Michael Clarke - all hype, no performance

[Pedro Delgado]

Perhaps. However I do think he'll be dropped a few more times than Mark Waugh.

Hopefully not by Kevin Pieterson again though.

 

[Mister Wright]

Yeah. It's a bit sad really that such a stunning batsman to watch couldn't quite hack it, but there were better choices in the end.

Obviously, he's not even close to making the test team now, nor should he be, and calling for him to be recalled is ridiculous. I never quite understood state bias in cricket. I guess it could be because I've lived in several states over the years, but I've never felt the slightest inclination to support players from one state over another in terms of selection or anything else. My favourite players in domestic cricket are Tait, Watson and Hussey. Not sure if McGrath, Lee and Katich being my favourite players in the test team shows bias or not really.

Yeah, I would have loved to have seen Blewett become a regular fixture of the Austrlalian team, I always had he and Matthew Hayden as my dream opening partnership.

As far as state bias goes, there's nothing wrong with it. If you don't have pride for your state than what do you have!?

 

[Monty]

yeah good point mate but it would be better for langer blewett partnership

 

[Mister Wright]

yeah good point mate but it would be better for langer blewett partnership

No way mate. You can't leave Hayden out of an ultimate opening partnership. Blewett/Hayden, too easy.

 

[Richard]

Yeah. It's a bit sad really that such a stunning batsman to watch couldn't quite hack it, but there were better choices in the end.

Obviously, he's not even close to making the test team now, nor should he be, and calling for him to be recalled is ridiculous.

Would Matthew Elliot being recalled have seemed ridiculous in 2002?
I think so.
And that really was sad that he played so sensationally and got a chance he'd yearned for more than anything (they said he screamed with joy on hearing he'd got the call)... then got 2 pearlers from Chaminda Vaas and had no opportunity to take his chance.

 

[Richard]

No way mate. You can't leave Hayden out of an ultimate opening partnership. Blewett/Hayden, too easy.

Hayden looks ugly enough next to Langer... imagine what he'd look like with someone as graceful as Blewett...

 

[aussie]

No way mate. You can't leave Hayden out of an ultimate opening partnership. Blewett/Hayden, too easy.

Slater/Hayden looksmuch better mate....

 

[Hanuma]

clarke looks a good player...maybe he could be great.

altho he isnt as "special" as some have made out....he has said himself that most of his game is down to work.

he is a nervous guy too....wouldnt trust him with an innings.

 

[Mister Wright]

Would Matthew Elliot being recalled have seemed ridiculous in 2002?
I think so.
And that really was sad that he played so sensationally and got a chance he'd yearned for more than anything (they said he screamed with joy on hearing he'd got the call)... then got 2 pearlers from Chaminda Vaas and had no opportunity to take his chance.

You're kidding right? 2 pearlers from Vaas...that's the funniest thing I have heard in a while. They were regulation balls outside off-stump, which is where you want to bowl to Elliot. They were exactly the same dismissals that Courtney Walsh bowled to him in the West Indies in '99. They didn't move, didn't do anything, he just got nicks to them. Let's face it, Elliot was never a test class player.

And no it was not a shock (although Martin Love should have got the spot) he was a contracted player and had a great season, the season before.

 

[Mister Wright]

Slater/Hayden looksmuch better mate....

No way. Blewett is a much, much, much more elegant player than Slater.

 

[Top_Cat]

You're kidding right? 2 pearlers from Vaas...that's the funniest thing I have heard in a while. They were regulation balls outside off-stump, which is where you want to bowl to Elliot. They were exactly the same dismissals that Courtney Walsh bowled to him in the West Indies in '99. They didn't move, didn't do anything, he just got nicks to them. Let's face it, Elliot was never a test class player.

I think you're right on about his dismissals (the really were just good length balls swinging away) but you're dead wrong about Elliott not being of Test-class. He certainly had enough of an opportunity to prove himself but some of his knocks on the 1997 tour of England had him looking like a 100-Test player. And it's not as if they were flat decks; the pitches in that series were moving around all over the place. His fall from grace was somewhat puzzling but it wasn't due to lack of ability.

That said, I do agree Marty Love was dropped a little too early.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I completely disagree about those balls. It wasn't as though he was the only bloke to go out to Vaas like that on the first day - balls that were swinging away and cutting a little bit further. He did cop two pretty good knackers IMO, moreso the first than the second.

Simply put, it's like what happened with Bevan under Ponting. S. Waugh became Captain, was never really a fan, and coupled with a poor series against the best opening bowlers in the world at that stage, screwed his chances of playing for Aus.

 

[Monty]

langer is way better than hayden

 

[age_master]

yeah i like Langer at the moment

 

[howardj]

Simply put, it's like what happened with Bevan under Ponting. S. Waugh became Captain, was never really a fan, and coupled with a poor series against the best opening bowlers in the world at that stage, screwed his chances of playing for Aus.

There's a bit more to the SWaugh-MElliot story. I think it's widely known in Australian cricket circles that the two chaps were not best mates. Apparently it stemmed from Waugh's first tour as captain, and Elliot's first series back after being recalled - the West Indies in the Carribean in 1999. Anyway, Elliot had a diabolical tour, averaging about 10.

However it was not so much his performances but his sulking after being dismissed, that saw his card marked "never to be selected again during the Waugh era". Apparently, in the Australian team, one of the big things is that you're meant to put any personal disappointments aside and have a positive attitude around the rest of the squad.

I'd imagine this unwritten rule would have applied even more so under Waugh's reign - he doesn't strike me as someone who has too much time for sooks/moodiness. Anyway, Waugh was none too pleased with Elliot and he never played again until - you guessed it - after Waugh retired in 2004. Moral of the story - when you're in a form slump, look like you're enjoying it!

 

[Richard]

And IMO that's extremely unfair.

 

[Richard]

You're kidding right? 2 pearlers from Vaas...that's the funniest thing I have heard in a while. They were regulation balls outside off-stump, which is where you want to bowl to Elliot. They were exactly the same dismissals that Courtney Walsh bowled to him in the West Indies in '99. They didn't move, didn't do anything, he just got nicks to them. Let's face it, Elliot was never a test class player.

And no it was not a shock (although Martin Love should have got the spot) he was a contracted player and had a great season, the season before.

I think you're right on about his dismissals (the really were just good length balls swinging away) but you're dead wrong about Elliott not being of Test-class. He certainly had enough of an opportunity to prove himself but some of his knocks on the 1997 tour of England had him looking like a 100-Test player. And it's not as if they were flat decks; the pitches in that series were moving around all over the place. His fall from grace was somewhat puzzling but it wasn't due to lack of ability.

That said, I do agree Marty Love was dropped a little too early.

I completely disagree about those balls. It wasn't as though he was the only bloke to go out to Vaas like that on the first day - balls that were swinging away and cutting a little bit further. He did cop two pretty good knackers IMO, moreso the first than the second.

Simply put, it's like what happened with Bevan under Ponting. S. Waugh became Captain, was never really a fan, and coupled with a poor series against the best opening bowlers in the world at that stage, screwed his chances of playing for Aus.

An amazing amount of disagreement over 2 simple deliveries.
Would indeed be strange if someone scored a century in their final Test due to being dropped.

 

[tooextracool]

That said, I do agree Marty Love was dropped a little too early.

that was a pity really, from what i saw off him he looked like a player of real class, and now it appears that he may never get another chance at the international level again.

 

[aussie]

That said, I do agree Marty Love was dropped a little too early

no doubt he looked so elegant on his test debut at the MCG, its a shame for such a good player, but the positive side for Australia's point of view is the guy who replaced him has done well....

 

[Top_Cat]

that was a pity really, from what i saw off him he looked like a player of real class, and now it appears that he may never get another chance at the international level again.

I probably shouldn't admit this (only because Mr Wright will want to pay all of his life savings for this ) but I own the official video highlights of Queensland's first Sheffield Shield win in 1994-95. In it, you see Marty Love, about 21, playing I think was his his second or third match for QLD. He smacked the daylights out of the SA (yes, it was South Australia in the final, leave me alone) attack for about 150-odd and was so crisp off the back-foot. After watching that knock live at the time and later on again when I got the video, it beggars belief that it took 10000+ FC runs for him to be considered for a Test spot.

Another unrelated note; it was Jason Gillespie's 4th (?) FC match and I can promise you, he was a vastly different bowler. He was barely touching 130km/h at the time and his action was just weird.