Craig McDermott quits as Australia's bowling coach

[Jono]

McDermott quits as Australia's bowling coach

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/564432.html

Presumably he needs to do another *** tape and the cricketing schedule is getting in the way of that...

 

[smash84]

the only good thing to have happened to Aussie cricket in the last one year so is leaving?

 

[Noble One]

The positive spin, perhaps our pace bowlers will stop collapsing with injury on such a consistent basis.

 

[Spikey]

My new found ability to turn players into world beaters by mocking them was probably a far better thing to happen to australian cricket than this guy tbh

 

[BoyBrumby]

Typically soft-****ish reason too. "Oh, I'm away from home a lot"

Yeah, sympathy and all. I had no idea international cricketers spend so much time abroad either. Must've been quite a shock for poor Cwaigy.

 

[Midwinter]

Mitchell "Bloody" Johnson is back.

Coincidence ?

 

[CWB304]

Mitchell "Bloody" Johnson is back.

Coincidence ?

Let's hope not. It should have been made clear to Mitch 18 months ago that he would never again play for Australia in any form of international cricket. Yet here he is, back again - like a pinker Aussie version of Chris Lewis or Daffy DeFreitas -, flattering to deceive whilst bowling his usual dodgy farrago of long hops, half-volleys, wides and accidental unplayable deliveries.

IMO the emergence of Cummins, Pattinson and Starc, and the improved form of Hilfenhaus and Siddle has little to do with long-term planning or astute selectorial policy. I put it down basically to serendipity - this quantitity and quality of seam bowling talent coming together at the same time would have been remarkable in any era - and McDermott's back to basics emphasis.

England and SA will be the main beneficiaries if the Oz selectors manage to screw up the hand that providence and McDermott have dealt them by reverting to the likes of Johnson. The mere thought of Starc being 'influenced' by his aimless run up or spastic action ought to make any Aussie cricket fan reach for his sick bag.

Nothing against him personally, though.

 

[Spikey]

uh johnson is still a top 3 ODI bowler and he was a fairly obvious Aus a selection.

 

[vic_orthdox]

At this stage, Pattinson isn't a very effective one day bowler, Lee is coming towards the end, Hilfenhaus traditionally hasn't been great in the shorter forms and Siddle is arse in coloured clothing.

Johnson as a one day option I can handle. His missus should be the only one in the family wearing white.

 

[CWB304]

uh johnson is still a top 3 ODI bowler and he was a fairly obvious Aus a selection.

Not a follower of ODIs so put that down to sheer ignorance on my part.

But knowing his ODI stats wouldn't have changed my opinion all that much. I don't believe in the idea of ODI or T20 'specialists'; this tends to a Harlem-Globe-Trotter-ization that almost imperceptibly lowers the tone and devalues the game by giving a false prestige to formats which, whilst undoubtedly popular with the masses, do not challenge key mental and technical skills that the long game tests.

Once you've shown - as Johnson has - that you can't cut it in Tests, then for me you should drop out of reckoning altogether and allow the likes of Starc and Cummins to learn new skills - e.g., learning how to adapt to batsmen going after you in the hit and giggle game - which might prove useful at some stage in the longer form.

 

[Jarquis]

Johnson's a top bowler in ODIs and T20s.

 

[CWB304]

Johnson's a top bowler in ODIs and T20s.

Fair enough then, he can do a Malinga. I just hope they're not stupid enought to pick him again in Tests.

 

[Spikey]

MJ has 190 wickets at an average of 32.19. James Anderson, who showed a few times that he might not be up to it, averaged more than that when he had 190 wickets....

Johnson's not about to get picked in the test team anytime soon, but you'd be insane to never ever consider him for test cricket. Yes he's shown he can self-destruct like few others, but few others can match him when he's on song. You don't start thinking about never picking him again until he loses it at domestic level. Australia A selection makes perfect sense, particularly given the other 5 seamers in the squad are all young guys anyway. He's a fair way away from playing another test match, he's miles back in the line. But "never again play for Australia in any form of international cricket" is insane, if only because he probably has a case for being an automatic selection for any tests played at the WACA.....

 

[smash84]

if Sami is getting a go then Johnson should fancy his chances as well

 

[Spikey]

Indeed he more or less had to be picked for Australia A because half of his shield games next season will be at the WACA......

 

[BoyBrumby]

Johnson as a one day option I can handle. His missus should be the only one in the family wearing white.

Jesus.

Wanna lick those abs so much.

Er, carry on...

 

[CWB304]

MJ has 190 wickets at an average of 32.19. James Anderson, who showed a few times that he might not be up to it, averaged more than that when he had 190 wickets....

Johnson's not about to get picked in the test team anytime soon, but you'd be insane to never ever consider him for test cricket. Yes he's shown he can self-destruct like few others, but few others can match him when he's on song. You don't start thinking about never picking him again until he loses it at domestic level. Australia A selection makes perfect sense, particularly given the other 5 seamers in the squad are all young guys anyway. He's a fair way away from playing another test match, he's miles back in the line. But "never again play for Australia in any form of international cricket" is insane, if only because he probably has a case for being an automatic selection for any tests played at the WACA.....

For me it's not about statistics; sometimes you simply need to make a statement in order to breed a different, a winning mentality.

The nearest parallel I can think of to explain where I'm coming from is the Spanish national football team. A few years ago they were pretty good but always under-performing at major tournaments. It was a mystery because man for man they had players to match teams like Germany and Italy and France that were doing better than them.

For whatever reason a new coach came in and decided that he would no longer pick Raul, the team's talisman and Spain's all-time record top scorer who was at the time at or very near to his peak and widely acknowledged as one of the best players in the world. The new coach made it clear that instead he would be relying on forwards like David Villa and Fernando Torres - both of whom had made their debuts, but were at that point seen as behind Raul in the pecking order. As well as giving those strikers more responsibility and encouraging them to express themselves, he encouraged midfielders like Xavi and Iniesta who had previously played second fiddle to the Real Madrid striker to assert themselves more. Suddenly Spain started winning everything in sight.

Unlike Johnson, Raul was at that time a top player, and the country's all-time top scorer, but the coach made it clear he would not be reverting to him in order to draw a line under past failures. It was not necessarily fair - as your Anderson comparison might superficially indicate that ending Johnson's Test career might not be fair -, but is life fair? The point is that once the new coach made it clear that he would not be going back to Raul it released the pressure on the youngsters and they began to play with more freedom. In fact the decision is far easier to make in this case because Johnson is no Raul.

 

[vic_orthdox]

See, I'd look upon your argument about the worth of ODIs and take a different perspective.

I'm more than comfortable with how our Test attack is performing, and with the durability issues that we have at the moment with some of our quicks, I'd rather that we'd use Johnson in those "lesser" games to make sure that our best team is fit and firing for the real stuff.

 

[Jarquis]

MJ has 190 wickets at an average of 32.19. James Anderson, who showed a few times that he might not be up to it, averaged more than that when he had 190 wickets....

Johnson's not about to get picked in the test team anytime soon, but you'd be insane to never ever consider him for test cricket. Yes he's shown he can self-destruct like few others, but few others can match him when he's on song. You don't start thinking about never picking him again until he loses it at domestic level. Australia A selection makes perfect sense, particularly given the other 5 seamers in the squad are all young guys anyway. He's a fair way away from playing another test match, he's miles back in the line. But "never again play for Australia in any form of international cricket" is insane, if only because he probably has a case for being an automatic selection for any tests played at the WACA.....

Their careers have gone in reverse though. Anderson was dire, injured and should never have been picked really at the start of his career at times. Then he got good and smashed ****s left, right and centre.

Johnson burst on to the scene, was good. Became dire. Got injured.

 

[CWB304]

See, I'd look upon your argument about the worth of ODIs and take a different perspective.

I'm more than comfortable with how our Test attack is performing, and with the durability issues that we have at the moment with some of our quicks, I'd rather that we'd use Johnson in those "lesser" games to make sure that our best team is fit and firing for the real stuff.

Good post.