Possible Ashes stating line-ups & England possible touring squad

[Poker Boy]

As an England fan I'll pick the Aussie team I DON'T want to see on November 23rd. Two bits of advice: play Gilchrist at 6(he has a better Test average than Flintoff) that lets Australia pick five bowlers.. And play Mitchell Johnson - England know nothing about him and he could be a shock weapon as Iverson, Jeff Thomson and Hogg were on past Ashes tours. The Aussie team I'd be most worried about - Hayden,Langer,Ponting,M Hussey,Clarke,Gilchrist,Warne,Lee,Johnson,McGrath,MaGill. I hope they don't play that team!

 

[tooextracool]

I certainly would play Macgill and Warne as much as possible in the series especially when there is no third seamer crying out for selection. If the conditions favor pace then obviously i would go in with 3 seamers but otherwise Macgill and Warne for every other test match IMO would be the right way to go considering Englands rather ordinary ability to play wrist spin.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

Play your best bowlers, however they get the ball down.

 

[tooextracool]

Play your best bowlers, however they get the ball down.

To me Macgill is a better bowler than Clarke and Bracken combined anywhere in the world. doesnt say much about macgill, says more about clarke and bracken.

 

[howardj]

As an England fan I'll pick the Aussie team I DON'T want to see on November 23rd. Two bits of advice: play Gilchrist at 6(he has a better Test average than Flintoff) that lets Australia pick five bowlers.. And play Mitchell Johnson - England know nothing about him and he could be a shock weapon as Iverson, Jeff Thomson and Hogg were on past Ashes tours. The Aussie team I'd be most worried about - Hayden,Langer,Ponting,M Hussey,Clarke,Gilchrist,Warne,Lee,Johnson,McGrath,MaGill. I hope they don't play that team!

Madness picking Gilchrist at number six.

Check out his form with the bat in the last Ashes series, and over the last 18 months.

Australia do not need five bowlers - just four bowlers bowling well.

They only need five when they have Gillespie/Kasprowicz sending down pies, like they were in Ashes 2005.

 

[marc71178]

Madness picking Gilchrist at number six.

He did say "as an England fan"

 

[Poker Boy]

I do think IF you want to play Warne and MaGill you need three seamers - what if England win the toss, or McGrath or Lee break down? And if not Gilchrist at 6, who? Shane Watson - bits and pieces player. Andrew Symonds - the poor man's Flintoff. You don't need to look for a bowling all-rounder when you have Gilchrist - and Gilchrist at 6 worked perfectly well in West Indies in 2003 and his bete-noire of 2005 Flintoff might not even be fit. PS- Clark, Kasprowicz, Tait struggling - Australia might have to play 2 seamers and 2 spinners because that might be all they have standing!!!

 

[aussie tragic]

I do think IF you want to play Warne and MaGill you need three seamers - what if England win the toss, or McGrath or Lee break down? And if not Gilchrist at 6, who? Shane Watson - bits and pieces player. Andrew Symonds - the poor man's Flintoff. You don't need to look for a bowling all-rounder when you have Gilchrist - and Gilchrist at 6 worked perfectly well in West Indies in 2003 and his bete-noire of 2005 Flintoff might not even be fit. PS- Clark, Kasprowicz, Tait struggling - Australia might have to play 2 seamers and 2 spinners because that might be all they have standing!!!

Shane Watson FC record: 3812 Runs @ 50.15, 11 centuries, 18 Fifties; 96 Wkts @ 31.03, SR 51.7

Doesn't sound like a "bits and pieces" player to me

 

[Poker Boy]

Yes good first classs record but what's his Test and ODI record like? Not every player with a good FC record hacks it at Test level - Ramprskash and Lehmann to name but two.

 

[aussie tragic]

Yes good first classs record but what's his Test and ODI record like? Not every player with a good FC record hacks it at Test level - Ramprskash and Lehmann to name but two.

While English are famous for having great FC records and crap test records (e.g. Ramprakash, Hick), How can you say Lehmann couldn't hack it

Lehmann has 1798 runs @ 44.95 and IMO the only reason he wasn't an all-time great was because the strength of the Aussie Team meant he couldn't get a game (same reason Hussey didn't get in the team untill he was 30).

 

[benchmark00]

I can see Watson making a bucketload of runs this summer. One of the best techniques in the game.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

One doesn't average that much in Aus FC cricket if you can't play, we'll see how he goes this winter I reckon he'll do okay without pulling any trees up.

And yeah Boof was unlucky tbh.

 

[Poker Boy]

While English are famous for having great FC records and crap test records (e.g. Ramprakash, Hick), How can you say Lehmann couldn't hack it

Lehmann has 1798 runs @ 44.95 and IMO the only reason he wasn't an all-time great was because the strength of the Aussie Team meant he couldn't get a game (same reason Hussey didn't get in the team untill he was 30).

But wern't two of Lehmann's centuries against the "might" of Bangladesh? And he didn't get runs in 5 Ashes tests at home against a poor and out-classed England (I'll admit that!)

 

[Nate]

To me Macgill is a better bowler than Clarke and Bracken combined anywhere in the world. doesnt say much about macgill, says more about clarke and bracken.

One day, Bracken will shine in a Test Match, when it matters. And when he does, I won`t rub it in your face. But you`ll have learnt something.

 

[tooextracool]

I do think IF you want to play Warne and MaGill you need three seamers - what if England win the toss, or McGrath or Lee break down? And if not Gilchrist at 6, who? Shane Watson - bits and pieces player. Andrew Symonds - the poor man's Flintoff. You don't need to look for a bowling all-rounder when you have Gilchrist - and Gilchrist at 6 worked perfectly well in West Indies in 2003 and his bete-noire of 2005 Flintoff might not even be fit. PS- Clark, Kasprowicz, Tait struggling - Australia might have to play 2 seamers and 2 spinners because that might be all they have standing!!!

Yet if Bracken was picked instead of Macgill and one of Lee and Mcgrath broke down how would the situation be made any better? Both Warne and Macgill are good enough to be relied upon when it comes to bowling overs in test match cricket in most conditions,even if one of their fast bowlers was to break down.

 

[tooextracool]

Yes good first classs record but what's his Test and ODI record like? Not every player with a good FC record hacks it at Test level - Ramprskash and Lehmann to name but two.

First Watson is certainly worth his place in the side on his batting alone, anyone whos watched him bat in ODIs can see that. The problem with the Australians is that they continually put him down as a 'all rounder' when hes more a batsman who can bowl a bit. His bowling in Malaysia was better than usual but hes still got a long way to be considered international standard IMO.
As far as Lehmann is concerned, he was probably amongst the top 10 players in the world for a while, and was averaging close to 50 before the very end of his career. Certainly did not 'hack it' at the test level.

 

[tooextracool]

But wern't two of Lehmann's centuries against the "might" of Bangladesh? And he didn't get runs in 5 Ashes tests at home against a poor and out-classed England (I'll admit that!)

yes but 2 of them were also in SL, which is perhaps the toughest place for a team outside the subcontinent to play in.

 

[tooextracool]

One day, Bracken will shine in a Test Match, when it matters. And when he does, I won`t rub it in your face. But you`ll have learnt something.

He may very well do so, in fact i hope he does it as Brisbane. Why you ask? Because im quite certain that if Bracken does well against any side that bats competently it will be with the ball swinging around corners. As such if he does it at Brisbane in the Ashes, you could almost guarantee that he would retain his place for the rest of the Ashes and as an English fan there could be nothing better than having Bracken bowl bowl complete tripe from one end for most of the series.

 

[Nate]

Fair enough.

 

[howardj]

I said it earlier this year, and I will stick to it - Australia should go with Jacques ahead of Langer.