***Official Australia in South Africa***

[aussie]

Kasper has done SO much more than Gillespie. It`s the obvious choice IMO.

really?
Kasper - 9 matches, 45 wickets @ 24, SR 46, Eco 3.17
Dizzy - 8 matches, 34 wickets @ 21, SR 54, Eco 2.39

Kasper has probably taken more wickets but Dizzy has a better average & has been more economical. Their selection could not have been by any means a clear cut one, since both could do McGrath's role pretty well once seemingly back in form.

 

[Mister Wright]

really?
Kasper - 9 matches, 45 wickets @ 24, SR 46, Eco 3.17
Dizzy - 8 matches, 34 wickets @ 21, SR 54, Eco 2.39

Kasper has probably taken more wickets but Dizzy has a better average & has been more economical. Their selection could not have been by any means a clear cut one, since both could do McGrath's role pretty well once seemingly back in form.

It is more than just stats. I saw Gillespie bowl at the 'Gabba a few weeks back, and I admit he was bowling for a beaten side, but he just didn't look like he was going to take a wicket. Whereas when Kaspa came out to bowl he got a wicket in his 1st or 2nd over and always looked threatening. He got the key breakthrough of Ferguson when he and Lehmann were building a promising partnership - it was a beauty of a ball.

 

[Mister Wright]

Does Hodge like U2? There are a couple of spare U2 tickets for their Melbourne concert now that Damien Martyn is on the test tour.

 

[aussie]

It is more than just stats. I saw Gillespie bowl at the 'Gabba a few weeks back, and I admit he was bowling for a beaten side, but he just didn't look like he was going to take a wicket. Whereas when Kaspa came out to bowl he got a wicket in his 1st or 2nd over and always looked threatening. He got the key breakthrough of Ferguson when he and Lehmann were building a promising partnership - it was a beauty of a ball.

well i dunno, Howard J said he was at this game & said Dizzy seemed to have his nip back, you people are confusing me8

 

[Autobahn]

I really can't work out why. He seems to have an immense amount of talent (and can put the pop away too, which is a plus in my book) but seems very hit or miss in the test arena. I reckon he just wants one really good match against decent opposition then he'll be up and running.

I think it's because he has problems pacing himself i.e. he can't find that happy medium of making sure the scoreboard ticks over and he ends up slogging or stonewalling.

 

[vic_orthdox]

You don't have to be dead to be stiff.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Agreed, his 200 in perth saved him and people used that as an excuse to not contemplate dropping him.

Maybe because that was 200 runs. You know, those things that a batsman are supposed to make?

Ricky Ponting's 28 centuries saved him, and people use that as an excuse not to contemplate dropping him.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

I think the context in which the squad was selected needs to be taken into account before we criticise/commend the selectors. IIRC, Ponting said at the end of the test series that this was only the first half of it, implying that Australia was leading 2-0 in the best of six tests. The Australian selectors therefore went out to select a conservative squad, preferring those they knew over those they don't know or are unsure about.

There is an article in today's Melbourne Age that quotes Tait as saying that he expects to go to South Africa pretty much as Lee's back-up and he doesn't expect to play much. Kaspa is experienced at Test level and Clarke has been in the national set-up for a while, albeit at a ODI level rather than Test level.

You always felt that Hodge was playing for his spot in the side. Making the double century in the manner he did by adopting a cautious approach rather than a perceived "play for the declaration" approach so the Aussies could bowl the South Africans out might have counted against him, and the fact he did nothing with the bat after Perth in two Tests also didn't help. Hohns said that Hodge needed to go back to Pura Cup to put runs on the board, but according to Shipperd (Bushrangers' coach) Hodge was ill for the game before Queensland and made 20 and 30 on a pitch not really suited to batting. Martyn, on the other hand, was clearly scapegoated for the Ashes, has done well for Australia in the past and was first cab off the rank.

Waton could/should have come in for Symonds but when the selectors take a conservative approach, unless the incumbent really makes a mistake to show that he doesn't deserve the spot, it wasn't going to happen, especially when Punter makes a public call supporting Symonds and everybody (who counts) expects him to find the form that makes him so fearsome in ODIs soon.

Things may change for Bangladesh - who knows?

The good thing for the Vics is that they at least have Hodge for the game against the Warriors to secure a place in the finals and if they make it, they won't have to face Kaspa.

 

[howardj]

well i dunno, Howard J said he was at this game & said Dizzy seemed to have his nip back,

He did. He took five wickets in that innings - four were caught behind the wicket, and the other one was bowled. Bottom line is, at Test level, Gillespie at 95% capacity (don't think he will ever get back to 100%) is better than Kaspa at 100% capacity. Even at his best, Kaspa has only ever been respectable at Test level.

 

[sirjeremy11]

He did. He took five wickets in that innings - four were caught behind the wicket, and the other one was bowled. Bottom line is, at Test level, Gillespie at 95% capacity (don't think he will ever get back to 100%) is better than Kaspa at 100% capacity. Even at his best, Kaspa has only ever been respectable at Test level.

I thought in the tests in NZ, and against SL in the Aussie Winter tour (northern territory etc), he was brilliant. And I'm in NZ.

 

[Linda]

Haha, well, couldnt say I saw that one coming...

Honestly, I just about cried. Trev..

 

[social]

I think the context in which the squad was selected needs to be taken into account before we criticise/commend the selectors. IIRC, Ponting said at the end of the test series that this was only the first half of it, implying that Australia was leading 2-0 in the best of six tests. The Australian selectors therefore went out to select a conservative squad, preferring those they knew over those they don't know or are unsure about.

There is an article in today's Melbourne Age that quotes Tait as saying that he expects to go to South Africa pretty much as Lee's back-up and he doesn't expect to play much. Kaspa is experienced at Test level and Clarke has been in the national set-up for a while, albeit at a ODI level rather than Test level.

You always felt that Hodge was playing for his spot in the side. Making the double century in the manner he did by adopting a cautious approach rather than a perceived "play for the declaration" approach so the Aussies could bowl the South Africans out might have counted against him, and the fact he did nothing with the bat after Perth in two Tests also didn't help. Hohns said that Hodge needed to go back to Pura Cup to put runs on the board, but according to Shipperd (Bushrangers' coach) Hodge was ill for the game before Queensland and made 20 and 30 on a pitch not really suited to batting. Martyn, on the other hand, was clearly scapegoated for the Ashes, has done well for Australia in the past and was first cab off the rank.

Waton could/should have come in for Symonds but when the selectors take a conservative approach, unless the incumbent really makes a mistake to show that he doesn't deserve the spot, it wasn't going to happen, especially when Punter makes a public call supporting Symonds and everybody (who counts) expects him to find the form that makes him so fearsome in ODIs soon.

Things may change for Bangladesh - who knows?

The good thing for the Vics is that they at least have Hodge for the game against the Warriors to secure a place in the finals and if they make it, they won't have to face Kaspa.

Good summation.

Only part I disagree with is about the state of the wicket at the Junction Oval - according to Hayden, it was about the flattest wicket that they'd played on all year.

 

[Nate]

He did. He took five wickets in that innings - four were caught behind the wicket, and the other one was bowled. Bottom line is, at Test level, Gillespie at 95% capacity (don't think he will ever get back to 100%) is better than Kaspa at 100% capacity. Even at his best, Kaspa has only ever been respectable at Test level.

He took 7-for against Sri Lanka. That wasn`t heaps bad

 

[vic_orthdox]

Good summation.

Only part I disagree with is about the state of the wicket at the Junction Oval - according to Hayden, it was about the flattest wicket that they'd played on all year.

Yeah.

I mean, really - there'd be front page headlines in Melbourne these days if there WASN'T a road rolled out at the Junction Oval.

 

[andyc]

You don't have to be dead to be stiff.

 

[howardj]

He took 7-for against Sri Lanka.

Case closed

 

[aussie]

Case closed

i see your point but you have to admit his performaces in 2004 where pretty superb, he was pretty much Australia's best bowler that year in test's.

 

[howardj]

i see your point but you have to admit his performaces in 2004 where pretty superb, he was pretty much Australia's best bowler that year in test's.

Yeah, he did well in 2004. Our whole attack, at that time, gelled really well. McGrath, Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Warne. Then they got broken up for the 1st Ashes Test. Kasprowicz, in that period, really kept things tight and chipped in with the odd pole. Like most of our bowlers, though, he doesn't look the same bowler without McGrath in the team.

 

[andyc]

Personally, I always felt that Kasprowicz was the weakest link of the Aussie bowling lineup. It does seem strange that he's been recalled over Gillespie, especially considering Gillespie's experience (which earned Martyn a recall), and the fact that he's four years (I think) younger than Kasper.

 

[Mister Wright]

well i dunno, Howard J said he was at this game & said Dizzy seemed to have his nip back, you people are confusing me8

That's because HowardJ had had a few too many vodkas.