Australia vs England ODI Series - 7 matches - Sep 4 to Sep 20

[smssia0112]

Lee back to his old tricks again. Looks great in tour games against second string and county XIs but turn the pressure on and he crumbles. We'd be much better off exploring other options really.

 

[Hooper]

Back to the winners board, evo.

Thanking you.

 

[piriyanth]

Why the heck did Clarke let Watson bowl in the powerplay overs?

And why didn't he let Johnson bowl in the final overs?

Not too happy with this flukey win.

 

[Howsie]

Watching the highlights you would think Bopara and Prior really did cost England the game, Collingwood was poor also. Wright still looked as bad as ever too, effective yes but against better bowlig he could be contained.

 

[angryangy]

Why the heck did Clarke let Watson bowl in the powerplay overs?

I actually thought that was interesting enough to be paid some credit, because if anyone in the side has quality experience at trying to avoid being slogged, it's Watson thanks to the IPL. He did go for a few runs, but the batsmen had to play risky shots to get much needed boundaries off him.

 

[ajdude]

Watson did bowl the final over in the 3rd ODI against the Windies last year where we won by one run, with them needing 7 from the over to win...6 singles.

 

[Brook]

Watson bowled alright, pretty tight to start with anyway. It was a lot better than his test efforts anyway lol

 

[sifter132]

Lee has never been a good death bowler, always seems to leak runs either through edges or just plain bad line and length. Bracken is definitely becoming a worry, this isn't the same bowler that was in the top 3 ODI bowlers. Teams seem to have figured him out and no longer fall to his cutters.

Lee has never been a good death bowler because of his mind not his ability. He just needs some discipline, especially when he bowls against the tail. It was shown again in this game. His eyes always light up when he sees someone balk at his pace. Rashid and Sidebottom in this game. Rashid looked uncomfortable when Lee bowled a quick, low full toss first up to him. So then Lee says, wow he doesn't like pace, so he backs up his length and tries bowling ABOVE stump height to him. Same with Sidebottom and he gave away a stupid boundary at the beginning of the second last over while trying to bowl at his chest. As if Sidebottom will be able to control a pull shot off Lee, but no Brett tried it anyway. His cricket brain told him, bowl short and you'll get him. But we didn't need to get him out, we needed a dot ball so the risk of bowling short was too great. Lee is TOO attacking at the death, it just needs him to make that mental adjustment.

You could see when he bowled to Wright and later at Rashid he bowled good yorkers and that was because he wasn't trying to get them out every ball - he was trying to contain. So I think Lee CAN be a good death bowler. Plus he's probably better off bowling at good batsmen so he's not tempted to try and get them out.

Bracken is a worry - agree. He never looked like getting a wicket. But he got his accuracy pretty right apart from that awful fullie in the last over. Hilfenhaus would be the alternate 'accurate' pace bowler in the squad, so he'll probably get the odd run or too in rotation.

A questionable endgame plan by Australia may have gifted England a real chance where they probably should have been finished off. Hopes earlier bowled 5 overs for 14, why was he taken off at that stage? It could have meant valuable pressure later. Then it happened again, Johnson bowled 3 overs for three wickets and with 3 overs remaining right at the crucial stage, he was pulled. Surely not! Lee did bowl better than his figures suggest, but he conceded about a third of his runs in genuine edges. The conditions weren't really the sort to be depending on him indefinitely. Similarly for Bracken, the plan to bowl him at every key moment can hardly last if he can't get wickets. Overall though, a reasonable effort.

Why the heck did Clarke let Watson bowl in the powerplay overs?

And why didn't he let Johnson bowl in the final overs?
Not too happy with this flukey win.

Hopes is accurate but he really thrives in the 15-35 over part of the match. Any later in the innings and he is a pretty hittable guy. He doesn't have the pace or the variety to do a consistently good job. He's still worth a go occasionally towards the end if you think a particular batsman will struggle with him.

Mitch has never bowled much RIGHT at the death and while he has a good slower ball, his accuracy is not good enough to be relied on at crucial moments. As with Hopes, yes he's still worth a try towards the end, but Ponting/Clarke would rather turn to Lee and Bracken, even Watson first.

Watson was pretty good to my eyes and it wasn't a stupid choice as others have intimated. He's bowled at in the last 10 overs a fair bit in the past. He bowled a good length in his initial overs and didn't bowl too much loose stuff, apart from those couple of wides in one of his later overs. Wright had to slap his slower ball over a waiting long off and play a risky sweep to him for 4 to get anything from Watson. One of his balls was 92mph, how many opening batsmen can bowl that fast or be trusted to bowl at the death?? I was almost expecting them to give him the ball for the last over instead of Bracken. It was a good spell even though his figures were expensive 6-0-40-1, considering the RRR was about 8 or 9 when he came on to bowl.


One other thing that annoyed me towards the end: the captaincy of MJ Clarke. Too much fiddling with the field Pup There was an over of Watson's where he changed the field EVERY ball and the strike only changed a couple of times. All that does is confuse the bowler and make them forget the plan. He has good energy, but there is no need to waste that energy on constant field changes.

 

[Slowcoach]

Luke Wright's bowling is dreadful, he runs in faster than he bowls.

 

[Aditya]

Nice victory by australia they deserved it.I am not to impress with clarke captaincy to be honest.He was not at all using his bowler's at right moment watson was bowling in depth over's rather then johnson or bracken he should really see which bowler to bowl at which time but after all good win.

 

[aussie1st]

You could see when he bowled to Wright and later at Rashid he bowled good yorkers and that was because he wasn't trying to get them out every ball - he was trying to contain. So I think Lee CAN be a good death bowler. Plus he's probably better off bowling at good batsmen so he's not tempted to try and get them out.

Bracken is a worry - agree. He never looked like getting a wicket. But he got his accuracy pretty right apart from that awful fullie in the last over. Hilfenhaus would be the alternate 'accurate' pace bowler in the squad, so he'll probably get the odd run or too in rotation.

Of course he could be a good death bowler but hes coming to the end of his career and you don't teach a old dog new tricks. As you said its a mental thing which isn't going to be fixed overnight. When the pressure is on I certainly wouldn't have faith in him delivering. Siddle will get a few games, he'll probably end up being our death bowler in the future, hes got the best control of our speedsters. Hilfy is decent but doesn't quite have the pace to be a real threat at the death.

 

[Sureshot]

Luke Wright's bowling is dreadful, he runs in faster than he bowls.

Based on one over? Go home.

 

[Howsie]

I'd say his List A bowling average shows it isn't anything to write home about.

 

[angryangy]

Hopes is accurate but he really thrives in the 15-35 over part of the match. Any later in the innings and he is a pretty hittable guy. He doesn't have the pace or the variety to do a consistently good job. He's still worth a go occasionally towards the end if you think a particular batsman will struggle with him.

Mitch has never bowled much RIGHT at the death and while he has a good slower ball, his accuracy is not good enough to be relied on at crucial moments. As with Hopes, yes he's still worth a try towards the end, but Ponting/Clarke would rather turn to Lee and Bracken, even Watson first.

Hopes bowled his last over in the 17th; I don't think he should have bowled in the death, but he could well have helped whoever did by bowling more tight overs. I get that the captain was searching for a wicket, but it seems a waste that there was no space for him anywhere after that very early point in the innings.

Similarly, one thing I've always liked about Ponting is that he'd roll the dice on a guy who has just got a wicket, regardless of the plan. Johnson had surely earned one more over. If it had not worked, so be it, but he was already Australia's best.

 

[evertonfan]

Back to the winners board, evo.

Thanking you.

Thanking you.