into this series.

And big deal crowds are down on the last Ashes, that was the last series of a slew of champions and was in the context of revenge for 05. Obviously CA will overreact and do something stupid like introduce mixed cricket or replacing cricket balls with fruit.

Regarding Hauritz, Ponting had very little faith in him and would pretty much hide him till he had to bring him on when the fast men were really tired, so not much point selecting him really. He'll play in this series though.

I honestly can't see how we'll win this series as long as our batting spine remains as sturdy as Christopher Reeve. We regularly throw 6 wickets away in a session, we sometimes fall for around 100/150 and half the batting is usually out of form big time. And Aus players don't make runs when out of form, unlike your English players. If England played here last year they would have won (first of all they would have been trying to win all their matches....)

On the other hand, if our batting plays to their full potential, there's no reason we can't challenge for number 1 again.

 

[howardj]

I'm not getting the Siddle hate. Anyone who doubts what the boy can do should look at his performance in the Headingley test last year. Presented with a seaming wicket he ripped it up.

I know Australian conditions are a very different beast, but, based on what I've seen of the two, I'd have to think very long and very hard if the choice was between him & Bollinger.

I don't think anybody is hating him, although on forums I guess we're all guilty of speaking in extremes from time to time. I just think people are really miffed that he could come back and leapfrog Bollinger, and that's sort of spilling over into slightly harsh criticism. Let's remember where Siddle was last Summer. He was well on the verge of getting dropped, and now he comes back in after having done not much since his injury and is set to leapfrog a guy with a bowling average in the low 20s (Bollinger).

 

[Prince EWS]

I don't think anybody is hating him, although on forums I guess we're all guilty of speaking in extremes from time to time. I just think people are really miffed that he could come back and leapfrog Bollinger, and that's sort of spilling over into slightly harsh criticism. Let's remember where Siddle was last Summer. He was well on the verge of getting dropped, and now he comes back in after having done not much since his injury and is set to leapfrog a guy with a bowling average in the low 20s (Bollinger).

I don't think it'll happen, and if it does, it'll only be because they're not completely confident in Bollinger's fitness. Wait until we see the eleven before slamming the selectors for doing something they haven't done yet.

 

[howardj]

However, to say that he's a good bowler at home because he took cheap wickets against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand flies in the face of the excuse usually trotted out to defend his First Class record - that the pitches here don't suit him and he'd do better abroad.

To be honest, Bollinger's cheap wickets against those exact same teams are used by people on here to paint him as a real force.

 

[howardj]

I don't think it'll happen, and if it does, it'll only be because they're not completely confident in Bollinger's fitness. Wait until we see the eleven before slamming the selectors for doing something they haven't done yet.

Regardless, Siddle has not done enough to be in the squad. As I say, he was on the verge of getting dropped last SUmmer before injury. I think he needs some hauls and to show improvement, before he gets back.

 

[Prince EWS]

To be honest, Bollinger's cheap wickets against those exact same teams are used by people on here to paint him as a real force.

Missing the point tbh. People don't say Bollinger's First Class record is inflated by unsuited home pitches.. because he averaged in the teens for two seasons running before getting picked and topped the Shield wicket tally.

When Hauritz first came into the team, all the talk was about how Australian pitches were terrible for spinners and that his First Class average wasn't representative of how he'd do around the world, and now that he's cleaned up lower orders after the opening bowlers have run through weak batting lineups at home, he's suddenly unsuited to conditions abroad but a good bowler at home. What people are saying is that the pitches at home don't suit him, and that the pitches abroad don't suit him. Doesn't seem like a very good bowler based on that, does he?

 

[Prince EWS]

Regardless, Siddle has not done enough to be in the squad. As I say, he was on the verge of getting dropped last SUmmer before injury. I think he needs some hauls and to show improvement, before he gets back.

So given Harris himself admitted he probably isn't fit enough, who the **** would you have in the squad?

 

[Woodster]

Krejza did okay...

Fact is, Hauritz's bowling was completely unsuited to Indian conditions and he was always going to struggle. However, to say that he's a good bowler at home because he took cheap wickets against Pakistan, West Indies and New Zealand flies in the face of the excuse usually trotted out to defend his First Class record - that the pitches here don't suit him and he'd do better abroad.

Yes, he did ok.

Think most Aussie spinners are unsuited to Indian conditions, because they're not good enough to trouble such accomlished players of spin.

Not sure where you're going with the rest of your comment, have I said he is a particularly good bowler at home ?