*Official* 1st ODI at the MCG

[Son Of Coco]

Ashes starting on Christmas Night would be epic

That would be great, then we could sing:

Dashing English hopes
With short balls to the face
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bell's caught in the ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A slaying song tonight!

(chorus)
Jingle bails, jingle bails
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to slide
A ball through Root's defence, yay!
Jingle bails, jingle bails,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to see England slide
Down the ICC rankings, yay!

 

[Dan]

Australian squad announced:
Clarke, Bailey, NCN, Doherty, Faulkner, Finch, Haddin, Johnson, SMarsh, Maxwell, McKay, Pattinson, Warner, Watson.

Finch picked against quality opposition, essentially in place of Hughes. Also we have no middle order batsmen whatsoever. Get Horsehead in there and rest Clarke's back.

 

[Crazy Sam]

No place for anyone from the reigning Ryobi Cup champions.

 

[Top_Cat]

Kinda shocked to see no Hughes in the squad. Wonder who doesn't rate him? Instinctively, I'd say he doesn't see like Lehmann's sorta guy but it would be **** if he's been dumped because of that, particularly considering who he's been replaced by.

 

[Dan]

If I were picking an Australian ODI XI tomorrow, with an eye on the 2015 World Cup, I'd be going with a Clarke-less top 7 of:

1. Warner
2. Hughes
3. Watson
4. Bailey
5. Smith
6. Maxwell (or a promising young batsman we want to blood - Lynn/Burns/Maddinson probably the three uncapped blokes I can think of)
7. Haddin

Smith's continued omission is puzzling as well. Gunned the Ryobi Cup, has a game suited pretty well to ODIs (especially as a Clarke replacement: runs hard and rotates the strike, good in the field, bowls well enough to make up overs if a bowler doesn't fire) and has been considered a future leader. Get him in there and VC him under Bailey when Clarke has a rest.

Maxwell's bowling becomes surplus to requirements if Smith slots in for Clarke, so then his place should be taken by the best young middle order batsman available. Which could well be him anyway.

Or we can get Hughes to do a Watling and give Haddin a rest from ODIs until the lead-up to the World Cup, with another batsman coming in at 6 and Maxwell as a finisher at 7

 

[Spikey]

safe to say i don't like the selected squad

 

[social]

Australian squad announced:
Clarke, Bailey, NCN, Doherty, Faulkner, Finch, Haddin, Johnson, SMarsh, Maxwell, McKay, Pattinson, Warner, Watson.

Finch picked against quality opposition, essentially in place of Hughes. Also we have no middle order batsmen whatsoever. Get Horsehead in there and rest Clarke's back.

The selections of Finch and Doherty are nothing short of a farce

Lynn and Maddinson are both at least as good at striking the ball and have techniques that guarantee their futures as fc batsmen

Doherty is a hack - been there and done that, etc. Only excuse for picking him is that they refuse to try anyone else

Have no problems with the omission of Hughes - leave him to score 000's of fc runs before his inevitable return

 

[Spark]

Well, really, they're leaving out Hughes so he can play BBL, so...

Agree that Maddison/Lynn/Smith should be in there instead of hacks like Finch.

 

[social]

Well, really, they're leaving out Hughes so he can play BBL, so...

Agree that Maddison/Lynn/Smith should be in there instead of hacks like Finch.

Don't think that they are leaving him to play BBL

He just looks crap no matter how many runs he scores

Reckon he is a good kid with enormous talent and hope he does a Hayden

 

[Tangles]

Finch and X. Lol

 

[Red]

I rate Doherty in ODI. Finch is a gamble, but a decent one in limited over cricket imo.

From the squad selected I'd go:

Watson (if he's fully fit)
Finch
S.Marsh
Clarke
Bailey
Haddin
Maxwell
Faulkner
Johnson
Patto
Doherty


Would have liked Smith in there and maybe a young batsman like Maddinson.

 

[theegyptian]

At first I went

Cook, Carberry, Bell, Root, Morgan, Buttler, Stokes, Jordan, Tredwell, Finn, Rankin

Having Stokes bat 6 at test cricket and 8 (as he did in the odi's in England) is stupid. Bopara's medium pace cutters and swingers work quite well in England and Asia but I doubt he'll get away with them on the harder Aussie wickets. After some thought I came up with the following as a more radical proposal.

Cook, Carberry/Root/Bell(For 2 and 3), Stokes, Morgan, Ballance/Bopara, Buttler, Jordan, Tredwell, Finn, Rankin

Stokes isn't really a finisher of an innings. Isn't brilliant at rotating the strike, has poor non conventional shots and although he has power it's a bit hit and miss especially if he has to go straight away. I'd like to see him at 4 where he can play properly. He's a naturally quick scorer and attacks spinners. It possibly wouldn't work but with Morgan, Ballance/Bopara and Buttler below there is depth to recover. It also gives him more exposure to further his development

Morgan and Buttler are experts in the last 20 (or at least Morgan was, doubts are starting to grow about his form) and ideally you don't want them in before then. Bopara has also done decently in that role.

In squad but not selected - Briggs, Bresnan( bound to play but **** if i'm putting him in my team)

 

[vic_orthdox]

Don't think that they are leaving him to play BBL

He just looks crap no matter how many runs he scores

Reckon he is a good kid with enormous talent and hope he does a Hayden

I don't mind it, just let him be for 12 months; can't "do a Hayden" if he's half in the squad and half out.

 

[91Jmay]

The geniuses at Team England have decided to let Woakes fly home and then fly back again a few days later. Not really sure why, he really isn't a very good List A player.

 

[Jayzamann]

Would have liked Smith in there

So this.

At least ODI's don't have any super overs to **** the bed in.

 

[dermo]

NCN, forkas and eastwood in with patto left out, what has the world come to

 

[Adders]

I'm thinking this ODI series could well be a nail in One Day crickets coffin.

The BBL game in Brisbane tonight was played to a sell out crowd, I dunno, but I don't think a ODI would sell out at the GABBA atm. If this series is a dud (which is more than possible) it is competing against the BBL which is gonna be on a rival channel on Aussie TV and is getting bums on seats. What are the ICC and cricket boards around the world going to think if a domestic T20 comp conjures more interest than an International fixture??

We'll have to wait and see what the crowds are like but for those that still think ODI's are a better contest than T20 these are worrying times.

 

[the big bambino]

Nup, people will turn up to watch poms getting whooped.

 

[Adders]

Yeah fair call.......I always forget how quick you Aussies are to jump on a bandwagon.

What happens if by some miracle you should lose the first couple?? I'd wager then the BBL will win by a long shot.

 

[fredfertang]

I do wish this wasn't happening - there is not going to be any repeat of 06/07, just a continuation of the misery of the last couple of months