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Road to the 2019 Ashes

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
This is genuine.
I cannot stop people enjoying things, but that does not mean sometimes they are bad. I am sure that some murders enjoy murdering people, should they be allowed to enjoy that as well? Of course this is a far more extreme example but it illustrates my point. Just because something can be enjoyed does not mean the thing is good or should be enjoyed.
Okay.
 

aussie tragic

International Captain
How are the Australian and England Test incumbents doing for selection in the first Ashes Test?

Australia (vs Sri Lanka, Feb 1-4)

Harris, Burns, Khawaja, Labuschagne, Head, Patterson, Paine (+), Cummins, Starc, Richardson, Lyon

England (vs West Indies, Feb 9-12)

Burns, Jennings, Denly, Root, Butler, Stokes, Bairstow (+), Ali, Broad, Wood, Anderson


For Australia, we have 2 incumbants ill/injured in Burns and Richardson, while Hazlewood is back from injury and Smith/Warner return. This makes it pretty easy to have Warner replace Burns and Hazlewood replace Richardson, so that just leaves who to drop for Smith.

Before his impressive county stint, I would have said easy choice to replace Labuschagne, however now I'm not sure. Head made 161 and 59* in his last Test, while Patterson made 114* so either way it'll be a harsh call.
 
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Spark

Global Moderator
I still think that Richardson, if fit, is legitimately good enough to push Starc and Hazlewood for a spot. Although much depends on how the pitches actually turn out; it seems to be a bit of a lottery this year.

If I was picking the batsmen purely based on "who would I trust to do well" Head would be the first to go. I firmly believe that Anderson will eat him alive if he plays. It'd be massively unfair though.
 

stephen

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I still think that Richardson, if fit, is legitimately good enough to push Starc and Hazlewood for a spot. Although much depends on how the pitches actually turn out; it seems to be a bit of a lottery this year.

If I was picking the batsmen purely based on "who would I trust to do well" Head would be the first to go. I firmly believe that Anderson will eat him alive if he plays. It'd be massively unfair though.
You think Concrete Feet might struggle against the world's premiere swing bowler in swinging conditions? Surely not.
 

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Agreed on Head. I like his jib, but not his technique.

What I'd like to see at this stage is:

Warner
Khawaja
Smith
Patterson
Pukovski
Labuschange
Paine +
Cummins
Starc
Lyon
Hazelwood

As much as I am unconvinced about Labuschagne, it's hard to deny the test incumbent guy who has almost made 1000 runs in 9 first class matches in English conditions this summer.

I'd love to see Pukovski given a spot but if management thinks it'd be better to ease him in in a lesser series I could see the sense in that.
 

GoodAreasShane

Cricketer Of The Year
I wouldn't even remotely contemplate playing Pucovski in the Ashes, no doubt he's a very promising talent, but to throw a player with so little FC experience in the biggest Test series of them all is a poor idea I reckon. It is a huge thing as much mentally as anything else, could really do more harm than good in the long term.

Haseeb Hameed springs to mind, and also Renshaw to a certain extent

Realistically I see Head Patterson and Labuschagne (and maybe Wade at a stretch) as fighting for two middle order spots
 
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aussie tragic

International Captain
Interesting match up Lancs vs Durham.

Anderson has 0-28 off 10 overs, however Bancroft has 26 off 26 balls from him (so other 34 balls to English bats went for 2 runs)

Bancroft currently 54*


Edit: Okay Anderson had the last laugh bowling Bancroft for 77 and taking 2-35 off 17 overs
 
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aussie tragic

International Captain
And Labuschagne is first player past 1000 runs this county season. After his 106 in first innings he's currently 74* in second innings giving him 1032 runs.

Pretty much locked in his Ashes squad spot you would think
 

Spark

Global Moderator
And Labuschagne is first player past 1000 runs this county season. After his 106 in first innings he's currently 74* in second innings giving him 1032 runs.

Pretty much locked in his Ashes squad spot you would think
Yeah, as much as his initial selection rankled, you can't really complain about a bloke getting picked if he's scoring that many runs in such a short space of time in the exact same country as the next big series.
 

wrongun

Banned
That's why they're called highlights tbf.

Going to be an odd transition from watching the WC to the Ashes. Haven't watched any white ball cricket since about January.
Wasn't NZ vs Bangladesh the last test before the white ball barrage?
 

howardj

International Coach
Joe Burns has been medically cleared to return to cricket. Great news

https://news.google.com/articles/CB...5ODA4LS1zcHQuaHRtbA?hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
Great news.

Deserves first crack at the Poms alongside Warner

Burns averages in the 40s in Test cricket, and is the incumbent who scored 180 in Australia's most recent Test

This is not kid's cricket where you have a trial match (Aus A v Aust) and the highest scorer gets first prize

It's professional cricket, and it's to be expected that the selectors will act professionally haha and not have a bout of amnesia
 

Flem274*

123/5
i think starc and cummins will cruise in on white ball form (which selectors like). haze could be in trouble by not playing.
 

aussie tragic

International Captain
England has named the following Lions XI

James Bracey, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Lewis Gregory, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Sam Northeast, Jamie Porter, Ollie Robinson, Dom Sibley

I see Sibley, Northeast and Crawley are 3 of the top 4 run scorers in Division 1 (Ballance at 3rd is missing) so assume they are hot for the first Ashes Test?
 

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