***Official*** Sri Lanka in Australia 2012/2013

[uvelocity]

when are we gonna start discussing which seamer to pick in the boxing day squad

#dougeh

I'll back em to pick ncn. be him, bird or cutting you'd say? and play johnson anyway

 

[flibbertyjibber]

That is an impressive stat but not surprising given the players you have had over the majority of those 20 years. I think allowances would be made given the amount of injuries to bowlers and the fact you did play the best side around in 3 of the games.

Must be something that needs looking at though the amount of injuries your bowlers keep picking up.

 

[andyc]

And I think Wade's hold on the keeper's spot is fairly tenuous at present. It's not just that he missed another stumping, but the way he looks overall. He often seems to struggle to take throws from the deep on the bounce with any ease for example. Overall, he seems to lack real authority in his role and if that continues, the selectors may look elsewhere for the India tour.

Honestly, unless he descends to Kamran Akmal level poor with the gloves, I can't see the selectors dumping him as long as he's contributing with the bat. Given that he's still young (turns 25 on Boxing Day), I reckon they'll stick with him in the hopes that his keeping will improve - which you'd expect it to do, mind you. Gilchrist, Healy and Marsh all improved greatly over their careers with the gloves and I suppose the selectors' view is that a couple of missed chances here and there is worth the investment.

 

[Spikey]

I'll back em to pick ncn. be him, bird or cutting you'd say? and play johnson anyway

i see three groups

the guys with good stats but
bird, cutting, butterworth, hastings, faulkner etc

poni's
ncn, mcd jr (still playing one game/missing one game. not in contention then probably?). and then....well I guess all the poni's are dead.

the rest, led by
bollinger (1st time he's really been fit, like not-injured-and-has-played-a-month-or-two-of-cricket since the new panel took over. who knows what their position will be) putland & feldman

(from what I've seen of putland and feldman, they don't really deserve the but tag. pews to confirm/deny.)

 

[Prince EWS]

Honestly, unless he descends to Kamran Akmal level poor with the gloves, I can't see the selectors dumping him as long as he's contributing with the bat. Given that he's still young (turns 25 on Boxing Day), I reckon they'll stick with him in the hopes that his keeping will improve - which you'd expect it to do, mind you. Gilchrist, Healy and Marsh all improved greatly over their careers with the gloves and I suppose the selectors' view is that a couple of missed chances here and there is worth the investment.

CA does love Tim Paine though. If Paine actually manages to hit a few consecutive fifties in Shield cricket (was going to say a ton, but you know..) then the pressure will mount IMO. Obviously there's no Shield cricket at the moment and I reckon Wade will be getting this series regardless, but never underestimate how highly Paine is rated by those who matter, justifiably or not.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Honestly, unless he descends to Kamran Akmal level poor with the gloves, I can't see the selectors dumping him as long as he's contributing with the bat. Given that he's still young (turns 25 on Boxing Day), I reckon they'll stick with him in the hopes that his keeping will improve - which you'd expect it to do, mind you. Gilchrist, Healy and Marsh all improved greatly over their careers with the gloves and I suppose the selectors' view is that a couple of missed chances here and there is worth the investment.

Looks a similar standard to what Prior was for us when he first got picked. Needs to improve and surely will as long as he puts the effort in. Can certainly bat a bit.

 

[Spikey]

Honestly, unless he descends to Kamran Akmal level poor with the gloves, I can't see the selectors dumping him as long as he's contributing with the bat. Given that he's still young (turns 25 on Boxing Day), I reckon they'll stick with him in the hopes that his keeping will improve - which you'd expect it to do, mind you. Gilchrist, Healy and Marsh all improved greatly over their careers with the gloves and I suppose the selectors' view is that a couple of missed chances here and there is worth the investment.

This is a pretty weird spot though. I mean, we've got two Ashes series' in the next 12 months. And the guy who Wade got the spot from is actually still playing, is in ripping form, and there's good reason to believe he would be better than wade. and yeah add paine and all that. precedence might not count for much here

 

[centurymaker]

what a pool of seam bowlers australia have got-

Pattingson
Cummings
Siddle
Hilfy
Harris
Starc
Johnson
hazlewood
Bollinger
Cutting
Hastings
Faulkner
Copeland
and so on...

compare that to one of ind or sl

and i forgot about the guys who particularly do well in the limited overs

 

[Prince EWS]

i see three groups

the guys with good stats but
bird, cutting, butterworth, hastings, faulkner etc

poni's
ncn, mcd jr (still playing one game/missing one game. not in contention then probably?). and then....well I guess all the poni's are dead.

the rest, led by
bollinger (1st time he's really been fit, like not-injured-and-has-played-a-month-or-two-of-cricket since the new panel took over. who knows what their position will be) putland & feldman

(from what I've seen of putland and feldman, they don't really deserve the but tag. pews to confirm/deny.)

Confirmed ftr.

Putland definitely has some fans in administration and commentary but that's more in terms of SACA than CA; I don't think he's on the radar and I definitely won't call him a PONI but he certainly does look a more threatening bowler now that he's put on a little bit more pace.

Feldman's an interesting one in that CA don't seem too bothered about McDermott being left out for him (they've intervened in NSW/Victoria affairs as we know) even though McDermott played for Australia A and has even been in Australian LO squads - that made me think Feldman was being looked at too. Then Gannon started playing ahead of McDermott though and it kind of put that theory to rest.

You left Cutting in the first group too which I found interesting. I don't rate Cutting at all as you know but he's a young bowler having a good Shield season who has been in the Australian squad before. Bowling pies on TV all the time counts against him I guess but he'd be in the mix somewhere, direly enough.

 

[uvelocity]

i see three groups

the guys with good stats but
bird, cutting, butterworth, hastings, faulkner etc

poni's
ncn, mcd jr (still playing one game/missing one game. not in contention then probably?). and then....well I guess all the poni's are dead.

the rest, led by
bollinger (1st time he's really been fit, like not-injured-and-has-played-a-month-or-two-of-cricket since the new panel took over. who knows what their position will be) putland & feldman

(from what I've seen of putland and feldman, they don't really deserve the but tag. pews to confirm/deny.)

i think they would have picked dougeh ahead of john wayne if they thought he was still alive. junior burger cant be in the frame. ncn or bird imo, neither are the worst anyway. ncn's batting to tip it in his favour

think they will stick with wade like others said while his batting is going well. haddin's keeping went to crap for a while before he had to step aside, but it was the runs that put the most pressure on him I think rightly or wrongly

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Ok what does PONI stand for?

Putrid or Nearly Invincible?
Project on Nuclear Issues?
Penis of Nine Inches?

 

[Prince EWS]

Ok what does PONI stand for?

Putrid or Nearly Invincible?
Project on Nuclear Issues?
Penis of Nine Inches?

Player of National Interest

 

[Spark]

Bird must have gained brownie points from putting on a few kms. Was hitting 140 recently.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Back on Wade, after this series is a tour for India and I think most would agree that that's a much tougher challenge for keepers than any ground in Australia is. If he's struggling to keep to spin in Oz, how's he going to handle it there?

 

[Spikey]

Feldman's an interesting one in that CA don't seem too bothered about McDermott being left out for him (they've intervened in NSW/Victoria affairs as we know) even though McDermott played for Australia A and has even been in Australian LO squads - that made me think Feldman was being looked at too. Then Gannon started playing ahead of McDermott though and it kind of put that theory to rest.

Feldman actually made his List A debut for Australia A. Whether that was a case of injury striking and him being the closest player, I don't know. but that was itstl when I saw it the other day. His current Mo def. gives him something the others don't have

You left Cutting in the first group too which I found interesting. I don't rate Cutting at all as you know he's a young bowler having a good Shield season who has been in the Australian squad before. Bowling pies on TV all the time counts against him I guess but he'd be in the mix somewhere, direly enough.

well it's a different but compared to butterworth etc, but I don't think it's too out-of-line to place him in with the rest of the people in the group. I would have put Herrick in there too, ftr

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Back on Wade, after this series is a tour for India and I think most would agree that that's a much tougher challenge for keepers than any ground in Australia is. If he's struggling to keep to spin in Oz, how's he going to handle it there?

If Dhoni plays the way he has kept of late will make Wade look good so don't worry.

 

[Spikey]

Bird must have gained brownie points from putting on a few kms. Was hitting 140 recently.

I've been a bit thrown by those speed guns. I mean, Richardson was getting close to 150/km the other game!

He's def above the hugely important 132.3 mark though. he's the clear winner in group 1, and i don't really think it's time for a poni imo, and in any case NCN ain't a poni like Starc, Pattinson etc. so it's whether a) they shock us and pick McD, who is a poni closer to the likes of Pattinson etc, or b) the group 3 winner wins out in the end. amd given it's hard to pick the group 3 winner....(bollinger the best, but)

 

[Crazy Sam]

Feldman's an interesting one in that CA don't seem too bothered about McDermott being left out for him (they've intervened in NSW/Victoria affairs as we know) even though McDermott played for Australia A and has even been in Australian LO squads - that made me think Feldman was being looked at too. Then Gannon started playing ahead of McDermott though and it kind of put that theory to rest.

All four of those Bulls pace bowlers have performed well this season which makes things difficult for the Bulls.

Feldman - 25 wickets @ 24.36 (6 games)
Cutting - 22 wickets @ 18.81 (5 games)
Gannon - 18 wickets @ 13.38 (3 games)
McDermott - 11 wickets @ 23.72 (3 games)

It wouldn't surprise me if they persist with Hauritz at 7 followed by those bowlers when Shield resumes.


I wonder whether Hastings's poor performance in Perth will have any impact on the chances of the other Shield bowlers. Hastings has a similar record to the above bowlers this season (as well as another 5-8 bowlers including Bird, Butterworth etc) but was shown up to be ineffective in Perth against a test quality batting attack on a slightly more reasonable batting pitch than what is seen in Shield cricket.

 

[Prince EWS]

Feldman actually made his List A debut for Australia A. Whether that was a case of injury striking and him being the closest player, I don't know. but that was itstl when I saw it the other day. His current Mo def. gives him something the others don't have



well it's a different but compared to butterworth etc, but I don't think it's too out-of-line to place him in with the rest of the people in the group. I would have put Herrick in there too, ftr

That Australia A game was weird; Brendan Drew also played. I don't even remember it clearly but the lineup contains some players I don't think would've been Shield regulars in 2010 so maybe the game coincided with a SS round or something and they were looking not to dilute the Shield too much. He'd definitely be a surprise pick anyway IMO, but I can see where you're coming from. I don't mind him for what he is.

I think I'd call Cutting a PONI, tbh. He nearly made his Test debut last summer and in the Shield at least he's continued to perform. When Hazelwood was selected there was a bit in the media about how it should have been Cutting so I think he's probably closer to the side than we think, but then again that Australia A game that I didn't think we should be taking too seriously (the one this summer, not the Feldman one) has been followed through on by the selectors. Quiney got selected based on hitting 80 odd in it despite not really being mentioned as an option before that, Bailey wasn't selected in it despite the fact that I thought he was the reserve batsman and he's been looked over for Quiney and Hughes since.. and Hastings opened the bowling in that game which we all thought was odd, but then he made his Test debut and opened the bowling in that too. Cutting didn't play that either. So it's hard to place him. Maybe I'm selectorially Gambhiring here because I don't rate Cutting at all but I think he's rated pretty highly by CA.

The more I think about it though, the more I think NCN is probably next in line. Mickey Arthur being coach really helps him for a few reasons I think - the first is obvious (NCN was basically a Mickey Arthur project player at WA) but even beyond that I think it helps him because of how Mickey would actually go about selecting a fast bowler. When Arthur was WA coach he famously ripped into the Sheffield Shield pitches and suggested they were making some bowlers look far better than they were. I can't find the original article but he touches on it here as well. Many believe it's the reason Copeland was suddenly axed when Arthur took over as coach. On this front, NCN has two things really going for him:
1. He's a genuine 140 clicks bowler, meaning he won't be seen as another medium pacer filling his boots on green tops
2. He performs well in OD cricket and T20 cricket on the flatter pitches. Butterworth, Bird and Cutting let themselves down here, and I think that's why Hastings was preferred to them in Perth too.

Beyond the fact that I'm sure Arthur would be keen, he Can Bat, is a good field for a fast bowler and has been the mainstay of the bowling attack in all the Aus A games lately - including the one I didn't think meant anything but seems to have.

 

[Spikey]

Ah yes, but we 'kept Bird up our sleeves' for that tour game. And, from memory, NCN (& Al McD) only got onto the off-season Aus A tour because of injury (inc. to Cutting), as opposed to Bird. NCN's average for the season (35. plus 0/66 in the aus a game) might go against him. obv they don't mind picking high 20's (Hilf, MJ), but that might be a bridge too far. t20 form and all. still, easy enough to argue for any of bird/cutting/ncn

It wouldn't surprise me if they persist with Hauritz at 7 followed by those bowlers when Shield resumes.

Harris is (hoping) to resume when the shield resumes...