***Official*** Australia in Sri Lanka

[NUFAN]

Clarke is the big boy now - absolutely has to step up at No. 4.

I don't think it's necessary. Steve Waugh batted at 5 as captain for the majority of his captaincy. I suspect you'll say that the reason is he had plenty of other good batsman around him. If Clarke was to bat at 5, I wouldn't consider him soft or anything for moving there, as long as he makes important runs he's going to be considered a big boy.

 

[adub]

Look the thing that ****s me most about the selections of Marsh and Lyon is what the f was the Zimbabwe tour for? Why take Ferguson and not Marsh? They were batting Paine at 5 so it wasn't as if there wasn't room in the middle order. I said before they left that Lyon and O'Keefe should have played in the 4-dayers, but for some reason known only to Hilditch they took a guy they pulled virtually straight out of St Kilda and gave a test cap for no noticeable result and a guy who can barely force his way into his state side ahead of the spinner you pulled out of nowhere and then dropped after 2 tests in the ashes.

No wonder Katich ripped in about inconsistent selections.

Zimbabwe was a great opportunity and these imbos mostly stuffed it. We got some good results out of it with Hilf proving he had to go, and Copes and Hughes showing they had what it takes. Warner and Finch also put their hands up. But why not take Marsh and Cosgrove or some other middle order bat and give them all a chance to impress? Why not leave the best 4 day spinner in the country and the guy they have now picked on the strength of a few one-dayers with the side and give them a run? Why not take the fast bowler who you say needs to prove he can bowl long spells? Why play a two day game at all? I'm sure the locals would have played three or even more 4 day games so why didn't we take advantage?

It all reeks of incompetence. If Marsh had played in Zimbabwe alongside of Uzi, Ferguson and Cosgrove (say alternating so each gets two games) and smoked them all then I'd be far less critical of his selection. As it is Uzi went and probably damaged his chances, Ferguson probably didn't do his hopes any good either, all the while Marsh was sitting on his arse and so not being put under pressure (or breaking down again) and Cosgrove could be ignored. Same problem with the quicks and spinners. So we now have a guy picked as a test spinner because he performed well in some one-dayers (but we don't pick him for the one day side) and the spinner with by far the best 4-day stats is left out because he didn't kill it in the one-dayers and didn't get a chance to in the 4-dayers. You just couldn't make it up.

 

[SamSawnoff]

Exactly.

His technique isn't perfect, but it's miles better than Hughes', Smith's, Ferguson's, etc. If he doesn't succeed at test level it'll be because of his mental failings.

It's been an issue his whole career, I recall hearing Greg Blewett in commentary say how Marsh is the sort of player who'll look a million bucks, and then out of nowhere he'll have a brain-fade and you'll pick him up.

He does appear to have remedied it to an extent over the past few years. Although...I hate to be a sceptic, but his improvement has coincided with a sharp decline in the quality of bowling he's coming up against in the shield.

This is what I pointed out in an earlier post. It drives me nuts about him as I've watched him do that in one dayers time and time again. Looks lovely, middling it beautifully, then comes the daft wafts out of the blue. I hate seeing serious talent wasted and that is what I think when I watch him bat for Aus.

I did read in an interview at the IPL that he felt he'd wasted a lot of time earlier in his career (he was a pisshead as a youngster) and that he regretted not having worked harder so that now he wanted to make up for it. I hope that's the case.

 

[SamSawnoff]

Look the thing that sh its me most about the selections of Marsh and Lyon is what the f was the Zimbabwe tour for? Why take Ferguson and not Marsh? They were batting Paine at 5 so it wasn't as if there wasn't room in the middle order. I said before they left that Lyon and O'Keefe should have played in the 4-dayers, but for some reason known only to Hilditch they took a guy they pulled virtually straight out of St Kilda and gave a test cap for no noticeable result and a guy who can barely force his way into his state side ahead of the spinner you pulled out of nowhere and then dropped after 2 tests in the ashes.

No wonder Katich ripped in about inconsistent selections.

Zimbabwe was a great opportunity and these imbos mostly stuffed it. We got some good results out of it with Hilf proving he had to go, and Copes and Hughes showing they had what it takes. Warner and Finch also put their hands up. But why not take Marsh and Cosgrove or some other middle order bat and give them all a chance to impress? Why not leave the best 4 day spinner in the country and the guy they have now picked on the strength of a few one-dayers with the side and give them a run? Why not take the fast bowler who you say needs to prove he can bowl long spells? Why play a two day game at all? I'm sure the locals would have played three or even more 4 day games so why didn't we take advantage?

It all reeks of incompetence. If Marsh had played in Zimbabwe alongside of Uzi, Ferguson and Cosgrove (say alternating so each gets two games) and smoked them all then I'd be far less critical of his selection. As it is Uzi went and probably damaged his chances, Ferguson probably didn't do his hopes any good either, all the while Marsh was sitting on his arse and so not being put under pressure (or breaking down again) and Cosgrove could be ignored. Same problem with the quicks and spinners. So we now have a guy picked as a test spinner because he performed well in some one-dayers (but we don't pick him for the one day side) and the spinner with by far the best 4-day stats is left out because he didn't kill it in the one-dayers and didn't get a chance to in the 4-dayers. You just couldn't make it up.

Marsh will have plenty of opportunity to play himself back onto an even keel with Khawaja by stuffing up in the one dayers and the T20s. On the other hand, he could play himself right into pole position. And that would be a harder task than facing the Zim bowlers, showing no disrespect to them, but the T20 team and the one day teams for Sri's are going to packed with spin bowlers.

 

[Andre]

I don't think it's necessary. Steve Waugh batted at 5 as captain for the majority of his captaincy. I suspect you'll say that the reason is he had plenty of other good batsman around him. If Clarke was to bat at 5, I wouldn't consider him soft or anything for moving there, as long as he makes important runs he's going to be considered a big boy.

Yeah the S Waugh point is valid - different sort of player though. Was an all-rounder for a lot of his career so never really did much batting in the top 4 in his formative years at Shield level or below (and somewhat a byproduct of his brother seemingly batting 1 ahead of him for a fair portion of their careers). Essentially, he'd not been groomed as a bloke to bat higher than say 5, and then by the time he was 'ready' the spot was taken by very good players etc.

Clarke has been groomed a bit differently - he's been the heir apparent to the captaincy and the no. 4 spot for as long as I remember. At this stage I'm a lot more confident in his captaincy than his ability at 4.

That all said, it should be worth noting that there is absolutely no shame in being a very good batsman at 5-6-7.

 

[Spark]

I still haven't worked out why Clarke can't score runs at #4. He seems to do it fine in FC matches, but at Tests it just seems impossible for him. Completely incomprehensible.

 

[SamSawnoff]

I still haven't worked out why Clarke can't score runs at #4. He seems to do it fine in FC matches, but at Tests it just seems impossible for him. Completely incomprehensible.

This would be the ideal tour to turn it around. After all, even the new ball bowlers aren't going to scare anyone even if he comes in early which he does a fair bit at 4.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Surprising squad, seems extremely harsh on Smith.Don't really know anything about Copeland, Lyon and the first class credentials of Marsh but I guess the selectors can't be accused of doing nothing after the ashes debacle. Good to see Harris back, hope he can have a couple of years clear of injuries.

I wonder if this could possibly be the line up.....

Hughes
Watson
Ponting
Khawaja
Clarke
Hussey
Haddin
Johnson
Harris
Siddle
Beer/Lyon

Can't see both spinners playing in the same game but i'd like Khawaja in the side and Clarke seems to prefer 5. Guess Khawaja may bat at 6 being the new boy.

 

[Prince EWS]

I love adub. He's pretty much all my opinions six months ago before I eventually gave up and mellowed. Keep up the good fight.

 

[Lostman]

Isn't it a bit of an early announcement considering the tests are a month away?

 

[BlazeDragon]

I am actually quite surprised at the Lyon selection. Never thought he would be picked this early.

Khawaja is lucky to get another chance after failing throughout the entire Zim A series. Hope he takes advantage of it.

 

[BlazeDragon]

I still haven't worked out why Clarke can't score runs at #4. He seems to do it fine in FC matches, but at Tests it just seems impossible for him. Completely incomprehensible.

Sometimes I think #5 would be a better spot for him.

 

[Bluenose]

Lyon????

Must be really disheartening have to pick a bowler who was during the last ashes a groundsman? are things that bad?

Also the dropping of Katich for Hughes is lunacy, Australian cricket is becoming as bad as England were during the 90's

 

[vic_orthdox]

This.

Word on the street is that poor old Shaun, well, just isn't that bright, so takes him a while to learn from his mistakes. But he's making progress.

Wouldn't suprise me if he averaged 45+ in Test cricket.

Heard much the same thing.

I think that maybe, just maybe, he could be a bit of our Michael Vaughan. Always seen as a very special talent, strings together some good FC seasons despite having underachieved to this point in his career. And makes the most of his chance. And injury prone.

Certainly won't be captaining though...

 

[BoyBrumby]

What's the word on Lyon? Just saw the squad in the innings break of the Bears/Hants CB40.

Also is Beer a turn up? Last time I paid attention he was being overlooked for a central contract behind Krezja and D'oherty.

Have to admire the Aussie selectors for their commitment to a charming consistently inconsistent policy.

 

[howardj]

Can anyone tell me what time the Tests are on in Australia?

So excited at the prospect of Copeland, Lyon and Marsh playing Test Cricket. Loved following them the last few years, and it's good to see most Cricket Webbers getting on board!

Remembering back to last tour, they start at about 2pm and finish at about 9:30pm.

 

[howardj]

In Marsh's last 40 innings, he has made 1721 runs @ 52.15. To say his selection is unwarranted borders on stupidity.

Agree. Deserves to be selected far more than Hughes does. Of those two, there's only one who has been comprehensively exposed in the international arena.

Just on the spinners, it's way too early for Lyon IMO. It's another stab in the dark selection (i.e. Doherty, Beer etc). Lyon's barely played any FC cricket and from all reports struggled with the physical demands of back-to-back Shield games last Summer. Why burn him when you could have taken Smith who at least has some experience and has at least taken wickets at Test level.

As for Beer, well again Smith would have been a better option (and that's saying something).

 

[howardj]

Khawaja is lucky to get another chance after failing throughout the entire Zim A series. Hope he takes advantage of it.

People place way too much emphasis on current form of batsmen. Who cares if he got dismissed cheaply a couple of times in Zimbabwe. We all saw what Usman looked like at three against the Poms at teh SCG last Summer. No, he didn't look like a world beater, but he hardly looked out of his depth either (unlike Phil Hughes). All told, Usman looked at least worthy of another opportunity (especially when one has been extended to the hopelessly exposed Hughes).

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm not sold on Smith as of yet, but it does seem rather strange after so much time has been invested in him that he's missing out on a tour where he's likely to find conditions conducive to his bowling.

Lyon does seem a massive Hail Mary. 12 wickets in 4 FC games @ over 40 each? All I can say is he musta looked bloody good whilst achieving those less than stellar numbers.

Be giving out Baggy Greens in Xmas crackers next.

 

[howardj]

I don't think anyone thinks that Smith, on current performance, is worthy of a place long term. For mine though, he has far more upside (i.e potential for improvement) than Beer, Doherty etc. Even leaving aside potential, I think he'd take more wickets than Beer in SL.