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

[King Pietersen]

I like Morgan as well. If used properly by England (batting in the top 4/5) then he'd definitely be a top player to have in the side, but he should not be batting at 6, he's not powerful enough to be a finisher, and he certainly shouldn't have been picked ahead of Trott.

 

[The_gas]

Dirty Shah. Deliberately injuring Denly to improve his chances of selection, tut.

 

[Krypta]

Cook's just made an excellent 104 off 102 balls for Essex against Hampshire today. Surely he's a better candidate to open the batting than 'Ducky' Bopara.

 

[Slowcoach]

Prediction: Shah to fail with the bat in the first ODI due to feeling guilty about injuring Denly.

It may also affect team morale, I can imagine there may be some awkward silences.

England are crap anyway, Australia should win the series easily.

Yes yes, I know they won the Ashes, but that doesn't mean they have any decent hitters in their lineup.

 

[aussie1st]

With Haddin out of the Champions trophy I wouldn't mind giving Paine a try at the top. Still not convinced he can do the job in terms of hitting out at the end of an innings.

 

[pcfan123]

all this talk about Shah is nonsense. Cricketers have no business playing football. When was the last time a footballer was out injured because he was playing cricket to warm up

 

[sifter132]

I am a bit 'meh' about this series and so are Ricky Ponting and Tim Neilsen I really don't care who we play as long as everyone in the squad gets a few games and as long as James Hopes bats in the top 7 not down at #8.

For opener, not sure if I've mentioned before, but Paine if we bat first, Hopes if we chase. Hopes will do a better job of keeping at the RRR in a chase. Paine would do better at building an innings, that is the reasoning there. It's not like we need to worry about combinations too much. This is a nothing series, merely a warmup for the also awfully boring Champions Trophy...

 

[Cricketman]

vBookie is up for this match.

 

[Dutch]

vBookie is up for this match.

I have put some hard on vcash on an England win! I am personally really looking froward to having Lee back bowling. I think he brings something psoitive to cricket. It will interesting to see if he can start well or leak runs. (Of course I hope the latter!) Good attacking line-up for England. Two spinners again! And England to bowl!

 

[Howsie]

Who would you have as favourites? It's pretty much a toss up for me at the moment. I'm slightly edging towards the Aussie's though.

 

[aussie1st]

Depends on the pitch, if it suits fast bowling then the Aussies would have the advantage but going by the Test match here it will suit the English. Without Haddin we aren't as strong in the playing of spin.

 

[King Pietersen]

Such strange sides, well, England's is anyway. Only real surprise for Australia is White batting 3. Australia batting first and going in with:

Tim Paine +
Shane Watson
Cameron White
Michael Clarke
Mike Hussey
Callum Ferguson
James Hopes
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Nathan Hauritz
Nathan Bracken

England are then going in with:

Ravi Bopara
Andrew Strauss
Matthew Prior +
Owais Shah
Paul Collingwood
Luke Wright
Stuart Broad
Adil Gashid
Graeme Swann
Ryan Sidebottom
James Anderson

Australia will win. Our batting effectively ends at 5, possibly 6 if Wright manages to get away with a few big shots. Strange to see us going in with 2 spinners and then bowling first as well. Can't see us winning this game, going to need early wickets if we're going to stand a chance.

 

[Covvy]

Can somebody tell me why Hilfenhaus isn't playing? Is it because he needs a break?

 

[Themer]

Who would you have as favourites? It's pretty much a toss up for me at the moment. I'm slightly edging towards the Aussie's though.

I agree these two teams are quite close.

Australia's batting seems to be stronger by quite a bit but I'd say we have have the better bowling line-up

 

[Dutch]

Who would you have as favourites? It's pretty much a toss up for me at the moment. I'm slightly edging towards the Aussie's though.

I'm going for England, not just because I want them to win but they more of the players have more actual playing time over the last few weeks.