Australia tour of South Africa, 2008/09
- Thread starter Funknath
- Start date
already there are lots of good spinners in India. Its tough for him to get into the IPL.
mdoggie
Club Cricketer
But still, how many people can have a T20 international economy of under 6. A lot worse player have got contracts, some who had not international experience. Botha have being one of the best limited overs (50 and 20) bowlers in the last year.
Great hitting by Roelef, loved seeing him try to pull it over mid-wicket and the ball sailing over cover, incredibly powerful player. The selectors are finally letting more T20 specialists play.
stefan
International Coach
I loved the way he played his natural game and didn't change it. Van jaarsveld should go and look at the tape and see that you will succeed more often if you play your way instead of going into your shell because of it being international cricket.
venom2011
Club Cricketer
Yes traditionally, but they also only ever succeed in the sub-continent. Foreign spinners rarely succed in SA besides maybe Shane Warne and Murali. Botha knows the conditions and has performed very well of late so he should get a contract somewhere.
Every side needs a big hitter down the order, our whole side is filled with guys that don't attempt to smash it from ball one apart from Warner. Even in ODIs that big hitter down the order can be the difference between a win and a loss. Think of how many times Cairns, Oram, Morkel, Flintoff, McCullum have won the match for their side when they needed 40 off 20 balls compared to our success rate with same the equation.
Yeah I think you need a mix of smashers and accumulators. So here's my T20 batting order template:
One of your openers should be a decimator eg. David Warner. James Hopes could do it if the team needs an all-rounder there. As mentioned before by Aussie1st, Dighton would be good in this role or Rob Quiney. Explosive openers are important in chases especially, to keep the teams run rate as high as possible at the start. The other opener should climb into his innings after he's had 5-10 balls to settle in and be able to score pretty big once he's going. Shaun Marsh is probably that guy, although Shane Watson or Brad Haddin could do that job too if we need the team balance.
#3 and #4 should be the guys you are expecting to score big. For me it's Ponting and Symonds (if he ever finds form)/David Hussey. Ponting should do similar to the slower opener and give himself 5-10 balls to settle in. I think Ponting's issue lately has been that he's trying too hard to impose himself on the bowling early. The #4 can afford to change his plans depending on how early he is at the wicket, but he should be a pretty destructive batsman hence D.Hussey/Symonds being nominated. Brad Hodge could do either job well too, but I think he's out of the running at present.
#5 is a bit trickier to label. Your #5 might be in early if there's trouble so he can't be an out and out slogger who can't play with caution. But he must be able to pick up the pace when required. An in-form MEK Hussey would be a great #5. Michael Clarke could also do it, but not as well since he doesn't hit boundaries as well. Both guys can run quickly between the sticks and your #5 should be putting the fieldsmen under pressure. Callum Ferguson is also a candidate here. If you lose 2 quick wickets, it might be better to bring Hussey/Clarke in at #4, just to steady the ship.
#6 has to be your clean up hitter. He's too streaky to bat at #3 or #4, but he's powerful and can pick gaps well in the last 5-10 overs. White has the raw skills, but he can never seem to get it right. Luke Pomersbach could be a dark horse for the #6 spot. Symonds would do the job well too.
#7 and #8 are generally all-rounders who aren't expected to score big, so they should have no problem getting a move on. If Haddin isn't opening, he really has to bat down here and get used to scoring quickly from ball 1. There's really nowhere else to put him. Same with Shane Watson, he had to learn how in the 2007 World Cup when he wasn't really suited to the #7 spot, but he adapted and did pretty well.
OK so what have I got left in my batting order?
1. D.Warner
2. S.Marsh (maybe B.Haddin or Watson if wanting extra bowling)
3. R.Ponting
4. D.Hussey (maybe Symonds)
5. M.Hussey (maybe Clarke/Ferguson)
6. A.Symonds (maybe White/Pomersbach)
7. B.Haddin (maybe Watson if Haddin opens)
8. M.Johnson
One other tactic would be to bring your #7 or #8 up the order if you think they can target a bowler well. Eg. Haddin and Mitch both launch spinners pretty well so you could bring one of them up the order to hit the opposition spinner out of the attack.
My two cents anyway...
We have missed a good chance to see Haddin opening in T20 again. He did well when he was promoted last time round and I see no reason why he shouldn't be there again. Just no spot for Clarke in our best T20 side and we probably could have left him out against SA. Pomersbach would be good but he just hasn't performed in the shorter form of the game so it would be a huge punt for the selectors to pick him. I wouldn't mind trying Quiney at 6 or 7 as he loves smacking the boundaries.
Anyway over to ODIs, hopefully Dussey carries his T20 form over as he could really change the dynamic of our side. Hopes at 7 would be our best bet and I hope we go that way as Johnson and Geeves will be 8 and 9 and we could have Hauritz so that is a long batting lineup which shouldn't need another specialist batter.
Anyway over to ODIs, hopefully Dussey carries his T20 form over as he could really change the dynamic of our side. Hopes at 7 would be our best bet and I hope we go that way as Johnson and Geeves will be 8 and 9 and we could have Hauritz so that is a long batting lineup which shouldn't need another specialist batter.
piriyanth
International Cricketer
We need a big hitter at no.7 to do some damage at the final overs, someone like Dussey or White. They could be really dangerous if they set their mind it.
Also Jame Hopes should be playing at no.5, he's more of a run-a-ball guy who can be useful in middle order.
Also Jame Hopes should be playing at no.5, he's more of a run-a-ball guy who can be useful in middle order.
angryangy
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2004
But my point was that the big hitting is rarely done from ball one. You actually tend to see more of the traditional types getting out slogging too soon. They get bogged down and they have to find some catch-up runs. The big advantage that most big hitters have is that they don't get bogged down early in their innings. Sure, you'll see early boundaries to poor balls, but you'll see that in a Test. What defines a big hitting type of player is not that they can always hit big, but that they know best when they should hit big.
I think Adam Gilchrist really spoiled us as Australian fans. He cracked it from ball one and would be really handy in a T20 world cup for example. Matthew Hayden was similar, especially later in his career when he could just walk at the bowlers and flash hard. Hayden seemed to get a lot of quick 20-50 type scores at the end - perfect for T20.
As for this ODI series, I gotta say I don't really care much
The World Cup is ages away, I don't have payTV right now so I can't see it on telly ATM and there isn't really any players I particularly want to see perform from either side. Plus I've seen way too much of the South Africans in the last few months. Although there are a few things I'd like to see happen. In particular, I'd like to see Hauritz play a few games :upray But given our pace obsession, that seems unlikely.
Bring on the IPL :happy
As for this ODI series, I gotta say I don't really care much
The World Cup is ages away, I don't have payTV right now so I can't see it on telly ATM and there isn't really any players I particularly want to see perform from either side. Plus I've seen way too much of the South Africans in the last few months. Although there are a few things I'd like to see happen. In particular, I'd like to see Hauritz play a few games :upray But given our pace obsession, that seems unlikely.
Bring on the IPL :happy
Valaskjalf
Club Captain
I dont know why everyone makes such a big deal about this van der Merwe character. Ive watched him a couple of times in the local limited overs over the past months and you know those dodgy pulls over cover? He ALWAYS does that!! He OBVIOUSLY has a major flaw in his batting technique and tries to blast everything without playing balls on their merit. Fair enough it was a T20 game, but still....its only a matter of time before his wild slogs dont go for 6 but gets him caught on 3rd man every single time. Mark my words....Hes powerful but hes got a terrible technique and I really dont understand how the selectors can choose him, he looks like a lower order high school batsman.
venom2011
Club Cricketer
Well he's really not there for his batting, he's a bowling-allrounder after all...but when he plays proper cricket strokes he's not too bad.
mattfb
Chairman of Selectors
Not good. It's one of those tosses which is good to lose, because bowling first isn't so bad which Ntini has just shown picking up Clarke. A lot of swing around and cloud cover, so I think Smith would be happy bowling first here. Steyn's first over was good and Ntini just forced Clarke to push at one unfortunately. Not a good start.
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