***Official*** Australia in England (The Ashes)

[shaka]

Butcher is likely to be out of the Ashes series thanks to a wrist injury.
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/211795.html

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

And I hate to break it to you people but there IS a pecking order in teams too. Imagine how you'd feel if you were Gilchrist with superiority in every area of your batting and some kid gets picked and bats above you because 'number 7 is where 'keepers bat'! It's just the way it goes.

What's that got to do with it? Where did Michael Clarke bat in his first test? Watson should have batted in the same place, and if he wasn't pigeonholed as a "bowling all-rounder" he would have.

 

[King_Ponting]

and if he wasnt pigeon holed as a bowling all rounder e wouldnt have made his debut, cause there are many players ahead of him in terms of batting alone.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Butcher is likely to be out of the Ashes series thanks to a wrist injury.
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/211795.html

Butcher is likely to be out of the Ashes series thanks to him being not good enough

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

and if he wasnt pigeon holed as a bowling all rounder e wouldnt have made his debut, cause there are many players ahead of him in terms of batting alone.

You're missing my point, which is that AFTER Watson had been picked as an all-rounder, he should have batted at 6 as a batsman usually would. His FC record is noticably better than someone like Michael Clarke, who batted at 6. Lehmann, Love, Katich, Symonds (who was also picked as an all-rounder) and so on have all come into the side batting at 6, and Watson should have as well. This is especially true given that Australia were like 4/350 when the 5th wicket fell. Watson should have been treated as a batsman and given an opportunity to play as such. All things considered I think he did well in that match, but batting him at 7 was unfair to him.

 

[shaka]

but the car crash furthered the idea of him being unable to play, ie another reason added to the mix.

 

[badgerhair]

Thornely has pretty much given the bowling away (pretty much because he's useless at it). He didn't bowl much last season.

Ah, thanks for that. It explains what he meant in the interview I heard him give on TV during the Middx/Surrey championship game when he said he was keen to do a lot of bowling for Surrey and why Surrey have been giving him a fair amount of bowling to do.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[badgerhair]

Butcher is likely to be out of the Ashes series thanks to a wrist injury.
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvaus/content/story/211795.html

This news is as momentous as the occasional items we get telling us that Andy Caddick is still fighting fit and ready for the call-up any time.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[tooextracool]

Really.

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?...edhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype

Not counting the current series (as it's not over yet), I pick two 'bad' series (one of which he still averaged 29 with the ball).

Tests, however, are a different story but there are two really outstanding series in there;

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?...edhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype

i was referring to the test match arena, given that the argument was about who should be dropped for lee.
and yes hes had 2 very good series, but the fact is that hes been very inconsistent overall in that 1.5 year period, while kaspa hasnt.

 

[aussie]

Watson has just turned 24, Flintoff is nearly 28.

How good a cricketer was Flintoff at 24?

Oh, that's right. He couldn't bat or bowl.

Flintoff was 24 around 2000/01 that for me was his breakthrough period when he scored for me one of the best ODI innings i have seen when he scored a superb 84 againts Pakistan in Karachi and later down in 2001 his bowling in the test series againts Inida where he held the new ball with Hoggard was pretty good.

So that statement is just trash mate....

 

[aussie]

Gilchrist isn't a specialist batsman, have you read anything that Steve Waugh has had to say about him?...he's an allroudner. When Gilchrist bats for W.A. it is usually around 6 or 7, but when Watson bats for Qld, he bats at 3 or 4 even higher than Symonds - he is the specialist bat, who has been branded (for some ridiculous reason) by the selectors as a bolwing allrounder.

Well in defense of the selectors i think the only reason why they play him as a bowling all-rounder in the side is since they want him in the side at this stage it wouldn;t be fair for him to bat anywhere above the anyone in the top 7 so that the only alternative they have with him.

 

[aussie]

If he plays for Australia something's wrong.

if he plays for australia now something is wrong but he had a good season for the blues recently & he he keeps up the good form in the next couple of years he could well have a shot in the middle order, but still early days....

 

[aussie]

So how come he has such a poor career record then?

well i would say at this stage even though he is fairly economical his non-wicketaking ability similar to Freddie back in his days is the main reason why his record is poor currently.

 

[Mister Wright]

Well in defense of the selectors i think the only reason why they play him as a bowling all-rounder in the side is since they want him in the side at this stage it wouldn;t be fair for him to bat anywhere above the anyone in the top 7 so that the only alternative they have with him.

Why is it not fair to bat him anywhere in the top 6? He has said himself several times that he considers himself a top order batsman, and did it with success for Tasmania, and last season for Qld. The selectors know what Gilly can do, and so does the captain (who I assume selects the batting order unless he was pressured by the selectors) why not see what Watson can do, considering the game situation it would have been more beneficial to send Watson in, then it were to have him come in at 7 and have to score quick runs.

 

[Mister Wright]

if he plays for australia now something is wrong but he had a good season for the blues recently & he he keeps up the good form in the next couple of years he could well have a shot in the middle order, but still early days....

There are far more promising players going around at the moment than Thornely, he is an over-rated hack. His only saving grace is he comes from NSW which is sure to get him good media attention.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

There are far more promising players going around at the moment than Thornely, he is an over-rated hack. His only saving grace is he comes from NSW which is sure to get him good media attention.

Care to explain how he managed to sit among the top batting averages in the Pura Cup last season, if he's so shocking and only gets attention because he's from NSW?

 

[Mister Wright]

Care to explain how he managed to sit among the top batting averages in the Pura Cup last season, if he's so shocking and only gets attention because he's from NSW?

Everyone's entitled to one good season. Perren had a cracker of a season about 2 seasons ago and was Pura Cup player of the year and he only played about 4 games and you would struggle to find anyone who would say he is a test class player even in Qld. All you have to do is watch Thronely and you can tell he is nothing. Fair enough, if he backs it up again this season, I will eat my words. But, personally I can't see it.

 

[Top_Cat]

What's that got to do with it? Where did Michael Clarke bat in his first test? Watson should have batted in the same place, and if he wasn't pigeonholed as a "bowling all-rounder" he would have.

Porbably so but also, there's the issue of workload. Clarke is far less likely to get a bowl than Watson and so batting Watson at 6 may have given him a little too much to do in his first Test. In his first Test, you can't expect a new player to bowl 20-odd overs and then bat at 6; I think that's just a little bit too much to ask. Particularly for what was always going to be a one-off for Watson (i.e. there was no suggestion that he was going to be picked regularly from now on). Now, when he gets a regular chance, maybe we'll see him at 6, especially when Clarke moves up the order eventually.

 

[Top_Cat]

Everyone's entitled to one good season. Perren had a cracker of a season about 2 seasons ago and was Pura Cup player of the year and he only played about 4 games and you would struggle to find anyone who would say he is a test class player even in Qld. All you have to do is watch Thronely and you can tell he is nothing. Fair enough, if he backs it up again this season, I will eat my words. But, personally I can't see it.

I can see it. To me, he looks like a lanky Mark Waugh. I'm not saying he should be in contention for an international spot yet but if next season he shows anything resembling the form he showed this season, his name should at least be mentioned.

 

[Mister Wright]

I can see it. To me, he looks like a lanky Mark Waugh. I'm not saying he should be in contention for an international spot yet but if next season he shows anything resembling the form he showed this season, his name should at least be mentioned.

Lol! Thornely & Mark Waugh mentioned in the same breath, never thought I'd ever see that (except from Age_master)