*Official* Australia in India 2010

[Spark]

Well he wasn't there when he was needed so I'm bitter about that.

He's being rested form the ODI series surely?

Sure hope not. Our attack is green enough as it stands.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Well done India on a very good series win!

As for Australia, don't think there's a great need to panic. We're ranked 5 and we lost to the no.1 team on their home turf. Pushed them in the 1st and while the margin in this game looks substantial, it took a great performance from Sachin to push it out to what it was.

I think, if anything, this shows that the gap between 1st and 5th isn't that large at the moment.

Much better teams than this have lost in India before. A bit of tweaking and the team should look quite strong (M.Hussey and North, if he doesn't perform up to scratch in the next test or 2 replaced, Bollinger back).

 

[Ruckus]

Actually, it's distinctly possible if thrown into a situation like this test and he failed, it would set him back a lot as a bowler. Leggies are a funny bunch - they either have monstrously tough egos and self believe like Warne or O'Reilly or they really need some time to develop a bit of experience that let's them take the rough with the smooth and keep it in perspective. Unless injury forces our hand, I'm pretty opposed to Smith getting a run til he gets another Shield season under his belt. He's very much a work in progress and should be treated as such.

I can't see that happening to Smith though, because he is essentially an all-rounder. So if he fails with his bowling, he can always rely on his batting to boost his confidence. Its like Watson always says - he likes being an allrounder because if hasn't scored with the bat, he can always try and take a few wickets or vice versa.

 

[Matt79]

Should say, well done India. You were the better team and although we put it to you at times, your best players stood up and took the matches away from us. The first test in particular was a classic and the second featured another wonderful Tendulkar moment and a much smaller but also great Ponting effort. Great for test cricket tbh.

 

[masterblaster]

Great day for Indian Cricket. A fantastic victory and it was very fitting to see Sachin hit the winning runs. Very pleased with how Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have played in this match. Pujara was really unlucky to get a ball like he did in the first innings but I'm glad he got the opportunity at number 3 in the second innings to make an impression.

Loved the way Vijay played too. His composure and the way he accumulated his runs in both first and second innings was fantastic. We've got some pretty good talent in the batting stakes out there and even though replacing Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman is going to be very difficult, the signs are good when it comes to the younger batsmen. I think this series solidifies us as the number one test team in the world. It doesn't get much better than a clean sweep against Australia in a test series.

As for Australia, plenty of positives to come out of this. Although I disagree with both Greg Blewett and Gavin Robertson about getting Brad Haddin to come back into the team automatically. Tim Paine was very impressive this tour. He got runs and his glovework in tough conditions was pretty good. I don't know what else he has to do. Tim Paine is the future and he's proven that he can play for Australia in test cricket. I think he has to play against England.

 

[Son Of Coco]

2-0 whitewash is pretty humiliating. The least they were expected to do was draw one.

Not really, 1 wicket the difference in the 1st Test. Were in it here until the final day. Using words like 'whitewash' make it sound like a flogging though it must be said.

Not sure why these guys were expected to at least draw one...thought Australia played quite well overall.

 

[Matt79]

I can't see that happening to Smith though, because he is essentially an all-rounder. So if he fails with his bowling, he can always rely on his batting to boost his confidence. Its like Watson always says - he likes being an allrounder because if hasn't scored with the bat, he can always try and take a few wickets or vice versa.

Guess I'm kind of scarred by the Cam White experience who went from being a bowler who could vat a bit to a batsman who could bowl a (little) bit, after he lost confidence in his leggies and concentrated on batting. (and then got selected as a specialist bowler, wtf??). Would be a real shame for Australia if Smith took the same path.

 

[Spark]

Guess I'm kind of scarred by the Cam White experience who went from being a bowler who could vat a bit to a batsman who could bowl a (little) bit, after he lost confidence in his leggies and concentrated on batting. (and then got selected as a specialist bowler, wtf??). Would be a real shame for Australia if Smith took the same path.

A shame but not a huge shame tbh. He already averages over 50 and if his batting were to improve as much as White's has, watch out.

 

[howardj]

Smith is a batsman, whose bowling has huge upside and will develop while he plays Test cricket (and plays as a number six batsman). I thought a Shield batting average of 50+ was good (that's what Smith has). It's certainly more than what got North a call up.

 

[R_D]

Well done to both teams.... been a great mini series to follow. I don't think i've missed too many days of play for this series.

Sachin was too good.... i hope he continues this form for couple of more years . What a man... Sachin WAG.

Murali Vijay and Pujara were sensationsal as well.... good teams effort all round. Well done to team India... they were just a little better.

Dhoni is a awesome captain as well.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Guess I'm kind of scarred by the Cam White experience who went from being a bowler who could vat a bit to a batsman who could bowl a (little) bit, after he lost confidence in his leggies and concentrated on batting. (and then got selected as a specialist bowler, wtf??). Would be a real shame for Australia if Smith took the same path.

Yeah I agree. Was thinking that Smith might be a decent replacement for North as, with Hauritz in the side, he wouldn't be the main spinner...but I think this would just take valuable time away from him practicing his leggies. Would rather he had the time in state cricket to spend honing his leg-spin and then get picked when he can hold his own as a bowler at test level. We don't really need another batsman who can bowl a bit. A good leg-spinner would be fantastic though.

 

[Ruckus]

Guess I'm kind of scarred by the Cam White experience who went from being a bowler who could vat a bit to a batsman who could bowl a (little) bit, after he lost confidence in his leggies and concentrated on batting. (and then got selected as a specialist bowler, wtf??). Would be a real shame for Australia if Smith took the same path.

I dunno about that. If Smith really got discouraged by some poor bowling and started focussing on being a batsmen, then there are some positives to take from that aswell. He could replace North as a proper no.6, and maybe Hauritz (or someone else) could come back into the side as the main spinner.

 

[Spark]

Not really sure why Dhoni is suddenly getting the captaincy praises all of a sudden. Yes, sending up Pujara was a wonderful move. But his fields yesterday were dead set abominable.

Granted, Ponting tried his best to emulate and then outdo him today. Probably succeeded too.

 

[Prince EWS]

I dunno about that. If Smith really got discouraged by some poor bowling and started focussing on being a batsmen, then there are some positives to take from that aswell. He could replace North as a proper no.6, and maybe Hauritz (or someone else) could come back into the side as the main spinner.

Number six batsmen are going to be a much easier to come by than Test spinners though.

 

[howardj]

****, Smith might fail.

We can't have that.

That's Hussey and North's role.

Just joking kind of.

 

[Spark]

Number six batsmen are going to be a much easier to come by than Test spinners though.

Precisely, yeah. You gain a batsman who could potentially average 50 in test cricket, but we have a few of those running around right now and will surely have a few more in years to come. But a test-standard leggie who could also average 40-odd is very rare indeed.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

From an England point of view i hope Hussey and North stay in the side for the ashes as both look weak links,add to that Clarke being out of form and the Aussie batting looks brittle.

 

[howardj]

From an England point of view i hope Hussey and North stay in the side for the ashes as both look weak links,add to that Clarke being out of form and the Aussie batting looks brittle.

What you talkin about bro?

Hussey and North are in the team for their 'steady characters'.

Don't complicate the issue with runs.

 

[Ruckus]

Number six batsmen are going to be a much easier to come by than Test spinners though.

Yeh thats true, but if he really takes to being a batsmen there isn't much anyone can do about it. I think he himself actually insinuated he wanted to focus more on being a batsmen (might be wrong about that though).

The Steve O'Keefe guy looks somewhat promising as a spinner, averages 27.53 so far.

 

[howardj]

Yeah I agree. Was thinking that Smith might be a decent replacement for North as, with Hauritz in the side, he wouldn't be the main spinner...but I think this would just take valuable time away from him practicing his leggies. Would rather he had the time in state cricket to spend honing his leg-spin and then get picked when he can hold his own as a bowler at test level. We don't really need another batsman who can bowl a bit. A good leg-spinner would be fantastic though.

With respect, having access to the best coaches, bowling at Ponting in the nets every day, being exposed to Test cricket, and bowling five overs during a day's play to the best opposition Test players in the world, I feel would be more beneficial to his bowling.

I don't like complicating things. If a guy is averaging 50+ with the bat in FC cricket, is a great field, is a promising leggie, and is replacing a dud....then just pick him.