Australia A tour of Zimbabwe

[sifter132]

^Hehe, I'd like to see that.

Yes please. Mo Asif and Zaheer Khan are hardly pace merchants but they can hit a lovely line and use the seam like a dream. Such under-rated qualities. Our bowlers never bowl as a team and never seem to help each other out by buliding pressure. They are all busy trying to bowl wicket-taking deliveries. It can make for quite disgusting viewing as in the Ashes. I'd probably weep if I watched an Aus team in the field where the bowlers made the batsmen really think about what they were doing nearly every ball, instead of 'will I help that half-volley on the pads down to fine leg' or 'will I belt that short wide trash square to the boundary?'

Oh amen brother, tell me about it. Even the normally consistent Hilfenhaus was drifting onto the pads far too often in the Ashes. There was a massive difference between the bowling performance of the 2 sides, except for Mitch magic in Perth. And even then he needed the support of the others: Hilf was at his best in Perth and Harris got the other breakthroughs. TEAM bowling, definitely missed at present I agree.

If Copeland can hit 130kph, then I say he's in. He's only a young guy - he can get stronger right?


Oh, and great win last night Saffer boys choke as well as their senior counterparts... Well not really. Great to Ferguson and Marsh do well. Ferguson in for White ASAP please...

 

[aussie1st]

McDonald isn't that slow. He can bowl mid 80's without too much strain.

In the test series against SA he was in the low 120s. It seems he has gained a touch of pace going by a couple of balls from in the IPL I saw on youtube.

Awesome win by the A boys, Mitch Marsh won't be too far away from the ODI team if he keeps performing like this. Ferguson should be in the side already, been a rock for the A team. Warner looked to be more like his old self in his short knock. The big let down has been O'Keefe batting, hasn't really delivered the big hits that he showed in Aus.

 

[sifter132]

^Yah, it's a pretty good situation for Aus. Ponting and Mike Hussey will be replaced longterm by Shaun Marsh and Ferguson, while Dave Hussey or White will be the #6 and Steve Smith or Mitch Marsh the #7.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

^Yah, it's a pretty good situation for Aus. Ponting and Mike Hussey will be replaced longterm by Shaun Marsh and Ferguson, while Dave Hussey or White will be the #6 and Steve Smith or Mitch Marsh the #7.

I have a feeling I will be banging on about this for years to come, but Mitchell Marsh shouldn't be a 7, he should be batting in the top 4 once he's got more experience of first class and one day cricket at least at state level. Anybody who has watched him bat would have to believe that he's wasted down the order.

He's not like Smith - who is dependent on his eye with an fugly technique and endless wriggling around at the crease - Marsh keeps his head still and plays properly. Drives the ball beautifully and can use his feet against spin.

 

[sifter132]

Yes I agree, well said about Marsh, but I'm afraid he's got zero chance of getting a top 4 berth. Look at guys like Symonds, White, Watson who have all had to do their time at #7. There are just too many batsmen and if you are a young all-rounder you get no say in your spot in the order. The best chance Mitch Marsh has of batting higher is if Paine/next Aussie keeper fails dismally at opening and gets shoved down to #7, then everyone gets moved up one spot so he can bat at #6.

 

[aussie1st]

His time will come but there is no way he'll be flung straight into the top 4. It all depends on the team balance, if we don't have a big hitter down the order then the selectors will look towards Mitch filling that role. He'll probably end up at 5 doing the Symonds role and the role White was meant to do.

Decent enough performance by Zimbabwe although it's basically their top team so not good for cricket that two A team sides can beat them.

 

[angryangy]

7 isn't really a specialist position. You mention Watson, White and Symonds, but you could also recall Mike Hussey batting at 7 for quite a while, or even Michael Clarke, who spent more time at 7 more than either White or Symonds. Teams are inevitably forced to make changes and thus opportunity knocks. The players who get stuck at 7 just can't bat well enough to get a chance up the order.

And to be honest, watching the Windies at the moment, I can't say I see the point of getting all your young top order players and batting them up the order. Have them learn to fight their way into the game, not fight their way out.

I think what's more important is that someone like Marsh is allowed to be a pure batsman at the lower levels, like he's doing for Aus A. A good batsman can learn to be a bit of a thug; it doesn't necessarily work backwards.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

What I meant is that Marsh should be playing in the top four of state cricket. He won't as we have a long line-up of in situ underachievers in those positions in the Warriors. The Warriors have him batting at 8 sometimes, which is nuts.

He'll never get to be as good a batsman as he can at this rate. And batting is his strength.

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I think what's more important is that someone like Marsh is allowed to be a pure batsman at the lower levels, like he's doing for Aus A. A good batsman can learn to be a bit of a thug; it doesn't necessarily work backwards.

This is exactly what I meant. I'm not sure the Warriors will give him the chance for a few years though.

 

[cricketmad09]

It seems that Aus A are sensing superiority and progressively decreasing their batting order as the series goes on. In the last game, Wade and Maddinson got a run, but weren't required to bat; now they're not even selected in a team that has basically 3 batsmen.

lol they're injured mate. why would they get picked and not bat and then be left out of the team for the next match if they were perfectly healthy?

they dragged Phil Hughes over from the 4 day squad to help out in the final this evening. Good decision considering he scored 138.

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What I meant is that Marsh should be playing in the top four of state cricket. He won't as we have a long line-up of in situ underachievers in those positions in the Warriors. The Warriors have him batting at 8 sometimes, which is nuts.

He'll never get to be as good a batsman as he can at this rate. And batting is his strength.

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This is exactly what I meant. I'm not sure the Warriors will give him the chance for a few years though.

Remember he's only 19 years old. He's got plenty of time to develop. I've seen him bat a couple of times and he looked pretty ordinary and considering his first class record I think he's definitely not ready for international level yet. Remember he's only 19 so theres nothing wrong with letting him master his trade at state level before he takes on the big boys in the international arena.

 

[aussie1st]

Finally got the Warner and Hughes showing rolling in the 50 over format. Usually reserved for T20 matches. Might be just what Warner needs to get his OD game back up to scratch.

 

[Num]

South Africa A have made a solid start to the chase, 2/115 off the first 20 overs. Australia A perhaps 20/30 runs short of where they should have been given the start provided by Hughes and Warner.

I'm particularly impressed by Hughes' innings, if you take out the nine 4s in his 138, he scored 102 off 131 balls, a strike-rate of 77.86 without any boundary hits. For the sake of comparison, in Warner's innings of 120, he hit ten 4s and three 6s, so if you take out those, that's 62 off 114, a strike-rate of 54.39 without any boundary hits.

 

[Doodlesweaver]

lol they're injured mate. why would they get picked and not bat and then be left out of the team for the next match if they were perfectly healthy?

they dragged Phil Hughes over from the 4 day squad to help out in the final this evening. Good decision considering he scored 138.

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Remember he's only 19 years old. He's got plenty of time to develop. I've seen him bat a couple of times and he looked pretty ordinary and considering his first class record I think he's definitely not ready for international level yet. Remember he's only 19 so theres nothing wrong with letting him master his trade at state level before he takes on the big boys in the international arena.

No, he's not ready for international level, I haven't said he was. I'm not even sure if he's stopped growing yet! My point is that he should be batting higher up for his state team. But being a Warriors fan is an exercise in annoyance.

 

[stefan]

This triangular showed why rudolph simple has to be recalled to the SA side. Best player in our side by quite some distance. VDM,theron and rossouw also had decent series but not enough to really push for a national spot.

 

[aussie1st]

Great to see the closeness between SA and Australia continues at the A level. Marsh seems to have that knack for taking wickets a bit like Watson, wouldn't mind seeing him given a go soon as he looks like the guy the selectors have been looking for at 7.

Lyon surely must be the backup ODI spinner or at worst 3rd behind Hauritz if he's still in the frame.

 

[sifter132]

Great win by the Aussie boys last night. Another last over choke by the SA lads

7 isn't really a specialist position. You mention Watson, White and Symonds, but you could also recall Mike Hussey batting at 7 for quite a while, or even Michael Clarke, who spent more time at 7 more than either White or Symonds. Teams are inevitably forced to make changes and thus opportunity knocks. The players who get stuck at 7 just can't bat well enough to get a chance up the order.

Well Dave Hussey too is the incumbent #7 after the WC... It's just that Australia have their 2 all-rounders (Watson + Haddin) opening which is unusual as one of them would usually bat at #7.

No, he's not ready for international level, I haven't said he was. I'm not even sure if he's stopped growing yet! My point is that he should be batting higher up for his state team. But being a Warriors fan is an exercise in annoyance.

I get ya...And completely agree. Maybe Mickey Arthur knows how good Mitch will be and is trying to stymie his development by batting him at #8.

I'm particularly impressed by Hughes' innings, if you take out the nine 4s in his 138, he scored 102 off 131 balls, a strike-rate of 77.86 without any boundary hits. For the sake of comparison, in Warner's innings of 120, he hit ten 4s and three 6s, so if you take out those, that's 62 off 114, a strike-rate of 54.39 without any boundary hits.

I think Hughes could/should be getting a go with the ODI team, even if his domestic OD form hasn't been fantastic. I just think it would help to develop his Test game a lot, giving him confidence against international level bowlers. He's got the shots for OD cricket certainly.