Sudeep Popat said:
I thought about the possibility which someone discussed of Gilchrist being given a promotion... to 5 or 6. But then... who'll bat at 7. These days no. 7 is required to do a solid job... and I don't think Aussies have any Test no. 7 to fill Gilchrist's shoes.
Shane Watson , when he starts to bowl again he would be more than capable of being the number 6/7 & 3rd seamer.
But his bowling wont be back at full pace for a year so I dont see that happening anytime soon.
Lehmann for Waugh is all but certain , if we were touring England or New Zealand etc they might have considered blooding Clarke at number 6 , but Lehmann is the best player of spin in Australia , his experience & ability under pressure on slow wickets will be invaluable in India & Sri Lanka , plus he's been a big help to Ponting as ODI skipper so Im sure Ricky will want him there when he starts out captaining the test side.
If MacGill had performed anywhere near decently then the selectors would have been in an interesting situation with regards to Warne , but the fact MacGill was bowled leg spin about as well as I do for the greater part of this summer means Warne can pack his bags regardless of how little match practise he's had.
I also
REALLY hope they give Lee & Bracken a bit of a break , perhaps the later could use a more permanent one.
Lee's lost it , that simple , he's caught the MacGill disease & he's bowling a four ball per over , he's oversteping far to regularly & once the ball gets to 30 overs old he cant move it for the life of him.
Still a mainstay of the ODI side but its time to give him a break from the test scene.
As for Bracken , with the nature of the pitches & outfeilds in world cricket these days you need to be able to do a bit with the ball , in helpful conditions (ie extreme humidity or a very green surface) Bracken can be a real handful , his seam position is decent & his control much improved , but really in unhelpful conditions he has nothing , and he aint quick enough to trouble test batsman when he dosent move it.
To see him resort to bowling off breaks at 115kph a meter outside Laxman's off stump in the first innings was to witness a man totally out of his depth.
Brett Lee is there to provide pace & penetration , Shaun Tait is the clear option to replace him , ATM he's actually bowling just that little bit quicker than Lee , although his control & no ball problem are just as bad , he is genuinely capable of swinging the ball , new & old , although doubts must be raised over whether he's quite ready for test cricket yet.
Bracken is supposedly a swing bowler , problem being he very rarely swings it
, the obvious replacement is Matt Inness , I went down to Manuka earlier today to watch him bowling against the Comets & he seems to be back to full fitness , I asked him when he'll play for Victoria again & he says probably this Fridays Pura Cup match in Newcastle.
He is about the same pace as Bracken , much more clever , he bowls a much fuller lenght & straighter line & he can swing the new & old ball both ways & is able to cut it when that aint happening.
An attack of McGrath , Gillespie , Warne & Inness would be more than sufficient to trouble the Sri Lankans.
I would like to Kaspa there aswell , experience & the ability to swing the new & old ball.
Damien Martyn now needs runs , he hasnt been failing much but a top order player needs to make a few bigger scores , he hasnt looked awfully convincing this series & as soon as he's made those starts he's thrown it away , Sorry Linda but he needs to do more :P , he's still a certainty to tour Sri Lanka but he'll wanna do something when he gets there.
Congrats to Katich aswell.
If I were a selector I would take this squad to Sri Lanka-
1.Hayden
2.Langer
3.Ponting
4.Martyn
5.Lehmann
6.Katich
7.Gilchrist
8.Warne
9.Gillespie
10.Inness
11.McGrath
12.Clarke
13.Hogg/MacGill(unfortunately no one better ATM)
14.Bichel
15.Kaspa/Tait
16.Martin Love
Dont like the chances of that happening though
