Zimbabwe 'A' v Australia 'A' v South Africa 'A'

[Ruckus]

Yeah sorry I more meant someone who is economical and also builds pressure by getting the ball in the right spots - Copeland does that. Harris, Doug and MJ is alright, but I think that combination could be highly erratic on bad days. While Bollinger and Harris are more consistent that Johnson, they still have too many days where they just aren't getting enough balls in the right spot (Bollinger in particular).

 

[Sylvester]

Harris would be the most consistent of that lot who you rely on to be economical. Siddle will obviously make the squad but I wouldn't have him in the 11. For me I would go Johnson, Harris, Copeland and O'Keefe. Bollinger the unlucky one but it's time we try out Copeland. O'Keefe record speaks for itself, of course he won't be picked though.

 

[Nate]

Yeah a seam attack of Harris, Dougeh and Copeland looks very balanced to me, and has a nice variation in styles. You've got pace in Harris, bounce in Doug and economy in Copeland to hold it together.

Harris would be the most consistent of that lot who you rely on to be economical. Siddle will obviously make the squad but I wouldn't have him in the 11. For me I would go Johnson, Harris, Copeland and O'Keefe. Bollinger the unlucky one but it's time we try out Copeland. O'Keefe record speaks for itself, of course he won't be picked though.

 

[adub]

Harris would be the most consistent of that lot who you rely on to be economical. Siddle will obviously make the squad but I wouldn't have him in the 11. For me I would go Johnson, Harris, Copeland and O'Keefe. Bollinger the unlucky one but it's time we try out Copeland. O'Keefe record speaks for itself, of course he won't be picked though.

+1

with Johnson under the microscope to perform. He sprays em and Doug comes in for him. Siddle in reserve for when (unfortunately not if) Harris breaks.

 

[pup11]

I reckon everyone against Siddle is being extremely harsh. He can take top order wickets, he's done it on many occasions and will continue to do so.

I would include Copeland in the Test squad for sure, he's ticked all the boxes.

My squad by the way..
Clarke, Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Khawaja, MHussey, SMarsh, Haddin, Johnson, Siddle, Copeland, Harris, Hauritz, Krejza/Beer.

Not really sure on who should be second spinner.

Not sure about Harris playing test cricket, in the last 12 to 18 months everytime he has played a FC game he has suffered from some sort of injury soon after that which is a clear sign that his body isn't coping all that well with the workload of bowling too many overs.

I would still have Hilfenhaus instead of him, I know atm he isn't looking all that great but he has the ability to be a pretty good bowler and if he is given the right fields and encouraged to attack then he can be much better than what he has shown in recent times.

Hauritz due to his injury has no chance of making this tour so on the spin front things are looking even worse but I think SoK and Smith are the two best attacking spin options we have atm, but won't be surprised at all if neither one of them is picked.

 

[Spikey]

the right fields have nothing to do with it he's just a useless bowler to right handers.

 

[pup11]

the right fields have nothing to do with it he's just a useless bowler to right handers.

Under Ponting Siddle and Johnson had a free hand to bowl whatever tripe they felt like bowling and to compensate for their bowling likes of Hilfenhaus and Hauritz were asked to keep the runs down.

Therefore as an outswing bowler Hilfenhaus was mostly bowling to contain by bowling back of a length most of the times which obviously reduced his effectiveness by quite a bit.

 

[Spikey]

no hilf swinging the ball as soon as it leaves the hand and putting the batsman in no trouble at all reduced his effectiveness. 50% are left handed batsmen for a reason you know

 

[pup11]

no hilf swinging the ball as soon as it leaves the hand and putting the batsman in no trouble at all reduced his effectiveness. 50% are left handed batsmen for a reason you know

That's not swing tbh its just the shape of the delivery that comes out of his hand due to wrist action he imparts on the ball, when the ball is really swinging for him then it swings pretty late.

Anyways discarding capable players in the hope of finding someone better is what we have been doing for the last 4-5 years now and that hasn't helped us at all, its high time we stop doing that and instead have a good look at the kind of tactics we have been employing for a while and look to change that rather than trying out every half-decent player from the Australian domestic circuit.

 

[Spark]

I'm sorry but Hilfenhaus just simply cannot be in the Test side on his performances in the last six months.

 

[pup11]

I'm sorry but Hilfenhaus just simply cannot be in the Test side on his performances in the last six months.

Don't you think we would need a whole new team if are actually going to pick the Australian test side based on performances in the last six months..?!

 

[Spark]

His performances though give no confidence that he would actually take any wickets. I'm talking about all his cricket btw, not just Test stuff.

 

[Spikey]

we wouldn't be discarding a capable player in this case. he's been totally ****ing **** for a long time....sorry unlucky for a long time. It's high-time we get over SA 09.

 

[Nate]

Therefore as an outswing bowler Hilfenhaus was mostly bowling to contain by bowling back of a length most of the times which obviously reduced his effectiveness by quite a bit.

Welcome to how Hilfenhaus bowls. Period.

 

[NUFAN]

Not sure about Harris playing test cricket, in the last 12 to 18 months everytime he has played a FC game he has suffered from some sort of injury soon after that which is a clear sign that his body isn't coping all that well with the workload of bowling too many overs.

I would still have Hilfenhaus instead of him, I know atm he isn't looking all that great but he has the ability to be a pretty good bowler and if he is given the right fields and encouraged to attack then he can be much better than what he has shown in recent times.

Completely disagree Pup. Harris has played FC games without suffering injuries btw, but I do agree that he needs to be monitored and might find it difficult playing 3 Tests in such a short period of time.

I just couldn't pick Hilfenhaus, I don't think Clarke is as big a fan of Hilf as Ponting is/was.

Actually it's going to be interesting how much of an input Clarke has on selections..

 

[Prince EWS]

I'm sorry but Hilfenhaus just simply cannot be in the Test side on his performances in the last six months.

Yeah, fair enough leaving Harris out if you want to question his fitness, but please pick someone other than Hilfenhaus.

 

[Sylvester]

Actually it's going to be interesting how much of an input Clarke has on selections..

Hope he has some as that would mean O'Keefe and Copeland in the side.

 

[Prince EWS]

Hope he has some as that would mean O'Keefe and Copeland in the side.

How do you figure?

 

[Sylvester]

NSW bias.

 

[Spark]

I don't think it's that simple with Clarke - he seems to have his own ideas on who he rates and doesn't rate, based on some of the plans he's come up with in his time. I'm not sure how that would translate to selection, though, as analysing some of his plans is... difficult, at times.