*Official* Third Test at the WACA

[Burgey]

If they replace North with Smith, and bat him at seven, we would presumably play four quicks and leave out Doherty. That would leave an extravagant 5 man pace attack (including Watson) with Smith the spinner (you only need one maximum in Perth anyway).

Alternatively, they could pick Usman or Dave Hussey at six, Smith at eight as the spinner (or indeed O'Keefe, with D Hussey as back up) then three quicks (effectively four with Watson).

I confess I like the second option. It used to be said if three quicks won't do it for you then four won't. It kind of follows that if four doesn't work, five certainly won't.

So I suppose what I'm saying is I'd run with:

Hughes
Watson
Ponting
M Hussey
Clarke
Khawaja/ D Hussey
Haddin
Smith/ O'Keefe
Harris
Siddle
Dougeh/ Hilf

Hussey at four and Clarke at five is no accident in that line up btw.

I didn't see the last test, but by all reports Dougeh was mud. Do they drop him for that or give him a gig in Perth where there is likely something in it for him? I suspect they won't and will like the idea of Hilf into the breeze there. I'd love to see Dougeh given a go on a pitch with a bit in it though. Can't see it happening personally.

Dougeh.

Dougeh!

 

[TumTum]

Not Smith, ah gawd please not Smith.

 

[Ruckus]

Smith just got raped in that last over by Christian.

That sounds kind of wierd...

 

[Burgey]

Not Smith, ah gawd please not Smith.

Yeah well the alternative is they go back to Hauritz which is not unreasonable. I just didn't consider him as I don't believe the selectors will swallow their pride and pick him.

You would then have Hauritz at eight in that line up with Harris at nine. Again, I think it's better than running with Haddin at six and Smith at seven.

 

[TumTum]

I would rather us play with 10 men rather than let Smith bowl.

 

[GotSpin]

These selectors do my head in. We're not as good as we used to be, but for ****s sake, don't exacerbate the situation by picking hopeless players
Anyway

Hughes
Watson
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Khawaja
Haddin
Harris
Copeland
Dougeh
Siddle

 

[Son Of Coco]

I don't buy into all this "he's out of form and can come back into it at anytime" stuff. I personally subscribe to the idea that he is not bowling that much different than when he was getting boatloads of wickets. It's not like the majority of his dismissals are batsman squared up edging behind or taking the top of off. He beats a few batsman for pace occasionally (which any 145+ bowler will do) but the majority to me always seem to be strangled down the legside, caught off wide half volleys etc. That's all fine when you are new on the scene and it netted him a few Saffies wickets and Dravid 30 times but against this English batting line up who leave the **** alone and wait for the plethora or bad balls to come, he is fodder.

His action is such that it's a miracle that he ever landed 2 balls in a row on the same spot and his wrist position is crap. Just because he gets a few wickets in clumps occasionally everyone thinks he is some godlike penetrating bowler.

What we need is a bowling group working together to get wickets. Building pressure, hitting lines and lengths all the simple stuff. We don't need some joker getting 5fer every 10th innings to remind us how devastating he can be if the batting side all play at **** deliveries who otherwise can only build pressure on his own team. There is nothing special about England's attack. Quality swing bowler and spinner who comes into his own days 4 and 5 and then line and length when the pitch is flat. Exactly what we need to be doing. Obviously we have no quality spinner, but we sure as hell have more consistantly penetrating bowlers that Johnson and they should at least be given a chance before he is given his 20th. I mean, Stuart Clark got dropped with a test average of 23 because of one poor porformance on a road and then players like Cameron, Copeland et al with excellent records and form don't even get a look in. Johnson seems to be able to do sweet **** all for test after test because *good form is just around the corner* and he can win a match at any time. Never mind that he contributes heavily to 4 losses for each win. BOLLOCKS.

He is terrible and if he plays 50+ tests without modifiying his action to gain some control and swing, I suspect his bowling average might hit mid 30s. If we still had Pidge and Warne he would be ideal, because those two could carry him for a whole career easily - we don't. Even losing Bing and Stu has shown him up.

I do like watching him bat however.

Yeah, I agree with most of this.

Johnson is basically the bowling equivalent of North at the moment. Everyone's waiting for that one game in 6 or 7 when he does something and contributes to us winning a match.

What we need is 4 - 5 bowlers working together and hitting the right areas consistently. Not 1 'match-winner' who rarely wins us a match and a bunch of guys struggling along with him.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

My gut feeling is that the kids won't be picked until the series is lost so as not to put them under extra pressure. I think that Hughes and Smith may play as they already have test experience but bringing Khawaja into this car crash may be a bit unfair on the kid no matter how good he may be. For that reason alone i think they will either stick with North or go with the experience of Dave Hussey.

Someone said earlier did we have to put up with this sort of thing in England. Answer is no not really, we didn't have the players to bring in anyway apart from one bloke who was the best bowler in county cricket year after year but sadly we picked him against you in 93 and he got smashed everywhere and discarded for 11 years when he came back and won a test v S.A. in the twilight of his career. If England had persevered with Bicknell as a back up to Gough and Caddick we wouldn't have become world beaters but i am certain that we'd have been more competitive against the rest of the world bar Australia.

That could be one concern with Cameron/Copeland. If they come in now and perform badly in a struggling side they might never get a chance again. It might be better for them and Khawaja if they were to come in after the series with a clean slate in Aussie cricket with new captain/selection panel. It might not be what you want to hear right now but a little more short term pain for some long term gain might be better than the constant chopping and changing you have at present.

For the record i am not too fussed if you pick Cameron or Copeland as the pressure on them to produce straight away will be immense. I'd be more concerned with Johnson being recalled as he has proven he is a matchwinner no matter how erratic he is.

 

[GIMH]

When is the Aus squad annouced, Sunday?

 

[Prince EWS]

Well if Copeland's proven anything it's that he can go up a level into a team and have immediate success, providing he's up to it quality-wise. I'm not really worried about his mental state. I love him as a bowler and I wouldn't bag the selection if he got picked at all, but I'm just not quite convinced (yet) that he's more Mohammad Asif than he is Brett Dorey. I think Cameron's a little more likely to have success at the moment.

 

[GotSpin]

My gut feeling is that the kids won't be picked until the series is lost so as not to put them under extra pressure. I think that Hughes and Smith may play as they already have test experience but bringing Khawaja into this car crash may be a bit unfair on the kid no matter how good he may be. For that reason alone i think they will either stick with North or go with the experience of Dave Hussey.

Someone said earlier did we have to put up with this sort of thing in England. Answer is no not really, we didn't have the players to bring in anyway apart from one bloke who was the best bowler in county cricket year after year but sadly we picked him against you in 93 and he got smashed everywhere and discarded for 11 years when he came back and won a test v S.A. in the twilight of his career. If England had persevered with Bicknell as a back up to Gough and Caddick we wouldn't have become world beaters but i am certain that we'd have been more competitive against the rest of the world bar Australia.

That could be one concern with Cameron/Copeland. If they come in now and perform badly in a struggling side they might never get a chance again. It might be better for them and Khawaja if they were to come in after the series with a clean slate in Aussie cricket with new captain/selection panel. It might not be what you want to hear right now but a little more short term pain for some long term gain might be better than the constant chopping and changing you have at present.

For the record i am not too fussed if you pick Cameron or Copeland as the pressure on them to produce straight away will be immense. I'd be more concerned with Johnson being recalled as he has proven he is a matchwinner no matter how erratic he is.

I actually agree with you on this point. However, I'm not really sure where this Johnson match winning myth has come from. Perhaps his two good spells in South Africa

 

[benchmark00]

When is the Aus squad annouced, Sunday?

Meant to be tomorrow.

 

[GIMH]

Thanks

 

[Jayzamann]

Meant to be tomorrow.

My face when the team drops

 

[Sylvester]

Still would rather have Smith in the top 7 where he doesn't have the pressure of being specialist spinner. Ideally O'Keefe at 8 to do the bulk of the work and keep it tight and Smith as the other option to get wickets ala how Katich should have been used if he liked bowling. Then 3 quicks plus Watson to do the rest, as mentioned you don't need more than 4 quicks and Watson is essentially the 2nd best quick bowler we have behind Harris.

 

[Spikey]

squad's picked tonight, announced tomorrow. or so i heard.

 

[Sylvester]

Too little to late from Ferguson then, would be stuck on the 50 same as Khawaja but he was infront of him last time the selectors named a backup batsmen.

 

[GotSpin]

Really not a fan of Haddin batting at 6. Really think it extends our tail honestly. This is not to suggest he's a poor batsmen, but I'd rather a steady batsmen at 6 considering our recent tendency to collapse

 

[age_master]

Yeah, I agree with most of this.

Johnson is basically the bowling equivalent of North at the moment. Everyone's waiting for that one game in 6 or 7 when he does something and contributes to us winning a match.

Johnson scores more runs between his hundreds though .

 

[iamdavid]

I think Siddle's place is in some serious doubt here, or at least it should be. Siddle and Harris are very similar bowlers, I know Harris was touted as similar to Hilfenhaus before Adelaide, but I think he's got more in common with Siddle in terms of the skiddy trajectory and fullish length (at least when Siddle's bowling well), plus they're both nibble the ball off the seam type bowlers, whereas Hilfenhaus is a genuine swinger. I think Hilfenhaus compliments Harris and Bollinger better than Siddle...