***Official*** Australia in Sri Lanka

[Spark]

Huss is one of the best at batting with the tail I've ever seen (Clarke isn't hopeless himself tbf at it although the sample size is miniscule) which is why I'd put him 6.

I wouldn't say Smith is a lock on 6, given Clarke played him at 7 at Sydney. I don't think Clarke rates Smith's batting as highly as highly as the selectors do (or, for that matter, as highly as he rates his bowling) - also he can't have been too impressed by the (rather short) innings he played when Clarke gave him a promotion to #4 in the last ODI vs. Bangladesh with the blatantly obvious intent to give him the chance to show his wares in a relatively pressure-free environment (it was like 2/150 after 20 overs or something with the series already won).

 

[SamSawnoff]

Huss is one of the best at batting with the tail I've ever seen (Clarke isn't hopeless himself tbf at it although the sample size is miniscule) which is why I'd put him 6.

Yeah, he really is. But then that leaves the issue of what to do with Steve Smith. Our selectors love him but it seems that the team is getting out of whack by playing a bits and pieces player in the test team.

 

[Spark]

It's not so much that he's bits and pieces, it's that he shouldn't be anywhere near the top six. Playing him as a specialist spinner probably makes more sense than playing him as a specialist bat (as does not playing him at all, obviously, as much as I don't like to say it as I am a massive fan and think he could be an amazing player in a few years)

 

[SamSawnoff]

It's not so much that he's bits and pieces, it's that he shouldn't be anywhere near the top six. Playing him as a specialist spinner probably makes more sense than playing him as a specialist bat (as does not playing him at all, obviously, as much as I don't like to say it as I am a massive fan and think he could be an amazing player in a few years)

It's too early though. If they play him as a specialist spin bowler while he is learning his trade, he is going to get belted for a few years. He's not got Warne's ability to give it a tweak so he'll have to learn Kumble's guile but that will take a long time.

Plus in NSW he wasn't used as a specialist spin bowler at all, they were batting him at 4/5 and I don't think he's up to the top 6 in test cricket.

 

[Spark]

Of course. That statement if anything is a reflection on the spin bowling stocks at this stage (as well as the fact that of the current crop, he looks by far the most promising).

 

[Howe_zat]

Fernando is the only one that might trouble him as he has some genuine ability to bowl fast but he's all over the place.

Welegedera and Lakmal both got some lateral movement and both were both far more dangerous than Fernando, whose stock ball appears to be the gun-barrel straight no-ball.

Lakmal may have been helped by swinging conditions, but Welegedera I can see getting some seam movement once the Sri Lankan dry pitches start to break up a bit.

It's not so much that he's bits and pieces, it's that he shouldn't be anywhere near the top six. Playing him as a specialist spinner probably makes more sense than playing him as a specialist bat (as does not playing him at all, obviously, as much as I don't like to say it as I am a massive fan and think he could be an amazing player in a few years)

I was about to make a lengthy post on my thoughts on Smith, then I read the bolded part and decided not to bother.

 

[SamSawnoff]

Welegedera and Lakmal both got some lateral movement and both were both far more dangerous than Fernando, whose stock ball appears to be the gun-barrel straight no-ball.

Lakmal may have been helped by swinging conditions, but Welegedera I can see getting some seam movement once the Sri Lankan dry pitches start to break up a bit.

I would hope so, but the conditions were so conducive to bowling in England in that series that I'm not sure much that happened there can be read as a guide for the Lankan bowlers at home.

I did like the look of Lakmal, he appears to have decent control.

 

[Spark]

Welegedera and Lakmal both got some lateral movement and both were both far more dangerous than Fernando, whose stock ball appears to be the gun-barrel straight no-ball.

Lakmal may have been helped by swinging conditions, but Welegedera I can see getting some seam movement once the Sri Lankan dry pitches start to break up a bit.



I was about to make a lengthy post on my thoughts on Smith, then I read the bolded part and decided not to bother.

The key with Smith is that he's only 22. Look at his development as a leggie alone in two years. What could he do at the age of 25 after three more seasons worth of FC cricket and A tours gives me great cause for hope.

Oh, and I should mention that he is by far the best young Australian fielder I've seen since Clarke showed up. That's over five years.

 

[SamSawnoff]

The key with Smith is that he's only 22. Look at his development as a leggie alone in two years. What could he do at the age of 25 after three more seasons worth of FC cricket and A tours gives me great cause for hope.

Oh, and I should mention that he is by far the best young Australian fielder I've seen since Clarke showed up. That's over five years.

What about Warner? He's brilliant in the field.

Johnson should be superb as well but - as with all things he does - he's too much of a flake.

 

[Howe_zat]

The key with Smith is that he's only 22. Look at his development as a leggie alone in two years. What could he do at the age of 25 after three more seasons worth of FC cricket and A tours gives me great cause for hope.

Oh, and I should mention that he is by far the best young Australian fielder I've seen since Clarke showed up. That's over five years.

All I can say is that it's hard for me to look how he's developed as a leggie, as between the 2010 summer, the Ashes, and the World Cup, he has never at any point looked like an international bowler. I should add that I think he has potential with the bat, but doesn't seem prepared for test cricket.

 

[Spark]

What about Warner? He's brilliant in the field.

Johnson should be superb as well but - as with all things he does - he's too much of a flake.

Nowhere near as good. Smith is in Ponting/Symonds/Hussey/Clarke class in the field.

 

[SamSawnoff]

All I can say is that it's hard for me to look how he's developed as a leggie, as between the 2010 summer, the Ashes, and the World Cup, he has never at any point looked like an international bowler. I should add that I think he has potential with the bat, but doesn't seem prepared for test cricket.

No, I'd agree that his bowling has developed, but tbf, he wasn't very good at all to start with so that's not a surprise.

 

[Spark]

All I can say is that it's hard for me to look how he's developed as a leggie, as between the 2010 summer, the Ashes, and the World Cup, he has never at any point looked like an international bowler. I should add that I think he has potential with the bat, but doesn't seem prepared for test cricket.

You're confusing performance with potential. I did see three years of FC cricket.

 

[NUFAN]

Nowhere near as good. Smith is in Ponting/Symonds/Hussey/Clarke class in the field.

Hussey?

Hussey is at least a rung or two below the other names mentioned. Smith really is an awesome fielder.

Smith's test ratings
Batting 4
Bowling 3
Fielding 9.5

He's the perfect 12th man.

 

[SamSawnoff]

You are being very harsh on Warner, he's one of the best ground fielders we've got. And I'm not a fan of his at all, but he can stop anything.

 

[Spark]

Hussey?

Hussey is at least a rung or two below the other names mentioned. Smith really is an awesome fielder.

Smith's test ratings
Batting 4
Bowling 3
Fielding 9.5

He's the perfect 12th man.

Superb aerial fielder, tbf.

@Sam: So is Smith. Not that Warner isn't anything but excellent but Smith is just that good. That catch he took on the boundary during that T20 vs. the Windies at the SCG, holy ****.

 

[SamSawnoff]

Hussey?

Hussey is at least a rung or two below the other names mentioned. Smith really is an awesome fielder.

Smith's test ratings
Batting 4
Bowling 3
Fielding 9.5

He's the perfect 12th man.

Hussey has fallen away in the past six months, but he was the safest pair of hands we had for about four years. He's probably one of the best gully fielders the Aussies have produced. He has swallowed in many screamers in that area.

But now I think of it, Smith has reminded me of Symonds a few times with the way he catches and that's very high praise.

 

[NUFAN]

Superb aerial fielder, tbf.

@Sam: So is Smith. Not that Warner isn't anything but excellent but Smith is just that good. That catch he took on the boundary during that T20 vs. the Windies at the SCG, holy ****.

I can't help but think of this:
Hauritz to Steyn, 2 runs, dropped!!, what on earth happened there? Steyn slogged wildly at a flighted delivery and mis-hit the ball high in the air towards mid-on, Hussey got under the ball but the sun was in his eyes, he tried shielding his eyes with his hands, he even had sunglasses on, he kept moving around trying to spot the ball and in the end he lost it completely, it fell behind him.

Yeah I know it's bloody tough with the sun in your eyes! Honestly though I've never thought of Hussey as a superb fieldsman. He has a weak arm and he isn't known for his direct hits. I would say he's a good fieldsman and a very good catcher, but I really can't rate him at the same level as Ponting, Symonds, Smith.

 

[Spark]

Fair enough. I do agree that I've always thought his ground fielding is below the Ponting/Symonds/(young)Clarke class.

 

[TumTum]

No, I'd agree that his bowling has developed, but tbf, he wasn't very good at all to start with so that's not a surprise.

Transformed from a bowler that bowled pies 4/6 balls into a bowler who bowls just 1 pie per over and "nothing balls" the rest (ala Hauritz).