***Official*** West Indies tour of Australia, Jan–Feb 2024

[cnerd123]

have the ODI squads been announced

 

[social]

Have posted this before and don’t think that I am wrong

Bancroft was basically written off after looking ordinary against Johnson in the Marsh Cup, the Shield Final and in NZ for the A team

Stuart Clark (I think) dissected his technique in the first 2 games and basically said “improved but still dodgy” & you’d be naive to think that the selectors weren’t thinking the same

Renshaw failed in India but, more importantly, was discarded mid Ashes after strange outings as a substitute fielder in India & England

It was an odd look at the time but makes more sense now

Harris has never been test standard and the selectors aren’t stupid

Reckon he only got a CA contract because they were awarded after the Indian tour when they weren’t convinced about Renshaw and had to name someone

So here we are

Personally would have elevated Marnus but Green isn’t an opener in any event

 

[Nintendo]

Have posted this before and don’t think that I am wrong

Bancroft was basically written off after looking ordinary against Johnson in the Marsh Cup, the Shield Final and in NZ for the A team

Stuart Clark (I think) dissected his technique in the first 2 games and basically said “improved but still dodgy” & you’d be naive to think that the selectors weren’t thinking the same

Renshaw failed in India but, more importantly, was discarded mid Ashes after strange outings as a substitute in India & England

It was an odd look at the time but makes more sense now

Harris has never been test standard and the selectors aren’t stupid

Reckon he only got a CA contract because they were awarded after the Indian tour when they weren’t convinced about Renshaw and had to name someone

So here we are

Personally would have elevated Marnus but Green isn’t an opener in any event

Honestly, given that smith is 34 and clearly in a decline, I don't mind Smith opening for now. It allows green to bat in his preferred position, smith to come in earlier, which is where he's historically been at his best from memory, and either gives renshaw/bancroft another 1-2 years to figure out there respective issues (batting in asia and the moving ball in england/NZ) before they fully commit to them, or another two years for a fringe/young opener (jewell/hunt/street, or constas/harry dixon from the recent u19 batch) to figure out their stuff at international level.

What we need now is for CA to ensure bancroft get's a season or two in county cricket, and that we have some A tours of Asia so that renshaw can work his **** out and maybe improve his stuff. We had plenty of time post the last ashes down under when uzzie randomly turned into a decent opener to try and get the best out of bancroft/renshaw/harris and it clearly didn't happen.

 

[Spark]

Have posted this before and don’t think that I am wrong

Bancroft was basically written off after looking ordinary against Johnson in the Marsh Cup, the Shield Final and in NZ for the A team

Stuart Clark (I think) dissected his technique in the first 2 games and basically said “improved but still dodgy” & you’d be naive to think that the selectors weren’t thinking the same

Renshaw failed in India but, more importantly, was discarded mid Ashes after strange outings as a substitute fielder in India & England

It was an odd look at the time but makes more sense now

Harris has never been test standard and the selectors aren’t stupid

Reckon he only got a CA contract because they were awarded after the Indian tour when they weren’t convinced about Renshaw and had to name someone

So here we are

Personally would have elevated Marnus but Green isn’t an opener in any event

Yeah this makes sense to me tbh. I've never gotten the sense that they really believed any of those guys are actually good enough and were just searching around constantly for alternatives. Part of why Warner got such a long leash.

 

[Nintendo]

Just realised renshaw is still only 27. Feels like he should be like 30 in my head given how long he's been around.

 

[social]

Renshaw has scored 348 runs @ 31 in the Shield this season while Harris has 282 @ 31

They only have themselves to blame

Bancroft will be the unlucky one if they go with Smith etc

 

[Nintendo]

Renshaw has scored 348 runs @ 31 in the Shield this season while Harris has 282 @ 31

They only have themselves to blame

Bancroft will be the unlucky one if they go with Smith etc

Shield isn't the end of the world, is it? Bancroft has failed whenever he's rocked up for the pm's 11/Aus-A and was worse then his WA opening partner in county. He's also 31, which means he's at the fag end of age where most batsmen peak, while renshaw is 27 and just coming into his peak years (generally 28-32 I think).

Saying "ohh these guys didn't make shield runs" is nowhere near the full picture.

 

[Qlder]

Renshaw has scored 348 runs @ 31 in the Shield this season while Harris has 282 @ 31

They only have themselves to blame

Bancroft will be the unlucky one if they go with Smith etc

Renshaw also has 318 runs @ 318.00 for PM XI in last 12 months

 

[TheJediBrah]

Renshaw, Bancroft and Harris may as well give up on Test cricket, so might as well retire from Shield cricket as well

Sounds good to me tbh

 

[TheJediBrah]

Honestly, given that smith is 34 and clearly in a decline, I don't mind Smith opening for now. It allows green to bat in his preferred position, smith to come in earlier

This has always been apparent and surprised it onto brought up more often. Smith clearly hates waiting to bat and generally doesn't as well as expected when he comes in at 2/200. He does best coming in at 2 for **** all, see 2019 Ashes

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Smith is obviously terrified that his nemesis old man Wagner will still be in the NZ team so figures it is better to open to score some runs against Southee-Henry-Jamieson before facing the 115 km/h bouncer barrage.

 

[Spark]

Well apparently Renshaw is in the squad so who knows what's happening. Is he the backup batsman? Is he in the team?

 

[Skipper Pup]

Not what I would have done... but then again I would have preferred SOK for most of his career over Lyon so what would I know.

Hopefully this isn't Smith getting ready for retirement.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Smith is obviously terrified that his nemesis old man Wagner will still be in the NZ team so figures it is better to open to score some runs against Southee-Henry-Jamieson before facing the 115 km/h bouncer barrage.

Smith won't be coming in at 2/300 this time with pressure to move the game along against a NZ team that's alreaey given up

 

[social]

Not what I would have done... but then again I would have preferred SOK for most of his career over Lyon so what would I know.

Hopefully this isn't Smith getting ready for retirement.

Smith is a cricket nufty so I doubt that he’s retiring anytime soon

They’ll have to wheel he & Marnus out the door is my guess

Just so long as it keeps them out of the commentary box

 

[TheJediBrah]

Smith and/or Marnus in the commentary box would be enough to end Test cricket if it isn't already

 

[morgieb]

Well apparently Renshaw is in the squad so who knows what's happening. Is he the backup batsman? Is he in the team?

That they picked Renshaw sounds like they're set on Green coming into the Top 6. Had it been Bancroft or Harris I think it was still up in the air who replaced Warner, but Renshaw makes the most sense as "back up in case someone treds on a cricket ball" kind of areas.

 

[Burgey]

Smith once again proving a superior team man than others who wouldn't/ won't risk their personal stats by moving around the order to best assist their side.

 

[Molehill]

This has always been apparent and surprised it onto brought up more often. Smith clearly hates waiting to bat and generally doesn't as well as expected when he comes in at 2/200. He does best coming in at 2 for **** all, see 2019 Ashes

But that was 5 years ago and he was in the form of his life. Now he seems to be in terminal decline and we all know he's susceptible early in his innings to any movement before his hand/eye coordination kicks in. It'll be interesting though, but if it fails in these 2 Tests then the search for an opener will probably start again for the next series (when is that?).

 

[Gob]

Renshaw over Harris/ Bancroft is the correct move. Is younger and has a higher ceiling to perform