Australia - the aftermath of the Ashes

[Spikey]

Yeah before the summer I would have said Siddle has to go and MJ stays but it's the other way around now. Siddle stays but MJ goes. Both of them can't stay but one definitely can. I know the selectors and Ponting still have wet dreams about that SA tour with Hilf, MJ and Siddle but they've got to get over it.

 

[Spark]

Interestingly enough, it's worth noting that in both Melbourne and Sydney, we actually bowled OK or quite well (5/220 in Sydney at one stage) until they got to about 300-ish. Once it became clear we were way behind (or impossibly behind as was the case in Melbourne), that's when we turned to ****.

 

[Prince EWS]

Would sooner open with Khawaja than bat him at 5 or 6, tbh, even irrespective of team balance issues. 3 or 4 would be ideal but the guy is a top order batsman. As has been said, he's always been an opener.

 

[howardj]

Would sooner open with Khawaja than bat him at 5 or 6, tbh, even irrespective of team balance issues. 3 or 4 would be ideal but the guy is a top order batsman. As has been said, he's always been an opener.

Agree totally.

You're a good good man.

 

[robelinda]

Yes no point in Khawaja dropping down, though it didnt do too much harm to say a guy like Blewett.

 

[pup11]

Why so? LO form is irrelevant when it comes to tests, and Mussey's trough during the home/away SA series was just as bad - probably worse - than Clarke's current trough yet he was given two more years of inadequacy despite being older and less experienced at Test level than Clarke is now.

As I said... the team wasn't getting destroyed back then the way they got during the Ashes, and Hussey during his peak was a ridiculously good test batsman therefore Australian selectors decided that the team can carry him and whether you want to accept it or not Hussey's ODI form played no small part in him retaining his test spot.
Also Clarke is the vice-captain of the side, so after having lost the Ashes if Australia also fail to retain the worldcup under the leadership of Ponting and Clarke and to go with that if neither of them perform with the bat, then only a very optimistic man would think that the axe won't fall on them. Its pretty common knowledge that the buck stops with the leaders when the team fails and if they aren't performing as individuals either then it becomes pretty hard to shield them.

 

[howardj]

I'm writing an Ashes Aftermath paper.

It's a sober, frank analysis of where Australian cricket is at, with some helpful suggestions on the way forward.

It should be read for publication in a few weeks.

 

[tooextracool]

Interestingly enough, it's worth noting that in both Melbourne and Sydney, we actually bowled OK or quite well (5/220 in Sydney at one stage) until they got to about 300-ish. Once it became clear we were way behind (or impossibly behind as was the case in Melbourne), that's when we turned to ****.

You have to be kidding yourself if you thought you actually bowled 'ok' or 'quite well' at any point in that series. In terms of bowling performances, that was as poor as it gets. Even at Perth bar Johnson (who himself seemed completely clueless as to which ball was was going to swing and which one wasnt) the bowling was dead set poor.

 

[Spark]

Bowled them out for 120 in the second dig, Harris getting 9 in the match? That's good, no?

We bowled reasonably well until first drinks Day 3 in Sydney. At that stage we still had hopes of achieving parity.

It was after the second new ball was taken that we turned to solid merde.

 

[tooextracool]

Bowled them out for 120 in the second dig, Harris getting 9 in the match? That's good, no?

We bowled reasonably well until first drinks Day 3 in Sydney. At that stage we still had hopes of achieving parity.

It was after the second new ball was taken that we turned to solid merde.

mate dont look at the scorecard to make an assumption about how well the bowlers bowled. The only person you can attach a competent tag to for that series would have to be Ryan Harris. Other than that, Siddle bowled a good spell at Brisbane in the first innings and Johnson bowled a good spell at Perth but those were lone performances while the rest of the attack was pathetic in the respective games.

 

[Spark]

No, I actually watched the match.

We bowled reasonably well - not fantastically well - but certainly not "pathetic" up until that point in Sydney.

 

[tooextracool]

Its really hard to make sense as to how a bowling side is supposed to be bowling well when one of the batters is scoring at more than a run a ball in test match cricket. Even in ODI cricket that would be inexcusable.

 

[howardj]

So we have a post-Ashes review headed by Taylor, Sutherland, Border and Waugh. Does it strike anyone as passing strange that:

- Taylor and Sutherland, two CA directors who themselves have been part of a Board that's made some appalling decisions, are on the panel

- Sutherland last week came out and said that the review is 'not about targetting individuals'. God no, heaven forbid that anyone loses their job.

- Sutherland has today guaranteed that Ricky Ponting will continue as Test and ODI captain.

They seem to have forgotten how appalling last Summer's performances actually were, and that we're now ranked # 5 in the world

 

[robelinda]

Agree Agree Agree. I hope people dont forget our abysmal bowling and batting throught the Ashes, we were barely competitive realistically. If people look back on those scorecards they will wonder if we were an associate nation.

 

[Howe_zat]

I'm at a loss to explain how anyone in the setup can take responsibility for anything if all 'individuals' are guaranteed to be absolved.

 

[vcs]

What's the point of a "review" if the individuals who were in charge of the event under said review are conducting it?

 

[stephen]

What's the point of a "review" if the individuals who were in charge of the event under said review are conducting it?

I think that they have been watching too much Yes Minister. You never set up an independent inquiry unless you know what the results of the inquiry will be. Those doing the inquiry must be "sound" people who understand the "broader implications" of any recommendations that they make.

 

[Spark]

I can only hope that they've said this in order to show confidence and not cause needless instability in the camp during the World Cup, because otherwise that's frankly ridiculous.

 

[howardj]

Agree Agree Agree. I hope people dont forget our abysmal bowling and batting throught the Ashes, we were barely competitive realistically. If people look back on those scorecards they will wonder if we were an associate nation.

Correct.

Never, ever forget Black Sunday, December 26. On the biggest day of the cricketing year:

- We are bundled out for 90
- Poms are 0 for 160 at stumps
- Clarke and Hughes are attending Warnie's Boxing Day Breakfast!

It had to be our worst day, in score board terms, in Ashes history.

And the Poms are ranked 4th in the World!

Now, I'm angry again....

 

[robelinda]

Just cant see us lifting the world cup this time, we dont seem to be dynamic as other teams, like India, SA. Even though those teams have lost a match each they seem to have enough firepower and depth to get past us, i'm very worried about our batting and im sure most Aussies do not want to be seeing our attack being taken to the cleaners by Sachin and co.....