*Official* First Test at the Gabba

[Uppercut]

Haddin is a very fine player who doesnt score nearly enough runs despite averaging around 40 in test cricket BUT Prior is his equal and arguably one of the 4 best bats in the English team

Reckon they cancel each other out tbh

Haddin's probably pretty comfortably better in Australia though.

 

[Woodster]

Haddin's probably pretty comfortably better in Australia though.

Bit early for that assumption on the basis of one Prior delivery. Sure Haddin has greater experience at home, but the conditions should also suit Prior's strokeplay with the ball coming on and good bounce.

I actually really like Haddin as a batsman, thought he was quite restrained today, and if we don't get him early tomorrow, he could be exceptionally dangerous against the new ball.

 

[social]

It's great that we have young talent like Hildreth and Taylor in the Performance squad, but Morgan is clearly very highly rated by the management and is the next man in line. Yes his first-class figures are not staggering but Morgan's potential, attitude, and mental strength singles him out as a man that will score runs in tough situations, this has been demonstrated in the ODI's. While I understand that good performances in a different format should not influence selection in Tests, it is the way he is scoring them in pressure situations that convinces the selectors he's made of the right stuff.

Wont help him if he doesnt improve his defensive play around off stump

Walking wicket for the better quicks in world cricket IMO

 

[Woodster]

Wont help him if he doesnt improve his defensive play around off stump

Walking wicket for the better quicks in world cricket IMO

Very early days in his international career to suggest that's a major problem for him. Yes he has been dismissed on a couple of occasions in this way, but many left-handers have to come to terms with the ball being slanted across them and i'm sure he'll be dismissed in this manner on numerous occasions to come early in his innings.

To suggest he's a walking wicket is very exaggerrated. He's not the finished article, but he is a very good player now, and can get better.

 

[MW1304]

Haddin and Prior very similar standard of player in my opinion, certainly the two best wicky-bats in the world, currently (Dhoni not in good form).

Hugely disagree with the notion that Haddin is better in Australia. Not only can we not know that after 1 inns but the bounce and pace should suit his wonderful back foot play perfectly. Doesn't seem in the best form atm but had a good summer, hope he goes well.

 

[irottev]

Haddin > Prior IMO. As much as it pains me to say so. I hate Haddin, he's a cheating liar (Broom dismissal in Aus v NZ ODI) Not that Prior's bad by any means.

 

[zaremba]

Interestingly poised Test, this. Somehow it's hard to see England winning, even though Australia only have their noses in front by a small margin.

 

[Julian87]

Bit early for that assumption on the basis of one Prior delivery. Sure Haddin has greater experience at home, but the conditions should also suit Prior's strokeplay with the ball coming on and good bounce.

I actually really like Haddin as a batsman, thought he was quite restrained today, and if we don't get him early tomorrow, he could be exceptionally dangerous against the new ball.

I know Prior has a good record but I don't see how Australian conditions will suit him at all. He hits the ball in the air through the off side (through, not over from what I've seen) and that will become more of a problem on bouncier wickets. All of this stems from being terribly bottom handed which causes him to slice his off side drives. Almost seems to hit across the line through the off side. Hard to explain but I'm not convinced.

He's obviously pretty talented but I can't see him really dominating the Aussie attack due to the above reasons.

 

[Julian87]

Haddin's best trait (IMO) is getting to the second new ball and then just playing like an ODI at the top when the field is up. Does it regularly here in Australia. If I were Strauss I'd be very cautious about what field I set. I'd actually start with a third man to Haddin.

Strauss has actually been too cautious to Haddin thus far and it has really cost England IMO. He pushed the straight men back from the get go and had few saving singles on the leg side. Although it is his strength...you want Haddin trying to hit boundaries early because he leaves a gap between bat and pad when doing it. By putting the brakes on Haddin he enabled Hussey to keep scoring at a good rate because Haddin was just playing a supporting role. He should have definitely attacked Haddin and gambled to get him out before he scored 25 or so before putting the field back because Australia's tail is long and I would have backed Swann to get Johnson out yesterday.

I think that has been the difference thus far in this game. England's lower middle order is quite a bit better than Australia's (yes there was a freakish hat trick and brilliant spell from Siddle). But when a counter attack looked on the cards (Swann and Bell, as Swann has done it plenty of times before including hurting Australia in England) Ponting kept attacking to bowl England out. He ended up defending against Bell when the tailenders were in but that tactic worked well IMO (besides bringing Johnson on when he should have bowled Doherty). It's also the reason why England scored at a better click than Australia....but considering we're only up to day 3 it doesn't matter at all.

 

[Uppercut]

Haddin and Prior very similar standard of player in my opinion, certainly the two best wicky-bats in the world, currently (Dhoni not in good form).

Hugely disagree with the notion that Haddin is better in Australia. Not only can we not know that after 1 inns but the bounce and pace should suit his wonderful back foot play perfectly. Doesn't seem in the best form atm but had a good summer, hope he goes well.

Why such huge disagreement?

Haddin is waaaay better at home than he is away. So it doesn't make any sense to say that Prior and Haddin are both a very similar standard of player in general and a similar standard of player in Australia.

 

[JBH001]

Interestingly poised Test, this. Somehow it's hard to see England winning, even though Australia only have their noses in front by a small margin.

Nah, Broad to scythe through the remaining Australian bats with the new ball. Then it will really be anyone's game.

 

[Faisal1985]

It just struck me, if Saf can beat Aus in Aus without Smith then what the heck had been wrong with England for all this time.....isn't have of their team made of South Africans.

 

[Howe_zat]

So it's going one of four ways:

1) A Muss ton plus some quick lower-order runs could push Australia into a lead of well over 100.

2) A few chips away to get Australia before the middle of the day would still give the Aussies an advantage.

3) If England can get two early wickets and keep the tail from tearing away it's dead even.

4) Three or more new-ball wickets and they could nick a first-innings lead.

Most likely scenario is probably 2), I think. But all are plausible. This could be a real cracking match.

 

[Julian87]

Is play starting 30 mins early this morning?

 

[MW1304]

Why such huge disagreement?

Haddin is waaaay better at home than he is away. So it doesn't make any sense to say that Prior and Haddin are both a very similar standard of player in general and a similar standard of player in Australia.

I would put it to you that it doesn't make sense to say Haddin is better in Australia when Prior has played all of one innings, which happened to be during a Siddle blitz. I'm of the opinion that Prior's game will be suited to Australia, and as him and Haddin are of similar quality, they'll be similar in Australia. I don't see how Haddin is sooo much better at home, anyway, he was really good in England last year at least.

 

[MW1304]

Is play starting 30 mins early this morning?

Yep. Apparently that helps the bowlers?

Can someone explain why?

 

[Julian87]

Yep. Apparently that helps the bowlers?

Can someone explain why?

Because there'll be more in the pitch having seen less sun than it would have 30 mins later.

 

[Howe_zat]

I think the idea is that the bowlers will get a bit more out of the conditions when it's a bit cooler and the sun isn't really out yet. Or maybe Hussey just isn't a morning person. Either way, 30 minutes won't make much difference. I do appreciate the extra cricket though.

 

[Julian87]

Will make a difference considering a touch of rain got on the pitch last night then it would have sat under covers for several hours.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

They have a new ball due, too, which they'd be total nutjobs not to take.