Australia tour of New Zealand 2010

[aussie1st]

Cameron White hasn't been seen in the Test arena since his unsuccessful bowling all rounder stint, couldn't even make this Test squad. Hes always been in the ODI side for his batting. And Watson was partly to do with Hughes technical flaws and also to do with needing another bowler to backup the wayward Johnson. So that is more desperate times calls for desperate measures than flexibility. If they want to show it then moving Hughes or Smith to 6 would go a long way.

 

[Iridium]

It depends on the player. Look at Ashwell Prince who was slotted in to open and apart from that century he made, he hasn't done particularly well. Watson was meant to play as an allrounder batting at 6 but he's turned into a really good opener. If Hughes was picked to bat at 6, then it's up to him to adapt and change his game to suit where he is in the batting order.

 

[piriyanth]

^Yeah, just like we did it to Michael Hussey. He was an opener for Western Australia but we made him adapted to the middle order and now he's like one of the best middle order batsman in the world.

We should try to do the same for Hughes, and see how it goes.

 

[Robelinda]

Also Langer, and Boon too. Blewett also. All batted at many positions for Australia outside of their state position.

 

[War]

Hmm not too sure about Hughes batting @ 6. He doesn't come across to be as the versatile type. If he is picked he has to open & Katich will have to move back down to the middle-order.

War added 8 Minutes and 44 Seconds later...

War man, one point i'll take you up on was that Marsh was actually picked for Australia before the IPL 08, he was selected for the WI tour before his IPL stint, the Aussie squad was named late March or early April, Marsh didnt play an IPL game until May, then he went nuts. I recall the fuss made at the time about his selection, but by the time the series came around in the WI he was the talk of the town.

Australia name squad for West Indies tour - Times Online

AHHHHH you are right. Damn haa.

That one slipped me slightly. I guess looking back the reason i would say he was picked on a bit of raw talent was that by "Australian standards" during the glory days of 95-2006/07. That one 2007/08 season of impressive batting usually needs to be backed up by another season before players are picked.

But i guess with Gilchrist just retiring & Hayden & Jaques out injured for the ODI leg of the 2008 Windies tour. They didn't have a choice & they selectors where then vindicated by chosing him given his form in the IPL just before the windies tour.

 

[War]

Ignoring that which is lots of guess work still, Nannes does not seem to be in the frame for ODI selection. If the selectors were going to pick him it had to be instead of Harris. Tait could come in at any time but seems to be a T20 specialist at times and the selectors have lost confidence in him after he left then stranded then took a break.

The selectors have treated Nannes pretty dumb to be honest. They didn't take him to the T20 WC 2009 & didn't even pick him the 30-man provisional squad at the time :laugh when he had dominated in the big bash & IPL 2009. The realized how good he was after he played for Holland. They luck cricket doesn't have strict rules for switching nations like football or else Nannes would have been lost forever.

Plus he should have defiantely played test in South Africa 2009. After Bollinger got injured during that series, for some stupid reason they called up Geeves as replacement :doh. I still dont know McDonald ever played test cricket

But deep down i reckon Harris got picked ahead of Nannes for the ODI team because it would be a bit unusual to have 3 left-arm quicks in the same team & well his age doesn't help.

Tait unfortunately yea has sort of been pigeon holed as T20 specialist. But as the problem we discussed earlier is we want bowlers who are good @ the death since it a bit of an issue for AUS ATM.Tait is staying fit & has a goood FRC 2010/11. He really has to go to the WC in the final 15-man squad at least, even if Lee comes back strong, since h brings excellent death bowling once full-fit.

1. Watson
2. Haddin
3. Ponting
4. Clarke
5. White
6. Hussey
7. Hopes
8. Johnson
9. Lee/Tait
10. Haurtiz
11. Bollinger

12. Ferguson
13. Paine
14. Tait/Harris
15. Smith

Bollinger will go he is selectors favourite. So i'm willing to give up on Nannes ever getting picked in the ODI squad.

Well from what I've seen Smith is closing the gap quickly. Hauritz has been expensive at times, admittedly the grounds here are small but he has been taken to in Australia as well. If he was in the team for Hauritz I still would be him above Hopes and maybe send him in the pinch hitter role.

Would like to see Smith bat so as to have a good look at this technique soon. The times i've seen him T20 i really couldn't judge.

 

[sifter132]

As you touch on, it's AGE and future usefullness - same with our good friend Stuart Clark. I'm sure the selectors think he's a good bowler, but they don't see him as a future building block in the team. Why pick a 34/35 year old Nannes, when you can find a 25 or 30 year bowler with only slightly less ability (if any)?

And War, I didn't like McDonald's selection initially either. But he did a very respectable job. He knew he wasn't ever going to be ripping 5fers and scoring big runs, but his bowling was stifling and it worked really well against the Saffers I reckon. It was the big difference between the Ashes and the SA series win for us. In the Ashes no one (maybe Hilfy) could bowl a maiden or bowl with enough control to build pressure on the Poms batsmen.

Nathan Bracken is a guy I'd add to that WC possible 15. His bowling should really go well in India and he could play a 2nd spinner type role in the middle overs with cutters and slower balls. Of course it all depends on how he recovers from injury and his form, but I think his variety would be invaluable. He used to be able to bowl well at the death too. Wasn't so good in his last year of international cricket, but perhaps the injury was bothering him a bit.

 

[aussie1st]

Don't know if we need Paine but if Smith is picked then his selection is more likely since he covers both spots. In saying that if one of Haddin or Paine can field then it wouldn't be such a bad idea as they are good enough to play as a batter alone.

aussie1st added 2 Minutes and 46 Seconds later...

Would like to see Smith bat so as to have a good look at this technique soon. The times i've seen him T20 i really couldn't judge.

From what I've seen its very sound, has all the shots and definitely isn't bothered by the short stuff.

 

[TumTum]

Hmm not too sure about Hughes batting @ 6. He doesn't come across to be as the versatile type.

And North does?

 

[War]

Don't know if we need Paine but if Smith is picked then his selection is more likely since he covers both spots. In saying that if one of Haddin or Paine can field then it wouldn't be such a bad idea as they are good enough to play as a batter alone.

Yea. But i think Haddin will need a break at some time during the group phase during the world cup. If my memory is right AUS have Zimbabwe, Kenya & Canada in their group.

aussie1st added 2 Minutes and 46 Seconds later...

From what I've seen its very sound, has all the shots and definitely isn't bothered by the short stuff.

Word. Well if he does step up (if picked soon) that would be great i guess. Since if Smith is batting @#6. We can get rid of Hauritz & play 4 quicks + Watson - with spinng being our spin bowling all-rounder. WOW!

And North does?

No. I dont believe North should play at all. My first test team would be:

Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Katich, Clarke, Hussey, Haddin, Johnson, Hauritz, Harris, Bollinger.

 

[War]

And War, I didn't like McDonald's selection initially either. But he did a very respectable job. He knew he wasn't ever going to be ripping 5fers and scoring big runs, but his bowling was stifling and it worked really well against the Saffers I reckon. It was the big difference between the Ashes and the SA series win for us. In the Ashes no one (maybe Hilfy) could bowl a maiden or bowl with enough control to build pressure on the Poms batsmen.

I would say he played in role in the Sydney test yea, mainly because AUS had 5-bowlers. His accuracy was well utilized as a defensive bowler that kept Johnson/Siddle/Bollinger fresh. But he never looked threatening. The overall issue with his selection was the fact that his batting clearly wasn't test match number 6 quality. It affected the balance of the side & AUS got away with that stupid selection in Sydney. Australia should have played debuted North @ 6 & Hilfenhaus instead of McDonald & Hauritz in that SCG test.

In South Africa, as the selectors made the idotic choice to pick him as one of 4 MAIN-bowlers. Thankfully the pace-trio stepped up fantastically to mask those cracks. All the wickets McDonald took in SA was due to the pressure those 3 quicks put on the SA batsmen, thus he benefited a few cheap scandals, rather than him doing anything special.

Nannes certainly would have been a better choice as i mentioned to play instead of McDonald in 4-man pace attack in SA, after Bollinger got injured.

Nathan Bracken is a guy I'd add to that WC possible 15. His bowling should really go well in India and he could play a 2nd spinner type role in the middle overs with cutters and slower balls. Of course it all depends on how he recovers from injury and his form, but I think his variety would be invaluable. He used to be able to bowl well at the death too. Wasn't so good in his last year of international cricket, but perhaps the injury was bothering him a bit.

Ye basically.

Somehow i feel Bracken is past his best deep down though. Although his off-cutters will indeed be very useful on Indian surfaces as you rightfully said, i'd be fairly shocked if he manages to force his way back. But we'll see..

 

[angryangy]

Turn at the Basin, hmmm okay. I think they may just be a tad off with that one.

Kaneria had a good time there, didn't he? When there's sideways movement there, I don't think it plays favourites. Question is whether they're game to offer such a pitch.

 

[Howsie]

Kaneria had a good time there, didn't he? When there's sideways movement there, I don't think it plays favourites. Question is whether they're game to offer such a pitch.

No not really. Kaneria picked up a few wickets in both innings but it was more down to terrible batting (Grant Elliott's dismissal is still well entrenched in my head) I can't remember too much turn at all.

You're right though, the sideways movement usually stays around for quite a wee while so both teams will get good use of it. The clay they use down there is the best we have in the country, it's the fastest pitch in the country so you'll get good bounce and pace of the wicket.

 

[TumTum]

The media is really making a big deal of Clarke. CH9 just had a news segment on him with the big headline "Clarke Speaks". OMFG who really cares

 

[McLOVIN]

if Guptil doesnt do what he did to us, NZ will be screwed. They need another Guptil in the line up. And when is Ryder coming back?

MacLovin added 1 Minutes and 12 Seconds later...

OMFG who really cares

check out cricinfo headline. its their top story..seriously, no 1 gives a ████