***Official*** West Indies in Australia

[tooextracool]

Actually it's more like picking someone who made 5 ducks in 6 innings, but has a good first class record and just got a bunch of good deliveries. Watson is being persisted with (or at least, he MAY be persisted with) because it is considered that a) he can warrant his place with the bat, and b) he has the potential to improve with the ball. At the moment he's a good option, at least for a summer or so to see how he goes.

that maybe true, and he has shown enough potential with the bat to suggest that he could actually become a good batsman. but is he being selected as a batsman? no hes being selected for their long needed 'all rounder', because apparently his world class bowling in the aussie side, allows them to also play macgill.

 

[tooextracool]

I completely agree with all of that. Powell, Lawson and Collymore are the West Indies best bowlers. If they decide to play four specialist quicks, Best, Collins and Edwards should fight it out based on form and conditions (obviously Collins would be useful if the pitch had a bit of grass and it was overcast, while Best would be a better choice if the pitch was quick and carried, with Edwards lying somewhere in between). I'd be inclined to just pick Powell, Lawson and Collymore though, with Bravo in there primarily for his bowling, and Gayle and Samuels to only bowl sparingly.

honestly i think collins is easily a better bowler than both lawson and collymore and is at least the equal of powell if not better. collins is not restricted to overcast conditions or a bit of grass either, and he showed that at antigua against england when he got the ball to reverse consistently.

 

[tooextracool]

With regards to Powell he has been good but once Edwards continues to improve on his control etc i would pick him over Powell...

cant see how anyone can pick fidel 'lets aim for the helmet' edwards over powell anywhere in the world to be honest.

 

[tooextracool]

I really rate Lawson quite highly. He gets more movement than Best and generally bowls a much better length. Powell is lightyears ahead of Edwards at this stage of their careers.

lawson is extremely one dimensional(at least at this point of his career), and when he doesnt get seam movement he does look fairly innocuous even if he does have a fair bit of pace.

 

[aussie]

Powell is lightyears ahead of Edwards

na the distance between them isn't that much....

 

[aussie]

and he wasnt picked for his bowling in the first place. he was picked because they thought his batting had potential, and all the impact that he made until then in FC cricket came with the bat not the ball.

but still he took a while to a least produce his FC performances at the highest level, but the selectors but fletcher & co were patient with him & they are smiling now, just give Watson time, if it doesn't work out well at least they tried...

 

[aussie]

cant see how anyone can pick fidel 'lets aim for the helmet' edwards over powell anywhere in the world to be honest.

gee how did Edwards get that name?

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

na the distance between them isn't that much....

Daren Powell is a much better bowler than Fidel Edwards at this stage. That said, Powell has been around for a fair while on the domestic circuit, and has the advantage of age and experience. If Edwards is groomed properly, he could be an outstanding bowler in the future. Sadly, I see no evidence of such grooming.

 

[luckyeddie]

gee how did Edwards get that name?

Shaun Tait wannabe?

 

[Mister Wright]

Daren Powell is a much better bowler than Fidel Edwards at this stage. That said, Powell has been around for a fair while on the domestic circuit, and has the advantage of age and experience. If Edwards is groomed properly, he could be an outstanding bowler in the future. Sadly, I see no evidence of such grooming.

Bennett King should be good for them.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Siddons played a ODI...

And I reckon Hodge might get a token game somewhere along the line, too

 

[aussie]

Shaun Tait wannabe?

haha

 

[tooextracool]

but still he took a while to a least produce his FC performances at the highest level, but the selectors but fletcher & co were patient with him & they are smiling now, just give Watson time, if it doesn't work out well at least they tried...

but he was never picked for his bowling, he was picked for his batting, which he had shown plenty of potential in domestic cricket. i dont mind watson being picked in the side at all, what i do mind is the fact that hes picked to bowl 1st change, when he isnt capable of doing so.

 

[tooextracool]

gee how did Edwards get that name?

with his amazing display at old trafford of trying to hit graham thorpe(of all players) on the head every ball in bowler friendly conditions. and its a pattern hes followed for pretty much all of his career.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

with his amazing display at old trafford of trying to hit graham thorpe(of all players) on the head every ball in bowler friendly conditions. and its a pattern hes followed for pretty much all of his career.

Not true. Edwards has bowled a fuller length on many occasions over his career. Saly he's gotten hammered for it most of the time, but also has some handy hauls. He certainly didn't bowl consistently short against England (in WI), Pakistan or Sri Lanka (in WI).

Your ability to stereotype a player based on a handful of matches never ceases to amaze.

 

[tooextracool]

Not true. Edwards has bowled a fuller length on many occasions over his career. Saly he's gotten hammered for it most of the time, but also has some handy hauls. He certainly didn't bowl consistently short against England (in WI), Pakistan or Sri Lanka (in WI).

Your ability to stereotype a player based on a handful of matches never ceases to amaze.

oh true, there have been occasions when hes pitched it up and as such he did pitch it up a bit more when he played england in the WI, but by and large which includes all of the series against SA, against england in england he bowled way too short. what appalled me particularly in england was the fact that he seemed to believe that it was the right way to go, even though he wasnt even capable of getting hoggard out. thats simply lack of a brain, and nothing else.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

oh true, there have been occasions when hes pitched it up and as such he did pitch it up a bit more when he played england in the WI, but by and large which includes all of the series against SA, against england in england he bowled way too short. what appalled me particularly in england was the fact that he seemed to believe that it was the right way to go, even though he wasnt even capable of getting hoggard out. thats simply lack of a brain, and nothing else.

Yes, as such, the problem with Edwards is not that he bowls too short constantly. It's that he bowls the wrong length constantly. Sadly, it's the "wrong length constantly" in the same way Collymore does, because at least Collymore bowls a tight length, albeit not quite full enough.

He's young and still very inexperienced. Keep in mind that this isn't a man who played 3 or 4 years of domestic (or even youth cricket) then started getting hammered in international matches. This is a boy who got picked out of obscurity, with one FC match to his name and no youth level experience, and then got hammered in international matches. He has basically had to learn entirely how to bowl at Test level whilst playing Test cricket.

Ideally, a bowler learns how to bowl at a standard approaching Test standard, then gets drafted into international cricket, where he can perfect the art. Edwards was not so fortunate. He needs to play a couple proper seasons of domestic cricket for the moment. Certainly I can't see how facing the World Champions would help him at this stage.

 

[marc71178]

With Bracken in the squad for Hodge I think it's a good sign for MacGill, because now the selectors will have to play Watson for Hodge which, to me, looks like they're trying to have that third seaming option for playing two spinners.

Not necessarily - Watson could be the 4th seamer and 6th batsman.

 

[aussie]

but he was never picked for his bowling, he was picked for his batting, which he had shown plenty of potential in domestic cricket. i dont mind watson being picked in the side at all, what i do mind is the fact that hes picked to bowl 1st change, when he isnt capable of doing so.

fair enough...

 

[jlo33692]

Here is a scoop for cricketweb aussie supporters.

J Langer will not be playing in the first test V Windies
He has only 15 minutes ago gone to hospital with broken ribs after a rising ball hit him in the rib area. The main danger at the moment and doctors fear this is the case is that he has also punctured his lung. If it is not punctured (which it appears to be) The broken ribs will keep him out of the test.
So maybe someone like a hodge or a new batsman will be called up. One thing for certain though is that Justin Langer will not be playing in the first test,and depending on the outcome of the scans the series against the windies,what a blow.