Jan 3-7: 5th Test: Australia v England at Sydney

Cookie Man of the Series.


I would have never predicted that at the start of the series. I doubt many would.

Clarke's interview. This should be good I hope.

They should interview Swanneh for the heck of it :p
 
Can the subcon. post-match management learn something from this? Only 2 representative up on the stage. Those guys always stack it up with ████ load of random people. "I would like to intro.... (10 min later)"

----------

Class of 2010-11

well done.
 
Four years ago I enjoyed watching Hayden and Langer go out to bat together for one last time as we won the Ashes 5-0. I thought this would last forever. Four years later Beer is the last man dismissed as England defeated Australia 3-1.

This series was exceptionally painful to watch at times being an Australian cricket fan as our top order folded and our bowling attack bowling blanks, bar Perth. Also the fall of Ponting has been hard to watch as I wanted him to score runs so much. Just like Hussey 12-18 months before.

If Australia had lost the series 3-1 with small margins, this would of been much easier to take in the sense that we competed. But England has smashed the living daylights out of us. We need to win the ODI series to gain some respect back and hopefully take that into the World Cup.

Well done to Collingwood. He's a player that I admire and his fielding is delightful to watch even if it means stopping boundaries. He's a fighter who will dig in for you and unfortunately for England he didn't have the series he would of liked but he goes out on a high.

I don't know why I posted this "essay". I feel disappointed and shocked. I didn't think that this would happen for quite some time. The 06/07 series seems like an eternity ago.
 
awesome by england in all honesty.

james anderson has shrugged off the tag as a dangerous bowler only in ideal conditions and has been a menace, was I picking a world XI he'd be in there opening the bowling with steyn.

don't think they can ditch tremlett either, he'll never lead the attack but conversely, he looks like a guy that will take a lot to fluster.

Cook has been incredible, he's a rock, might still have technical issues that can be exploited but the real batting boon for england is ian bell finally looks like he can deliver. He's a wonderful batsman, the type you want to see coming into teams, he's someone that can prosper all over the world if he gets his head on straight and he's proved he can do that now.

also, prior has also been fantastic. I remember when the wicketkeeper situation was englands achilles. no more, bats as well as any keeper and a few batsmen and now keeps to a good standard.
 
The thing with Tremlett is with his height he is able to hit the seam of the ball. He'll be handy to back up Anderson and who ever else will be in England's attack.
 
Left_Hander said:
Four years ago I enjoyed watching Hayden and Langer go out to bat together for one last time as we won the Ashes 5-0. I thought this would last forever. Four years later Beer is the last man dismissed as England defeated Australia 3-1.

This series was exceptionally painful to watch at times being an Australian cricket fan as our top order folded and our bowling attack bowling blanks, bar Perth. Also the fall of Ponting has been hard to watch as I wanted him to score runs so much. Just like Hussey 12-18 months before.

If Australia had lost the series 3-1 with small margins, this would of been much easier to take in the sense that we competed. But England has smashed the living daylights out of us. We need to win the ODI series to gain some respect back and hopefully take that into the World Cup.

Well done to Collingwood. He's a player that I admire and his fielding is delightful to watch even if it means stopping boundaries. He's a fighter who will dig in for you and unfortunately for England he didn't have the series he would of liked but he goes out on a high.

I don't know why I posted this "essay". I feel disappointed and shocked. I didn't think that this would happen for quite some time. The 06/07 series seems like an eternity ago.
Click to expand...
Well I actually prefered us getting really badly beaten rather than it being 2-1.Its now finally reach home , that our selectors have screwed things up and that this team is not good enough.We would have been in a better position had selectors had the foresight to see thats there was huge holes in our batting order and recognise that youth in the form of Khawaja or Hughes or both to the batting line up before the ashes ,was a step forward.Instead those guys get thrown midway through a tough battle where Australia confidence had been shot down.Can't really blame those young kids as they were thrown to the wolves.
Had we really rebuild and stuck to the basics in terms of selecting a test team, at least we would be in a better place even though we had lost the ashes.Right now its just chaos we've got more questions about our team and we have very few questions which have been answered.The worst thing cricket Australia can do is be convince that this squad is better than what they've shown here( which is true in a sense) and the results will inevitable come.This squad has been together for a while now and if they were the answer then there is no way we would lose by 3 innings defeat.

Going forward there are positives although not much- Khawaja has shown great temperament.Should he bat at 3 though ?Don't think its fair to bat Khawaja at 3 though .Ponting is not the answer at 3 though.Katich is the best number 3 option in the country.Do selectors have confidence in Hughes at the top?Should Watson continue to open with such a poor conversion rate?The greatest question though which does need to be address is who is the 6th best batsman in Australia?Hussey is the key though and for me he can bat just about anywhere in the order.Number 3 is such an important position surely it has to be our two most reliable bats ( Hussey or Katich) vying for that position with Punter dropping down to 4,Clarke 5 and Khawaja 6.Watson and one of Hughes or Katich to open.Btw the less said about our bowling the better.
 
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3 innings defeats for Australia, feels so good.

Can't be bothered digging up that "5-0" Glenn Mcgrath quote,
 
Congrats to all the English fans here. Australians fans however must be gut wrenched to say the least. A competitive Australian team is a must for international Cricket and I am sure they will still be a force to reckon with come the World cup. England need to continue the good work and make a strong showing in WC. Sub Continental conditions are going to challenge both teams.
 
lethalhughes said:
We would have been in a better position had selectors had the foresight to see thats there was huge holes in our batting order and recognise that youth in the form of Khawaja or Hughes or both to the batting line up before the ashes ,was a step forward.Instead those guys get thrown midway through a tough battle where Australia confidence had been shot down.Can't really blame those young kids as they were thrown to the wolves.

Going forward there are positives although not much- Khawaja has shown great temperament.Should he bat at 3 though ?Don't think its fair to bat Khawaja at 3 though .Ponting is not the answer at 3 though.Katich is the best number 3 option in the country.Do selectors have confidence in Hughes at the top?Should Watson continue to open with such a poor conversion rate?The greatest question though which does need to be address is who is the 6th best batsman in Australia?Hussey is the key though and for me he can bat just about anywhere in the order.Number 3 is such an important position surely it has to be our two most reliable bats ( Hussey or Katich) vying for that position with Punter dropping down to 4,Clarke 5 and Khawaja 6.Watson and one of Hughes or Katich to open.Btw the less said about our bowling the better.
Click to expand...

The writing was on the wall even before a ball was bowled in the series. To name a first test squad the size of a football squad was ridiculous and highlighted the selectors indecisiveness! Dropping Hauritz was a mistake too...hes not the first spinner to be taken to the cleaners in India..i have the feeling that every spinner no matter who it is..will unfairly have to the carry the expectations of living up to Shane Warne...we all say that we dont expect Hauritz, Beer Doherty to be Shane Warne...I think we do..if they dont take 5 wickets in an innings then we're all over them! Ultimately the fact that Beer performed no better than Hauritz did "out of form" ultimately confirmed a big selection cockup!

As for Ricky Ponting..I agree with what Allan Border said in inside cricket...I think he should follow what Border did in his career and move down the order. Also I think he needs to make some slight readjustments to his technique. Its a fact of life that as you get older your reflexes deteriorate..I think Ricky needs to put the hook and pull shot away but more importantly I think he needs to shorten his back lift so he can keep those good balls out and it'll allow him to play the swinging ball better. At the moment, if you guys noticed, Ponting is also bringing his bat down slightly from pointing the slips when he meets the ball...that may be another reason why hes been nicking so many? Also I do not think he should be sacked as captain, simple as that! Theres no body better and also hes got a very very ordinary bowling attack to work with and a batting line up that is very out of form.

As for Phil Hughes..for me...hes not even close to a test cricketer...ive said it before and ill say it again..test openers dont slash wildly at ball 2 feet outside off stump on the opening morning of a test match. I would have given Phil Jaques a shot. Hes our most experienced opener by miles and has an excellent first class record...he hasnt been in the runs this season but he scored a century in his last test match innings...surely thats got to count for something? Hes technique and temperament is more suited to test cricket than Hughes' is! Steve Smith is another who has to go! I cant for the life of me get what hes in the squad for. Ive heard hes in the squad for his batting, but there is no way hes the best no. 6 in the country and you dont pick a specialist batsman for no. 7...the player we need there is someone like Andrew McDonald a genuine seamer who can do a better job than many of our quicks at the moment and is also a decent bat...bats 5-6 for Victoria with a good average!

The bowling...oh god! For me you cannot have Hilfenhaus and Siddle in the same team. Both do the same job..theyre economical bowlers or can hold up an end. Hilfenhaus is supposedly picked to swing the ball...but for me..picking him and leaving Stuart Clark out is somewhat hypocritical..they both do the same job. Id have Clark back in that team because at least he can genuinely keep it tight and get that bit of away movement. I'll put it simply...if Hilfenhaus never plays for Australia again...i wont be losing any sleep!

Mitchell Johnson for me HAS to go...hes supposed to be our wicket taking bowler and yet we throw the whole outcome of a test match on the shoulders of a guy who cant string two consistent test matches together? Look I know its a long shot..but what about Shaun Tait..has anyone seriously asked him if hed consider playing...hes express and you'll know he'll get wickets! Im not sure who our replacement should be...ill have to think about it...its time to move on from Johnson though

Siddle for me is an interesting one...whats his job? is he a wicket taker, is he picked to hold up an end? is he meant to intimidate batsmen and get in there faces? I dont think he does any of those on a consistent basis...sure he has the odd good bowling performance...but he follows it up with some very ordinary ones..now his selection has to be examined? Finally, as ive said before Beer did no better than Hauritz, he gave the ball a little bit more air and kept it tight, but thats what Hauritz can do and since hes been dropped hes done very well for NSW! I think the whole Michael Beer selection was Shane Warne blowing his trumpet over nothing! Dont get me wrong Shane is the King of Spin...but when it comes to selecting players...well hes got in wrong on a few occasions...didnt he say Bryce McGain was a test cricketer too and look what happened to him? and the way hes talked up Steve Smith...he doesnt even look like a test bowler! Warne has a terrible bias towards spinners, especially those of the leg spin variety. Also by selecting Beer for the Perth test and keeping him the squad...they virtually could not go back to Nathan Hauritz otherwise how do they justify keeping Beer in the squad for Perth and Melbourne and not releasing him back to first class cricket. I believe his selection was to save face on the selectors behalf!

Our test team is a mess
 
I'm Australian and not gutted at all. I am really glad this has happened coz hopefully this will smack the selectors across the face and wake them up and actually pick a decent side in the future. players do really well in the first part of their career so if you keep bringing in new kids who have beginners luck drop them when they lose form and bring back in the kids you dropped last time round who have improved their game and become stars, but the moment they hit a slump get rid of them so they can work on their technique again
 
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