5th Test: England v Australia at The Oval Aug 21-25, 2013

[sifter132]

I believe our previous 5th Test thread went into the blackhole created by the PlanetCricket time travel machine...

So post what you said yesterday again today


I just want to note that after following the tour match against the English Lions, Australia aren't looking healthy:

For starters, the talk in the media is about replacing Usman Khawaja (4 from 8 balls) with Phil Hughes (30 off 92 balls). If Hughes does come in it will be yet more knee-jerk, gut feel selection. I can't see how you pick a guy based on a scratchy 30 with a straight face. Yes 30 is more runs than 4, but Hughes was sketchy and threw away his start - just as much a sin as scoring 4 in my view.

Second, the batting order! The batting order vs Lions was Cowan, Warner, Hughes, Watson, Smith, Khawaja. Will Watson be batting 4 at The Oval? Will Khawaja be batting 6? I say no to either, so why the hell were they batting at those spots in this game? Wasn't Watson's call - he said he got a list handed to him. Too much bloody tinkering with the order!!! The last time Australia had the same batting order in back to back Tests was in India, tests 1 and 2. That's a long time ago now...

 

[barmyarmy]

I once did this with an entire tour. I was then able to repost and correctly predict the result...

In the spirit of that I think that Kerrigan and Woakes might be in the England squad.

 

[Owzat]

I once did this with an entire tour. I was then able to repost and correctly predict the result...

In the spirit of that I think that Kerrigan and Woakes might be in the England squad.

They are. wtf we want Woakes in there for I don't know, bad enough we have bits n pieces cricketers in the ODI squad without extending it to the Test squad.

BBC Sport - Ashes 2013: Simon Kerrigan and Chris Woakes in England squad

England squad for fifth Test: Alastair Cook (Essex, captain), James Anderson (Lancashire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Simon Kerrigan (Lancashire), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (Sussex), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Chris Tremlett (Surrey), Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)

Woakes (13 ODIs)

141 runs @ 23.50 (includes 4 not outs so 14.1 runs per innings)
15 wkts @ 37.13

Why not go the whole hog and call up Wright and Yardy. Always good to b*tch about selections/certain players, Broad took 11 wickets and it sure got Bell to score some runs!

 

[barmyarmy]

To be honest this is England we're talking about. They're almost certainly going to go Finn/Broad/Anderson.

 

[Haarithan]

Jonathan Aggers predicting it'll be Tremlett over Finn. Hope not.

 

[Rayr27]

They are. wtf we want Woakes in there for I don't know,

In defence of Woakes, his 1st class numbers are outstanding (3000 runs @ 37, 284 wkts @ 25) whereas his domestic white ball stats are pretty much the same as his ODI/t20I stats, worse in the case of his batting. I've never understood why England selected him for limited overs squads. Test call might be a good shout though. Especially in a match with nothing riding on it.

I wonder if any consideration is being given to dropping Bairstow and putting Woakes in at 7 so we can play 2 spinners. Never a bad call at the Oval. And, while I am slightly biased in this regard, I do think Kerrigan deserves a game.

 

[MUFC1987]

I'd certainly be in favour of Woakes coming in for a batsman if he does play. His batting looks really good, so I think he's good enough to bat at 7. The only problem is that he's probably more of a 2nd change bowler, than a first change bowler. By that I mean that I'm not sure he's got enough pace to do real damage, but could do a good workmanlike job, tying up an end for a while. That means they could go with either Finn/Tremlett as I think Woakes would work better as the 4th seamer. Would need to be a real turner to play 2 spinners with Woakes as the 3rd seamer for me.

I'd be surprised if we drop Bairstow though, simply because they're going to want to play 6 batsmen in the away series. Plus Prior's batting is nowhere this summer, so it's not like you've got a better form player in that top 6 ahead of Bairstow.

 

[midgetwars]

There are rumours of Starc replacing Bird, which is just STUPID. If that's the case, why wasn't Bird given a chance to bowl in the tour match?

 

[aussie1st]

Geez there is so much floating around going on. Dropping Khawaja now would be silly. Might as well let him finish out the series. Hughes was unlucky to be dropped in the first place but the only way he should be making the lineup is if Watson is out.

 

[Skater]

Jonathan Aggers predicting it'll be Tremlett over Finn. Hope not.

It took you longer to write Jonathan Aggers than it would have done Jonathan Agnew.

This got lost in the database issues...

The fifth day of the match is my birthday, and wouldn't it be lovely if the match makes it that far and Alastair Cook lifts the urn as a present.

 

[Spickery]

I hope Australia go unchanged into the 5th Test match. Our batting was very poor in the 4th Test but none of the other batsmen in the squad made big scores in the tour match. Phil Hughes was the only batsman with a real chance of breaking into the team but 30 runs shouldn't be enough to warrant selection. Jackson Bird should stay in the team as well. Swapping between Bird and Starc between Tests is not going to help their confidence.

The best thing the selectors can do is not change the team and give players in the team a second chance. This will give them some stability and confidence. Chopping and changing the team will only keep the players on edge and make them question their ability. Injury should be the only reason for changes to be made. The players will know what an honour it is to represent Australia in a Ashes Test match and will be looking to improve on their disappointing performance in their last match.

 

[midgetwars]

Harris must be rested, If he gets injured all hope is lost for the summer. I mean, i doubt Pattinson can maintain fit for the return ashes.

 

[aussie1st]

It does look like Harris will be rested, Bird not getting a game in the tour match kinda of leans that way although logic hasn't been applied much lately.

 

[Spickery]

I don't think we should be resting players at all. Australia are playing in the Ashes and we should be picking our best team to try and beat England in the 5th Test match. England have beaten us in three Test matches so we are hardly at a stage to be resting players. I understand the concern of Ryan Harris breaking down again but he has had a reasonable break between the 4th and 5th Test match, and after the 5th Test he will get three months off before the Ashes series in Australia. Any of our fast bowlers could potentially break down but we can't let that stop us from picking our best side to take on England. Brad Haddin has also said he is strongly against resting players in the 5th Test match.

 

[Skater]

If I was in charge I'd pick this England team:

Cook
Root
Trott
Pietersen
Bell
Prior
Woakes
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett

Tremlett in for the injured Bresnan, and all rounder Woakes in for Bairstow, who I have had enough of.