Australia - the aftermath of the Ashes

[robelinda]

Yep, they're not easy beats, which is why every ounce of our focus should be on trying to beat them.

Too right. I dont envisage us winning anything this year at all, certainly not against SA or India, my god Sachin will tear our bowlers apart, and Sehwag. We have no defensive bowlers, just pie chuckers. SL in SL will be mighty hard, pitches could be flat, but that didnt stop England beating us by an innings 3 times on flat decks. SL have never unleashed Mendis on us yet, and Mahela coudl make some massive scores against us on those decks. Can you imagine Johnson and co containing Mahela and Sanga in their conditions? They will score huge. I honestly think Harris looms as a key bowler for us in a lot of conditions, but we cant have Hilfy and Johnson in the team together just bowling pies for days on end, Bollinger deserves a good go.

 

[Spark]

Bollinger, Siddle, maybe have Johnson around, bring Copeland/Cameron etc. around the setup.

 

[FBU]

I like the look of this team

Barrett's Australian XI for Sri Lanka:
S Marsh, S Katich, U Khawaja, R Ponting (c), M Hussey, S Watson, B Haddin, S O'Keefe, P Siddle, J Pattinson, M Starc.

 

[vic_orthdox]

If Pattinson and Starc play in our next Test match, I'll keel over backwards.

 

[robelinda]

Starc and Pattinson have done sweet nothing to warrant test selection, absurd choices. Promising at best, they need at least ONE full shield season to show some sort of longer form skill. Neither have lasted or played one full season yet.

 

[outbreak]

How many more shield matches are left this season? The selectors need to really look at who's in form and who's been performing in the last year or so and go from there. Smith's shown he isn't ready to bat at test level so he should go back to the shield and work on his technique, khawaja should be kept around, copeland should get a chance on the back of his form, O'keefe should get a run. If we need a number 6 we should be looking at Dussey or White. Pick the players who've proved it at shield level.

 

[Ruckus]

How many more shield matches are left this season? The selectors need to really look at who's in form and who's been performing in the last year or so and go from there. Smith's shown he isn't ready to bat at test level so he should go back to the shield and work on his technique, khawaja should be kept around, copeland should get a chance on the back of his form, O'keefe should get a run. If we need a number 6 we should be looking at Dussey or White. Pick the players who've proved it at shield level.

Now that Khawaja is in the side we don't need a new batsmen to fill in the no.6 spot, because I'm sure Ponting will come back. In fact Khawaja's entry into no.3 is a godsend for our side in a way - hopefully it will force Ponting to 4, Clarke back to his ideal no.5 spot and Hussey at 6. Also means it keeps Ponting and Clarke together, which will be awesome if they can start getting some form back.

 

[Nate]

Loving this thread. About time for you all to catch up.

 

[Prince EWS]

Absolutely disagree that the next goal should be the Ashes 2013.

We have to forget about the Ashes for a while and simply concentrate on getting a good test side. If we try to "plan three years ahead" too much we'll end up recycling and churning through too many players in the quest for a magic formula that we'll never find.

What we need to do is focus, as a test team, on the series in Sri Lanka, then after that on the series in South Africa, and then on the series against NZ, then against the series against India. If we do that, put together our best team to win test matches as they come then IMO by the time 2013 rolls around we will have a strong, settled lineup with wins under their belt and that should give us the best chance to beat England in England.

But for now - just don't think about the Ashes for a while.

Our next goal as a test side, simply put, is to not get flogged in SL in August. That should be it.

In other related news to posts in this thread, anyone dropping Siddle can GAGF. He wasn't in my first choice before the Ashes but he's one of the few to come out of the series with any credit for us; stick with him.

 

[Prince EWS]

I like the look of this team

Barrett's Australian XI for Sri Lanka:
S Marsh, S Katich, U Khawaja, R Ponting (c), M Hussey, S Watson, B Haddin, S O'Keefe, P Siddle, J Pattinson, M Starc.

I think that's a terrible team. Watson should not bat lower than four, Marsh should not be in the team and the less said about Starc and Pattinson being in that team the better.

 

[Nate]

In other related news to this posts in this threads, anyone dropping Siddle can GAGF. He wasn't in my first choice before the Ashes but he's one of the few to come out of the series with any credit for us; stick with him.

In fear of your wrath, he's my 12th man.

 

[Prince EWS]

In fear of your wrath, he's my 12th man.

To be fair to you, you've been picking basically the same team since before the Ashes. You also have Ryan Harris included, who I doubt will be able to play many Tests from now on anyway.

 

[Nate]

To be fair to you, you've been picking basically the same team since before the Ashes. You also have Ryan Harris included, who I doubt will be able to play many Tests from now on anyway.

Since before the Pakistan series in England iirc. But in fairness, I think I had Hilfenhaus as my standby bowler.

Not any more.

 

[Teja.]

Agree with Spark/PEWS regarding shedding the Ashes-centric mentality.

Picking your best team to play every series should the goal and not picking every young talented kallisballer who has barely any FC experience and has a bowling action like Warnie's so as to groom them for Ashes 2013. Test kallisball is not a place for grooming kallisballers. If someone who is 38 can score five more runs for you then a guy who's 22 and if both are in contention for a team spot, Pick the former, IMHO.

My team would be:-

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Khawaja
Clarke
Hussey
Haddin
Johnson
O'Keefe
Siddle
Bollinger

Harris to come in for Bollinger/Johnson when fit. Copeland to play if Bollinger's not fully fit.

 

[Ruckus]

In other related news to this posts in this thread, anyone dropping Siddle can GAGF. He wasn't in my first choice before the Ashes but he's one of the few to come out of the series with any credit for us; stick with him.

Would still have Bollinger in for Siddle.

 

[Prince EWS]

Would still have Bollinger in for Siddle.

I love Bollinger and I think he's a better bowler than Siddle but I don't think he should be in the first eleven until he improves his conditioning, tbh. The difference between Bollinger in full cry and Bollinger slightly undone does seem to be pretty big. Even if you play Bollinger, though, there's still no reason to drop Siddle for Copeland, or even retain Johnson ahead of Siddle if you insist on playing Copeland.

Fully fit Bollinger > Siddle > our other bowlers > Underdone Bollinger.

 

[Ruckus]

I love Bollinger and I think he's a better bowler than Siddle but I don't think he should be in the first eleven until he improves his conditioning, tbh. The difference between Bollinger in full cry and Bollinger slightly undone does seem to be pretty big. Even if you play Bollinger, though, there's still no reason to drop Siddle for Copeland, or even retain Johnson ahead of Siddle if you insist on playing Copeland.

Fully fit Bollinger > Siddle > our other bowlers > Underdone Bollinger.

I think Siddle is a good bowler as well (and one who will probably improve considerably as time goes by), but at the same time I think we can do better. I don't have a problem with Bollinger's conditioning problem - he coped fine the whole of last year and it was probably just his abdominal strain which put him a bit behind the eight ball fitness wise. From what I read, he was training extremely hard on his fitness levels prior to the SCG test and sounded 100% ready to go. From what I've seen of Copeland, and what his record suggests, is very promising I would try him out asap - it's not like Siddle is that integral to the bowling attack. Would also keep Johnson instead of Siddle, because with Bollinger and Copeland there (providing that combination was successful) I think he could be managed far better and used more sparingly.

 

[Ruckus]

Great article by English (love the mocking of Hilditch):

Australia v England: Australia in crisis, but also in denial | Cricket News | The Ashes 2010-11 | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[vic_orthdox]

Love Siddle's work ethic, his batting has improved heaps over the past year or two as well. You just know that he didn't sit around when he was injured last year, and got about and started doing something as soon as he could.

Also not really sure that Sutherland should be painted here as a fall guy. Supposedly a great operator, and it's the cricket operations aspect that needs to be looked over. Maybe he should put his hand up to coach, he's still raved about at Melbourne Uni CC...

 

[Spark]

Welll... possibly Sutherland has to take some fault for the 17-man squad debacle but beyond that, yeah. Not his job to select or coach the team.