In his defence, Powell has a bit of talent with the bat. He's no Tino Best (vic_orthdox said:
), but he ain't the worst. Fidel Edwards also showed that he is competent enough technically to defend the likes of Shane Warne. Sadly, he appears to have the brain of a number 11, which negates any technical prowess.
Sorta cool I suppose. More dangerous than weird. I'll open up a tourism thread over Christmas.aussie said:oh well that fair enough..., btw liam your contry is weird but its still cool
i maybe harsh, but im extremely fair, and i dont jump up and down about a player after a few good performances.dontcloseyoureyes said:
thats not my point at all, i havent said that bracken cant swing the ball any more or less than he did against the WI. my point is that he needs the conditions to favor him significantly to swing the ball marginally, in other words hes not a natural swinger of the ball.Eclipse said:
well hes yet to prove that hes better at it today. just because hes been swinging the ball occasionally at the Gabba doesnt mean that he'll swing it all over the world.FaaipDeOiad said:
umm any half decent swing bowler swings the ball both ways. Hoggard, Simon Jones, Shaun Pollock and a few others can swing the ball both ways. of course there are plenty of others who have succeeded without swinging the ball both ways, but thats generally because they had plenty of other variations in their bowling that helped them succeed. Bracken other than swing has none.sqwerty said:
because quality players have no problem adjusting to the swing when it only does it one way? even if you look back at the Ashes the main reason why Australia struggled was because they couldnt pick which way the ball was swinging....sqwerty said:
I would have thought more that Hoggard and Pollock move the ball both ways, rather than swing it both ways.tooextracool said:
Regarding your first point, have a look at Australian Test batsmen over the last 15 years or so. Virtually all of them - Blewett, Elliot, Slater, Langer Hayden, Ponting, Martyn, MWaugh, Bevan etc - have come into the team, been found out within 2 years and have been dropped. Subsequently, they've gone back to the domestic game, and most have come back into the team at a later stage and then enjoyed easily the most fruitful part of their careers.Top_Cat said:
Correct.vic_orthdox said:
Yeah but you sure jump on them quickly after a few failures.
The reasons for selection are different; they're not looked upon as long-term prospects. They're looked upon as short-term players who are playing better than anyone else right now and when a team is going through a bit of a re-build, you can't just let the older regulars retire and fill the team with 4 or 5 players who will be found out (if that assumption rings true). You need players who will do the job short-term whilst the younger players are gradually introduced into the side or there will be 5 years, for example, where the team is well below its best and struggling.
There's a reason I emboldened the word first and didn't instead say only. Pick your best team first and then look at balance, injuries, etc. afterwards. And then, even with those other considerations, there's no way Hopes should be anywhere near the Test side. Certainly not after he hit one ton last year, only JUST averaged 40 and that was the first season he did. Maybe after a couple of 1000+ runs seasons............
IF he's quicker than Hoggard, it's by only a couple of k's which makes not a jot of difference. As it stands, from what I've seen of both in the last 12 months, they both average in the low 130's. Bracken used to be a bit sharper but he seems to be bowling within himself a bit.
Like I said above, I was picking it in the context of Gilchrist's remarks that they will maintain the same balance as in the first two Test Matches of the summer. Im not necessarily saying, myself, that I would opt for Hopes. But, if as Gilchrist indicated, they are looking to maintain the same balance, then a guy like Hopes (who the selectors have picked for the ODI's, and have picked for Australia A - in a FC match - is clearly right up there).Top_Cat said:
Oi!steds said:
It gets much better than Club Platinum. You should've gone to see a band or two... the good ones. Did you head over to Tobago at any stage?aussie said:
Sorry mate...don't know what country you're from but I get the impression you haven't seen much of Bracken.tooextracool said:
You clearly didn't get out much. Having been to England for a total of 13 weeks in my lifetime, I think I can safely say that Trinidad has much more attractive women. That said, England has the ***y accent.aussie said:
