Australia tour of South Africa, 2008/09

[aussie1st]

Nannes definitely should have been over here, as for Harwood well these skidish bowlers that aren't overly quick aren't working at this level. First Lewis, then Geeves was pedestrian especially during the IPL and now Harwood.

Give Laughin a go better he makes his debut now before the ODI series. And Ponting really needs a break he looks like he cba batting atm.

 

[Sman-21]

How did harwood get selected over Nannes havent seen stats but i thought nannes was 1 of the top bowlers this season.

Also i still dont believe Johnson is a good enough batter to just come in an smash it like morkel can.
Everytime ive seen him try an score quick as soon as he starts batting, he gets out cheaply an looks like a tailender.
In tests where he can take his time get comfortable with the pitch an what its doing.
After a while he can smash it around and looks like a very capable batsmen.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

How did harwood get selected over Nannes havent seen stats but i thought nannes was 1 of the top bowlers this season.

Also i still dont believe Johnson is a good enough batter to just come in an smash it like morkel can.
Everytime ive seen him try an score quick as soon as he starts batting, he gets out cheaply an looks like a tailender.
In tests where he can take his time get comfortable with the pitch an what its doing.
After a while he can smash it around and looks like a very capable batsmen.

What i have seen in johnson, he backlifts too much. In test, most time fielders are inside but in T20 or ODI its not posisble

 

[Sman-21]

In the tests when he started smashing it to get towards his 100 there were heaps out on the boundaries but he was so confident in pitch an his abilities he was still smashing them everywhwere.

His backlift is the same in tests an odi's 20/20 etc
If it works in tests it will work in 20/20 its his ability an confidence stopping him from doing well in odi's an 20/20.
He just doesnt have the ability to come in an smash it straight away like a klusener, gilly,warner, morkel etc.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

In the tests when he started smashing it to get towards his 100 there were heaps out on the boundaries but he was so confident in pitch an his abilities he was still smashing them everywhwere.

His backlift is the same in tests an odi's 20/20 etc
If it works in tests it will work in 20/20 its his ability an confidence stopping him from doing well in odi's an 20/20.
He just doesnt have the ability to come in an smash it straight away like a klusener, gilly,warner, morkel etc.

Johnson should come in middle, just where Symonds used to

 

[dhayalan]

South Africa >>> Australia. In T20 and ODI.

 

[sifter132]

The players who should not be playing for Australia in 20/20s are Clarke, Hopes and White.

Clarke is not a 20/20 player and his stats prove that. His 20/20 average is 18. Hopes struggles to score over a run a ball and is more a line and length bowler who can be easily hit in the shortest form of the game. Also White isn't in good form at the moment at all.

Yeah agree on Clarke and Hopes not playing T20. Clarke is a ball worker and doesn't have the strength to muscle boundaries in T20. Hopes is all line and length like you say, and he got tanked for a lot of 6s in the IPL last year.

But White? If he is ever going to make it - it has to be T20. That or as a specialist Test batsman in a few years. I'd be pigeon holing White and Warner as my T20 specialists, just so I don't have to put up with seeing their awful get out shots in the longer forms of the game.

Give Laughin a go better he makes his debut now before the ODI series. And Ponting really needs a break he looks like he cba batting atm.

Yep if I'm a selector I would rest Ponting, Geeves and Mitch for the next game. If we rest Mitch now, he can play all 5 of the 'real' games. Bring in Laughlin, Bracken and Hauritz. Yes that means an extra bowler... It means there is less pressure on Laughlin and Harwood to bowl 4 quality overs. There are options if they get carted. And we need to try Hauritz to see if he can do a Dan Vettori-like strangling role because surely Dave Hussey can't work everytime.

But really for the selections it should be all about squad rotation. See who works and who doesn't. As I mentioned before Clarke and Hopes wouldn't be in my T20 World Cup squad, but we might as well give them a couple more games to see if they can show anything. Clarke will probably be picked regardless, but Ricky mentioned this week that Watson and Symonds are going to be key players in the T20 World Cup, so I really don't think Hopes should be selected in the squad. If we want a bowler who can bat, play Mitch at #8.

 

[stefan]

Damn I fell asleep at night so couldnt watch the SA innings, it must have been a fantastic game. Dave Hussey was breathtaking with those sixers, he took revenge for what Steyn did to his brother Mike

Well Albie again disappoints the Aussies. He reminds me of Klusener whenever he's batting in these situations with Boucher.

Not quite in the Klusener league. Lance averaged 40 coming in this low in the 50 over games Albie's average while good isn't close to that.

 

[venom2011]

Not quite in the Klusener league. Lance averaged 40 coming in this low in the 50 over games Albie's average while good isn't close to that.

The big difference is that Klusener was a complete finisher and very often occupied the crease till the last ball, hence the high average (50 not outs in 137 innings is a pretty high percentage). Right now, Albie causes havoc, but usually gets out before the close.

 

[stefan]

The big difference is that Klusener was a complete finisher and very often occupied the crease till the last ball, hence the high average (50 not outs in 137 innings is a pretty high percentage). Right now, Albie causes havoc, but usually gets out before the close.

That's the difference between the two and why klusener was the better player. Albie is a great player and I love watching him play but he isn't up with klusener just yet.

 

[aus_maestro]

just watched the highlights, loving Dussey now, he's coming good. But, yeah, LOL was going to switch off when we had em at 5 fer 83. Hopes' over brought em right back in, but really... Geeves and Harwood to bowl the last two together? Not to be too disheartened though, I'm confident we'll have tomorrows, if not, it's only 2020

 

[venom2011]

That's the difference between the two and why klusener was the better player. Albie is a great player and I love watching him play but he isn't up with klusener just yet.

Well whether you put the team in a winning position and score 40 runs and get out or remain not out makes no real difference (to the team), so there's a positive argument for Morkel's accomplishments. At the end of the day if he wins as many games for SA, scores more runs after the same number of innings' as Zulu then he can surely stake a claim for being the better player.

But I agree that he's not on Klusener's level yet.

 

[aussie1st]

But White? If he is ever going to make it - it has to be T20. That or as a specialist Test batsman in a few years. I'd be pigeon holing White and Warner as my T20 specialists, just so I don't have to put up with seeing their awful get out shots in the longer forms of the game.

White looks to have lost all confidence, he had a poor IPL and hasn't produced for Australia in ages. We would be better off trying someone else.

 

[piriyanth]

I have to say, Australia's kit look so awesome

 

[aus_maestro]

hmff I was about to slag Peterson off but he seems to be finding the middle now.

Hopefully Dussey will sneak in 4 quite overs with his slow yorkies