*Official* Fifth Test at the SCG

[Midwinter]

Without Katich's injury there has been only one change to the batting in this series. Smith for North.

And now we are likely to be 2-1 down

Was there any warning signs that the batting was weak ?

 

[social]

Here's the problem with dropping Clarke though and then bringing him back when Ponting retires. Ghappel has said in no uncertain terms that Clarke will be the next captain. If you drop him, then bring him back and make him captain, what kind of message will that send to the team?

a. There is no room for two charity cases in Ponting and Clarke

b. I wouldnt have Clarke as the next captain

c. They wont pick this team

 

[Spark]

Not really. Ponting as stated had a very good series in India, and Clarke, whilst failing in India, looked in supreme touch just before the injury. So that's taken everyone by surprise.

 

[NUFAN]

1 S Watson 2 P Hughes 3 R Ponting 4 U Khawaja 5 M Clarke 6 M Hussey 7 B Haddin 8 M Johnson 9 P Siddle 10 M Beer 11 D Bollinger.

Beer has to be given a chance, but even if he does well I'm not sure what it will prove.. I've kept Hughes if Katich isn't back yet,

 

[Spark]

a. There is no room for two charity cases in Ponting and Clarke

b. I wouldnt have Clarke as the next captain

c. They wont pick this team

All fair stuff, but given that (b) is irrelevant regardless.

Although (c) kind of nullifies that point.

 

[marc71178]

Without Katich's injury there has been only one change to the batting in this series. Smith for North.

And now we are likely to be 2-1 down

Was there any warning signs that the batting was weak ?

Pre-series one of the biggest concerns was Hussey - imagine he'd been dropped pre-series?

 

[Spark]

1 S Watson 2 P Hughes 3 R Ponting 4 U Khawaja 5 M Clarke 6 M Hussey 7 B Haddin 8 M Johnson 9 P Siddle 10 M Beer 11 D Bollinger.

Beer has to be given a chance, but even if he does well I'm not sure what it will prove.. I've kept Hughes if Katich isn't back yet,

This is the team/order that I'd pick given the squad I think they'll name.

 

[Prince EWS]

There were warning signs about the batting, but not so much about Ponting and Clarke. Sure you could say that Ponting hadn't had a big series in a while and that Clarke was poor in a two-match series against India, but I don't think there were any real indications that they'd average under 10 over four Ashes Tests.

There were massive, massive warning signs about Hussey, though, funnily enough. Hussey's performances should be a reminder of why not to drop Clarke. I'd much sooner drop Ponting because I think he's genuinely declined; Clarke has just had a bad patch. A little longer than a routine bad patch and at a terrible time, but I don't think it's a genuine decline.

 

[Nate]

Not really. Ponting as stated had a very good series in India, and Clarke, whilst failing in India, looked in supreme touch just before the injury. So that's taken everyone by surprise.

Wouldn't say Ponting's series was very good. And Clarke's technical flaw has been back in his game for a while now, I'm hardly surprised.

 

[Nate]

Was there any warning signs that the batting was weak ?

The constant batting collapses since 2007. So, so many.

 

[Spark]

This being playing away from his body? He's never stopped doing that...

 

[Nate]

This being playing away from his body? He's never stopped doing that...

Stronger bottom hand, resulting with him going harder at the ball. Just asking to edge it.

 

[Spark]

Ah interesting.

 

[Jarquis]

Haha, even remove that word and there's still nothing.

I suppose they could come out and say that Hauritz hitting two tons has made him a more attractive package...

Took his first Shield 5fer as well didn't he?

 

[Prince EWS]

Took his first Shield 5fer as well didn't he?

That was before Beer was picked.

 

[Jarquis]

The funny thing is, Julian, I'm actually regarded as a bit of a Prior-hating Haddin fanboy by certain members of this forum, and yet I still think you're one. That's how ridiculously extreme your opinions of the situation are - even the known Haddin fans think you're over-the-top.

You seriously suggested that Swann should bat above Prior in Melbourne, FFS. The bloke averages over 40 in Tests with three tons. You've gone mad.

Yeah, Prior must've taken a sneaky **** in his breakfast cereal while Haddin was giving him a blowie. The only thing I can come up with.

 

[Spark]

See thats where the difference in perception lies. I can only speak from personal experience that retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy in 2004 was nowhere near as satisfying as winning it in Sydney would have been. I certainly hope the Australian team isn't taking this as light heartedly as you guys are.

This is decidedly different though. There will be no doubt that if we do win in Sydney, everyone - Australian and English - will forget about it very very fast. The Ashes are gone/won - for the vast majority of people on both sides that is the be-all and end-all.

 

[Craig]

Yeah, Prior must've taken a sneaky **** in his breakfast cereal while Haddin was giving him a blowie. The only thing I can come up with.

LMAO.

z

 

[pup11]

I think its time for a major overhaul, this Ashes series is gone now therefore the emphasis should be on picking a team most likely to play England in three years time.
We just have to bite the bullet through this tough time and show faith in the young talent around the country who could be blooded in as long term prospects.
Therefore my team for Sydney would be
1.Hughes
2.Khawaja
3.Ponting
4.Watson
5.Hussey
6.Cosgrove/White
7.Haddin
8.Hauritz
9.Johnson
10.Siddle
11.Hilfenhaus
12.George
Clarke for me isn't even the pale shadow of the young dynamic batsman he was when he burst onto the scene, he used to play with no fear and take the attack to the opposition, and these were the qualities that helped him become such a prominent contender to replace Ponting, but rather than improving as a player like many former Australian captains and prominent players have done, he has only declined over the years so much so that he almost seems like a different batsman these days.
Watto despite the runs he has scored has generally been a disappointment for me as an opener, I think as an opener chucking your wicket away after a after start is criminal and Watto pretty much does that all the time, so he should slide down the order and allow someone like Khawaja to come into the side.
Also I think Ponting still has lot of good knocks in him, but he just needs to shed this load of captaincy off him which obviosuly isn't helping him atm. So maybe he should give the reins of the team over to someone like Haddin/Katich after the Sydney test and just concentrate on his own game, because the last 2 years have certainly hurt his batting legacy.

 

[Spark]

Clarke for me isn't even the pale shadow of the young dynamic batsman he was when he burst onto the scene, he used to play with no fear and take the attack to the opposition, and these were the qualities that helped him become such a prominent contender to replace Ponting, but rather than improving as a player like many former Australian captains and prominent players have done, he has only declined over the years so much so that he almost seems like a different batsman these days.

Gweh? Clarke before his dropping wasn't test-standard IMO. He was immense in 2008-9, easily our best player.