**Official** New Zealand in Australia 2015

[adub]

Short and Swepson might go better than average on that deck too. Can be hard to get spinners away if they don't lose their length.

 

[Tangles]

Sandhu available because the Test players are in the shield I'm guessing?

 

[Prince EWS]

Sandhu available because the Test players are in the shield I'm guessing?

Yeah.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Is this really our build up? A one dayer and a 2 dayer? No FC match at all? No pink ball under lights?

Why didn't we take NZ A over there with us and organise a few weeks of hard cricket, NZ v NZ A

You don't pay much attention to international tours these days?

A one dayer, a 2 dayer and a 4-day game is a massive amount of warm ups for a modern tour. IIRC The last couple of times Aus toured NZ we didn't pay a single tour game before the internationals. Not even a single one-dayer.

 

[SteveNZ]

You don't pay much attention to international tours these days?

A one dayer, a 2 dayer and a 4-day game is a massive amount of warm ups for a modern tour. IIRC The last couple of times Aus toured NZ we didn't pay a single tour game before the internationals. Not even a single one-dayer.

In his defence, he wasn't aware of the four-dayers. And a tour like this, coming out of the 'off-season' if there is such thing in international cricket, could do with a couple of four-dayers in my view. Our last day of Test cricket was June 2, which by the first Test will be 5 months. That's a hell of a long time. A ceremonial one-dayer and a two-dayer including a stupid amount of retired batsmen really doesn't do much for Test match hardness.

So yeah, dunno whether we're appeasing the host cricketing body by playing those pseudo warm-ups but 2x four-dayers is much more ideal - even if it has to be against the best XI guys who aren't playing domestically in Australia.

 

[TheJediBrah]

In his defence, he wasn't aware of the four-dayers. And a tour like this, coming out of the 'off-season' if there is such thing in international cricket, could do with a couple of four-dayers in my view. Our last day of Test cricket was June 2, which by the first Test will be 5 months. That's a hell of a long time. A ceremonial one-dayer and a two-dayer including a stupid amount of retired batsmen really doesn't do much for Test match hardness.

So yeah, dunno whether we're appeasing the host cricketing body by playing those pseudo warm-ups but 2x four-dayers is much more ideal - even if it has to be against the best XI guys who aren't playing domestically in Australia.

Obviously it's not ideal, but it's far from the sudden, specific circumstance targeted at NZ that it was made out to be.

Any tour these days that gets more than a single 3 day warm-up game is in the minority.

 

[Skyliner]

"It was nice to get a bit of a run against them [Australian test batting hopefuls] and have a quick look before it all kicks off, but Manuka Oval is one of the flattest wickets I've ever seen in my life. It's slightly different to what we're going to strike at the Gabba and the Waca," Boult said.

Great bit of humour here from Boult.
Black Caps duck pink ball argument as slow pitches cause greater concern | Stuff.co.nz

BC's turned the 4 day game into a 3 day one in order to get up to Brisbane earlier.

 

[SteveNZ]

Obviously it's not ideal, but it's far from the sudden, specific circumstance targeted at NZ that it was made out to be.

Any tour these days that gets more than a single 3 day warm-up game is in the minority.

Sides regularly get a couple of 3-day cracks in England, which is exactly what you need. As I say, you need only look at the scorecard in the 2-day game to see how Mickey Mouse that was.

I'm all of a sudden much more intrigued about how a bunch of four-day domestic matches in Australia go.

 

[howardj]

Warner
Burns
Smith
Ferguson
Voges
Wade (Nev looks like an ineffective battler)
MMarsh
Johnson
Starc
Lion
Banana Man

 

[Riggins]

Warner
Burns
Smith
Ferguson
Voges
Wade (Nev looks like an ineffective battler)
MMarsh
Johnson
Starc
Lion
Banana Man

He'll fit right in for a series against NZ then. At least Nev can keep.

 

[Tangles]

No Wade. Don't listen to Warnie. Just say no.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah please don't pick Wade to keep in Tests; Nathan Lyon will kill you. If you're silly and don't rate Nev then pick Whiteman or something.

 

[Tangles]

Ferguson, Voges and Wade all look like protection for Marsh at 7. If you rate his batting that badly then I don't think he deserves a spot. Might as well try Moz or Forkers or Maxi at 6. That gets you some overs but maybe not the same wicket taking. The bonus is much better batting and not unbalancing a team with only 2 known quality players in the top 6.

 

[howardj]

Joe Burns should open against New Zealand ahead of Cameron Bancroft, says former Australian opener Chris Rogers - ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Very much agree with this - you need to reward performance, namely in his last Test Match he scored two half centuries. As a selector, you need establish trust with players. By disregarding Burns' last Test and overlooking him, it's really a breach of trust.

Surely Burns gets in ahead of:

- Usman (no Shield cricket at all last Summer and no Shield games this Summer)
- Bancroft (really only had a good second half to last Summer, and most people putting his name forward have probably never seen him play. And please disregard any referral from Justin Langer. Every young player he comes into contact with he raves about in ridiculously glowing terms).
- Shaun Marsh (he averages in the 30s in FC and Tests for a reason. But for his old man (who was pretty ordinary himself) nobody would give this guy the time of day). If you're going to show nepotism, wait until a champion's son comes along, like Austin Waugh, James McGrath, Archie or Harrison Gilchrist, or Baby Boy Ponting....but not the sons of a hack like Swamp.

 

[howardj]

Cue the lazy Gabba Greentop stories in the paper, this time of year

 

[howardj]

Ferguson, Voges and Wade all look like protection for Marsh at 7. If you rate his batting that badly then I don't think he deserves a spot. Might as well try Moz or Forkers or Maxi at 6. That gets you some overs but maybe not the same wicket taking. The bonus is much better batting and not unbalancing a team with only 2 known quality players in the top 6.

I believe MMarsh will be a really special player and is worth persisting with, but at the moment he bats 7

He has more scope for improvement than Moz or Forks

 

[The Battlers Prince]

I believe MMarsh will be a really special player and is worth persisting with, but at the moment he bats 7

He has more scope for improvement than Moz or Forks

His bowling is a long way ahead of where Twatto's was at the same age. If he's not going to be up the order he could be very useful at 7. I think Faulkers could do as good a job but the abundance of left armers for Australia would have me going more towards MMarsh at the moment.
Having said that, I really hope they don't choose both Mitches in Brisbane unless Starc in particular is going to be a lot less expensive, he can deliver some amazing stuff but has plenty of improvement to do

 

[Spikey]

they made the team to face nz in the tour match even weaker

Finch, White added to CA XI | cricket.com.au

 

[adub]

Shame they didn't call up Silkers and maybe a few others who might have been close to selection like the The Chadd. Surely The Rohrer Test could have wandered around the corner to Blacktown too. Far better than embarrassing us with Funch.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

�� Finch. Hope he has a good season, but surely he's not really ready for this selection