Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia) Dec-Jan 2011/12
- Thread starter WubbaLubbaDubDub
- Start date
StinkyBoHoon
National Board President
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
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- Glasgow, Scotland
I'm starting my recall jacques campaign.
Rohit Doshi
International Coach
Phil Jaques was in the team when India toured last time right? This series will be interesting. Both teams have had thrashing from big teams (for Australia both big and small Kiwi team 
) Both team have lot to prove.
India will be going in with confidence and Australia a bit low but you know that when you are playing against India there is 100% chance getting back into confidence
) Both team have lot to prove. India will be going in with confidence and Australia a bit low but you know that when you are playing against India there is 100% chance getting back into confidence
The Indian fast bowling line up of Zaheer, Ishant and Yadav are very promising and solid, if you ask me. That is, if they remain fit. I can't see all 3 of them retaining their fitness for 4 test matches, unfortunately. That means we'll have to resort to Mithun or/and Vinay Kumar. 
If Zak and Yadav get injured, which I think isn't improbable at all. You'll have a line up of Ishand, Mithun and Vinay Kumar. If that's the case...India should just declare in both innings and come back home.
If Zak and Yadav get injured, which I think isn't improbable at all. You'll have a line up of Ishand, Mithun and Vinay Kumar. If that's the case...India should just declare in both innings and come back home.
Rohit Doshi
International Coach
They have never broadcasted any practice matches unfortunately.
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I have a strange feeling, Mithun will be a surprise package as Ishant was in last down under tour. But have no hopes on Vinay tbh.
Abhimanyu Mithun has bowled in one good bowling condition in Sri Lanka on his debut where he got 4 wickets. Next match was absolute road in Sri Lanka where 1300 runs were scored in 2 innings of that test match(SRL - 642 & IND - 707) He picked 1 wicket there where only 5 Sri Lankan wicket fell. He then bowled in his third test which was spinning from ball one. Spinners in that test match took 26 wickets out of 35 wickets. He still managed one wicket and bowled well.
He back in West Indies in 2nd Test picked up 3 wickets in his only test which is not bad
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I have a strange feeling, Mithun will be a surprise package as Ishant was in last down under tour. But have no hopes on Vinay tbh.
Abhimanyu Mithun has bowled in one good bowling condition in Sri Lanka on his debut where he got 4 wickets. Next match was absolute road in Sri Lanka where 1300 runs were scored in 2 innings of that test match(SRL - 642 & IND - 707) He picked 1 wicket there where only 5 Sri Lankan wicket fell. He then bowled in his third test which was spinning from ball one. Spinners in that test match took 26 wickets out of 35 wickets. He still managed one wicket and bowled well.
He back in West Indies in 2nd Test picked up 3 wickets in his only test which is not bad
Australia A v England - FC match prior to the first Ashes test match
Prime Minster's XI v England - OD match prior to the first CB series match
I still cannot forget that catch of Panesar's in the FC match against Aus A. Absolute stunner
Sedition
Panel of Selectors
As far as wicket-keepers go, I'm ready to throw Peter Nevill's name in the mix.
Nevill - 18 games, 49 average - 3 hundreds and 4 fifties. 3.7 CPM
Wade - 50 games, 40 average - 4 hundreds and 17 fifties. 3.6 CPM
Paine - 46 games, 31 average - 1 hundred and 18 fifties. 2.8 CPM
Really don't see why Paine is so far up the pecking order, he's also the eldest of the 3, so it's not youth. But all that aside, Haddin will still be picked for the India series.
As for Hughes, Khawaja, Ponting and Hussey..
Hughes - Definitely needs to go back to shield cricket. Warner and Watson as first choice openers and Cowan in the event of an injury.
Khawaja - Has been disappointing, but I think he just needs a breakthrough innings. Marsh will definitely take the #3 spot if he's fit though.
Ponting - We've been carrying him for far too long. It doesn't feel like a big score is just around the corner, but we'll continue to carry him so he can say his goodbyes to the home fans.
Hussey - 83 runs in his last 7 innings.. not what we expect from Huss, but unlike Ponting, you feel a hundred is just around the corner. If he fails in the opening 2 or 3 tests though, his position is going to be under a huge amount of pressure.
As for the bowlers, well we can pen Siddle, Pattinson and Lyon in right now. Not convinced on Starc. There's a shedload of bowlers averaging 25-27 in shield cricket right now, so I think finding a replacement shouldn't be too hard. Copeland and Cutting should still be in the mix for starters.
Nevill - 18 games, 49 average - 3 hundreds and 4 fifties. 3.7 CPM
Wade - 50 games, 40 average - 4 hundreds and 17 fifties. 3.6 CPM
Paine - 46 games, 31 average - 1 hundred and 18 fifties. 2.8 CPM
Really don't see why Paine is so far up the pecking order, he's also the eldest of the 3, so it's not youth. But all that aside, Haddin will still be picked for the India series.
As for Hughes, Khawaja, Ponting and Hussey..
Hughes - Definitely needs to go back to shield cricket. Warner and Watson as first choice openers and Cowan in the event of an injury.
Khawaja - Has been disappointing, but I think he just needs a breakthrough innings. Marsh will definitely take the #3 spot if he's fit though.
Ponting - We've been carrying him for far too long. It doesn't feel like a big score is just around the corner, but we'll continue to carry him so he can say his goodbyes to the home fans.
Hussey - 83 runs in his last 7 innings.. not what we expect from Huss, but unlike Ponting, you feel a hundred is just around the corner. If he fails in the opening 2 or 3 tests though, his position is going to be under a huge amount of pressure.
As for the bowlers, well we can pen Siddle, Pattinson and Lyon in right now. Not convinced on Starc. There's a shedload of bowlers averaging 25-27 in shield cricket right now, so I think finding a replacement shouldn't be too hard. Copeland and Cutting should still be in the mix for starters.
mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Clarke needs to stay at the five. He averages 50+ there and around 20 further up the order. Similarly, Watson ought to stay in the upper order, although perhaps not as opener. Why not put him at three - an upper order of Warner/Marsh/Watson? I'd be happy to line up Ponting/Clarke/Hussey behind those guys for the rest of the summer, I think. Well, "happy" is not the right word, but it might be our best option.
Ed Cowan is almost 30. Better to bring in Katich if that's the way you want to go. Long term, we need Hughes to come good. The cupboards are bare.
Ed Cowan is almost 30. Better to bring in Katich if that's the way you want to go. Long term, we need Hughes to come good. The cupboards are bare.
Sedition
Panel of Selectors
I'm a huge Katich fan, but I've stopped mentioning him, as it's clear he won't be selected with the Clarke/Katich drama and no CA contract.
Aside from that, his form isn't exactly stellar at the moment.. A lot of single digit scores and a couple of hundreds this season.
Aside from that, his form isn't exactly stellar at the moment.. A lot of single digit scores and a couple of hundreds this season.
Copeland will need to do something as he hasn't done anything since been dropped. If anything the selectors might punt on Hazlewood.
I'm hoping the new selectors got rid of the "Paine" policy. In Nevill and Wade you cover any excuses the selectors could give. If they want in form, making tough runs then Wade fits that bill easily. If they want a right hander, in form, good behind the wickets and makes tough runs then Nevill is your man.
I'm hoping the new selectors got rid of the "Paine" policy. In Nevill and Wade you cover any excuses the selectors could give. If they want in form, making tough runs then Wade fits that bill easily. If they want a right hander, in form, good behind the wickets and makes tough runs then Nevill is your man.
Sedition
Panel of Selectors
Yeah I winced a little at Copeland's figures since being left out. His economy is pretty impressive to me though and the 25 average in shield cricket is among one of the better ones. His 37 average in 3 tests could be brought down pretty fast with a couple more opportunities.
I really don't mind if he doesn't make the cut though, there seem to be plenty of bowlers in the mix and it's the least of our concern at the moment.
I really don't mind if he doesn't make the cut though, there seem to be plenty of bowlers in the mix and it's the least of our concern at the moment.
mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
I had high hopes for Copeland, but quite a few Shield batsmen predicted he'd have a tough time backing up this season, and so far it looks like they might have been right. He's averaging 124.0 after five innings in the field, with a truly horrific strike rate of 345.
As you say, though, bowling is (remarkably) not our major concern.
I'm actually not convinced there are enough good young batsmen out there for us to build a strong Test team: not now and possibly not even in 2-3 years' time. Assume Hughes and Warner come good long-term - seems reasonable despite their current weaknesses, given their obvious talent and work ethic. Clarke and Watson are at least "decent" batsmen, and could be remembered as being very good indeed if we're able to shield them from the new ball with strong openers.
That's four. Who else fills out our top six in the next Ashes? And where do the 3-4 backups come from when the top six are injured or out of form? Players like Chris Lynn, Nic Maddinson, Mitch Marsh, Kurtis Patterson all have potential. Problem is that they don't have 50+ averages, which at one time was a pre-requisite for Test debut. They're all averaging 20-30 this season, which isn't a great trend.
There's every possibility those guys come good. But they haven't come good yet - which means we face a tough choice against India. Either we keep blooding young batsmen in the hope that it'll accelerate their development, or we field older journeymen cricketers (Cowan et al) to win the series, so that we don't have to listen to Indian fans rabbiting on about how they beat Australia in Australia.
...
I think I've talked myself around to having Cowan in the XI after all. Send Mitch and Maddinson to Worcestershire, if they want to accelerate their development.
mrtwisties
Club Cricketer
Really wish the public had access to some advanced stats on keepers. Someone who averages one extraordinary catch per match that a replacement player wouldn't take is worth an extra 20-30 runs compared with the replacement. But I don't think Nevill's 3.7 CPM indicates that he's that sort of keeper.
If we had advanced stats, I'd wager we'd see that Nevill gets a lot more opportunities to take catches keeping to the NSW attack, and that Paine probably takes a higher percentage of those opportunities that he does get.
Suppose that Paine would average 4.2 catches/stumpings per match keeping to NSW, as he does in Test cricket. That gives him +0.6 CPM over Wade, worth roughly 18 runs per match. That would make him roughly equal in terms of total contribution, even without factoring in things like fewer byes conceded or intangibles like leadership.
My only point is, Nevill and Wade look a lot better on paper than Paine - but I'm guessing the Australian selectors have access to better stats than we do, stats which might well give Paine the edge.
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