Australia Team Discussion

[***Wiljoy]

I am getting sick to the back teeth seeing Wanqer Watsons name in an Aussie team sheet IMO he is the most overrated player in international cricket that I have EVER seen,when Australia were in a bad way and watson came in to bat he invariably failed,it appears to me that the only time he got a decent score was when other team mates had already score big innings, surely Australia should be nurturing young players rather than keep a clown in the team that has neither ability or temperament to deserve being chosen by Australia. I have seen him several times when he has reached the 90s his face goes white with shattered nerves and more often than not fail to reach his 100,on one occasion he was on 98 and he was dropped twice before being dismissed still short of his ton.

 

[Ohm]

Michael Clarke comeback: Ex-Australia captain to come out of retirement - BBC Sport

Well, he's just 34. Perhaps, not too late to retire. And good thing that he has thought about reversing his earlier decision. I think he should play for 3-4 more years. At least he should hang around there in domestic circuit.

 

[bigred]

There's a lot of people on other forums ruling Australia out of winning world t20 after their performance against India. However they'll certainly have a stronger side in that tournament.

It looks like Finch won't make it, but their top 7 still looks very good

1. Watson
2. Warner
3. Khawaja
4. Smith
5. Maxwell
6. Head/Marsh M
7. Wade

Presumably, Smith will captain the team. Watson didn't seem to know what he was doing yesterday.

Who will the bowlers be though? I know Starc is out, which is a huge loss. But where are others like Coulter-Nile, Pattinson, Hazlewood and Cummins? From what I saw against India, they'll certainly need a couple of these guys back.

Faulkner has good variations and is handy for the death, but his bowling in the middle overs is basically net bowling. He'll probably still get in because of his batting.

Hastings was very impressive and I think he deserves to be in the side. People like Boland, Richardson and Tye may end up being quality international bowlers, but they aren't at the moment.

The channel 9 team seemed to suggest that Shaun Tait is a definite for the first match. I'm not sure how good he is anymore, but without Starc, they do lack a bit of pace, which may see him in.

I like what I've seen from Zampa. Looks better than Boyce. I reckon only one of these guys will go as they'll want Lyon's experience.

 

[cricket_icon]

I can't see Australia winning the world t20 or even getting past the first round, as the top 2 teams qualify and from their group, it looks likely to be India/Pakistan/NZ.

 

[Givemeahug786]

I wonder what is Khawaja doing in newzeland now?
Cricinfo including him for Auckland match 6.30 am. IST starts.

 

[peaceful]

Freaking smith and freaking maxi not 100 percentage fit and yet they bats and help NZ winning ODI series 2/1
12 wickets for 63 runs

152 for 4 vs 223 for 4

I wish Zampa and Head walk in Oz world t20 team tomorrow.

 

[Aislabie]

*ahem*

So about that Test batting line-up, guys.

David Warner
[UNCLAIMED]
Usman Khawaja
Steven Smith
[UNCLAIMED]
[UNCLAIMED]
Peter Nevill
[BOWLERS]

Some Claimants (excluding those who already have Test experience)

Matt Renshaw (Age: 20) - 873 runs @ 41.09 in 11 matches (2 hundreds)
Highly-regarded opening batsman, able to build an innings the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, he is currently injured.

Marcus Harris (Age: 24) - 2405 runs @ 31.23 in 44 matches (5 hundreds)
Poor stats because of a lengthy Shield stint before he was quite ready, but has had a stellar 2016 with the bat.

Marcus Stoinis (Age: 27) - 2193 runs @ 37.81 in 37 matches (4 hundreds)
Has played for Australia in two formats already, and fits in with the Australian "brand of cricket".

Peter Handscomb (Age: 25) - 3639 runs @ 38.71 in 60 matches (8 hundreds)
For me he's a pretty obvious choice. Not sure about his glovework, but he could threaten Nevill's place in the side.

Hilton Cartwright (Age: 24) - 717 runs @ 47.80 in 13 matches (2 hundreds)
Has made a strong impression since breaking into the WA Shield side, has a ton for Australia A.

Kurtis Patterson (Age: 23) - 2171 runs @ 42.56 in 32 matches (5 hundreds)
Made a huge impact as a teenager, and has since made a NSW place his own.

Nic Maddinson (Age: 24) - 3614 runs @ 38.04 in 58 matches (8 hundreds)
Seems like he's been around forever, so I was very surprised to find that he's still only 24.

Jake Weatherald (Age: 22) - 442 runs @ 49.11 in 6 matches (1 hundred)
It would be a huge punt to throw him in the deep end, but early signs are that he's good enough.

Travis Head (Age: 22) - 2772 runs @ 33.39 in 47 matches (3 hundreds)
He looks awesomely good when he bats, and is already a state captain... so why doesn't he get more runs?

Jake Lehmann (Age: 24) - 1322 runs @ 48.96 in 18 matches (5 hundreds)
Probably the man with the most impressive Shield numbers of anyone in Australia at present.

 

[Umair7]

Ferguson along with Bancroft/Handscomb should totally go to India won't mind T.Head![DOUBLEPOST=1479148373][/DOUBLEPOST]@The Author Nice List but I guess S.Marsh will open in India!

 

[Bluebagger]

Khawaja should not be in the team either and if his laziness should be in then it's at 6, having him throw his wicket away after Warner has thrown his away causes too many collapses. This is the worst Australian cricket team since the mid 80's.

Only Warner and Smith should be retained, the rest can go especially Voges. Shaun Marsh being next in line shows how dire the batting stocks are.

The bowling is weak too especially with no spinners. Not only is this the weakest team we've had in 30 years but it's the poorest depth we've had too.

 

[Aalay]

Khawaja should not be in the team either and if his laziness should be in then it's at 6, having him throw his wicket away after Warner has thrown his away causes too many collapses.

It surprises me when people say Khawaja should not be in the team. He is third highest run scorer behind QDK and Warner. When all of the Australian batsmen have struggled, he has at least stood tall and have showed some character to fight against this amazing South African bowling line-up. He reminds me of Rohit Sharma. That lazy elegance when they start their inning and they are so effortless and easy on the eyes when they play. I feel that he should be there alongside Warner and Smith but other batsmen have to go.

 

[Snake199]

Australia have 6 genuinely fantastic test cricketers:

Warner
Smith
Khawaja
Starc
Hazlewood
Lyon

Voges was on the list until recently, but he seems to have lost his way. Nevill is an OK keeper but nothing special.

They have a good core group, it's just the other 4 or 5 positions where theres a complete lack of consistency and talent, when those 6 don't all fire Australia cannot win a test match, which is a huge problem and is why they've lost 5 tests in a row. It's a bit of a crisis but one the Aussies can fix given the amount of top class players they have.

 

[Markkkkk]

It surprises me when people say Khawaja should not be in the team. He is third highest run scorer behind QDK and Warner. When all of the Australian batsmen have struggled, he has at least stood tall and have showed some character to fight against this amazing South African bowling line-up. He reminds me of Rohit Sharma. That lazy elegance when they start their inning and they are so effortless and easy on the eyes when they play. I feel that he should be there alongside Warner and Smith but other batsmen have to go.

Agreed. Love Khawaja and I can't understand why people want to drop a third of the players scoring runs for no reason...

 

[manav599]

In my opinion the problem for Australia is that it is too easy to make it to the national team. In South Africa, they had 3 bowlers with a combined List A experience of less than 50 games and all of them averaging above 30. This is turn takes out the intensity from Shield Cricket. Only a good season and good performances here and there will get you to the national team. Granted you cannot have all guys like Michael Hussey that pile on runs season after season before being called up, but there has to be some justification of selection. I agree that they have nobody that stand out of the pack in the current era, so if I were a selector, I would pick up around the best 15 players for Tests and stick with them for 3-4 years even if Aussies loose almost all their Tests in that period. This would have a double advantage as the guys playing Tests would gain experience and the ones playing domestic will know they have to give consistent performances to get a call up.
Also the national team is paid too much in my opinion, a million dollar contract and a big test match fee makes the player play to keep their place rather than for the team.
Aussies need to understand that they cannot go back to world domination in a matter of 2-3 years but if they plan well, they can be competitive in every series they play by that time and maybe in another 2-3 years from there, they will be once again a formidable force that they once were.
Another big point I want to make is the lack of variety in Domestic Pitches. Australia was probably the only country where every pitch had a different and unique characteristic. Now they all are too similar. They should at least shift the Shield games to smaller venues where they don't need the monotonous drop ins and have those traditional pitches back. That's when bowlers and batsmen both will learn to adapt having to play 5 Shield games every season on 5 different pitches and conditions.

 

[Saroj padhy]

Rod Marsh resigns as Australia's Chairman of selectors | Cricbuzz.com

 

[Bluebagger]

Khawaja is on the list for the same reason that Adam Voges is - because scoring runs against New Zealand (West Indies in Voges' case) on roads has covered over the failings of a career so far and created expectation beyond ability and temperament. Utter failure in England, utter failure in Sri Lanka, failure when the pressure has been on against South African and scored runs when the match was essentially over which highlights the point. If he is to be in the team because there isn't anyone else in the country worthy then he shouldn't be in at 3 that's for sure. Steve Smith might as well go back and bat at 3 since nobody else in the team has the ability to apply themselves when it's needed. So what if Khawaja is easy on the eye? He's good for a cracking cover drive then a lazy shot that gets him out and starts the batting collapse. That's not who your first drop should be. Australia's highest score in Sri Lanka came after Khawaja and Burns were dumped and Smith moved up to 3.

The only problem with dumping Khawaja is there is literally nobody else to come in but at least anybody would be a fresh face and they may as well fail giving people a chance.