Australian Test Selection 2016/2017

[burr]

The problem with the lower order is not the bowlers it's Marsh and Nevill. I don't like this team.

 

[Archie Jackson]

The problem with the lower order is not the bowlers it's Marsh and Nevill. I don't like this team.

Who would you pick in place of Nevill?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Who would you pick in place of Nevill?

exactly

 

[Top_Cat]

I definitely think Bird was the right call overall and generally err on the side of picking the better specialist rather than worrying about shoring up weaknesses but in red-ball cricket, Mennie isn't going to disgrace himself. Plus, it's not just that he can bat, he's technically quite sound so will likely stop the bleeding if the middle-lower order fall in a heap. So whilst I don't agree with it, at least it's not a ridiculously bad call.

That said, I don't like what this says to Bird. Bowls the house down, nah mate you're too slow. Puts on pace, still bowls the house down, nah mate you can't bat. Got two of the best bats in the world in the line-up, in form, and the other three have been smashing it in Aussie conditions. Short of wrecking absolutely every team he plays, begs the question if there's an Aussie team in which he would be selected at the moment.

 

[Top_Cat]

Tell ya wot, tho, gotta feel for Henriques too. Poor guy gets picked in SL on virtually no red-ball cricket, predictably fails in a landslide loss and now he's not even in the conversation any more.

 

[Spikey]

Look if Mennie gets a game I hope he tears it up because HE'S A NEW SOUTH WELSHMAN, but I think it's the wrong call. He's certainly not a dud cricketer, just think Bird is the better call.

fixed it up mate

i feel like they actually do think Mennie is a better bowler (or would be a better fit for the attack, anyway.) but they don't want to bury Bird, so they've taken the undeniable fact that Bird's a worst bat and are pretending that's the actually reason for it. it's classic 50/50 booking. Vince McMahon might actually be the head selector

 

[Furball]

Bird should be playing, not Mennie.

So they want to strengthen the batting from 7-11 while being content with at number 6 that is averaging 24 after plenty of innings? FMD, just play six batsmen and four bowlers and if a bowler gets injured wear it for that test.

Mitch Marsh is a decent seamer but his batting is limited. I've said it before, but he should be spending this summer batting at #3 or #4 for WA and making some serious runs.

They don't need a 5th bowler with Siddle playing anyway. Has the heart to be 4th and 5th bowler.

 

[the big bambino]

The problem with the lower order is not the bowlers it's Marsh and Nevill. I don't like this team.

Good on you for having the sack to say this. Been thinking Nevill isn't providing the runs we need at 7. So who for Nevill? Wade. Yeah yeah I know. But if Bird can miss out as a specialist for an inferior cricketer bcos of his batting then maybe Nevill should step aside since we're grubbing for runs down the order.

 

[Dan]

Nevill's entry positions during the last summer:

vs New Zealand, Brisbane: DNB, DNB
vs New Zealand, Perth: 5/512, 5/294
vs New Zealand, Adelaide: 5/80, 5/161 (scores 66 in the first dig, not many in the second)
vs West Indies, Hobart: DNB, -
vs West Indies, Melbourne: DNB, DNB
vs West Indies, Sydney: 2/154, -
vs New Zealand, Wellington: 5/299 (makes 30-odd in partnership with a rampaging Voges)
vs New Zealand, Christchurch: 6/464, DNB


Let's, uhh, give him a chance to make some runs first before binning him. Hard to make 'em when you never get to leave the pavilion. I get that he's been sub-par overseas, if not outright bad to date, but at this stage we've got literally no clue how he can do in typical home conditions. He struggled no worse than Khawaja or Burns in SL but doesn't have the nice career average to fall back on because, y'know, the top five spent the entire last summer refusing to let anyone else have a go until the time came for declaration batting.

So in situations where his batting was actually kinda important, he played the innings of the Adelaide Test, failed in the second dig, and didn't convert a start in a ~100 run stand with Voges. Those eight Tests constitute over half of his career, and he batted in a grand total of three meaningful situations across them.

Yeah, his overseas batting hasn't been up to scratch, but when he's also the best gloveman in the team, give him the damn summer.

 

[morgieb]

Worth noting Australia chased 187 in the Adelaide Test. So I don't think his batting was actually important in that second innings, either.

And while he was bad in Sri Lanka overall, he did at least dig in and went close to scraping a draw in the First Test there. Still think he needs time.

Mitch Marsh is a bit different, but he wasn't terrible in Sri Lanka. Can't help but think he'd be a liability if the pitches aren't impossibly flat and the bowling attack of the opposition isn't terrible (which is what kinda happened in the last two summers) though.

 

[Top_Cat]

Marsh will come good but I don't think it'll be this stint in the side. His knocks in SL don't tell the story of how well he batted, was the only guy to make the spinners look ordinary. One of those who can knock the wind out of your sails, match-winner (eventually).

 

[Furball]

Did MMarsh not hit a ridiculous ton on the tour of England?

Reckon he's where Smith was 5 years ago. He's obviously going to be a big part of the Australian side going forward but he really needs a full season of Shield cricket first.

See also: Maxwell, Glenn.

 

[Bijed]

Rod Marsh: "Bird came very close. What cost him a place was his batting. We've got to get runs at the bottom of the order as well."

And this is why I stopped following cricket.

Cricket Australia are so obsessed with making money through the Big Bash, and the International side will continue to suffer as a result.

If Glenn McGrath had come along 10 years later...

 

[Gnske]

but when he's also the only gloveman in the team, give him the damn summer.

Fixed

 

[Midwinter]

So the " This is a one off" line by the selectors in Sri Lanka wasn't a one off for Burns.

It is a glaring sign that the team is in trouble when the selectors pick players to do two jobs instead of picking the best available player for the main job.

Pick batsmen to make runs, pick bowlers to take wickets.

( Australia in the 80s, England in the 90's are examples of this )

 

[adub]

Bird or Mennie?

 

[Dan]

Fixed

Heh, oops.

 

[adub]

Siddle?

 

[Dan]

Bird, Mennie or Siddle?

 

[adub]

Bird, Mennie or Siddle?

nah, that Marsh's spot at 6