*Official* India Tour of Australia 2018/19

[Spark]

Yeah can you imagine this Indian side without Kohli and Pujara?

would still be a very solid side imo, especially on flatter pitches

 

[Dan]

Worth noting with Harris this season the majority of his runs have come from one innings. It also might be an experience thing (i.e. the looking good but always gets out thing may change over time)

But yeah it's a problem. Might be worth doing what England did circa 2000 and just take punts on those who have the right kind of style and back them in to improve, and put a line through certain players no matter how many runs they score.

Yeah, I mean n00fers did the analysis in the Aus selection thread showing that three guys had averaged 40+ with 500+ runs over the past three seasons -- Harris, Head and Burns. It's, uhh, not brilliant.

look at those averages though - all between 30 and 40. i think there are, in terms of hand-eye coordination, some talented batsmen around the country. but outside of smith, khawaja and warner (and maybe marsh) no one really understands how you build a long innings against good bowling.

Yeah, I think one of the telling things too is that all of the batsmen in discussion tend to be averaging about 42 for the season with a strike rate in the mid-60s. There's plenty of guys with hand-eye and natural talent scoring quickly in the Shield (and then getting out). They don't need to build long innings to succeed at that level. And then when they get to Test level, they all of a sudden have to learn how to bat time and, unsurprisingly, aren't very good at it.

The guys who do build long innings are almost considered to not be Test class by default, because the expectation is that if you are Test class you'll be able to score your runs fluently at the level below. The fact that the absolutely elite guys (Smith, Khawaja, Warner etc.) dominate the level below and score runs fluently gets projected onto guys who just aren't in that class.

I count 24 tons made so far this Shield season. Only six of them have ended with <50 strike rates -- Hughes, Patterson, Silk, MMarsh, Bosisto, Heazlett. Patterson, Lehmann and Hughes are the only three averaging >40 with a SR <50.

 

[mr_mister]

Maxi surely gets a look in next test series. How much longer can they pretend there's better options

 

[trundler]

Sigh. That was just too good.

 

[TheJediBrah]

tbh this is an extended low point for the success of the aus cricket team, it's just that said "low point" extends back to 2010. this is a bit unique (and temporary) in that there's no great batsman in the team to hold things together a bit, which really exposes what's underneath.

Maybe when compared to times when they've been unbeatable, but even since 2010 they've barely lost at home and still been ranked in the top 2 or 3 most of the time (?)

And as GotSpin said, take the 2 best batsmen out of any side and it will "expose what's underneath". I don't think Aus are particularly special in that regard.

 

[stephen]

i want to see jhye richardson play a test some time this year

Fmd we have enough quality quicks for two teams. J Richardson, Behrendorff and Pattinson. Unfortunately injuries have hurt these guys but our bowling depth is way better than our batting.

 

[trundler]

This tail alone was supposed to put on 150 as per OS..

 

[Spark]

Maybe when compared to times when they've been unbeatable, but even since 2010 they've barely lost at home and still been ranked in the top 2 or 3 most of the time.

And as GotSpin said, take the 2 best batsmen out of any side and it will "expose what's underneath". I don't think Aus are particularly special in that regard.

any time this team has come up against a really high quality bowling attack it's struggled though, with the exception of maybe 2013-14 which was a bit of a freak (that was more the english bowlers not being able to get brad haddin out rather than not being able to make inroads at all). this is a high quality bowling attack, and once again it's exposing some frailties.

having said that, this entire discussion is probably a bit too knee-jerk in being doom and gloom. most people would say this aus side has overperformed relative to the actual gap in quality between the two teams.

 

[Midwinter]

Kohli clapping along with the crowd chanting his name

 

[trundler]

The bigger question is: why are your best domestic performers averaging merely 40 at best with a handful of tons when Mike Hussey had to wait until he was over 30 to get a look in, having scored like 20 tons averaging 50+?

 

[stephen]

And fmd how can I forget Bird, who isn't as quick as the others but is just as effective and is a proven test match quality bowler, last MCG test notwithstanding.

 

[OverratedSanity]

This tail alone was supposed to put on 150 as per OS..

They could but I don't remember saying it

 

[Spark]

The bigger question is: why are your best domestic performers averaging merely 40 at best with a handful of tons when Mike Hussey had to wait until he was over 30 to get a look in, having scored like 20 tons averaging 50+?

the answer to this question is why i blame greg chappell

 

[TheJediBrah]

any time this team has come up against a really high quality bowling attack it's struggled though, with the exception of maybe 2013-14 which was a bit of a freak (that was more the english bowlers not being able to get brad haddin out rather than not being able to make inroads at all). this is a high quality bowling attack, and once again it's exposing some frailties.

having said that, this entire discussion is probably a bit too knee-jerk in being doom and gloom. most people would say this aus side has overperformed relative to the actual gap in quality between the two teams.

I'd be surprised if their win-loss record since 2010 would be that much worse than the overall record though, which would be the real indication of whether it's really a slump or not

 

[Flem274*]

nah australia are missing solid mid tier players atm for whatever reason. below smith and warner appears to be not much. khawaja is one, rogers was another, but mostly oz seem to be stuck in a weird rocks or diamonds place with their batsmen since rogers, haddin, voges etc called it a day.

other teams have these. rahane, karunaratne, nicholls etc guys who are good test batsmen without being steve smith

 

[Midwinter]

31 runs that hour
56 for the session
137 so far today

 

[cnerd123]

Yeah can you imagine this Indian side without Kohli and Pujara?

Yea it's a fair point, but tbf not having Warner and Smith is a self-inflicted wound.

I think when you ask the question 'What is wrong with Australian Cricket right now', the fact that Smith and Warner are fit and available but not playing is part of the answer. Saying 'well we wouldn't be so bad if they were playing' is kind of not engaging with the spirit of the question. After all, them not playing falls under the player management aspect of things. You have two actual world class players and they're not being picked for reasons entirely of Australia's own doing. Same goes for Maxwell not getting picked, the rotating wheel of openers and middle order batsmen with flawed techniques and poor application, the lack of actual leadership in the side...all of these are signs that Australian Cricket needs some serious soul searching and introspection.

It would be different if Smith and Warner were simply injured. Most sides absolutely would suck if you take their two best batsmen out. But they aren't, and the fact they aren't playing is kind of why you need to ask this question.

 

[OverratedSanity]

would still be a very solid side imo, especially on flatter pitches

This is a very dodgy claim. Apart from those two, no one else even has their spot in the team nailed down right now.

 

[mr_mister]

The bigger question is: why are your best domestic performers averaging merely 40 at best with a handful of tons when Mike Hussey had to wait until he was over 30 to get a look in, having scored like 20 tons averaging 50+?

Yeah, our 90s/00s batsman depth was crazy. Our second XI top 6 was probably better than most countries test side

Sad times

 

[OverratedSanity]

nah australia are missing solid mid tier players atm for whatever reason. below smith and warner appears to be not much. khawaja is one, rogers was another, but mostly oz seem to be stuck in a weird rocks or diamonds place with their batsmen since rogers, haddin, voges etc called it a day.

other teams have these. rahane, karunaratne, nicholls etc guys who are good test batsmen without being steve smith

You've only named one for each team there. There aren't many lineups performing well these days.