Like it or not, the selection of Hilfenhaus was a master-stroke that took a lot of b8lls to pull off. To drop a bowler who is on ranked one of the top 5 test bowlers in the world for an unproven bowler like Hilfenhaus might not have seemed like the right decision at first, but given the conditions that we got at Cardiff it was very plausible that Clark would have been rendered ineffective.
That's not how it works in Richard's world though. There's no such thing as a master-stroke. It's just an error that came off. It remains in the error tally nonetheless.
I don't, but I do take note of it. In that, I read scorecards and read what people write.
So if you had the choice between Onions and Panesar you'd have picked ten men?
It's also very possible that he would've been rendered effective. People are essentially saying "Hilfenhaus bowled well and Clark might not have bowled well so the decision was the right one". Which, clearly, makes as little sense as the notion that selectors know how someone is going to bowl.
Actually it isn't. Read the posts of every single person at the time the game started. The number of people expecting Hilfenhaus and Hauritz to bowl well could be numbered approximately zero. Ergo, it makes perfect sense to say that no-one had reason to suspect it - because they didn't. Evidence all pointed in the other direction. Now that hindsight can be used, and we know that something happened which there was little indication was going to happen, we can be wise after the event.
There's no evidence at all about how Clark would have bowled on that deck - because he didn't bowl on it. Ergo, I, or anyone else, cannot be and am not wrong in supposing that he could have bowled better than Hilfenhaus.
Haaa, real talk yo...
No one, not even the selectors, know for sure how anyone is going to bowl. The bottom line was that Hilfenhaus was a conditions related selection, which involved thoughtful thinking because in terms of percentages, the Australian selectors knew that he was more likely to do better than Clark given Clark's recent appalling performances on the slower tracks.
Personally I don't happen to think that Clark's inability to run through the likes of Gambhir, Sehwag, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly in considerable heat really relates to how good a job he could do on England's line-up, however similar the surface.
If Clark had been fit to tour South Africa in 2008/09 does anyone seriously believe Hilfenhaus would've played?
He was the main in posession just by the fact he played that last test, not because his performances guaranteed him a spot in the first test though. Hifly was always seen a 5th choice coming into the series, Lee & Clark where always battling to partner Johnson/Siddle.
Disagree slightly here. Firstly he didn't poorly in the first 2 test in SA. He wasn't fanatisc - but was solid enough. His figures like Lee in 2005, dont reflect how well he bowled.
From reports Clark was ineffective and generally struggled to create much of an impact on a similar pitch down in Worcester. Its not a question about considerable heat, FFS they toured India in October when its hardly summer, its the fact that he could have bowled 2000 overs and still struggled to get India out.
I watched most of that match and he bowled damn well and was extremely unlucky to avoid picking-up a decent haul. That's why I maintain that the only fair reason for his exclusion would be if he lacked fitness.
I'm no expert, but I've always had the impression that India in October is warmer than England in July if not by as much as India in July is warmer than England in July.
But as I say - India's batting is far stronger than England's, and also has less of a weakness against the nagging type of bowling.
Seems quite strange then that the only wickets he took were a couple of lower order wickets. Even the cricinfo authors werent convinced: "However, Stuart Clark has some doubts, especially if slow and low pitches like this one are on offer around the country over the next two months. Like Johnson, he was unable to break through and tried not to grow frustrated at his lack of penetration, bounce or seam movement. Ponting loaded his fielders straight and until Lee started steaming the slip cordon was heavily trimmed."
Which is irrelevant because Clark grew up and played cricket in Australia not England.
You cant really be very nagging, if the wicket keeper is standing up to you and you dont have the requisite skills to get past the outside edge. Me and my grandpa could have scored runs against Clark in India, it has nothing to do with the quality of India's batting lineup.
March, April and May are usually the warmest and most humid months of the year. Most schools in India have their summer breaks between March and May.
