Road to the Ashes 2021/22

[GoodAreasShane]

well moises has played four tests a million years ago while we know head is a proven failure here and now in the present tbh

but more than that, to me it's not "moises has to play over head". it's, head should not play, he's cheeks, who is the next best pick? moises. but if we start from the neutral position having declared the spot vacant, i would still give the nod to big mo

That just simply isn't true, no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise

 

[Shady Slim]

That just simply isn't true, no matter how much you tell yourself otherwise

ah sorry a proven failure against everyone who isn't late 10's sri lanka or plays like late 10's sri lanka when they play australia (nz)

 

[GoodAreasShane]

ok

 

[Lillian Thomson]

So, what's the current status of Covid and Steve Smith?

 

[Gob]

Maxwell should have been a lock at 6 this whole time for the last three or four years. He fits the basic team structure that they want so obviously, especially with Green.

So it does not bother you that he bowls off spin and would not offer any thing to the bowling unit despite being there as an all-rounder when playing in Australia?

 

[Spark]

So it does not bother you that he bowls off spin and would not offer any thing to the bowling unit despite being there as an all-rounder when playing in Australia?

He'd basically play the "good part-timer" role in Australia. I mostly think he was actually the fifth or sixth best batsman in Australia through most of that period.

 

[TheJediBrah]

So it does not bother you that he bowls off spin and would not offer any thing to the bowling unit despite being there as an all-rounder when playing in Australia?

Why does it matter what he bowls? He should have been there purely as a batsman

Moises has had a number of opportunites before and has blown all of them. Isn't up to international cricket AFAIC.

After his failures this winter I'm feeling this too. It's things like this that make me wish that Maxwell would finally get a belated selection, because even though he's hardly played a Shield game for various reasons, at least we know he can score runs in international cricket. And he's got a Test hundred in India ffs. Whereas the likes of Henriques, Head, Harris, Wade even Green last summer are showing that scoring mountains of runs in the Shield means jack ****.

 

[Bijed]

Head is hardly a world-beater and hasn't really been consistent enough against the higher quality attacks he's faced, but I'm starting to get Ian Bell flashbacks with regards to how people just don't want to acknowledge the things he has done well.

Has also been (relatively speaking) messed around too imo, seemingly specifically to benefit Matthew Wade. Him batting below Wade in 2019/20 was silly imo given that Head is/was a potential long term option at 5 whereas whatever Wade does now, it's a fairly short-term solution

Edit: Seeing the discussion above about Maxwell, I'd say he makes far more sense as an attempt at a 2-3 year solution at 6 than Wade would

 

[social]

Head at least consistently gets starts at test level

Not far away from being a good test player which is more than we can say for most

 

[Gob]

He'd basically play the "good part-timer" role in Australia. I mostly think he was actually the fifth or sixth best batsman in Australia through most of that period.

Why does it matter what he bowls? He should have been there purely as a batsman

After his failures this winter I'm feeling this too. It's things like this that make me wish that Maxwell would finally get a belated selection, because even though he's hardly played a Shield game for various reasons, at least we know he can score runs in international cricket. And he's got a Test hundred in India ffs. Whereas the likes of Henriques, Head, Harris, Wade even Green last summer are showing that scoring mountains of runs in the Shield means jack ****.

If he is picked as a pure batsman at six, then fair enough. Whether he is among the top six batmen or not is debatable but its a different argument. However the thinking process at the time and even now was that they needed an all rounder who can ball enough to take the workload off of the main quicks and take the odd wicket to break a partner ship which was basically Watson's role in the team. You are not going to get that from Maxwell and this really annoyed me at the time when people were like why the **** Mitch Marsh is there as the all rounder ahead of Maxwell well its because what they bowl and at best Maxwell would be good enough to roll the hand over for a few overs before the new ball but nothing more than that in Australia.

 

[Gob]

Head is hardly a world-beater and hasn't really been consistent enough against the higher quality attacks he's faced, but I'm starting to get Ian Bell flashbacks with regards to how people just don't want to acknowledge the things he has done well.

Has also been (relatively speaking) messed around too imo, seemingly specifically to benefit Matthew Wade. Him batting below Wade in 2019/20 was silly imo given that Head is/was a potential long term option at 5 whereas whatever Wade does now, it's a fairly short-term solution

Edit: Seeing the discussion above about Maxwell, I'd say he makes far more sense as an attempt at a 2-3 year solution at 6 than Wade would

He is Head and shoulders above Wade

 

[Flem274*]

Head is perfectly fine as the "well, options are thin" selection. Maxwell should have been there for several years. Lyon can bowl long spells and Australia's love for Siddle meant you'd always have two long spell bowlers in the side, so four and a half bowlers was viable.

A hyper aggressive #6 on Australian decks against visiting attacks usually set up for swing bowling or spin bowling isn't the worst option either tbh.

 

[Spark]

Head is perfectly fine as the "well, options are thin" selection. Maxwell should have been there for several years. Lyon can bowl long spells and Australia's love for Siddle meant you'd always have two long spell bowlers in the side, so four and a half bowlers was viable.

A hyper aggressive #6 on Australian decks against visiting attacks usually set up for swing bowling or spin bowling isn't the worst option either tbh.

Yeah the fact that he tries to Bat Properly (and, obviously, is good at it) is why Green should bat 5 rather than 6.

 

[Nintendo]

Yeah the fact that he tries to Bat Properly (and, obviously, is good at it) is why Green should bat 5 rather than 6.

100%. Kid would have averaged a **** ton more vs india if he was higher up the order, half his dismissals where him slogging.

 

[Flem274*]

Green is a ridiculous talent. You'd be happy with his raw ability as a batsman or a bowler, but he has both. Australia has failed if he doesn't become one of the greatest allrounders ever tbh.

 

[ImpatientLime]

is Smith a risk of not playing? what's the deal with his fitness?

 

[morgieb]

is Smith a risk of not playing? what's the deal with his fitness?

Bung elbow. Had to miss a fair bit of cricket to get it right-ish. I'd still expect him to play the Ashes but I'm not sure he's gonna be truly 100% for a while.

 

[Starfighter]

Increased risk of Moeen playing as 'spinner' 'who can bat' now.

England’s Moeen Ali to retire from Test cricket and focus on white-ball format

Moeen Ali has been questioning his ability to focus in the five-day game but leaves Test cricket with 2,916 runs and 195 wickets

www.theguardian.com

Okay, maybe not. It really does leave England's team balance up in the air though. Neither Curran nor Woakes are good enough to bat 6 or 7.

(The obvious answer is Darren Stevens obviously)

 

[Gob]

Bung elbow. Had to miss a fair bit of cricket to get it right-ish. I'd still expect him to play the Ashes but I'm not sure he's gonna be truly 100% for a while.

Isn't he with the Delhi team now? Won't be there if he wasn't fit I assume

 

[TheJediBrah]

Isn't he with the Delhi team now? Won't be there if he wasn't fit I assume

He's literally not playing because of injury

England’s Moeen Ali to retire from Test cricket and focus on white-ball format

Moeen Ali has been questioning his ability to focus in the five-day game but leaves Test cricket with 2,916 runs and 195 wickets

www.theguardian.com

Okay, maybe not. It really does leave England's team balance up in the air though. Neither Curran nor Woakes are good enough to bat 6 or 7.

(The obvious answer is Darren Stevens obviously)

Not sure how playing a genuine no-rounder like Moeen in Aus would have helped balance