**Official** Chappell-Hadlee Series

[Jono]

And this is yet another reason why you never, ever write Australia off.

For the love of God you'd have to have realised now that when you say things like this, bad things happen. Cameron has learned. Have you?

Sorry Passag, but

 

[Turbinator]

NZ to Beat Australia 3-0 in Chappell Hadlee .

Lol.

Australia 2-1.

Sorry Pasag, but

 

[pasag]

Lol, quality kicking a man when he's down, going on here

 

[Goughy]

He needs to work with Terry jenner, IMO.

He has

http://www.theage.com.au/news/crick...looking-red-hot/2005/09/17/1126750166421.html

And Warne's coach, Terry Jenner, has been the man helping White find more zip....
"I've spent some time with him in an effort to find that spin, and we've had some success," Jenner said.

For those that know my opinions on Jenner, its no suprise he was a better bowler 3 years ago

 

[Jono]

Lol, quality kicking a man when he's down, going on here

Haha all in good humour though to be fair

I remember HowardJ copping a bucketload when he criticised Pakistan after day 1 or 2 vs. England in 2005 for having no heart and are no where close to being a good test team. By day 5, they had won the test match

 

[Jono]

Lol, I never got the cliché "The only way to go is up", when you can stay stagnant and constantly dire.

Anyways, it's not all doom and gloom, we performed a hundered times better than Friday and if a couple more things went our way today we would have won. Still very confident for the World Cup and still confident we're the best side in the world, despite what the rankings say.

At full strength? Definitely, and its not really debateable.

Without Lee and Symonds? Probably still are, but the gap definitely closes (particularly with South Africa), especially considering the nature of ODI cricket.

 

[pasag]

Haha all in good humour though to be fair

And all deserved

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

It's pretty clear that the depth to Australian cricket is a bit of a concern at the moment, but that doesn't detract from the team's stance as the best in the world. The obvious reason for this is because the other teams in world cricket don't have much depth of which to brag either. South Africa is the only team that comes to mind that can legitimately claim to have depth past its first XI. To state the bleeding obvious.

 

[pup11]

I think the lack of depth in this aussie side is a myth, if you see guys like hodge, haddin, white(to a certain degree) have all done well. Its the tried and tested bowlers like McGrath, bracken who have been off colour. The likes of Hogg and watson didn't play enough games to get into a rhythm and johnson too has lost form at the wrong time. Tait is the unknow quantity who is not in the realible bowler slot.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

The depth of Australian cricket are Tait, Johnson, White, Hodge and Jaques.

Hodge has had a couple of really good innings of late, but he still hasn't convinced and has a largely dire record apart from those two innings.

Jaques has a lot of convincing to do.

Contrary to the beliefs of a few, Mitchell Johnson has a lot to do to prove that he's a worthy successor to the likes of McGrath.

Tait is yet to convince.

Brad Haddin averages less than 25 in ODI cricket with 1 fifty in 17 innings. He has a lot to do before it can be said he has done well at international level.

White is yet to convince. He averages 17 with the bat and 43 with the ball in ODI cricket. He has not done well to any genuine degree. The man has played a couple of stunning innings, but his bowling has been rubbish and he hasn't had enough time to prove he's a worthy international batsman.

The lack of depth in Australian cricket is a very real concern. It's hardly proven conclusively that there is such a lack, but it's a fool who states conclusively that there is any great depth given the evidence of late. Australia have been on the wrong end of the three largest chases in ODI history over the past 14 months. In each of these games they've been fielding a second-string attack. Says a lot about depth, really.

 

[Tom Halsey]

It's pretty clear that the depth to Australian cricket is a bit of a concern at the moment, but that doesn't detract from the team's stance as the best in the world. The obvious reason for this is because the other teams in world cricket don't have much depth of which to brag either. South Africa is the only team that comes to mind that can legitimately claim to have depth past its first XI. To state the bleeding obvious.

I would be worried if I were Aussie, though - in this game, the problem was the bowling, and apart from Lee, Australia's bowling was supposedly at full strength.

 

[pup11]

IMO most of these problems that the aussie face today are due to lack of proper planning. When they were taking Hogg, tait, and hodge they should have played a lot more games in the CB series then they did, they should have rested their batsmen too in random order.
That way they would have had some rest hence probably avoiding the injuries to the likes of punter,clarke, imagine if symo would have been rested for the sydney odi.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I would be worried if I were Aussie, though - in this game, the problem was the bowling, and apart from Lee, Australia's bowling was supposedly at full strength.

But it was a full-strength New Zealand that played exceptionally well in order to beat an Australia team lacking a key bowler. That illustrates my point to an extent. Had New Zealand been lacking a similarly key player, it could have been a lot different.

That's my point. Australia may be lacking depth, but so is every other team in world cricket. The only reason people dwell on Australia's perceived lack of depth as a major issue, is because the full-strength team is still very good. Every other team lacks depth too, but those teams don't pose as great a threat when at full strength.

A full strength Australian outfit is still the best in the world. At least until South Africa beats the Aussies consistently.

 

[Jono]

NZ were lacking a key player in Oram, who would have been invaluable today.

 

[Tom Halsey]

But it was a full-strength New Zealand that played exceptionally well in order to beat an Australia team lacking a key bowler. That illustrates my point to an extent. Had New Zealand been lacking a similarly key player, it could have been a lot different.

That's my point. Australia may be lacking depth, but so is every other team in world cricket. The only reason people dwell on Australia's perceived lack of depth as a major issue, is because the full-strength team is still very good. Every other team lacks depth too, but those teams don't pose as great a threat when at full strength.

A full strength Australian outfit is still the best in the world. At least until South Africa beats the Aussies consistently.

Oram.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

IMO most of these problems that the aussie face today are due to lack of proper planning. When they were taking Hogg, tait, and hodge they should have played a lot more games in the CB series then they did, they should have rested their batsmen too in random order.
That way they would have had some rest hence probably avoiding the injuries to the likes of punter,clarke, imagine if symo would have been rested for the sydney odi.

A team's backup players shouldn't need very much time to get warm. If they do, it's symptomatic of a lack of depth.

And Ponting's absence is not due to serious injury. He's being rested ahead of the biggest tournament in the sport. And regarding your point on Symonds, that's just entering a whole world of hindsight possibilities. Imagine if Lara had been rested for Antigua - no 400 not out. It's irrelevant to imagine these things. It was unfortunate what happened to Symonds, but the Australian team does not have a fortune teller on its staff.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Oram.

Lee to Australia > Oram to New Zealand.

Lee is the leading ODI bowler in team Australia at this stage, with McGrath's role being downplayed. Oram is a useful-to-good ODI bowler for New Zealand who has discovered some excellent batting form of late.

If anyone honestly believes that Oram's worth to New Zealand is greater than that of Lee to Australia due to a couple of (admittedly outstanding) innings, that really reflects very poorly on that person's perception of New Zealand cricket.

 

[pup11]

Its not like these guys have had played lot of games or something, just give them some time.
There are also blokes like hilfenhaus,cosgrove,david hussey, clark,cullen, and even gillespie(more in test i might add) who are waiting for a chance so not such a dire situation with the depth, more than depth its form thats the problem atm for the aussie side.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Its not like these guys have had played lot of games or something, just give them some time.

You can't call the lack of depth a myth until they prove that there is depth. It's not the other way around. That's why it's called a "lack".

I'm rather tiring of the word "depth" btw. I may consult a thesaurus soon.

There are also blokes like hilfenhaus,cosgrove,david hussey, clark,cullen, and even gillespie(more in test i might add) who are waiting for a chance so not such a dire situation with the depth, more than depth its form thats the problem atm for the aussie side.

None of whom (bar Clark in Tests, though he's a front-line player there anyway) can claim to providing depth to the Australian lineup, as they simply have not proven that they are viable international options.

 

[pup11]

IMO most of these problems that the aussie face today are due to lack of proper planning. When they were taking Hogg, tait, and hodge they should have played a lot more games in the CB series then they did, they should have rested their batsmen too in random order.
That way they would have had some rest hence probably avoiding the injuries to the likes of punter,clarke, imagine if symo would have been rested for the sydney odi.