Australia

[Haarithan]

Another RAPE encountered there
I strongly feel White should be relegated to the bench or atleast lower down the order . It was his farking cricket shot to mid-on that turned the game towards India , now he fails again in a paradise wicket for a team batting first making only 22 . Bigger problem is that he always scores his first 20 runs at a strike rate below 50 .

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Encouraging signs from Pup and Punter though ! Personally i would push Dussey ahead of White .

 

[sifter132]

I think I agree with that. And I'd support demoting White, but it's a dangerous thing to begin doing because I imagine you are only going to dent his confidence more by dropping him down the order. Anyway, if Hussey bats at #5, then Australia would have to play 2 of White, Ferguson and Smith. Ferguson's possibly in the best form, but he was last into the squad. Smith adds a bowling option that might let 4 fast bowlers play below him. And White's been in the team forever but is playing like crap. So assuming White stays, I think there'll be a choice of either either Smith + Hastings + 3 quicks or Ferguson + Krejza + 3 quicks. Hard decisions to be made.

 

[aussie1st]

Smith in the top 7 would suit the attack we plan on taking as we increase the probability of having one of Tait, Lee and Johnson having an off day which means a part timer needs to pick up the slack. But you also have worries with the batting lineup from White onwards so putting a Ferguson in a 7 steadies the ship and gives us a good finisher.

 

[War]

I think I agree with that. And I'd support demoting White, but it's a dangerous thing to begin doing because I imagine you are only going to dent his confidence more by dropping him down the order. Anyway, if Hussey bats at #5, then Australia would have to play 2 of White, Ferguson and Smith. Ferguson's possibly in the best form, but he was last into the squad. Smith adds a bowling option that might let 4 fast bowlers play below him. And White's been in the team forever but is playing like crap. So assuming White stays, I think there'll be a choice of either either Smith + Hastings + 3 quicks or Ferguson + Krejza + 3 quicks. Hard decisions to be made.

Im fairly sure they will go for this option.

 

[Haarithan]

These are the times i really feel that the Aussies are missing a guy named 'Bradley Hodge' ! Stabilising + Consistency + Finishing all in one !

 

[midgetwars]

Was that a one of uniform?? SERIOUSLY. The colours of Australia against Sth Africa was bright yellow...

It ain't the 70s anymore.

Good to see Ponting and Clarke perform well. Bad to see the most fastest bowlers in Australia failed against Sth Africa.

Lee, Tait Johnson vs steyn: Aus Lose

Smith Vs Aus Middle Order: Aus Lose

Smith and Amla Vs Australia - Ponting anc Clarke: Aus Lose

Why the hell is White and D.Hussey in the team? Where's ferguson?

 

[sami ullah khan]

Mark my words. Ponting is going to be the best batsman of this tournament. He looks so determined.

 

[Haarithan]

Yup me too thinks the same . Its his determination that could very well carry the Aussies over the finishing line . Ricky Ponting FTW

 

[AngryPixel]

Can anyone tell me why the hell Brad Hodge is not playing the WC ? Because he's supposed to be one the best OD players in Australia.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Mark my words. Ponting is going to be the best batsman of this tournament. He looks so determined.

Can't help but agree The hunger I saw in his eyes during the Ind-Aus match, I haven't seen that in a while.

He won't give up his trophy without a fight.

 

[aussie1st]

Can anyone tell me why the hell Brad Hodge is not playing the WC ? Because he's supposed to be one the best OD players in Australia.

Off field issues, who or what we won't know until Hodge speaks out.

 

[darthlewis1]

^ You forgot a fourth point :

Always allow tailenders to contribute 50 plus runs to the added total . This has been a hallmark feature of the post WC 2007 team ! For now , these games come to mind :

CT 2009 : England 100/6 to 258 all out
IND vs AUS 7th ODI 2007 : India 90/7 to 180/8 (win by 2 wickets)
Most recently , Finn and Jimmy adding 53 for the 10th wicket
The worst of the lot being the test match at MCG against RSA : 189/7 to 459 all out .
And not to forget the 1st test against India in 2010 : 120/8 to 215/9

And they displayed some similar stuff yet again yesterday

What about Trott and Broad vs Pakistan who went from 102-7 to 434-8

 

[sifter132]

Can anyone tell me why the hell Brad Hodge is not playing the WC ? Because he's supposed to be one the best OD players in Australia.

Off field issues, who or what we won't know until Hodge speaks out.

Probably some off field issues, but there were rumours of Krejza and Hauritz having the same ones, yet they've been picked again. Then again, I think any spinner could get picked these days. I do think Hodge would lose any 50-50 decisions the selectors make though, just because he's been vocal in questioning them. At the same time, I think if Hodge was 10 years younger he'd have no problem getting into the team. But he's had his shot and he had an awful last series vs India in late 2007. Sure that was over 3 years ago, but you aren't going to keep a guy around who's going to be over 35 come the next World Cup - unless he's an important member of your team. Hodge is not - only a domestic legend.

Internationally, sure he got that much talked about double century v SA in Test cricket and a century v Netherlands and a couple of 90s v NZ in ODIs. But outside those 4 innings his international career was very average. Take out the double v SA and his Test average was 33.33. Take out those 3 ODI scores and his average in his other 18 innings was 14.22. The counterargument of course is that his domestic form has been excellent. But that's where his age works against him, why bring back Hodge when Australia is already nursing 2 other over 35 batsmen (Ponting and Hussey)? And why recycle an old guy when there are much younger domestic players who have played well given the chance eg. Ferguson, Voges, Marsh etc.

It's always really hard for old guys to get back into the Aussie side: ask Dean Jones in the mid 90s or Michael Bevan of the mid 00s - they made HUGE amounts of domestic runs and had done much more than Hodge internationally, yet neither could make it back to the Aussie side.

 

[AngryPixel]

Australia missed a trick by replacing Hussey. He could have been fit after 2 or 3 games. They gonna miss him against good spinners. I dont think Callum is in the same league when it comes to playing good spin bowling

 

[sami ullah khan]

Callum did look horrible against Chawla