***Official*** NatWest Series/Challenge

[jlo33692]

Is it really worth it? It's not as though he's not getting the chance to bat at the moment - as far as I know, he's not even in the ODI squad and is currently playing County cricket. Btw, it's Hodge, not Hogg.

And also, are you saying that should become the permanent batting line-up, or just for the next few matches?

No its Rodney Hogg...Just joshing..i think he means for next ODI V Bangladesh... I hope he means Next ODI v Bang. I dont think they are doing to much wrong at the moment to have to dramaticly change the side around so much.
With a view to the future maybe some changes are required ,but they should not change just for change sake,they still have to pick the best team with a view to winning games.
Remember this is the best ODI and test team in the World and some say of all time so the spots in the team are very very hard to get. A Perfect example is that Australia will not consider Symonds for the ashes series ,however England will more than than likely play Pieterson in the tests ,who in my opinion has done no more than Andrew symonds in this ODI series and a better player (all rounder than P/son) If symonds was playing for England he would be in the test team and to me this shows the difference of strength between the 2 countries. Australia is playing with one eye towards the ashes series and i think that is why the likes of gillespie and co are being perservered with,as they have to find form somewhere after the 3 month layoff. I wonder how Langer will adapt from 5 month layof by the time the tests come around,warne is playing in England so he at least has some type of conditioning. Having said all of this Brad Hodge would be a fantastic choice in ODI and would hold his own in tests but will not get an openeing in tests as Australia are so strong and have batsmen aplenty in the wings. All my opinion of course,for the record i dont think England would have got the 260 on that wicket last night,but Andrew Flintoff is a mighty impressive player and will be a cornerstone for England for the next 10 years,gee he is impressive and poses the greatest threat to Austarlia,s domination of world cricket. What do you think?

 

[Pratters]

The Australian inning consisted of a very high quality of cricket which provided a lot of enjoyment.

Its a pity the match didnt actually finish.

 

[jlo33692]

The Australian inning consisted of a very high quality of cricket which provided a lot of enjoyment.

Its a pity the match didnt actually finish.

Here Here...a great game ruined by the rain.
although it did provide the Aussies with much needed batting practice and with 1 more V Bangladesh should be cherry ripe for satday final V England

 

[King_Ponting]

England bowled really well and the Aussies had to play well to get as good a score. I would think they would have been pretty happy with 260 considering the pitch was a little uneven.



This aside from the fact that Martyn has been Australia's most consistent batsman this tournament and unlike Hayden, Ponting and Gilchrist, when he was tied down, DIDN'T get out? A major contributor to Ponting's dismissal? Puh-lease. Ponting's wild swish to a decent ball was the major contributor to his dismissal. It was still early in the innings so it's not as if Martyn not scoring for 11 balls meant much. Ponting was undone by really good bowling a pretty ordinary shot. Blaming Martyn for that and saying he should be out of the side, despite being one of Australia's best ODI batsmen for the past year at least, is suggestive of a personal bias. Check out his stats for the last year and a bit;

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?...edhigh=;csearch=;submit=1;.cgifields=viewtype

10 50's in 30 matches is pretty impressive. His ODI strike rate is actually increased of late to almost 80 and that's despite being the player to come in and build the innings on quite a few occasions in the last couple of years when the top-order have missed out early. He's more than done his job.



This is now way diminishes the fact that it was a planned move by England and it worked again.

And the way Martyn scores behind point, no 3rd man in the world would be of any use because they wouldn't get anywhere near the ball. That 3rd man was very fine SPECIFICALLY for the lofted shot by Martyn.

Pontings dismisal was a direct result of Martyn getting tied down by giles the previous over. Ponting had 34 off 40 and was no where near being tied down. So even though Martyn didnt get out when he got tied down, his actions resulted in another batsmans downfall. Having said this i dont believe he should be dropped.

 

[Pratters]

Having said this i dont believe he should be dropped.

Any one seeing the game yesterday would have noticed what a great touch Martyn is having right now. Why should he be dropped!

 

[King_Ponting]

Any one seeing the game yesterday would have noticed what a great touch Martyn is having right now. Why should he be dropped!

Umm no martyn struggled yesterday and didnt look at all comfortable. Certainly he is not in great touch by any strech of the imagination.

 

[Pratters]

Umm no martyn struggled yesterday and didnt look at all comfortable. Certainly he is not in great touch by any strech of the imagination.

umm Martyn started off very well infact. It was during the brilliant double attack by England with Giles and Flintoff that the pressure came back on Australia.

 

[Top_Cat]

Umm no martyn struggled yesterday and didnt look at all comfortable. Certainly he is not in great touch by any strech of the imagination.

Haven't watched him much this series, have you? If so, you're watching a different Martyn because last night I saw a Martyn who started off very well but was tied down by some excellent bowling on a slightly up-and-down wicket.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I have no problem with any of the innings Martyn has played so far in the series, and I think he's a vital part of the Australian team. Having said that, I think perhaps the team could be slightly stronger with someone like Hodge batting at 4, if the top order was a bit more solid.

Regarding Hayden/Clarke and so on... I wouldn't change anything yet, but the Australian selectors will be looking at the 2007 WC from the period after the Super Series in ODIs, and I'd look at making changes then, and in that case all of socials ideas seem decent ones. For now though, Hayden is in decent touch and Martyn averages over 50 in 2005 so far, and dropping either would be a bad idea. I don't think there is any problem with the team currently aside from Gillespie being a touch out of form. The XI which played last night is full strength for Australia, imo.

I wouldn't bring in Katich or Haddin for the next match, as Gilchrist and some of the other batsmen still need game time. I would rest McGrath or Hogg for Kasprowicz, however.

 

[benchmark00]

What's the chances of getting an unbiased commentator? sheeze.

Theyre shocking, Darren Lehmann included. Michael Holding is the only one who can give an unbiased view of all this, and at the moment, he's the only one i can stand!

Very unprofessional by the Sky commentary team.

 

[Pratters]

What's the chances of getting an unbiased commentator? sheeze.

Theyre shocking, Darren Lehmann included. Michael Holding is the only one who can give an unbiased view of all this, and at the moment, he's the only one i can stand!

Very unprofessional by the Sky commentary team.

I have no problems with Hussain and Lehmann does bring in points but yes generally the team sucks.

 

[social]

I have no problems with Hussain and Lehmann does bring in points but yes generally the team sucks.

Hussain seems pretty much straight down the middle. In fact, if anything, he has rather too much respect for the Aussies.

 

[Pratters]

Not that its going to happen, but I remember Derek Pringle used to commentate for sky long back. Bringing him wouldnt be such a bad idea.

 

[benchmark00]

Im a fan of Mark Nicholas to tell you the truth

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Im a fan of Mark Nicholas to tell you the truth

Yeah, I like him too. That's why I'm looking forward to getting Channel 4 in the tests... Richie, Boycott, Nicholas etc.

 

[King_Ponting]

Yeah, I like him too. That's why I'm looking forward to getting Channel 4 in the tests... Richie, Boycott, Nicholas etc.

Looks like a much better team than the one, for the one dayers

 

[social]

Im a fan of Mark Nicholas to tell you the truth

Lot of people criticised him during Aus and NZ summer.

To me, he was a breath of fresh air.

 

[luckyeddie]

Sky does have 3 excellent commentators in Hussain, Lehmann and Holding but the other three, Botham, Willis and Allott are rubbish.
And who can forget the utter nonsense David Lloyd!

You can go off people, you know.

Leave Bumble alone or I'll send him round to your house to look for Chorley Cakes. Believe me, after 10 minutes, it'll look like a war zone.

 

[Pratters]

Leave Bumble alone.

Okay David Lloyd the legend should be spared

 

[age_master]

Im a fan of Mark Nicholas to tell you the truth

cant stand him myself.