*Official* First Test at Swalec Stadium, Cardiff

[jondavluc]

Seriously, if McDonald is picked for the first test I will stop supporting Australia.

Note to selectors:

Please, please pick McDonald.

I couldn't agree more.

 

[Uppercut]

Eughhh. The England selectors have screwed us over again. Panesar has done nothing to deserve being picked for the 13, let alone the XI. I'm just hoping that the Cardiff pitch looks green come Wednesday and they go in with Onions. Panesar couldn't get wickets against Glamorgan at Cardiff, what chance is he going to have at getting the Australian Test side out? They should have gone in with 12 and picked Samit Patel, he offers more with bat and ball combined than Bell and MSP.

Too fat though.

 

[pasag]

England squad have been announced. Harmison's not in, but Panesar is and will play ahead of Onions if the pitch suits. Bell's in as cover if any of the batters get injured.

Hughes breathes a sigh of relief, the rest of the Australian side don't feel so lucky.

 

[Uppercut]

Exactly, but we should never let what actually happened get in the way of stupidity.

McDonald didn't take wickets at "about 20" in South Africa, he took them at 37. But we should never let that get in the way...

 

[howardj]

As a side note, hate the term 'Bunsen' - one of the lamest and on CW overused pieces of slang.

After the tour matches, my Aussie team going in would be
Katich
Hughes
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
North
Haddin
Johnson
McDonald
Lee
Siddle
12th: Clark

Don't know that Clark has demonstrated he's regained his edge after his injury woes and he was woeful without that edge when last he played.

I like that team, except I would have Hauritz in for North. However, the selectors cut off their options by not selecting Macca at Sussex or Worcester. I liked the job Macca did with the ball in SA and, as he showed in the last Test, he was always going to improve with the bat.

 

[howardj]

McDonald didn't take wickets at "about 20" in South Africa, he took them at 37. But we should never let that get in the way...

Mate, I reckon he kept the pressure valve on though and operated very well as part of an extremely disciplined bowling battery.

 

[Uppercut]

Mate, I reckon he kept the pressure valve on though and operated very well as part of an extremely disciplined bowling battery.

Sure, but it doesn't mean we can start making up figures for him based on that!

McDonald was a very useful component of that attack indeed IMO. But he's not as useful as Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle or Stuart Clark, and that's why I don't think (nor have I ever thought) that he should play at Cardiff if those four are fit.

 

[howardj]

Fair enough, I agree with Matt79 though that Clark seems a tad under done and may struggle to make the journey so early in his come back, particularly on what is tipped to be a docile deck.

 

[BoyBrumby]

England squad have been announced. Harmison's not in, but Panesar is and will play ahead of Onions if the pitch suits. Bell's in as cover if any of the batters get injured.

Selvey in yesterday's Guardian actually reckoned we might stack the batting with Bell at #6, Prior 7 & Flintoff 8 and Onions/Panesar missing out. Linky.

"England's batting still has a middle-order fragility to it and the prospect of Matt Prior, a fine No7 but suspect at six, may be a risk too far. If this is the case then the second innings from Ian Bell for the Lions, who will be added to the squad, can be instructive."

I'd have said it was unlikely, especially after a scratchy 20, but did see Mike cosying up to Dusty, Ash & Whittaker yesterday, so maybe he has to direct line to the selectors.

 

[Uppercut]

Fair enough, I agree with Matt79 though that Clark seems a tad under done and may struggle to make the journey so early in his come back, particularly on what is tipped to be a docile deck.

What people seem to be forgetting is that even if the pitch favours turn, it's still in the UK and Cardiff is the rainiest city in the country. You'd expect that there'll be overcast conditions favouring swing at some point in the match, and Clark is as likely as anyone to take advantage.

Even if he's not fully fit, and from what I've seen his fitness is a tad questionable, he's never going to go for runs. He'll still bowl very accurately but a little bit slower- much like McDonald does normally, in fact. What he doesn't bring is lower-order batting and he may struggle to bowl long spells.

On the other hand, if he does find his fitness, he could take ten wickets in cloudy Cardiff and win you the match. I doubt McDonald can do that. Personally, i think it's a risk worth taking.

 

[Uppercut]

Selvey in yesterday's Guardian actually reckoned we might stack the batting with Bell at #6, Prior 7 & Flintoff 8 and Onions/Panesar missing out. Linky.

"England's batting still has a middle-order fragility to it and the prospect of Matt Prior, a fine No7 but suspect at six, may be a risk too far. If this is the case then the second innings from Ian Bell for the Lions, who will be added to the squad, can be instructive."

I'd have said it was unlikely, especially after a scratchy 20, but did see Mike cosying up to Dusty, Ash & Whittaker yesterday, so maybe he has to direct line to the selectors.

Yeah, unusually, Ian Bell didn't even look good when scoring no runs in this match. It's a better balance to the team but they've taken the wrong player. I don't expect him to contribute.

The other issue is, you kinda need another half-bowler of some sort on top of a four-man attack IMO. If only Samit wasn't fat . He'd be perfect.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Would put my avatar on McDonald not playing the first test if any of his advocates are game. Can't see a bloke who wasn't given a trundle in either of the tour games being catapulted into the test XI.

 

[Redbacks]

"That which we desire more earnestly we believe most easily."

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah, unusually, Ian Bell didn't even look good when scoring no runs in this match. It's a better balance to the team but they've taken the wrong player. I don't expect him to contribute.

The other issue is, you kinda need another half-bowler of some sort on top of a four-man attack IMO. If only Samit wasn't fat . He'd be perfect.

Reckon he's perfect even whilst being fat, TBH. You don't get docked runs or wickets for girth.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah, unusually, Ian Bell didn't even look good when scoring no runs in this match. It's a better balance to the team but they've taken the wrong player. I don't expect him to contribute.

The other issue is, you kinda need another half-bowler of some sort on top of a four-man attack IMO. If only Samit wasn't fat . He'd be perfect.

Indeed so.

I think it's in cases like his where the one-size fits all approach to fitness comes unstuck a bit. One the one hand, yes it is a bit of a disgrace a professional sportsman can't get his fitness up to the required standard but on the other he wouldn't be the first lardo to play test cricket either. Excluding him and saying "get fit, fatty" doesn't seem to be working, so I'd say it'd be better to get him back into "Team England" where our experts (such as they are) can keep an eye on him.

 

[irfan]

Agree with UC.

So many more reasons to pick Clark over Macca. Clark offers extra pace, more accurate and can take a few poles if the conditions suit. Didn't he take 26 wickets in 06/07 in an attack that included McGrath and Warne. McDonald plays a defensive role whereas Clark can be both.

NB; Hauritz should be nowhere near the XI. Not only is a crap spinner at test match level - his attitude isn't great either. Doesn't look like he always put in 110%, lacks the intensity and hunger to really overcome his disabilities as a spinner (just seems to roll his arm over - no real plan). Hauritz should only be considered in pyjama cricket.

 

[Uppercut]

Reckon he's perfect even whilst being fat, TBH. You don't get docked runs or wickets for girth.

Indeed so.

I think it's in cases like his where the one-size fits all approach to fitness comes unstuck a bit. One the one hand, yes it is a bit of a disgrace a professional sportsman can't get his fitness up to the required standard but on the other he wouldn't be the first lardo to play test cricket either. Excluding him and saying "get fit, fatty" doesn't seem to be working, so I'd say it'd be better to get him back into "Team England" where our experts (such as they are) can keep an eye on him.

Samit Patel's possibly my favourite English player, and I'd love it if he was picked, but deep down I know it wouldn't be the right decision. It's not so much the fact that he's overweight, it's the fact that they've told him to get fit twice and he hasn't done it.

If you're running an international cricket team, you want your players to maintain a level of fitness for a reason. The whole thing goes to pot when you let one person away with it.

 

[Top_Cat]

Think a lot of you are going to be shocked when Hauritz is named in the XI with Stuey 12th this Wednesday. I think there's no way Aus will go into the Test with 4 quicks.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Samit Patel's possibly my favourite English player, and I'd love it if he was picked, but deep down I know it wouldn't be the right decision. It's not so much the fact that he's overweight, it's the fact that they've told him to get fit twice and he hasn't done it.

If you're running an international cricket team, you want your players to maintain a level of fitness for a reason. The whole thing goes to pot when you let one person away with it.

In principle I agree, same rules for everyone, no excuses. But I can't help but think some players are more equal than others in Team England. Flintoff, noted inbiber that he is, was unable to make the alarm call on the recent trip to Flanders and all we know of the incident is that he was "disciplined".

 

[NUFAN]

Why Patel? He's averaging under 30 with the bat this year.