Australian Test Selection 2016/2017

[Dan]

I think with the way Smith uses Lyon, we're at the point where SoK is a better option on the basis that he can bowl longer, tighter spells. Essentially pick a holding, workhorse spinner so you don't have to worry about the third seamer being super economical.

 

[NUFAN]

I think with the way Smith uses Lyon, we're at the point where SoK is a better option on the basis that he can bowl longer, tighter spells. Essentially pick a holding, workhorse spinner so you don't have to worry about the third seamer being super economical.

Yes exactly. Also obviously the extra batting that he provides hopefully means that our selectors focus on bowling when selecting our 3 best quicks. I also think that O'Keefe helps a bit with his captaincy experience, not that I'm as low on Smith as some.

 

[ImpatientLime]

cricket has changed fellas. its time to go full england

warner
smarsh
smith
khawaja
patterson
maxwell
nevill
mitch marsh
henriques
o'keefe
starc

 

[TheJediBrah]

cricket has changed fellas. its time to go full england

warner
smarsh
smith
khawaja
patterson
maxwell
nevill
mitch marsh
henriques
o'keefe
starc

Replace Henriques with Faulkner and you've actually got a decent side there

Much better than the one we've got now

 

[Tangles]

I know sok hasn't taken his limited opportunities but he has seemed low on the selector priority list. Almost like Bird in that maybe they don't trust the Shield stats.

Voges was supposed to be a transitional player who then had a bigger impact than expected. He's 37 it's time to move on already.

 

[Red]

If we lose this test which seems more likely than not, what would we look at doing?

There'd be a temptation to maybe bring Kurt Patterson or another younger bat in for Voges, but I can't see the point in exposing him to a high functioning SA attack for a dead rubber tbh. I do feel Voges needs to go after this test or the next however. He had a little dream run but it's time to blood some young bats at 5 and 6.

 

[NUFAN]

The next round of Shield matches are from 17th to 20th and the 3rd Test starts on the 24th, so there is definitely an opportunity for a young batsman to stake his claim.

 

[Burgey]

If we lose this test which seems more likely than not, what would we look at doing?

There'd be a temptation to maybe bring Kurt Patterson or another younger bat in for Voges, but I can't see the point in exposing him to a high functioning SA attack for a dead rubber tbh. I do feel Voges needs to go after this test or the next however. He had a little dream run but it's time to blood some young bats at 5 and 6.

I see it precisely the opposite way tbh. When they picked Mark Taylor they didn't say "The Windies have flogged us this series. Let's not bring in a new opener in a dead rubber".

If a player deserves to be picked, he gets picked. Every test match counts and you need to play against these blokes eventually anyway

 

[adub]

I've been saying KPat is the guy for our middle order for a while, but damn that would be harsh to chuck him to the wolves like that. Still so long as they actually stick with him rather than drop him like a hot spud if he isn't averaging 50 after 3 tests it could be time.

Oh and yes of course SOK. As it should have been for the last five years FFS.

 

[Spikey]

I know sok hasn't taken his limited opportunities but he has seemed low on the selector priority list. Almost like Bird in that maybe they don't trust the Shield stats.

Voges was supposed to be a transitional player who then had a bigger impact than expected. He's 37 it's time to move on already.

Voges was supposed to be a key player in the 2015 ashes, totally ****ing failed, and somehow got kept and got to kill the Windies

 

[TheJediBrah]

SOK should have 350 test wickets by now if the selectors had any sense 6-7 years ago

 

[adub]

Watching Mennie yesterday stopping the clock at 125kph I was wondering what he brings to the side that Copes doesn't?

 

[Tangles]

Yeah having not seen much of Mennie I was expecting more than Siddle pace.

 

[Red]

I see it precisely the opposite way tbh. When they picked Mark Taylor they didn't say "The Windies have flogged us this series. Let's not bring in a new opener in a dead rubber".

If a player deserves to be picked, he gets picked. Every test match counts and you need to play against these blokes eventually anyway

I can see both sides of the coin tbh. I don't see any problem with easing guys into the team, it was done that way for a long time. Let a new guy bat at 6 or even 7. GChappell debuted at #7. Ponting at #5. Even the Don batted at #7 in his test debut. And why make them debut against a team with their tail up and a great bowling attack.

Rob Quiney is a case in point of how not to treat debutants imo

 

[Tangles]

An Adelaide dayboo would be fine if they said "dead rubber, no pressure, no worries just have a bat ". But 2 low scores and the media and fans go nuts and who knows how our selectors react.

 

[SeamUp]

Kurtis Patterson SOS

Kurt Patterson could be the man in inject some youth into Australia’s Test lineup

BEN HORNE, The Daily Telegraph
November 13, 2016 12:02pm

AUSTRALIA has become used to the idea of new blood being old blood.

But 23-year-old Kurtis Patterson shapes as the man who can change that.

From the relaunching of Shaun Marsh, to the promotion of Adam Voges and the debut of Callum Ferguson, it seems Australia has lost its trust in youth.

In the past decade of Australian cricket, a period of worrying inconsistency for the Test side, it seems extraordinary that Phillip Hughes, Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, David Warner and most recently Joe Burns are the only batsmen aged 25 or under who have debuted.

By Australian batting standards, Patterson is a very young man but Ian Chappell has declared the time has come for selectors to look to the future.

Who better to back than the youngest century-maker in Sheffield Shield history, with Patterson’s stunning 157 on debut for NSW as a teenager an early sign the left-hander from Roselands in Sydney’s south had what it took.

Patterson’s matchwinning knock in the Matador Cup final showcased an ice-cool demeanour and an expert hundred against the pink ball at the Gabba, posted alongside Australian captain Smith, could not have been better timed ahead of the third Test under lights against South Africa in Adelaide.

Debuts at Patterson’s age have become a rarity, but the tall left-hander with an average of 43 feels he could make the step up.

“You never really know if you’re good enough until you show yourself you’re good enough,” Patterson said.

“But certainly in my head I’m working towards a game that can work for Test cricket.

“I think it’s obviously quite similar to Shield cricket … it’s just that bump up in intensity.

“The processes and everything like that don’t have to change going from first-class cricket to Test cricket.”

Patterson isn’t the only option should selectors turn to a youth policy — with Travis Head, 22, Marcus Stoinis, 27, Peter Handscomb, 25, Nic Maddinson, 24 and Cameron Bancroft, 23, the leading contenders.

Test great Chappell said selectors needed to immediately re-evaluate their thinking.

“You’ve got to pick a team to win now but with one eye on the future. I don’t think selectors have been doing that,” Chappell told Macquarie Radio.

AUSTRALIAN BATSMEN UNDER 25 SINCE 2005 (excludes wicketkeepers and all-rounders)

Phillip Hughes

Steve Smith

Usman Khawaja

David Warner

Joe Burns

 

[SeamUp]

James Pattinson picked up two wickets in Grade cricket on his comeback this weekend.

Pat Cummins not allowed to play because NSW futures game he played where he bowled 21 overs I think.

Good to see Renshaw returned with a 50 this weekend too.

Pattinson makes successful comeback | cricket.com.au

 

[91Jmay]

Pattinson such a great talent. Needs managing but him, Starc, Haze is a great trio to build around as well as Cummins if he ever gets properly fit.

 

[Furball]

I actually think in terms of batting, Australia's biggest problem is their home conditions. They're just so vastly different to conditions you'll get virtually anywhere else in the world, with the exception of the odd South African deck. Now I'm not saying that Australian curators should be looking to replicate Manchester or Mumbai in terms of ground conditions - I've said before that I'm all for a variety of conditions around the world that truly tests your game - but Australia is so unique that it actually might hinder them as a team. That Australia is so hard for opposition teams to adapt to is what gives Australia their formidable home record, but I think it's also bred a couple of generations of batsmen who are great at home but struggle to adapt their game abroad. We've all made jokes about subcontinental batsmen shitting themselves when the ball bounces above the knee, but Australia's batsmen do exactly the same when the ball moves off the straight.

This isn't just a new phenomenon either; this goes back at least 20 years. Since 1995, there are precisely 2 Australian batsmen who have averaged more than 50 in Test played outside Australia - Steve Waugh (57.18) and Steve Smith (53.38). Both of those require asterisks - Smith is only part of the way through his career, so may not average 50 by the time he calls it a day, and Waugh's figure excludes the first decade of his career where he was famously a bit ****. No other Australian bat averages 50. The away averages amongst Australia's modern greats (qualification: minimum 1,000 runs scored) are as follows:

S Waugh 57.18 (53.39)
Smith 53.38 (65.42)
Gilchrist 49.69 (45.87)
Lehmann 49.47 (39.94)
Ponting 46.40 (56.97)
Martyn 46.32 (52.14)
Katich 45.49 (44.23)
Hayden 43.52 (57.88)
Langer 42.05 (49.91)
Hussey 41.37 (61.19)
Rogers 41.33 (44.95)
Taylor 41.12 (40.07)
Clarke 39.49 (62.05)
Warner 38.53 (59.53)
Hughes 37.56 (24.00)
M Waugh 37.55 (44.80)
Watson 31.59 (39.72)
Slater 31.18 (50.82)
Blewett 28.40 (41.18)
Haddin 24.66 (43.83)

Figures in brackets are home averages.

I know you should expect batsmen to perform better in familiar conditions but there's some extreme disparity there. How many of Australia's recent graduates have spemt time in county cricket to learn that there's more to the art of batting than just plonking your foot down and hitting through the line?

 

[burr]

I don't see how that can be Martyn's home average when his career average was around 46ish. But he did score 9 of his 13 centuries overseas. What a star.