Australia tour of England June-August 2012

[Owzat]

That one England win in the last nine stat was correct in all ODIs, most of those were in a 6-1 series win down under. England are capable of beating anyone on their day, as proven yesterday, but lack a solid set-up to win a World Cup.

By the time the 2015 World Cup comes around I trust we'll have moved some of the regulars on and have a younger, fitter, more balanced side.

 

[sifter132]

I guess they've have taken the batting PP a bit earlier.At that moment they just had to rotate the strike and look to fetch some boundries now and then.The required runrate wasn't that much high.Now as result of it,they've lost wickets and still 17 overs are left.Things are looking much difficult for Aussies.Michael Clarke should now come up with a captain's knock

That was my initial reaction, but I think teams really miss a trick with the batting powerplay by not sending in someone expendable after a wicket goes, especially when chasing. As soon as Dave Hussey was out I would have put in Brett Lee, told him to take an over to get his eye in and then bash anything he fancied. If Lee gets out, there isn't much loss and Smith can come in and play like he was going to anyway. But by sending in Smith, it essentially wastes the powerplay and just put undue pressure on Smith and Clarke to play some big shots so that they justify the decision to take it.

That was where Australia lost it, Dave Hussey wasting balls and then not attacking the powerplay. It badly needed someone to come in and hit Bresnan, Finn and Broad off their line and length...which is why Clarke would have called for the PP in the first place...

The other factor they mentioned on commentary was taking the powerplay just after Swann had come back for his 2nd spell. I loved that move, as Cook would have liked to bowl Swann a lot more, but the powerplay disrupted that plan. It payed off too because around the 40 over region (where Swann normally would have bowled out already) he went for a couple of expensive overs.

AUS middle-order for ODIs at bit soft at the moment.

As they build intially towards the ICC Champions trophy next year, a seemingly rejuvenated Cameron White needs to be recalled, while hopefully Shaun Marsh can get his mojo back soon.

Also Christian and Mitchell Marsh would be better all-rounder option that Smith at this stage.

Just a batsman instead of Smith would be good. He's not going to bowl with Watson, Clarke and Hussey there. I'm happy giving him a shot in this series though. He was impressive in the IPL, and it's the perfect time with no Mike Hussey.

 

[War]

Just a batsman instead of Smith would be good. He's not going to bowl with Watson, Clarke and Hussey there. I'm happy giving him a shot in this series though. He was impressive in the IPL, and it's the perfect time with no Mike Hussey.

Well yea with Mussey out this series and career basically could come to and end at any time, Smith on form was probably the best option to give a run in this series. Just that i'm not convinced about him.

Also i really don't like a top order with Bailey in their. Too similar to Clarke and i think in an ODI team only one batsman of such style should be in.

Best AUS ODI team once all are fit and available:

Warner
Wade
Watson
Clarke
Dussey
Mussey
M Marsh
Christian
Lee
Cummins
Doherty

White
Pattinson/Harris
Bollinger/McKay
Bailey

Essential idea is to have a solid batting down @ # 8. Aus in ODI cricket should utilize the all-round strength of M Marsh & Christian like S Africa used to do in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Their is enough good fast bowlers around to find a solid new-ball partner for Lee.

 

[angryangy]

Nah. Ideally Johnson plays. I know nobody wants to hear that but it is totally true.

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Though for what it is worth, I am not sober at this point in time. I welcome your riposte.

 

[War]

Nah. Ideally Johnson plays. I know nobody wants to hear that but it is totally true.

Ideally if whenever he gets a chance again he proves his bowling is improved and his batting is more than robust swipes across the line - then he will play.

Cause even right now their is no inclination that he will picked on sentiment into the starting line-up.

 

[angryangy]

He is as good as anyone in ODIs.

 

[aussie1st]

Definitely Johnson over Christian and that is coming from a Johnson basher!

 

[swacker]

Not the worst performance and some signs of life. Wade looked good and I don't think there will be too much debate over who is Aussie wickie from here.

Smith gets found out against decent attacks too often. Hopefully they end his guaranteed spot in the side during this series.

 

[Owzat]

Is there a particular reason Smith is in the side? While I'm sure his 8 runs and not bowling were essential to the aussie cause, what has he ever done?

SPD Smith (31 ODIs)

351 runs @ 21.94 (HS 46no, SR 86.24)
22 wkts @ 33.50 (BB 3/33, SR 38.41, ER 5.23)

Nothing special there, not a fifty in sight and his bowling has been very ordinary, and indeed not even used in the past two matches. He's bowled 24 times in ODIs.

0 wkts : x10
1 wkt : x7
2 wkts : x6
3 wkts : x1

So 42% of the time he doesn't take a wicket, in fairness he doesn't always bowl that many overs with an average of nearly six overs per ODI he actually bowls in.

Bowls 01-08 : 9 wkts @ 33.44
Bowls 09-16 : 9 wkts @ 22.89
Bowls 17-24 : 4 wkts @ 57.50

That middle spell looks quite handy, but that was eight wickets in one series against England down under where he took 8/138 in the series. He took out only England batsmen and Prior, no rabbits, and including Bell twice and Morgan twice who respectively averaged 22.00 and 17.67 in the series. Hussey took seven wickets in the series, England were just too poor for words with only one batsman making more than 200 runs in the (seven match) series. England's joint best bowlers took seven wickets, same number as Hussey.

Over half of his innings have come against England, 11 innings, 203 runs @ 25.38. Surprisingly what few innings he has had against non-Test playing nations plus Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have produced just 34 runs @ 11.33. Equally his bowling record against the same sides is 3 wkts @ 60.00

Does that make his record against the relative 'big guns' look impressive?

vs ENG/IND/NZ/PAK/SAF/SL/WIN

317 runs @ 24.39
19 wkts @ 29.32

Still a poor man's all-rounder, you might just about pick him as a spinner for his batting ability, but I would have thought Australia strong enough in batting not to need him.

 

[Biggy]

I thought they'd gotten rid of Smith for Christian? If he's not bowling then he shouldn't be near the side, even with him bowling I wouldn't have him in.

 

[angryangy]

i dunno, maybe they think he can improve

 

[Owzat]

i dunno, maybe they think he can improve

I might reply "can he get any worse?" but I've know players with worse averages that started off only slightly less bad, just they don't normally play for decent sides......................

Maybe he sucks in more ways than one, say not only in front of the selectors while he's playing cricket............................

 

[Doodlesweaver]

i dunno, maybe they think he can improve

Yes, that's exactly what it is. He's still only 23 so he has a lot of time. It's just that no matter how many chances he gets he never does anything that's outstanding and he's played a lot of matches now.

He's also come in with time to get set and then play shots a fair few times, he even had a chance to do that on Friday and as usual it resulted in stuff all in terms of usefulness to the team.

Having said all that, I think they should pick him for today's match. They picked him in the first 11 so they obviously think he is in their best 11 out of this lot on tour. Swapping around after one match is stupid.

 

[aussie1st]

Cummins is becoming injury prone, not a good sign early in his career.

 

[midgetwars]

If Johnson's back in the team wouldn't that screw up the swing ?