***Official*** Australia in South Africa

[Top_Cat]

Bowled a truckload in that final, though. Be unlikely to bowl that many overs in any FC game ever again.

 

[howardj]

Yeah Kat flogged him for 64 overs

Wasn't gentle with him - old school Kat

 

[Nate]

Play Copeland or GET OUT

 

[Ruckus]

Be pretty pissed if this is the case...Would probably prefer Cummins to Johnson or Siddle mainly for the entertainment factor, but Copeland would be hard done by that's for sure.

Pat Cummins set for historic Test debut | Herald Sun

Don't think I can trust these articles anymore though...one off the CA website said Copeland was probably going to start last game and look what happened there

 

[Spark]

Skipper Michael Clarke has revealed he believes Cummins is ready for Test cricket, suggesting the 18-year-old may be handed his baptism in the second Test at the Wanderers.

If that's seriously what they're basing it on then we've taken straw-clutching to an all new level.

He said the same thing last week.

 

[Ruckus]

Yeah Clarke totally loves playing games with the media as well.

 

[Top_Cat]

Honestly, I don't think we've seen enough to know how ready he is. If a young quick is tearing it up in the nets, and has bowled well in most of the opportunities he's been given at a higher level (which Cummins has), be foolish to not even consider him.

The current lot are good, professional bowlers but only Mitchell is a genuine game-breaker and he's off the boil. The team needs something (my own complaints about the batting aside), Cummins could be the spark. I've seen him bowl in a few games and pace aside, he gets good swing and seam coupled with very usable bounce (I dig his slower ball too). You've got several of the current team who actually face the guy saying he's ready for Test cricket so, unless you're reckon they're all wrong, the ingredients are there.....

 

[Spikey]

If that's seriously what they're basing it on then we've taken straw-clutching to an all new level.

He said the same thing last week.

remember when we played hilf because he looked good in the nets






It was game 5 of the ashes

 

[Spikey]

Johnson was expected to get the bullet but it is understood he will survive ahead of Siddle because his left-arm deliveries offer an extra dimension to the Australian attack.

I wish I had more sig space

 

[Top_Cat]

Well you certainly can't argue against the fact he provides variety. It's just, well, a lot of it is the bad kind of variety. Short ball wide of leg-stump followed by two balls just inside the off-side return crease =! variety.

 

[Ruckus]

Honestly, I don't think we've seen enough to know how ready he is. If a young quick is tearing it up in the nets, and has bowled well in most of the opportunities he's been given at a higher level (which Cummins has), be foolish to not even consider him.

The current lot are good, professional bowlers but only Mitchell is a genuine game-breaker and he's off the boil. The team needs something (my own complaints about the batting aside), Cummins could be the spark. I've seen him bowl in a few games and pace aside, he gets good swing and seam coupled with very usable bounce (I dig his slower ball too). You've got several of the current team who actually face the guy saying he's ready for Test cricket so, unless you're reckon they're all wrong, the ingredients are there.....

Cummins is mostly potential at the moment imo. Could have an amazing game or could have an amazingly **** game.

 

[Spikey]

yeah it blows my mind they're thinking of playing cummins without bringing in copeland

 

[Ruckus]

Well I'm not sure they actually are, could just be misleading media bull****. The fact that Cummins didn't even play in the tour match is surely a pretty good indicator he wasn't really ever in consideration to play this series.

 

[Spark]

Frankly it's a good thing they are at least saying he's ready.

If they're picking bowlers in touring squads knowing they're not Test standard...

(As opposed to not knowing that they're not Test standard when they really aren't, as has been the case on quite a few occasions in the recent past)

 

[Ruckus]

I see it as just one of those responses you know they going to make no matter what they actually think. Would they really say "No, I don't think he is ready yet". As you alluded to, it could come off as sounding quite foolish if they did.

 

[Top_Cat]

Not liking this one bit, can we go back to bashing the batsmen i.e. the real ****ing problem? Whether you play Johnson, Cummins, Copeland, Siddle, Harris, bring Warnie out of retirement or give McGrath and Lillee their choices of end, if the batters struggle to get past 200 in the first dig, it's irrelevant who the bowlers are.

 

[Ruckus]

There ain't anything to discuss with the batsmen though. Khawaja in, and that's it. There aren't any more backups. No chance Warner will debut.

 

[uvelocity]

sack all the ****ing batsmen already ****s

 

[stephen]

The problem is that with the possible exception of Ponting, we've got the best batting side that is currently available. Wade in for Haddin isn't going to happen any time soon because Haddin has actually been quite good at test match level. It's just that our batsmen are performing like crap at the moment.

 

[ganeshran]

What position does Khwaja play at in FC? If Marsh is fit, they can both play.