Blast to the Past - 1st ODI Australia v England, celebrating 40 years

[StinkyBoHoon]

because watson actually leads?

they shouldn't be relying on his batting in tests so much anyway, he should be sliding down the order. My worry with Clarke is he is too much part of the ponting era side, I think ponting has looked lost without his champion team members, I am not sure clarke has the stuff to come out from that shadow and build his own team. Watson isn't, like I said, it's a knee jerk based on this, his bowling in the twenty20 and his comments from the ashes. So i dunno, it looks a better option right now.

 

[sifter132]

A bit worried about Dougie also. Second game he has played for AUS this season & he really hasn't looked himself with that ball. He also needs this full ODI series to get his mojo of 2009 & 2010 back or esle he could certainly miss out for Nannes instead.

Indeed. The commentators spotted it straight away. Everything Dougie bowled went into the middle of Strauss' bat. He really needs to get that sizzle back.


I thought Strauss really missed a trick last night around the 20-30 over mark when the ball was reversing. Shahzad bowled a good spell at Clarke/Watson, really slowed them down and made it hard for Clarke to get in and Watson to keep his strike rate up. Why didn't Bresnan get the ball after Shahzad? He could have helped to capitalise on the reversing ball. Good reverse from one end with Swann and Yardy strangling from the other was the way to go. You saw as soon as Shahzad went off, Clarke was OK. He was 4 from 15 after Shahzad bowled the 23rd over. The rest of the way he was 32 from 42 - about normal middle over stuff. Bringing Bresnan on and getting the ball to move would have bogged Clarke even further and possibly got him or Watson out.

And I LOVED the Smith promotion during the Powerplay. That's how it should be used. Teams are afraid of the risk of taking the Powerplay because of the usual loss of wickets, but you can solve that by promoting a player that you aren't scared of losing eg. Smith/Johnson types who have a clear job - to come in and have a go. If they get out, so what? They probably wouldn't have helped much later, and they give you a chance to have a free (or very cheap) dash during the Powerplay. I hope we see that kind of promotion more often. Especially during a chase. When batting first it makes more sense to be conservative, but when you are chasing, go for it.

 

[aussie1st]

I thought Strauss really missed a trick last night around the 20-30 over mark when the ball was reversing. Shahzad bowled a good spell at Clarke/Watson, really slowed them down and made it hard for Clarke to get in and Watson to keep his strike rate up. Why didn't Bresnan get the ball after Shahzad? He could have helped to capitalise on the reversing ball. Good reverse from one end with Swann and Yardy strangling from the other was the way to go. You saw as soon as Shahzad went off, Clarke was OK. He was 4 from 15 after Shahzad bowled the 23rd over. The rest of the way he was 32 from 42 - about normal middle over stuff. Bringing Bresnan on and getting the ball to move would have bogged Clarke even further and possibly got him or Watson out.

Definitely surprising looking back now. If he kept up the work of Shahzad then England probably win that match as the task was hard enough as it was.

 

[Roofrom50]

To the comment about Watson becoming Australia's captain, i reckon he certainly has the attributes to becoming a leader, but they guy is in such good form with both the bat and ball at the moment, giving him the captaincy, will just wear him down. He will then not focus on he's batting or bowling as much, and he will loose the form that he currently has, and without him Australia's side would be nothing.

Never bring a man down when he has this much confidence, it could wreck him as a player and ruin he's career.

 

[sami ullah khan]

One of the best ODI innings of all time . Kudos to Watson

 

[formula1man]

absolutely shocking by Clarke and Smith, especially Clarke. I have been on his case for a long time and this just proves it, he should not be captain and should not be going to the world cup.

and Smith, i am just lost for words how the selectors even chose him.... oh thats right he's from New South Wales it makes so much sense now, maybe i should move there and get a stint in the team. he is HOPELESS.

 

[War]

I don't see how you can be so harsh on Davies after he's just whacked 42 from 35. Additionally he is a better keeper. Atop of that Davies has scored his runs in ODI cricket quicker than Kieswetter, who was pretty awful when he was in the England team last year.

Im not criItcizing Davies performance, i'm highlighting he is clearly nothing like Gilchrist & the sooner ENG commentators on sky & fans stop comparing him the better.

To date in his ODI career he doesn't even score faster than Strauss when he gets going & i would think a potential Gilly clone is suppose to make Strauss look pedestrian.

Kieswetter was dropped stupidly last summer, lets get that much cleared up. Ok fine the AUS quicks exposed his technical faults in the ODI series. But they way Bollinger/Tait/Harris bowled in that ODI series few batsmen would have scored runs, so it was no shame for a young player in his 1ST home ODI series to get exposed to such a top quality pace attack in form.

Kieswetter should have at least gotten the 1st couple of ODIs vs Pakistan to redeem himself after that series vs AUS, if he continued to struggle - then Davies should have played in the latter half of the ODIs vs PAK. Instead Davies was brought in too quickly.

 

[sifter132]

absolutely shocking by Clarke and Smith, especially Clarke. I have been on his case for a long time and this just proves it, he should not be captain and should not be going to the world cup.

You didn't like his captaincy? Or his batting? I can understand the complaints against his batting, but then again he did build a good steadying partnership with Watson and absorbed England's best bowling of the game - the Shahzad reverse spell.

So batting was a bit meh, but I thought his captaincy was pretty good, especially given that most of the bowling was absolute tripe. Dougie and Mitch were poor, and he was obviously under orders to give Dave Hussey a few overs to trial him before the WC.

 

[War]

I'd say Davies is more like Gilchrist personally. Sure, he's not as good and not as used to getting big scores, but he goes out there to take advantage of the powerplay overs. Whereas I think Kieswetter is a batsman who looks to just bat. Sure he gets runs at a good rate, but that's because he's naturally aggressive. Whereas I think England want him to just slog, which isn't his natural game. Kieswetter is more like Trescothick for me, in that he'll score aggressively, naturally and can still get big scores, but may get bogged down every now and again, when people expect him to score at more than 100 every time he goes out there.

Yea Kieswetter is mirror image of Trescothick in many ways & his role would certainly be the man to go ballistic in the power play overs, who can potentially score a 30-ball 50.

I dont think having the expectation of have to score @ a SR of more than 100 everytime he goes out to bat would cause him to get bogged down TBF, since thats his strenght. He should with this innings in BANG that if can conditions are restricting him from smoking it @ a rate he can adjust & not get bogged down also:

3rd ODI: Bangladesh v England at Chittagong, Mar 5, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Such an early career innings was a good sign since the world cup will be played in such conditions.

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I think Davies has more shots he can use to get himself out of trouble. With a bit of work, he could be a good ODI opener. In any case, if he doesn't make it to the WC, it'll be Prior.

Although Prior is seemingly improving as ODI batsman in a role in his accustomed middle-order position. I dont see how ENG can balance their ODI XI with the key facet of having 5 bowlers by having Prior batting @ 6, since we certainly cant let him open again.

So if Davies does have a average ODI series. Kieswetter should be the back-up option taking over from him.

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You didn't like his captaincy? Or his batting? I can understand the complaints against his batting, but then again he did build a good steadying partnership with Watson and absorbed England's best bowling of the game - the Shahzad reverse spell.

So batting was a bit meh, but I thought his captaincy was pretty good, especially given that most of the bowling was absolute tripe. Dougie and Mitch were poor, and he was obviously under orders to give Dave Hussey a few overs to trial him before the WC.

I didn't see as that. That seem like a tactical decision at the time to get a spinner to try to take the pace of the ball, restrict the scoring & potentially get a wicket (which happened) given the quick start Strauss/Davies had.

 

[MUFC1987]

Yea Kieswetter is mirror image of Trescothick in many ways & his role would certainly be the man to go ballistic in the power play overs, who can potentially score a 30-ball 50.

I dont think having the expectation of have to score @ a SR of more than 100 everytime he goes out to bat would cause him to get bogged down TBF, since thats his strenght. He should with this innings in BANG that if can conditions are restricting him from smoking it @ a rate he can adjust & not get bogged down also:

3rd ODI: Bangladesh v England at Chittagong, Mar 5, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Such an early career innings was a good sign since the world cup will be played in such conditions.

There's a difference between feeling that he has to score 50 from 30 balls and it happening naturally though. He is the type of player where he can do that, but I just feel he's under pressure, when he plays to score quickly, as that's his reputation. I'd much rather see the Kiewsetter from that Bangladesh match, as he's shown he can build an innings and although starting relatively slowly (50 from 80 balls) can accelerate when needed. I just think he needs to be told to play naturally, rather than being told to pinch hit. In the home ODIs it just seemed that if his strikerate was low, he felt the need to hit something, when it's not necessary.

Bit pointless this though really, no way is he going to the World Cup, barring injuries.

 

[War]

There's a difference between feeling that he has to score 50 from 30 balls and it happening naturally though. He is the type of player where he can do that, but I just feel he's under pressure, when he plays to score quickly, as that's his reputation. I'd much rather see the Kiewsetter from that Bangladesh match, as he's shown he can build an innings and although starting relatively slowly (50 from 80 balls) can accelerate when needed. I just think he needs to be told to play naturally, rather than being told to pinch hit. In the home ODIs it just seemed that if his strikerate was low, he felt the need to hit something, when it's not necessary.

Bit pointless this though really, no way is he going to the World Cup, barring injuries.

He should be part of the 15-man squad, ENG certainly have to take 2 keeper bats, given that Davies hasn't exactly nailed down a place.

 

[MUFC1987]

It's not something that we've tended to do in the past though. I imagine you can call up replacements for injuries, so the England hierachy will back Morgan to get through a game while they're waiting for backup.

 

[War]

It's not something that we've tended to do in the past though. I imagine you can call up replacements for injuries, so the England hierachy will back Morgan to get through a game while they're waiting for backup.

The aim of the back-up keeper is not just in case of injuries. But mainly due to the fact that Davies has yet to nail down the spot, so if he struggles it would be crazy to not have a replacement.

We didn't need to take a back-up keeper to the 2007 & 2003 WCs because Nixon & Sir Alec where the undisputed # 1s going into those respective tournaments. So we could have risked not taking a back-up keeper.

 

[Sureshot]

Although Prior is seemingly improving as ODI batsman in a role in his accustomed middle-order position. I dont see how ENG can balance their ODI XI with the key facet of having 5 bowlers by having Prior batting @ 6, since we certainly cant let him open again.

So if Davies does have a average ODI series. Kieswetter should be the back-up option taking over from him.

I have a suspicion that England will bring Prior in if Davies is dropped and play Prior in the middle order and open with Bell and Strauss. Given how Prior has done in the Test side, it's obvious he can bat better than his 25 average in ODIs suggests, maybe opening isn't for him, we don't have to have the keeper opening in ODIs.

The fact that Prior has nailed down the test spot could prove in his favour. Getting some murmurings from people I know that he's matured a lot, thus his improvement over the last year or so.

 

[Themer]

To date in his ODI career he doesn't even score faster than Strauss when he gets going & i would think a potential Gilly clone is suppose to make Strauss look pedestrian.

No one is comparing Gilly to Davies as though Davies is as good as him, people have just noted they play in a similar style (ie opening the batting and hitting from the off)

Secondly Davies scores his run in ODI cricket at a strike rate of 108 compared to Strauss' 80 so I have no idea what that part was in reference to. (Interesting to note that in his 8 matches thus far Davies actually scores quicker than Gilly and Kieswetter)

Kieswetter was dropped stupidly last summer, lets get that much cleared up. Ok fine the AUS quicks exposed his technical faults in the ODI series. But they way Bollinger/Tait/Harris bowled in that ODI series few batsmen would have scored runs, so it was no shame for a young player in his 1ST home ODI series to get exposed to such a top quality pace attack in form.

Kieswetter should have at least gotten the 1st couple of ODIs vs Pakistan to redeem himself after that series vs AUS, if he continued to struggle - then Davies should have played in the latter half of the ODIs vs PAK. Instead Davies was brought in too quickly

Kieswetter was dropped because he was averaging 26 for the duration of his ODI career and at the time was in awful form domestically and internationally. (Both Kieswetter and Lumb from the Twenty20 squad couldn't buy a run) To top this off Davies was in red hot form and was flaying attacks in the domestic competition all over the place at well over a run a ball.

I'd argue that it would have been more of a mistake to stick with Kieswetter in the worst form of his life than picking Davies in the form of his.