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Got enough Marios in the crowd, it makes sense :D And both teams made exactly the changes I thought...EXCEPT for Mitch Johnson being out. Seems an odd one. In the Test series, Ryan Harris played through pain to make sure the Aussie foot remained on the throat. If there is no injury for...

^Just on team strength, I find it interesting that Perth Scorchers can win when they can barely find a batsman to play for them: Katich came out of retirement, Craig Simmons came from club cricket, Sam Whiteman and Mitch Marsh - 2 all-rounders have been their 3 and 4 for much of the season...and...

I actually really like the basis of Martin Crowe's idea :thumbs Mainly because it gives relevance to the Test series' that are happening right now. There is no 'wait for 4 years and see who's ahead in the rankings' type stuff. It's simple - if you win this year, you play off for the...

Yep it's a bad idea. Will be sending a note to Cricket Australia as suggested by Jarrod Kimber here: Jarrod Kimber: Tell the administrators you're watching them | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo Even if cricket is unofficially run by these 3 countries already, that is no reason to make it...

^Obvious solution is drop Root for a spinner. Broad back in for Rankin. What would your distribution of overs been Owzat? (Given that Rankin couldn't bowl). Seemed Bopara could have been used more, but Cook clearly didn't want to use him right at the death. You'd think they would play...

A-Team tours are where it's at :thumbs Just has so many benefits for both sides. As you say, Touring A teams expose their next generation to foreign conditions and just being in a touring team. Minnows that host get to play more cricket against players who are close to Test standard. I...

Yep, completely right. In a vacuum, with no other factors at play, pace is more difficult. You just have to look at historical strike rates: Doing a quick poke around on Statguru, 62 spinners have taken 100+ Test wickets and only 8 have strike rates below 60. For quicks, 99 have taken 100+...

If the ICC really wanted a Test Championship then they would have one, despite the lack of revenue. Blaming the TV companies is only part of the story. When they blame TV companies, they are basically saying Indian TV is luke-warm on the idea. Fair enough I guess, if India has no guarantee of...

It's almost an impossible task to pick the perfect, most deserving all-time XI based on the most appropriate factors etc. There will ALWAYS be some bias, however small. eg. some former players don't watch a lot of cricket, some watch too much cricket and can't remember what it was like 50 years...

Could be a bit of 'lets not pick him until x-y-z behaviour improves' happening for Mitch Marsh. Not that Christian is an angel either, but I'm guessing those off-field incidents are still talked about. Or...don't look past the political factors either. Picking Marsh after having his brother...

Good idea! I started out with an absolutely all-time one, which kicks arse I must say :yes, even if I did put 2 Englishmen in there... 1 ENG - Jack Hobbs-----------------IND - Sunil Gavaskar 2 SA - Barry Richards 3 AUS - Don Bradman---------------WI - Brian Lara 4 IND - Sachin Tendulkar 5 WI -...

I think you've nailed it. With a quality trio of Anderson/Broad/Swann your 4th bowler could be almost anyone, but its clear that Cook and Flower have preferred Bresnan's control over Finn's ability to strike. Finn just didn't fit their ideal. Now with Swann gone the issue is going to rise...

But just to be devil's advocate...I would argue if you can't bowl yorkers well, like Malinga, you might as well forget them. A yorker gone wrong is either a half-volley or a knee high full toss - 2 of the juiciest balls a batsman will get. Some batsmen play yorkers well too, either by using...

^Think you're all over it dude :thumbs Although I'm sure SA would prefer to find an all-rounder with better batting pedigree at #7 . McLaren only has 3 first class hundreds, and he'd arguably be batting a spot too high for his ability at #7 . Until Duminy produces something consistent, the #7...

So Finn interests me a lot...from my POV it's Cook and Flower who have to cop a lot of the blame for his demise. They never trusted him to bowl in important situations eg. 1st Test of Ashes at Trent Bridge. He bowled a nice spell mid-4th innings there and only got 2 more overs. Big...

Looking ahead? Has to be the extra batsman...Kallis' biggest contribution was with bat and therefore it's his runs that SA is going to need to replace most. Playing an extra bowler to replace his 10 overs per day seems a luxury, particularly when he'd be the 4th seamer behind 3 really good...

Prepare the soapbox :p...but the sad thing is that you can often get away 4 decent bowlers and 10 overs of part time dross these days, especially if you bowl first. Reason is that batting tactics are rigid and boring. Teams these days want to 'bat deep' and have wickets in hand for the end...

Added a poll to make the thread super-exciting!!

Well after he almost got out 4 times it was :D On most days he's out early and England get a sniff. But from 50 onwards, I will agree..Finch was very controlled and smart by that point - lots of 2s. Definitely agree! Having been watching lots of Big Bash, I wonder aloud what skills are on...

Not many votes for Flower thus far...:D Just reiterating the point I made in another thread - players rule in cricket, not coaches/systems like in other sports. Much harder to replace players. In cricket, Coaches basically bring ideas and influence team culture. Obviously England's team...