Your gutsy calls for 2020

[NotMcKenzie]

Doubt it, because it's not the Australian way to decide that because you keep getting out to a certain shot (to a certain bowler), you maybe won't play it.

 

[Prince EWS]

Root to get the arse from the test captaincy.
Jofra Archer to miss more than two tests through injury.
Simon Harmer and/or Kyle Abbott announce their intention to qualify for England.

I'm pretty sure Harmer already has. I read something about him trying to get his visa backdated or something like that.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton and Amar Virdi to play test match cricket this year

 

[ImpatientLime]

england will lose both home test series this summer v west indies and pakistan

 

[Beamer]

My two are Brandon king to establish himself as a test batsman in our middle order and both Shai Hope and Kraigg Braithwaite to get dropped from tests for non performance.

I'd love to make a gutsy call on Pooran making his test debut but I don't believe our selectors have the foresight for that.

Outside of Windies I'm going to say Olly Pope will establish himself in England's middle order as test class.

 

[ImpatientLime]

kraigg has been piss poor for a couple of years now.

i guess the only thing keeping him in the team is a complete lack of alternatives.

 

[Beamer]

kraigg has been piss poor for a couple of years now.

i guess the only thing keeping him in the team is a complete lack of alternatives.

Yep exactly. They'd be brave to drop him as all our openers are awful but how long can they let him go on averaging under 10? He needs runs in this domestic season.

 

[stephen]

By the end of the year Labuschagne will be considered the biggest wicket in the Australian side.

 

[cnerd123]

By the end of the year Labuschagne won't be in the Australian side anymore

 

[Burgey]

Australia will roll India 3-0 in the test series out here next summer.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Australia will roll India 3-0 in the test series out here next summer.

I think this might actually happen. Only makes the fact that australia banned their best players and gave India a chance even more hilarious.

 

[Burgey]

It’s a win-win for both sets of fans. India gets a series win, Australia gets to say it was a hollow, meaningless win (which of course it was).

 

[vcs]

It will end 1-1 with a couple of bore draws and Aussie fans will waah about how CA doctors their home pitches to favor Indian batsmen.

 

[cnerd123]

Australia will roll India 3-0 in the test series out here next summer.

the fact that you think this is a gutsy call is funny

 

[honestbharani]

Anyone else find it funny that McGrath was saying this attack can compare with any ATG attack and yet did not say the same thing about the same attack last year?


I am not making of Australia here, just pointing out how important a side's batting is when we start to rate their bowling attack.

 

[NotMcKenzie]

I'd say that compared to last year, they are bowling with a greater amount of care and planning, although one will have to wait for somewhat tougher opposition to see whether that's the case. The previous season, Aus., IMO, generally seemed directionless and relying on 'pure talent' and 'running in and giving it one's best' particularly when faced with more defensive batting. India seemed to actually have plans to bowl to our batsmen and find individual weaknesses whereas Australia did not. We'll see whether or not they have learnt soon enough.

Context is key with everything, and this includes more than simple pairing-up.

 

[honestbharani]

Yes, context indeed is key but not in the way you are stating it. I don't think anyone suddenly became better bowlers or coaches but what has surely helped is the fact that your batsmen bat better and allow time for your bowlers and allow them to attack. Obviously batting first in all 3 tests against NZ is a big help too. Like I said, the context is definitely lacking in McGrath's statement but I was pointing out how much the better batting is helping the same bowling line up look so much better.

 

[NUFAN]

Why are you calling it the same bowling attack when Patto wasn't playing, Starc has changed his action with good success and Cummins while very good, is now the world number 1 bowler.

 

[NotMcKenzie]

Yes, context indeed is key but not in the way you are stating it.

Actually, it is, which is why it is important to rely on judgement to either temper or augment things with observation where possible. Our batting was I'd say somehwat better during the Ashes than against India, but I thought we often lost direction at points too when bowling, although that wasn't necessarily the same attack. I'd wait to see how we perform against stronger sides before making a call, but it is possible to make improvement in a short amount of time.

Of course, there is improvement and there is improvement. One cannot turn Peter Siddle into Pat Cummins overnight—or ever—, but one can actually think about where one is placing the ball and that constantly bowling into a batsman's legs can leak runs, and a disciplined performance can make quite an apparent improvement. I remember watching a highlights video of the 96/97 WI visit here, and the commentator (whoever it was) noted that the WI looked much more energetic and disciplined in the 3rd test than the 2nd (which had a shambolic and entertaining performance from what I saw), and they won that too. Similarly, in the current Aus-NZ series, we've been good in 1st inns, and then we come out in the 2nd without any focus or sense of application, and the difference is quite obvious.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yes, context indeed is key but not in the way you are stating it. I don't think anyone suddenly became better bowlers or coaches but what has surely helped is the fact that your batsmen bat better and allow time for your bowlers and allow them to attack. Obviously batting first in all 3 tests against NZ is a big help too. Like I said, the context is definitely lacking in McGrath's statement but I was pointing out how much the better batting is helping the same bowling line up look so much better.

Starc is bowling much better now. And doing it with a degree of consistency which was never there in his bowling prior to this season.