Love it mate.Standard Australian selection policy:
1. Pick promising media-hyped player, age 18-23.
2. Wait for them to be mercilessly exposed by seasoned internationals.
3. Drop them.
4. Make them fight for their spot in domestic cricket and only pick them again by sheer weight of runs/wickets.
5. Wait for their character-building period to kick in and they start playing with maturity and consistency. Ask them to take their baggy green off eBay.
6. Admire their glittering career. Congratulate self on foresight.
7. Give them ideas/common phrases on the 'toughest period of my life' chapter in their autobiographies: "I learned not to take everyone's advice and just back myself", "Cricket is played 90% between the ears", "I just wanted to feel the baggy green on my head one last time", "(Name of partner) was amazing throughout the whole ordeal", "Trannies at the Bourbon and Beefsteak are frequently underestimated", etc.
8. Rinse; repeat.
References: S. Waugh, Ponting, Langer, Hayden, Lee, Martyn, Lehmann, Kasprowicz, Clarke, Symonds, Watson, Bracken, Katich, Hilfenhaus
In the works: Hughes, Khawaja, Smith, Cummins (currently at stage 2), Pattinson (stage 2), Starc (stage 2)
Brilliant!Standard Australian selection policy:
1. Pick promising media-hyped player, age 18-23.
2. Wait for them to be mercilessly exposed by seasoned internationals.
3. Drop them.
4. Make them fight for their spot in domestic cricket and only pick them again by sheer weight of runs/wickets.
5. Wait for their character-building period to kick in and they start playing with maturity and consistency. Ask them to take their baggy green off eBay.
6. Admire their glittering career. Congratulate self on foresight.
7. Give them ideas/common phrases on the 'toughest period of my life' chapter in their autobiographies: "I learned not to take everyone's advice and just back myself", "Cricket is played 90% between the ears", "I just wanted to feel the baggy green on my head one last time", "(Name of partner) was amazing throughout the whole ordeal", "Trannies at the Bourbon and Beefsteak are frequently underestimated", etc.
8. Rinse; repeat.
References: S. Waugh, Ponting, Langer, Hayden, Lee, Martyn, Lehmann, Kasprowicz, Clarke, Symonds, Watson, Bracken, Katich, Hilfenhaus
In the works: Hughes, Khawaja, Smith, Cummins (currently at stage 2), Pattinson (stage 2), Starc (stage 2)
More like a Cameron GoldShould be a cert for a OD call-up this year, no doubt. Will probably play tests, but for some reasons he just smells of another Cameron White.
Haha this whole thread is great.Thought it might be worthwhile to bring this thread back.
Smiffy has been in some reasonable form as of late, and I have high hopes for him. In fact, I would like to put it on record here that I said (25/10/2012) that Steven Smith will go on to amass 3000+ test runs and probably bat at 3 for us at some stage. In future I will link this post to those who laughed when I suggested he will someday end up in the 'not-quite-ATG-level-but-still-pretty-good' category.
Damn, they really screwed up by forcing him to focus on his batting and not allowing him to just be a leggieHe'll go wherever A tours are scheduled.
To be fair to him, if he was allowed to concentrate on bowling in the longer forms he'd probably become a good leggie. By all accounts he has shown he can turn it in the past. But the advent of T20 and wanting to become a parsimonious all-round option for IPL teams etc has clearly stunted him. Warne benefited from not being in a similar situation.
He's a UK passport holder I think, so would expect him to pick up a county gig this year or next. IIRC he's played a few second XI games for a county (can't remember which) already.
Smith will play tests. He's a British passport holder, after all.
I am guessing UK.British passport holder, certainly. Think he played for Kent 2nds before he broke into the NSW side.
And I suppose wherever you were 5 years ago you were predicting Steve Smith would end up being the best batsmen in the world averaging 60+ after 50 tests.Damn, they really screwed up by forcing him to focus on his batting and not allowing him to just be a leggie
hahahahaha i can't believe I fluked thisHis bowling will most likely go the way of White.
Classic Adders. It was clearly a joke mate. I'm not seriously having a go at someone for not predicting the future lolAnd I suppose wherever you were 5 years ago you were predicting Steve Smith would end up being the best batsmen in the world averaging 60+ after 50 tests.
Reading back through this thread was certainly entertaining, genuinely surprised at some of the posts predicting big things for Smith.....Kudos. Incredible cricket knowledge or Nostradamus insight I'm not sure but well played.
I've never been Smith's biggest ever supporter so I'm not going to start claiming him now, but it's weird to think this opinion I held in 2008 was unorthodox enough for me to bother stating.Indeed. He should aim to make the team based on his batting alone IMO, with his bowling being a handy addition.
Close to genius, only he's very much cruising along at ATG level currently.Thought it might be worthwhile to bring this thread back.
Smiffy has been in some reasonable form as of late, and I have high hopes for him. In fact, I would like to put it on record here that I said (25/10/2012) that Steven Smith will go on to amass 3000+ test runs and probably bat at 3 for us at some stage. In future I will link this post to those who laughed when I suggested he will someday end up in the 'not-quite-ATG-level-but-still-pretty-good' category.
this actually came true for a bitSteve Smith. The next Cam White.