I guess the move could guarantee him a spot in the state XI, given competition will be huge in the NSW squad and, in all likelihood, Hazelwood, Starc and Cummins are more likely to be picked.
You sure he'd be in the first 11? Looks like CA don't want Bolly anymore and also they might be leaning on NSW to play all their youngsters.
Might be due to $$$. Katich back on the books, plus Starc would have got a pretty significant pay rise as well as some others, and with the limited pool of cash for FC cricketer he'd probably have been ranked higher in WA than NSW. Could be a length of contract thing too; he has a hard time staying on the park for any period of time, WA might have offered him security with a 2 or 3 year deal, maybe NSW only offered 1.
Played with Bird quite a bit as a youngster, and he got stuck at a good club for a long time behind some very good bowlers, so didn't get the early first grade poles that other guys did. He dominated junior ranks, has a good size about him and I think he bowls just quick enough to do the business, especially at the WACA where you don't need to be full on rapid, because the deck can do the work for you.
Yeah, AWTA. To be fair it worked with Adam Maher though (or has so far anyway) and he's a similar bowler as well.
Yep, agreed about the Test. One of the absolute worst selections of the last few years I reckon - wasn't even half fit, had barely bowled a ball since major shoulder surgery. Reckon his career would have been completely different if North didn't fall ill before the 3rd SA Test. McGain probably would have gone to the Ashes on done a solid job after an extra few months to regain fitness.
Hard to say, he's really being picked for the all-round package. His offies are pretty decent, gets a fair rip on them, but the eye is really being put on the batting. They'd hope that he ends up being a top 6 batsman. But with Wade's batting prowess, they can probably get away with having him bat at 7 and bowling a little. Might even let them play four quicks, as is their want a lot of the time.
Don't really see the need for four quicks if McDonald is fit though. Admittedly McDonald doesn't seem to be fit very often these days, even if he starts the match.
