***Official*** West Indies in Australia

[Eclipse]

Throwing your wicket away when you could have finished with a nice 47*.

nothing wrong with that..

47* well big deal...

If it was me I would probably have a dash at the fifty as well.

 

[Eclipse]

Hodge is the most overrated batsman in the country for mine. hes not even in the same league as Martyn or Lehmann

can you give any reasons why you think he is overated?

 

[Pratters]

nothing wrong with that..

47* well big deal...

If it was me I would probably have a dash at the fifty as well.

Okay I think throwing your wicket specially in a test is very silly. Not worth it for a 50. Obviously we differ on this.

 

[Mister Wright]

Only because he's victorian tho, can you admit that??

I must admit that I thought Hodge was a tad over-rated, but after watching his cool, calm and collected innings I have turned a corner. He is also more elegant than I thought (must be because I really only see him bash it about in ING cup matches because he always fails at the 'Gabba ). Good luck to him.

 

[Mister Wright]

This Australian team for Adelaide (assuming Bracken carries the drinks) has an average age of 32.5 years. This makes it the oldest team since the Bodyline series 72 years ago. In fact, it would be older than the Bodyline team, but for the fact that team had two players over 40 who raised the average age to 33 years.

Anyway, after five sackings since the Ashes, as Mark Waugh said just before, hopefully the selectors let things be for the rest of the summer and give this XII an opportunity to relax and play some good cricket.

Age shouldn't matter. You pick your best players be they 16 or 61. Bob Simpson returned at the age of 40 and had a successful time of it. You would know from experience that in our competition the guys who use a walking stick to get to the wicket are often harder to get out than the young'ns.

 

[howardj]

Age shouldn't matter. You pick your best players be they 16 or 61. .

No, No, No

 

[Mister Wright]

No, No, No

While not strictly true, I don't see the problem in a player at the age of 30-31 coming in and giving 4 or 5 years of consistent service than being set back by picking a player at the age of 22-23 who isn't ready for test cricket and having them dropped after a year and a bit when they could come in as a well performed 25 or 26 year old and provent themselves thoroughly at domestic level.

 

[marc71178]

It would be better to give players like him a full run rather than to give inferior players like Hodge a chance.

Or inferior players like Symonds...

 

[Dasa]

Or inferior players like Symonds...

That's hardly necessary...commenting in the thread only to goad another member.

 

[marc71178]

Hodge is a far better batsman than Symonds.

Therefore if he is "inferior", so is Symonds.

 

[Slow Love™]

I agree that Hodge is nowhere near as good as Martyn and Lehmann. Lehmann, in particular, got screwed over by the selectors after one bad series against Pakistan. He's done better than ever in state cricket recently, even scoring an unbeaten triple-century. Sad that he got prematurely kicked out of the Australian team. It would be better to give players like him a full run rather than to give inferior players like Hodge a chance.

I reckon Lehmann was actually quite ready to go, and when he offered to be dropped to accommodate Clarke in India, he seemed to be giving a clear signal to that effect. I don't think he felt that hard done by.

I thought Martyn was screwed a lot worse.

 

[ClownSymonds]

Hodge is a far better batsman than Symonds.

Therefore if he is "inferior", so is Symonds.

Symonds averages only 3 runs or so less than Hodge in first-class cricket, and has been in amazing form as of late, so I don't think you can say that Hodge is a far better batsman than Symonds. Furthermore, you must remember that Symonds is certainly a far better batsman than Hodge in limited overs cricket, which is half of the modern game. And then you haven't considered bowling and fielding, two more categories that Symonds wins.

 

[ClownSymonds]

I reckon Lehmann was actually quite ready to go, and when he offered to be dropped to accommodate Clarke in India, he seemed to be giving a clear signal to that effect. I don't think he felt that hard done by.

I thought Martyn was screwed a lot worse.

I don't think Lehmann would've been so ready to go if it wasn't apparent to him that he was being pushed out anyway. Martyn was especially screwed, yes.

 

[marc71178]

Symonds averages only 3 runs or so less than Hodge in first-class cricket, and has been in amazing form as of late, so I don't think you can say that Hodge is a far better batsman than Symonds.

Because I look beyond a mere FC number - it never tells the full story IMO.

Furthermore, you must remember that Symonds is certainly a far better batsman than Hodge in limited overs cricket, which is half of the modern game.

And is irrelevant to Test matches.

And then you haven't considered bowling and fielding, two more categories that Symonds wins.

Because, as shown by Paul Collingwood, fielding has no relevance on batting.

 

[Shahid_Afridi_6]

Good move to drop Clarke.

Yep.

I like the look of their batting order now.

 

[Shahid_Afridi_6]

Stuff Bravo.

That's not very nice.

 

[Shahid_Afridi_6]

The Australian team seem to be very good at intimidating the umpires with their appealing..

England are the main protagonists in that department.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

England are the main protagonists in that department.

That's repetitive. That's repetitive.

 

[Shahid_Afridi_6]

Goddamnit. Why did they have to run out poor Clown...

This blokes hilarious.

 

[age_master]

Symonds vs Hodge:

Bowling and fielding Symonds wins by alot

Batting: Hodge isn't as consistant as people like to think, and he is nowhere near as devistating as Symonds. personally i would much rather watch Symonds bat. Symonds is also quicker between the wickets.