***Official*** VB Series 2006

[Blaze]

Great piece of work from Dilshan. On current form he is the best fielder in the world.

Posted on the 13th of January. As Jono pointed out at least I got something right recently.

 

[Lostman]

No they weren't; they were all Til Dil's fault! Silly bugger has a rather annoying knack of throwing the ball accurately at the stumps before the Aussies have a chance to make their ground!

lol Til Dil thats really catchy
it will really sound good if richie beneud says it

 

[Tomm NCCC]

The sri lankans will lose the next 2 matches, youre not allowed to do this to the Aussies, they will convincingly beat them I have to say

 

[TheEpic]

What today really exposed is the sheer lack of depth in the Australian bowling department, especially in one dayers.

Lee looks good, but without McGrath the bowling looks completely anaemic. The fact that Symonds bowled his full 10 whilst been carted around demonstrates this perfectly, as he's a useful bowler but nothing more. Clark looks poor and Bracken is too expensive, despite taking wickets. Dorey is awful and Hopes isn't much better. Luckily for Australia, Hogg is economical, takes wickets and is handy batsman too.

It can't be long before Gillespie and maybe even Kasprowicz get another go can it? It's not as though age is an issue, as Lewis is continually called up as cover.

Fortunately, despite today's running hiccups, Australia's middle order is frighteningly good, and the strength of depth in the batting department is startling.

 

[age_master]

I thought Clarke played a very mature ODI innings last night. As Healy said he does have that problem of watching the ball when running between wickets, however apart from that, if he had of had support at the other end I think we would have won.

I don't care how many half centruies Katich has scored in this series if he is going to use up balls getting in, he needs to go on with it. If he is going to be our 'anchor man' he needs to be getting 80s & 100s, not 40s, 50s and 60s especially when we are chasing large totals. He has had a full series to show if he is the man to open the innings for us, and I don't think he is. Especially considering we have various opening options in Jaques, Clarke, Martyn & Hopes.

On Hopes, I think he is being wasted as a supersub. He is the 'allrounder' of the squad yet he is only being used in one of his diciplines. I can't imagine how hard it would be to come out and bat after you've watched your team-mates field for 3 hours and then come in when you're team is in dire straights. He needs to be in the 11.

wasn't it Richie that commented on that first?

On Katich, while he is doing ok, i really think that Jaques would do better - this season he has been unstoppable and has gone on to post hundreds - something which an international opener should be able to do - it was brought up at the time that Clarke, Lehmann and Martyn all made hundreds within like 4 innnigs of opening the batting. Katich has had a hell of a lot more than that and realisticly, hasn't gone close. He does also take his time abit more than the others - hasn't really been lifting his scoring rate through his innings much of late either.

As for Hopes - the reason why i think he will stay as super sub is that he adds to the team no matter of we bowl or bat first, so it doesn't matter as much if Ponting wins or loses the toss.

 

[age_master]

What today really exposed is the sheer lack of depth in the Australian bowling department, especially in one dayers.

yep Clark and Bracken are solid, but on good batting pitches they can go the distance.

I was a little surprised that Clarke didn't get a bowl actually, i heard that he has been bowling again in the nets (after his back injury), and if thats the case it might have been worth giving him a couple of overs.

Gillespie is the answer - particularly with McGrath out he MUST be brought back into the side - there is no other pace bowler in domestic cricket near his class at the moment.

 

[aussie]

If Sri Lanka win the next game there won't be a second coming game.

oh well i'm 70% certain that wont happpen..

 

[aussie]

Sure, a Jacques/Gilchrist 100+ partnership inside 15 overs would be speccy. But so would a collapse to 4/not many which can and has happened in the WI for years. Just not a good type of speccy..........

But for a long time when Mark Waugh & Hayden opener with Gilly thats how Australia went about their innings at the top of the order, they collapsed on occassions then Bevan would come to the rescue & if not the bowlers would restrict teams more often than not. But yea Katich has been fairly good in his own right it will be though to drop him now for Jaques unless within this year he goes into a trott..

 

[aussie]

I don't care how many half centruies Katich has scored in this series if he is going to use up balls getting in, he needs to go on with it. If he is going to be our 'anchor man' he needs to be getting 80s & 100s, not 40s, 50s and 60s especially when we are chasing large totals. He has had a full series to show if he is the man to open the innings for us, and I don't think he is. Especially considering we have various opening options in Jaques, Clarke, Martyn & Hopes.

On Hopes, I think he is being wasted as a supersub. He is the 'allrounder' of the squad yet he is only being used in one of his diciplines. I can't imagine how hard it would be to come out and bat after you've watched your team-mates field for 3 hours and then come in when you're team is in dire straights. He needs to be in the 11.

1. On Katich the point you have made here is very good, especially the fact that if he is going to be Australia anchor he has to be making more than just 40s, 50s & 60s. I agree he is not the best man to open with Gilly but has i said before knowing our selectors they wont drop him until he starts failing.

2. On Hopes your absolutely right, for me Hogg should be the super-sub...

 

[Smudge]

Now, I love (platonically, Voltman) Shaun as much as the next guy

Spoilsport.

 

[aussie]

will the death of Kerry Packer spell the death of the VB series http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18096553-23212,00.html

 

[howardj]

It's a little difficult to criticise his run of scores this season forgetting that he was the one who DIDN'T get out in the early overs on quite a few occasions. Yet you found a way. Nice. For interest, his scores in this series have been 60, 0, 19, 52, 82, 25, 11 and 56 tonight. 4 50s, avg about 38 at a strike-rate of about 70 which has been consistent through most of his innings. Four 50's striking at 70 are decent numbers for a player of his type. The point? It's pretty clear he's being asked to do a job. See, in the real world, players sometimes have to compromise their natural instincts and do the ugly work so that more attacking players around them can have their fun later. Katich, as he's shown at state and Test level, has shots all 'round the ground when in the mood (without being as attacking a player as, say, Clarke) yet he's been a little more conservative this year so that would ordinarily tell you something, wouldn't it?

His batting (especially in the first match in Adelaide) tended to be of the 'steady-the-ship' variety which, just as Australia could have been wobbling, made the rest of the innings look easy. His success in 'only' getting to 50 has done nothing more than cover-up Gilchrist's (bar two excellent knocks) Ponting, Clarke, Symonds and Martyn's (when under pressure of a chase) sub-standard form this year. Yes, in the WC in the West Indies, small grounds and fast outfields mean big scores. But, as has been shown in the WI for many, many years, there have also been a bunch of VERY low scores because teams have tried going for the fence too early, having stacked their sides with hitters. You need at least one player who's going to steady the ship in the face of early wickets so that hitters later in the order can take advantage of the recovery (enter Huss/Clarke/Hopes). The WI had this for years in Sherwin Campbell, for example. It's pretty clear which role Kat is being groomed for. Sure, a Jacques/Gilchrist 100+ partnership inside 15 overs would be speccy. But so would a collapse to 4/not many which can and has happened in the WI for years. Just not a good type of speccy.........



Now, I love (platonically, Voltman) Shaun as much as the next guy but he doesn't even do this role for SA. Shaun is NOT a death bowler. Shaun may take a few poles but he may also go for 8-an-over. Drafting in Dizzy might be an idea, though. Not that I'm biased.

Even if he is being asked to do a job, the bottom line is that, in the opinion of quite a few people, Jacques can do everything that Katich can, and can do it better. And, if he is being asked to play the 'steady the ship' role, I think by not going on with the job, he is not even performing the role that is perhaps being asked of him anyway.

As for your claim that '100+ inside 15 overs (from Jacques and Gilly) would be great, but not a collapse of 4 for not many', there's just no evidence that Jacques is more likely to be dismissed early in the innings than Katich. On the contrary, in his only ODI innings, Jacques produced a higher score than Katich has ever done in 30-odd games. Moreover, Jacques invariably bats through most of the innings in ING Cup games.

Finally, that's a total exaggeration regarding Shaun Tait. People, who can't be bothered looking up stats, always exaggerate the number of runs that he concedes, and automatically claim that he's this 'Jekkyl and Hyde' type bowler who is either absolutely brilliant or totally hopeless. His performances do not fluctuate that much.

Granted, he can produce absolute shockers, but his performances in the ING Cup over the last 18 months (where he's conceded only 4.5 per over and taken 28 wickets in 13 games, and can actually do something with the ball) suggest he wouldn't be the worst option for Australia. At least he can bowl yorkers, a dying art if ever there was one.

 

[PANIC!]

I agree with people on Katich. Can't see what he is doing in the team at the moment. Jaques would be a perfect replacement to bat along side Gilchrist.

On Hopes, I think Watson will take what ever position he has in the team when he gets fit and ready. He's not quite up to International standard yet but in the future he could become a good player.

 

[irfan]

Bracken wants nothing more than a not out.

Bracken now averages 51 but his HS is only 21, surely that is the greatest positive disparity between all ODI players - not even Hussey matches that

 

[PANIC!]

will the death of Kerry Packer spell the death of the VB series http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,18096553-23212,00.html

There's too many matches in the preliminary rounds and it shouldn't be a best of 3 final. I'd rather a 5 match ODI series against a team than the current VB series.

 

[howardj]

There's too many matches in the preliminary rounds and it shouldn't be a best of 3 final. I'd rather a 5 match ODI series against a team than the current VB series.

I agree, but I think the fear the administrators have with that, is that there could be dead-rubbers. Though, I think half the games in the ridiculously protracted VB Series, have all the appeal of a dead-rubber anyway.

 

[Jono]

SHANE Warne could not win an Allan Border Medal for taking 40 wickets in the Ashes series, yet Paul Collingwood has landed an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for averaging 8.5 in his sole Test in the series. Ian Bell picked up one for his mighty performance to average 17 in five Tests.

LMAO!

 

[simmy]

LMAO!

Nothing wrong with rewarding our specialist fielders!

 

[Jono]

Well then where was Pratt's OBE?

 

[howardj]

Well then where was Pratt's OBE?

I think you're forgetting Trevor Penny too!