*Official* Tour Matches

[Burgey]

You reckon Siddle and Johnson are better than him, as examples?

 

[Prince EWS]

You reckon Siddle and Johnson are better than him, as examples?

Johnson definitely. Siddle's not actually in our side at full strength and they're similar, but I'll still go with yes.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

I'm loving the fact that Smith's batted in the top seven of this match and scored fifty but not bowled a ball inside the first 48 overs.

Must admit i am surprised.I thought he'd be on after tea at least.

Bell playing same as always,no doubt he'll throw it away in the 30's as usual.

Mr Cameron bowls a lot of good balls but there is a lot to hit there too.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Depends which Umar Gul rocks up. Spends quite a bit of time being innocuous, mixed with the odd very good spell.

 

[pup11]

Irrelevant to the point. He was cleaned up by balls which barely deviated, stuff you'd expect a half-decent Test batter to keep out. Little to do with how good the bowlers are.

They deviated for sure mate... those games were at SCG and Headingley where Oz got bowled out for 126 & 88 respectively in the 1st innings.
Not saying Asif or Gul are absolute legends but they can literally make the ball talk in seaming conditions.
Also remember Anderson cleaning him up at Edgbaston in helpful conditions during the last Ashes series, now those are the only three occasions in recent years that I can remember him bowled which isn't a big deal.
Whereas White virtually gets cleaned up or caught by keeper every 2nd or 3rd innings due to lack of footwork.

 

[Prince EWS]

Must admit i am surprised.I thought he'd be on after tea at least.

Yeah, same. Pleasantly surprised with how he's been used in this team. I'm sure he'll get a bowl at some point but White's held him back and not tried to use him as a frontline bowler. He's actually playing as a batting allrounder, like he should. I definitely think he could be a handy partnership breaker if he wasn't burdened with bowling 20+ overs a day.

 

[pup11]

Sure the conditions have something to do with Smith not bowling, I'm happy he got a chance to bat in the top seven but not giving him a fair go with the ball is stupid, especially considering that England don't play wrist spin all that well.

 

[outbreak]

Have anything to do with the fact White knows what it's like to be pushed as a frontline spinner when your actually a batsmen who bowls abit?

 

[TumTum]

Sure the conditions have something to do with Smith not bowling, I'm happy he got a chance to bat in the top seven but not giving him a fair go with the ball is stupid, especially considering that England don't play wrist spin all that well.

Yeah this was our best chance to see what Smith could do against England. Looks like he won't be playing in the Ashes.

 

[pup11]

Johnson definitely. Siddle's not actually in our side at full strength and they're similar, but I'll still go with yes.

If you are talking about consistency then sure, most fast bowlers in the world would rank above most Pakistani bowlers with Gul being no exception.
Though when it comes to pure skill Pakistani fast bowlers are a miles ahead of the rest of the quicks around the world, and when one of them is having a good day at the office then they are virtually unplayble.

 

[Prince EWS]

If you are talking about consistency then sure, most fast bowlers in the world would rank above most Pakistani bowlers with Gul being no exception.
Though when it comes to pure skill Pakistani fast bowlers are a miles ahead of the rest of the quicks around the world, and when one of them is having a good day at the office then they are virtually unplayble.

You think I'm rating Johnson over someone based on consistency?

 

[Top_Cat]

They deviated for sure mate... those games were at SCG and Headingley where Oz got bowled out for 126 & 88 respectively in the 1st innings.
Not saying Asif or Gul are absolute legends but they can literally make the ball talk in seaming conditions.
Also remember Anderson cleaning him up at Edgbaston in helpful conditions during the last Ashes series, now those are the only three occasions in recent years that I can remember him bowled which isn't a big deal.
Whereas White virtually gets cleaned up or caught by keeper every 2nd or 3rd innings due to lack of footwork.

Not talking about what Asif/Gul can do, talking about what actually happened. It wasn't just the bowleds, he gets pinged LBW heaps too.

Clarke in '05 (2:36)

YouTube - Ashes 2005 | 1st Test (Lords) Day 1, 1st Session Highlights

Clarke this year;

YouTube - Mohammed Asif - 11 Wickets in the Test Series vs Australia in England -2010

Note the fact he plays the ball coming back into him so much better.

Wait, no he doesn't.

 

[pup11]

Have anything to do with the fact White knows what it's like to be pushed as a frontline spinner when your actually a batsmen who bowls abit?

Or maybe he just sees Smith as a threat to him.....

 

[vic_orthdox]

No need to overreact, he'll get his trundle, he's being played as he should, O'Keefe will get a bit more of a crack at Bell and Collingwood after the break, and if that doesn't work they'll throw the ball to Smith.

 

[Jayzamann]

Love when you see the covers come on, you can see the driver of the tractor fang it.

Just a q about the caps the Aus A side is wearing, what is the significance of them? The crests look different, would the players in this side who have a test cap be wearing different ones?

 

[vic_orthdox]

The traditional Australian get-up has the coat of arms on it. The crest on these caps and helmets in between the kangaroo and emu is the Cricket Australia symbol.

 

[TumTum]

How funny would it be if Smith gets Bell out...

 

[Burgey]

Finally, getting on with it. About fecking time.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

How funny would it be if Smith gets Bell out...

Or just gets hit out of the attack instead.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Still reckon that Smith's front arm heads out towards third man, and opens his shoulders up too much. Kills the chances of drift and means he doesn't get as much work on it.