*Official* Australia in Sri Lanka 2016

[Furball]

Dance down the wicket and plant him into the stands.

 

[BeeGee]

I really like when a bowler doesn't go up when he knows its not out like Lyon did there. Good to see. Also makes your real appeals seem more genuine and thus I reckon are more likely to be given out


So many bowlers have never heard of the boy who cried wolf it seems. Really annoys me when they appeal for **** they know isnt out

One of the things I like about DRS is it really shows up this kind of appealing. Vociferous appeal followed by no review. They just look stupid.

 

[91Jmay]

Watching the highlights again. Loads of terrible shots but Joe Burns 2nd dig shot was so, so bad.

 

[Spark]

It's not purely sweeping, but really stretching and smothering the ball that neuters Herath. The way Sarfraz, Shafiq and Younis did that against him last year was amazing to watch. They didn't jump out every chance they got like Clarke stupidly used to do (and Smith is doing now), just take one, long, measured stride down the pitch. Playing him from the crease is death in these conditions imo.

In fairness, Clarke played Herath pretty well whenever he faced him. Was Jadeja who caused him serious problems.

 

[Spark]

You can do what Root did fairly successfully as well which is play deep on the back foot with a straight bat. Any spin is covered and being so deep makes the straighter one not as effective. Variable bounce can be an issue but not really seen that yet.

Yeah, Martyn back in the 03-04 was the archetype for this. Amazing that so few Australian batsmen have tried to copy him.

 

[Compton]

How many times can the same batting line up fail before changes are made?

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah, Martyn back in the 03-04 was the archetype for this. Amazing that so few Australian batsmen have tried to copy him.

I know Clarke was famous for coming down the pitch, but he did this really well on occasion as well against Swann.

 

[Midwinter]

What changes can you make, you could always bring in people who are worse or have no experience I suppose.

We have just watched Qz's next best spinner play and Lyon is being criticized ? Just who is Australia's fourth best spinner anyway ?

Could be a chance for Fawad Ahmed !

Lyon generated enough chances that on another day with more luck he could have had a bag.

 

[Furball]

In fairness, Clarke played Herath pretty well whenever he faced him. Was Jadeja who caused him serious problems.

Clarke had an outstanding innings in Galle last time round.

 

[Spark]

What changes can you make, you could always bring in people who are worse or have no experience I suppose.

We have just watched Qz's next best spinner play and Lyon is being criticized ? Just who is Australia's fourth best spinner anyway ?

Could be a chance for Fawad Ahmed !

Lyon generated enough chances that on another day with more luck he could have had a bag.

I'm not aware that anyone is calling for Lyon to be dropped.

I know Clarke was famous for coming down the pitch, but he did this really well on occasion as well against Swann.

Yeah Clarke was excellent at using the full depth of the crease, very good at screwing up lengths then killing you when dropped short, both sides of the wicket.

How many times can the same batting line up fail before changes are made?

In fairness the top six is quite new and pretty clearly the best top six save for MMarsh, who actually has looked reasonably competent (at a minimum, he's blameless in today's debacle).

 

[91Jmay]

Lehmann went after him a bit in the presser ftr.

 

[a massive zebra]

This trend of the leading Test nations being nearly invincible at home and absolutely gash away is getting rather tedious.

To increase competitiveness, I think they should return to the tried and tested but now unfashionable method of playing proper tours with multiple warm up matches against local state/county/province sides to get familiar with the conditions before taking on the full might of a top Test nation in their own conditions. Not gonna happen because money rules these days, but I strongly believe this would lead to more interesting matches in which the balance of power fluctuates over the course of the 5 days.

 

[BeeGee]

Burns and Khawaja need to be made to stand in the middle of the dressing room while Starc takes turns taunting, poking with a stick and bitch slapping each of them.

Disgraceful batting.

 

[a massive zebra]

Burns and Khawaja need to be made to stand in the middle of the dressing room while Starc takes turns taunting, poking with a stick and bitch slapping each of them.

Disgraceful batting.

That is a little harsh on Khawaja. It is easy to make an error of judgement first ball, although he probably should have taken a little more care.

Agree on Burns though. In the circumstances, that was unprofessional batting. Not as bad as this, however.

 

[hendrix]

Khawaja is probably the worst player of spin in the world out of the batsmen I consider to be good and likely to hold their places. I can't think of anyone worse who's actually test standard.

 

[91Jmay]

Khawaja vs Swann at Lords 2013 is one of the most difficult things I've ever seen in cricket and he hasn't got any better.

 

[Starfighter]

I thought he played Mark Craig pretty well...





...although that's not saying much.

 

[DriveClub]

Aussies should just play a 3rd pacer instead of wasting time with holland, starc and haze have been the best bowlers this tour, time to ditch 2 spinner strategy

 

[Cabinet96]

Remember writing an article in 2013 about how Smith was a better option as a bat than Khawaja for the Indian series. Was a good call.

 

[Starfighter]

Aussies should just play a 3rd pacer instead of wasting time with holland, starc and haze have been the best bowlers this tour, time to ditch 2 spinner strategy

I agree with this. The SL batsmen are clearly less comfortable against pace and our pace bowlers simply happen to be better than our spin bowlers. There's no point picking two spinners when neither can offer enough control.