I think the theory/reports that McDonald is too soft sound legit. Letting players do what they want too much, no consequences or accountability. I also think it's lead to an overindulgence in the importance of incumbency, for example the entitlement of the fast bowling group Haze/Starc/Cummins
Yeah I'm coming to that conclusion too. Like the reports you'll hear of players going "nah I don't want to do fielding practice today" and McDonald going "ok" are hard to believe but it's hard to account for the fielding standards since the Lord's Test otherwise. There's surely a balance to be struck between having no enforced standards at all and Langerism.
Unfortunately it sounds very believable IMO
And that too in current era and this world cup where teams are crossing 300 for fun.
Ngidi has always done well when called upon and has a very good record across formats. But for some reason, he is not rated by management and fans alike. I would have preferred Nortje or Magala to Ngidi really for the Indian team to face.
Not exactly. He was terrible in the Tests in Australia last summer. Like really bad
He has the propensity to be really expensive, he looked really bad vs WI then he had that nightmare T20 series vs Aus , going at 13 an over..but then came back strongly in the ODI series and now here at the WC
That doesn't make the balance not terrible. It just a thoroughly rotten team composition. Maxwell is the foremost of the no rounders and the only one who can be considered a lock. He's a luxury that only teams with a stable top 6 can afford. He should not be batting higher than 7 since he's going to fail more often than not. Throwing in 2 or 3 more flukey batsmen on top of that is a recipe for disaster. Stoinis, Marsh and Green do not complement the rest of the side by providing stability. Stoinis is neither icing nor cake but just a waste man and Marsh needs to be in prime form to be useful. Green isn't the #5 Australia needs too. He's another player that needs an otherwise stable batting order to flourish and find his feet. No team can afford to have so many unproven (Marnus, Green) or mercurial (Maxwell, Stoinis, Marsh) players at once. None of these guys should be in contention to make the side as batsmen alone anyway but even if they are, balance considerations should've meant only one of them plays.
Dropping Labu before the World Cup and then picking him back was also a major mistake by the Aussie selectors destroying the stability of the team. It should have been a top 4 of Warner, Head, Steve Smith and Labu followed by Carey who are consistently playing till the tourney and getting into it well settled.
Isn't it Marsh because Head is injured?
Where's the evidence that Smith and Warner are past their peak in ODI'S? Warner's been great, and Smith made 80 odd one game before the WC. Where not "carrying" maxwell and marsh FFS, there half the reason we where so highly rated going in despite the losses in SA and IND and the head injury.