***Official*** Australia in Sri Lanka

[BlazeDragon]

Yeah but that's the problem; Watson's woeful against spin if he's not trying to land it 20 rows back. Absolute deer-in-the-headlights.

I agree with this to some extent. When he is not trying to hit them for boundaries he struggles with spin a little. That's why he is not a contender in my book, at least not yet.

 

[adub]

I'm just happy to see someone with a feel for the game and setting fields and bowling changes in charge.

 

[Howe_zat]

Happy for Clarke's captaincy. Plenty of interesting ideas, and most of them payed off.

Played, Aussies.

 

[Burgey]

Good to see three guns step up with the bat. A nice start, Haddin's batting aside.

 

[Spark]

I'd pick him in my Aus ODI ATXI, once you consider his bowling.

 

[GotSpin]

Missed our batting. How was Lord Punter looking?

 

[vic_orthdox]

Sometimes I wonder whether Clarke plays with bats that were used in yesteryears, its just annoying to see the number to **** balls he just blocks or nurdles for 1's & 2's, like I have said in the past a batsman of his ability needs to show more confidence in himself.

Because his weight transfer is the least of all the players in the Australian side. Maybe any batsman in world cricket. He rarely gets through his front leg, so he struggles to strike down the ground powerfully. Doesn't make him a bad batsman, just makes him less powerful.

 

[howardj]

Good start, on a long long journey.

 

[BlazeDragon]

Missed our batting. How was Lord Punter looking?

Pretty good. His and Clarke's handling of spin was a class apart from all the other batsman so far. Kind of lost his wicket a little anxiously at the end though.

 

[GotSpin]

Cheers mate. Looking forward to the test matches tbh but a win is a win in the SC

 

[Spark]

Missed our batting. How was Lord Punter looking?

Looked really dodgy early on but once his feet got going, looked fine. Fluent.

 

[centurymaker]

Johnson is a champion. haterz can suck it.

 

[Ikki]

but who is he competing against as an opener?

Gilchrist, Hayden, Mark Waugh,. I think I would rate all 3 of them better than Watto.

Would you rate him above these guys?

Gilchrist is definitely in. So it depends between him and he other two. He has about as strong of a claim as them, merely as a batsman. Although, I think he needs to step it up at a WC to really compare. As an overall player he is superior though.

 

[Son Of Coco]

So, with Johnson's performance in this game when can we next expect him to fire?

Using a sophisticated sequence of numbers and calculations involving carrots, salt, coriander, and a lady's best friend I've come to the conclusion it'll be sometime during the 2nd Test.

 

[robelinda]

So, with Johnson's performance in this game when can we next expect him to fire?

Using a sophisticated sequence of numbers and calculations involving carrots, salt, coriander, and a lady's best friend I've come to the conclusion it'll be sometime during the 2nd Test.

Damn, 2nd test vs India??? Ages away!!!! I'm sure he'll demolish NZ later this year, but not expecting him to do much in SL or SA, but we'll see.

 

[BlazeDragon]

Some personal milestones achieved yesterday:

Brett Lee surpasses Waqar Younis to become the fastest to 350 ODI wickets.
Ricky Ponting surpasses Sanath Jayasuriya to become the second highest run getter in ODI.

 

[smash84]

Gilchrist is definitely in. So it depends between him and he other two. He has about as strong of a claim as them, merely as a batsman. Although, I think he needs to step it up at a WC to really compare. As an overall player he is superior though.

not sure if his bowling is that good tbh. Even Mark Waugh could bowl decent off spin. His stats might be better than he actually seems to me. Not sure though

 

[smash84]

Some personal milestones achieved yesterday:

Brett Lee surpasses Waqar Younis to become the fastest to 350 ODI wickets.
Ricky Ponting surpasses Sanath Jayasuriya to become the second highest run getter in ODI.

Your post gives me the idea of a poll. Who is the better ODI bowler. Brett Lee or Waqar Younis?

 

[Ikki]

not sure if his bowling is that good tbh. Even Mark Waugh could bowl decent off spin. His stats might be better than he actually seems to me. Not sure though

It is that good, 29 @ 36 with 3 4fers in just 117 innings bowling. Much better than Waugh. At this rate, if he plays enough he'll probably be the best ODI all-rounder ever.

 

[Spark]

For the most part it is that good tbh. Might not look good but he's a smarter bowler than most give him credit for and he takes regular wickets. Certainly good enough to bowl his full complement on a regular basis if needed.