throwing Roach/Hearath/Anderson/Veron out there
Nah, Smith wouldn't be destabilising at all IMO. Not in his MO. Warner's scored some blinders, but Smith is a tough ****nugget and that's always handy. Perfect 1st/2nd slip too, though Warner is amazing at point.chanders puffed himself up against bangers
someone needs to call me out over my warner selection, but he's scored only a smidge less runs than smith, played a couple of blinders, and fits in the lineup well too imo. smith would also be a destabilising force in the changeroom, he'd never handle clarkeh's aggressive and innovative captaincy
I think Chanderpaul often loses out in exercises like this because he has the technique of a number 6 but the temperament of a number 3. He bats five for the West Indies as a matter of choice so you'd think he'd make a perfectly good six, but in reality he'd probably get stranded quite a bit.With the caveat that we only pick on 2012 performances this is easy.
Cook
Smith
Amla
Kallis
Clarke
Hussey
Prior
Philander or Herath if it's turning
Steyn
Ajmal
Anderson
I know Herath's taken ****loads of poles at ****-all but Ajmal has been clearly the best spinner this year IMO. Just hasn't played that many Tests. Anderson's actually been a bit below-part for much of the year but saves himself by his work in India which was top class.
And as good as Chanders has been, so has Hussey and he's a much, much better #6 than Chanders or really anyone else you care to name. I'm not picking Chanders at 6, sorry. 5 or above, fine, but those spots are taken and Chanders would be a really, really poor #6 IMO.
Four 50+ scores in 5 innings, including a 103*. Was a low scoring series too so it's fair to say he was awesome while still partially showing what we're saying here anyway.How did Chanders go against Australia again this year? Can't remember.
Nah, no way. Had a huge series against us. Scored at least a 50 in every test.Can't really argue with your side much. On those raw stats you could definitely make cases for Samuels or Roach I suppose but they mainly did their damages against Bangladesh's bowlers and New Zealand's batsmen respectively which puts it into context a bit.