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

[aussie1st]

I can't believe the English managed to collapse on that pitch from the position they were in. It was the exact same collapse as the 3rd ODI match but this pitch was a belter for batting on. Credit to Hauritz he bowled very well and allowed Lee to rip in his reverse swinging yorkers.

Our batting was better, we had 90 runs by 15 overs; the only problem is Watson once again out to an LBW. Good to see Paine making a 50, now just needs to convert into a 100.

 

[Howsie]

Can we give the English a game in one day cricket, we might actually win something then.

Brett Lee was fantastic tbh, I really enjoyed watching him bowl at the end. Rashid didn't impress me again though, I still don't see what all the fuss is about?

 

[aussie1st]

To be fair, very rarely do spinners come onto the scene and make an instant impact especially on English conditions. Rashid was alright in the 1st game, this match he lost control but ODIs are always hard to judge a spinner as you aren't bowling as aggressively as you would in a Test.

 

[piriyanth]

Since we won the series, I think we should give rest to Johnson, Lee and Ferguson and play Siddle, Hilfenhaus and Voges.

 

[sifter132]

Brett Lee was fantastic tbh, I really enjoyed watching him bowl at the end. Rashid didn't impress me again though, I still don't see what all the fuss is about?

Agree wholeheartedly on both points. Lee was awesome with those yorkers and it proves that when he cuts out the short crap to the tail, he's MUCH more effective.

And Rashid had WAY too much smoke blown up his tailpipe after his performance in Game 1. His bowling was pretty poor last night and he was lucky that Clarke and Paine in particular couldn't take advantage as much as they COULD have.


Hopefully Australia rotate their players here with only 3 games to go - particularly the bowlers. It will look particularly stupid if they go all out with their best XI in all 7 games, then Lee/Johnson tweaks something leaving a very underdone Siddle or Hilfy to bowl in the Champions Trophy.

It just beggars belief that Australia loves using a rotation policy here at home in the summer, but not so much on overseas tours. Surely the other way round makes the most sense as: a) you would want your best players playing more when at home for extra ticket sales and TV viewers, and b) it would give your marginal squad members experience in overseas conditions.

 

[angryangy]

Rashid bowled bloody terrible, it was pretty much the only reason Clarke had a good strike rate in that match. The figures still don't convey just how bad the bowling was and I was amazed when he came on to bowl out his 10 overs.

England could let Morgan go, push the middle order down from no. 3 and bring in a batsman who actually likes batting up the order, or at least someone with the testicular fortitude to defy team orders and play his natural game. Strauss is doing a top job early on, but then he gets restless. Probably the best option for him is to take the batting powerplay at around 20 overs; reassert the innings and maybe knock someone like Hauritz out of his rhythm. Hopefully they're starting to realise by now that not taking the powerplay is a waste of time.

Bowling-wise, I can't see an easy answer. They have generally reasonable bowling, but if the batting can never make 250, it's usually going to be left exposed. They have the line-and-length and they have the spinners (should they choose to use them). I think what they really need to find is someone a bit unorthodox. Not necessarily crazy either, take the example of Lee bowling 95 mph yorkers; it's sensible cricket but simply not something a great number of players can do. I hate to use the cliche, but adding 'x-factor' is something they should look at.

For Australia, it's simply time to rotate the squad. Siddle and Hilfenhaus both seem like potentially better new ball options than Bracken, who continues to struggle for wickets. Hopes might return to bat up the order, while Voges might also get a chance and of course, the coach is being rotated. Troy Cooley steps up to the head coach's position in an apparently seamless act of planning.

 

[D0N]

Bad performance by England

 

[Owzat]

The batsmen may not be batting the opposition out of the match, but the bowlers aren't doing enough either. In the first four ODIs the aussies have taken 37 England wickets while England have taken only 20 aussie wickets. I was just looking at the bowling of Sidebottom and Anderson, neither is doing enough as a main bowler for us.

SIDEBOTTOM

2001 : 2 wkts @ 42.00
2007 : 14 wkts @ 15.86
2008 : 8 wkts @ 44.38
2009 : 2 wkts @ 96.00

ANDERSON

ODIs 1-37 : 58 wkts @ 24.64
ODIs 38-74 : 53 wkts @ 29.08
ODIs 75-111 : 30 wkts @ 48.57

Anderson has gone wicketless in 11 of his last 20 ODIs and taken just one wicket in another five. Both are averaging just over 30 but neither has been consistently effective for a long time. How do bowlers like Onions not get a game? England and a lot of fans are so wrapped up in batting they don't realise that you need to take wickets to slow run rates and win games. Under Strauss England have won every ODI they've bowled the opponents out in, and 2/3 of the ODIs they've taken nine wickets in. They've not won an ODI under Strauss having taken less than seven wickets, no coincidence. Yes a 300+ total would win you a game, but the bowlers do need to support their batsmen and 20 wickets isn't doing that. Maybe we haven't scored huge totals, but the bowlers haven't taken enough wickets either. The runs per wicket of each of the last four ODIs are :

1st ODI : 260/5 = 52.00 rpw
2nd ODI : 249/8 = 31.13 rpw
3rd ODI : 230/4 = 57.50 rpw
4th ODI : 221/3 = 73.67 rpw

No pressure on the batsmen, maybe not expecting them to bowl sides out consistently for less than 220, but how about making the batsmen work for the win and taking 5-7wickets isn't too much to ask when bowling at totals in excess of 200. Certainly you are unlikely to win if you try to defend totals only just over 200 by not conceding runs rather than taking wickets. But England have no bite in their bowling, a lack of matchwinners with ball as well as with bat.

 

[Bluebagger]

For Australia, it's simply time to rotate the squad. Siddle and Hilfenhaus both seem like potentially better new ball options than Bracken, who continues to struggle for wickets. Hopes might return to bat up the order, while Voges might also get a chance and of course, the coach is being rotated. Troy Cooley steps up to the head coach's position in an apparently seamless act of planning.

Bracken's role is to go for as few runs as possible. Alright, yesterday he goes for 5 an over but generally speaking he doesn't go for many and that's his role so I'm not sure why you would sacarifice that in the one day arena for players who will consistantly go for 4/5 an over.

 

[angryangy]

Bracken's role is to go for as few runs as possible. Alright, yesterday he goes for 5 an over but generally speaking he doesn't go for many and that's his role so I'm not sure why you would sacarifice that in the one day arena for players who will consistantly go for 4/5 an over.

The fact is that he takes the new ball; bowling slower balls is only half his role at best and if he was bowling good new ball spells, he might only be left with 3 overs to bowl in the middle.

In recent times his economy is doubtful anyway. This year he has gone for more than 5 RPO in 10 of his 22 innings, the same as the number in which he has gone for less than 4 RPO. Compared with someone perceived as expensive such as Johnson, he's bowled the same fraction of innings at under 5 RPO. The advantage of those few innings bowled at 2 or 3 RPO is surely outweighed by Johnson's 67% higher strike rate.

If he's not there to get wickets with the new ball, he really shouldn't be given the new ball every single game.

 

[Chetan0304]

Send the England Women cricket team (of course with S Broad) they will win at least one ODI.

4 - 0 :laugh

 

[sifter132]

^Kinda agree about Bracken and the new ball. Recently there has been a big lack of penetration with the new ball and he can't be trusted at the death as much now either since half of his attempted yorkers seem to end up as full tosses these days - and he's not quick enough to get away with that.

So he's ending up bowling an opening spell of 2-3 overs, with the rest coming between 20 and 40, so he's almost playing like a second spinner. But his economy is very good when he gets to bowl in the middle overs in what I would call the James Hopes effect. Hopes has awesome economy on paper, but he bowls at the easiest times. But it's not quite as valuable as it's made out to be.

Still - at this stage I'd rather play Bracken as a second spinner type as long as we have the excellent strike rates of Lee and Johnson to exploit the pace in a pitch and as long as Watson can continue to do a pretty good job in powerplays and at the death. Bracken keeps it a lot quieter than say a Michael Clarke or a Cameron White would in the middle. But if the pitch looks pacy, then I think Siddle/Hilfy should come in.

 

[aussie1st]

The problem with continuing to play Bracken is we need someone to take the new ball since Johnson is very average with it since he no longer swings it. We will definitely see Hilfy and Siddle in the next 3 matches so we will get to see how they go. Siddle is the main one I want to see as the selectors really seem to rate his ODI bowling. If he gets his act together we could have another death bowler with his pace.

 

[Howsie]

Without looking up Siddle's List A stats I wouldn't think he'd be too good at the one day game. From what I've seen of him in test match cricket he doesn't really look like someone that could bowl with too much control at the death. Even with the new ball I wouldn't think he would be to effective.

 

[aussie1st]

His control would be down to his inexperience, he can bowl some very economical spells when he gets fired up. But the point I was making was the selectors have picked him for our Champions trophy squad on the back of 3 overs in ODI cricket so they must see something in his ODI bowling as Bollinger went well against Pakistan.