***Official*** Australia in India 2012/13

[Andre]

Yeah I agree and I said as much when a couple of blokes were trying to say he should play ahead of Lyon earlier in the thread.

But we've picked Doherty, who is O'Keefe without the batting and without the somewhat random ability to pick up key wickets in First Class cricket. You can definitely make the argument that O'Keefe might not necessarily be better than Doherty at a higher level of cricket, but there's some chance he will be and virtually no chance he'll be worse.

Would have to go with Doherty as the more skilled to be honest. Varies his flight better and gets a little more drift and drop, plus a fraction more turn. Temperamentally stronger too, less likely to be overawed. The lesser of 2 evils really.

 

[Spikey]

for me it's as simple as he didn't get picked over doherty 2 years ago so i don't see why he would have now. particularly considering under the new panel he's not getting randomT20 matches

 

[Tangles]

In the team selection article Invers says Usman is a good chance for the first test. There also seems to be media thinking that Watson slots back into the team as a batsman. Watson at 4 and Usman at 6? I prefer that to the bits and pieces players? Yet why all the all rounders if they all start on the bench. Plans B, C and D.

 

[Dan]

Yeah I agree and I said as much when a couple of blokes were trying to say he should play ahead of Lyon earlier in the thread.

But we've picked Doherty, who is O'Keefe without the batting and without the somewhat random ability to pick up key wickets in First Class cricket. You can definitely make the argument that O'Keefe might not necessarily be better than Doherty at a higher level of cricket, but there's some chance he will be and virtually no chance he'll be worse.

Quality post, this.

 

[Julian87]

Why are we over- complicating this? For anyone who's seen O'Keefe bowl it's not too hard to figure out why. He gets no shape, little revs and doesn't turn the ball.

There isn't any room for improvement with him - he's at his absolute maximum at shield level. His numbers are an aberration.

looks can be deceiving though

 

[Spikey]

' He gets no shape, little revs and doesn't turn the ball.' is really more of a fact though. it's working for SOK obv (aside from last season's ****show...which of course would have served as a justification to the selectors) but then what Hastings does works for him.....

 

[brockley]

Doherty says forget about his shield form,is faux par.

 

[oldmancraigy]

Why are we over- complicating this? For anyone who's seen O'Keefe bowl it's not too hard to figure out why. He gets no shape, little revs and doesn't turn the ball.

There isn't any room for improvement with him - he's at his absolute maximum at shield level. His numbers are an aberration.

They might be an aberration, but they are numbers (which have improved this season for what it's worth).

There is no other spin bowler in Australia who comes within 10 of his 'aberration'. And since it's been happening for 4 years now (against all the same blokes the other spinners can't get out) it was surely high time to throw him on the tour instead of Doherty...


I'll argue till the cows come home that he's also a better strike bowler than Lyon (and a better 'tight' bowler); if people want an aberration then it's Lyon vs NZ. 10 wickets @ 12, otherwise a career average of 38 and trending back towards 40.
Lyon will average 40 against India again, Doherty 140, and some muppets will say Lyon did well because look how badly Doherty did....

 

[oldmancraigy]

Would have to go with Doherty as the more skilled to be honest. Varies his flight better and gets a little more drift and drop, plus a fraction more turn. Temperamentally stronger too, less likely to be overawed. The lesser of 2 evils really.

Doherty is a very good middle over bowlers in 50 over cricket. But to suggest he's better than O'Keefe (or most other Aussie spinners) at anything is laughable.

 

[Spikey]

have you watched SOK bowl

 

[oldmancraigy]

' He gets no shape, little revs and doesn't turn the ball.' is really more of a fact though. it's working for SOK obv (aside from last season's ****show...which of course would have served as a justification to the selectors) but then what Hastings does works for him.....

And what McGrath did worked for him...
'Bowls 125 and not much swing or seam movement' But if it's always in the right areas and doing 'just enough' it makes it lethal!

[No, I did not compare SOK to McGrath in terms of ability, but rather making a point that what looks innocuous may not be so]

The only chance O'Keefe got against an international team, he nailed them...

 

[Spikey]

McGrath never ever bowled 125km/h.

 

[centurymaker]

he bowled 135 mostly iirc?

 

[M0rphin3]

Prolly just me, but I think Maxwell plays spin quite decently, from what I've seen of him so far.

And AWTA @ pews re: D'oherty vs O'keefe. I don't rate O'Keef's bowling, but it's pretty much a no brainer that he has a much better case than Doherty, surely.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

McGrath never ever bowled 125km/h.

He bowled late 120s pretty often from what I've seen accross the eras from Rob's stuff. 125 a slight exaggeration but it's not far off.

 

[oldmancraigy]

He bowled late 120s pretty often from what I've seen accross the eras from Rob's stuff. 125 a slight exaggeration but it's not far off.

It's closer than 135!

 

[Spark]

And what McGrath did worked for him...
'Bowls 125 and not much swing or seam movement' But if it's always in the right areas and doing 'just enough' it makes it lethal!

[No, I did not compare SOK to McGrath in terms of ability, but rather making a point that what looks innocuous may not be so]

The only chance O'Keefe got against an international team, he nailed them...

Look, of all the McGrath comparisons I've seen over the years, this is one of the worst.

 

[the big bambino]

McGrath btwn 125-135 iirc. Saw him bowl one that just took off and Lawry orgasmed in the comm box abt how fast it was. It was 126ks.

Re SOK. Yeah he looks like he bowls big fat pies but he deserves a spot over Dohers.

 

[Spark]

The point is that there is absolutely no comparison between a deadly accurate beanpole quick who consistently got seam movement and a left arm orthodox with no special gifts at all.

 

[smash84]

this may have been posted earlier but sounds a little far fetched right now

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