Johnnie Walker Super Series

[sohum]

Dude, taimur, you are missing one prolific test cricketer--Virender Sehwag. Funny, since he averages something like 500 against Pakistan! Exaggerating, but how can you forget him after this year?

 

[taimurasad]

Why not have the Pakistan eam itself for the series.
Man is this guy out of this mind when he says Kaneria and Afridi.

Also Inzamam is a good choice no doubt but not a probable one .

*On Afridi's inclusion in ODI':; if Sehwag & Afridi stayed at the wicket for 10overs then the so called best will have no chance of winning it.

*On Kaneria:Kaneria performed brilliantly in tests in Aus this year & also against India. He is certainly a gr8 choice, the captain will certainly have to choose b/w him and Kumble.

*On Inzamam: "In Modern day cricket Inzamam is only second to Lara & Tendulkar but he never gets credit for it" ~Ian Chappel
Thats wht u r doing ronny, not giving him enough credit for his gr8ness.

Dude, taimur, you are missing one prolific test cricketer--Virender Sehwag. Funny, since he averages something like 500 against Pakistan! Exaggerating, but how can you forget him after this year?

I thought abt including sehwag in test but the problem is that he would replace Fleming up front which means REST XI will loose a good captain in Fleming. If that happens Dravid will have to take tests captaincy.

 

[ravigoteti]

you can't have kaneria as a good option. Now, i have nothing against him, he is a good bowler. But you need a proven bowler, like kumble/bhajji. Both of them are in good form in tests and would definitely make it, its an automatic selection when it comes to spinners. Its murali and one of bhajji/kumble. I think kumble will get in because you need the leg/off spin combinations.

Batting will be tough because only few players get in automatically. Sachin, Lara, Dravid, Sehwag, Kallis...are sure one's. They are proven players and have fabulous record against Aus. Youhana might get into the team instead of imzi, for the latter was not that good against Aus. Fleming might get into, and as captain as well.
For wicket-keeping batsman, you have Jones, Sangakarra or may be Boucher or even Dhoni.

Sachin's avg against Aus is 53, and IN Aus is 54. Lara's is 51 against Aus and 40.1 in Aus. Laxman's is 52.3 against Aus and 60 in Aus. Sehwag's is 51 against Aus and 58 in Aus. Inzamam's is 35 against Aus and 34 in Aus. Yousuf Youhana's is 30~ against Aus and 29 in Aus. Ganguly's is 38 in Aus and 33 against australia. Fleming's avg is 28 against Aus. Dravid's is 60 something. Vaughan's is 63 against Aus!.
Chanderpaul's is 42 against and in Aus. Kallis has avg of 32 against aus and 41 in Aus.

Bowling:

Kumble has an avg of 27 against Aus, while murali has 31.2. Bhajji has 24.2, kaneria has 42.2, vettori's is 33.5.
For bowling, pathan has 72!, khan has 40, akthar (don't know if he'll play or not) avgs 36, Hamirson is new.., pollock has 27 (finally), Ntini has 50, and Vaas has 30. So we have a strong spin attack and a weak pace attack.

for bowling, hamirson pollock and vaas look good. Pathan/Khan have a chance but its going to be a tough competition. For spin, its clear. Murali, Kumble and Bhajji will fight out for those two posts. Batting too is clear but now..its all upt ICC to decide. lol

 

[jdbais]

I don't think Fleming should play. They can choose Dravid or Lara as captain. He has been in very poor form especially against the Aussies recently and has a poor record against them.

 

[MWaugh]

Akhtar won Pakistan the ODI series in Australia just a few years back.Also he did well in Australia but it was just that he didnt get support in Tests.

Lara no matter how a gr8 a batsman he is has never helped WI beat Aussies in Australia which Laxman has done.
So maybe the McGrayh effect on Lara and that all Laxman would be a better choice and cant have Lara in the 14 cos you cant just have him in the 14 and not in the 11 .

Maybe most wont agree but I do

Aktar did nothing in the tests out here just recently. He bowled well in the first test on a nice fast bouncy wicket at perth. and after that he lost all heart and packed up and went home. as for he didnt have any support, i think the real story that he gave his team no support. players like sami, kaneria and rana gave loads of support but the derailed express sat in the sheds.

when did pakistan win the ODI series in australia? they didnt get near it when they came out just the other month, they didnt win it when they came out along with india. they made the final and got convincingly thumped by australia. he didnt lead them there either. that was all razzaq. im not sure which tour you watched but i dont think it involved australia.

as for lara, there is no way possible that laxman can be put up at the same level of that of lara. as for not winning anything for windies against australia. he hit that memorable 200 in sydney. a magical 213 to lead windies to a 10 wicket win in jamaica in 99. a match saving 153* to lead his side to a 1 wicket win in the bridgetown test later that series. lara has constantly proven himself to be one of, if not, the best batsman in the world (disputable between himself, tendulkar and probably now ponting). to leave him out of the 11 to allow laxman a place is in it simplest... a joke

Yes, at the moment Fleming seems like the ideal captain.

I'm guessing if they can fit some of the other captains into the team, Smith or Fleming may take captaincy. Probably not Smith because of the defensive mindset of the South African team. Else, I see Rahul Dravid as the main candidate for captaincy.

After seeing Flemmings tactics against australia i wouldnt call Stephen Flemming the most attacking captain in the world. I wouldnt let inzimam anywhere near it because of the way he comes across on the field. lara hasnt ever really been a GREAT captain. hes been good, but not great. i would probably look at vaughn if you can get him in the team

 

[sohum]

There are too many captains who are not individually brilliant players. Perhaps the ICC panel will end up choosing a player just to be captain. But in all honesty, there will be enough leaders on the field to take over as captain. So they do not have to have a captain per se, but just the leadership on the field. Any idea if and who will be coaching the team? Is it Bob Woolmer? Or is it the England coach?

 

[jdbais]

Might even be Steve Waugh again.

 

[ravigoteti]

Yea, either Vaughan and Dravid will eye for the test captain spot. Dravid is certain tobe in the team and i believe Vaughan is also in the squad.

 

[sohum]

Dravid will definitely be in the Test squad. Probably in the ODI squad, too, after his recent exploits in that version. He has morphed his game beautifully to become an able ODI cricketer.

 

[ronny_kingsley]

Aktar did nothing in the tests out here just recently. He bowled well in the first test on a nice fast bouncy wicket at perth. and after that he lost all heart and packed up and went home. as for he didnt have any support, i think the real story that he gave his team no support. players like sami, kaneria and rana gave loads of support but the derailed express sat in the sheds.

when did pakistan win the ODI series in australia? they didnt get near it when they came out just the other month, they didnt win it when they came out along with india. they made the final and got convincingly thumped by australia. he didnt lead them there either. that was all razzaq. im not sure which tour you watched but i dont think it involved australia.

as for lara, there is no way possible that laxman can be put up at the same level of that of lara. as for not winning anything for windies against australia. he hit that memorable 200 in sydney. a magical 213 to lead windies to a 10 wicket win in jamaica in 99. a match saving 153* to lead his side to a 1 wicket win in the bridgetown test later that series. lara has constantly proven himself to be one of, if not, the best batsman in the world (disputable between himself, tendulkar and probably now ponting). to leave him out of the 11 to allow laxman a place is in it simplest... a joke



After seeing Flemmings tactics against australia i wouldnt call Stephen Flemming the most attacking captain in the world. I wouldnt let inzimam anywhere near it because of the way he comes across on the field. lara hasnt ever really been a GREAT captain. hes been good, but not great. i would probably look at vaughn if you can get him in the team

Silly might be the word to say the least. I assume you to be an Aussie and wonder your not knowing of Australia crumbling to a 2-1 defeat from the Pakistanis under Waquar maybe it was the Indoor series.

Also all of Lara's innings didnt do the trick downunder .only two of the contemprory batsman can boast of dismantling an Aussie atack downunder ie Laxman & Dravid .Whatever one says Laxman continues to be best against AUssies for me.

 

[MWaugh]

Silly might be the word to say the least. I assume you to be an Aussie and wonder your not knowing of Australia crumbling to a 2-1 defeat from the Pakistanis under Waquar maybe it was the Indoor series.

Also all of Lara's innings didnt do the trick downunder .only two of the contemprory batsman can boast of dismantling an Aussie atack downunder ie Laxman & Dravid .Whatever one says Laxman continues to be best against AUssies for me.

yes ronny it was only just recently that i came across this indoor series. the series in the middle of the australian winter and aktar wasnt leading the team, aktar played the 3rd string role behind waqar and wasim akram. its alot easier for a bowler to bowl when the pressure is off. he was a young speedster with heart - all of which seemed to have dissapeared last series. and we are talking about 1999 era. thats many years ago. when he was out recently he did sweet nothing. kaneria and rana proved the pick of the bowlers while shoab only compounded his countries problems by barely even playing.

as for lara. lara has proven himself time and time again against australia. put him in a team with just a couple of other great batsman and he would be ruthless. unfortunatly he doesnt have that at the moment with the windies but i cannot see how comparisons can be made between laxman and lara. lara has proven for over a decade of his brilliance and worth in a struggling nation. while laxman has performed very well i still do not believe he is in the same league as the prince

 

[brad352]

*On Afridi's inclusion in ODI':; if Sehwag & Afridi stayed at the wicket for 10overs then the so called best will have no chance of winning it.

*On Kaneria:Kaneria performed brilliantly in tests in Aus this year & also against India. He is certainly a gr8 choice, the captain will certainly have to choose b/w him and Kumble.

*On Inzamam: "In Modern day cricket Inzamam is only second to Lara & Tendulkar but he never gets credit for it" ~Ian Chappel
Thats wht u r doing ronny, not giving him enough credit for his gr8ness.

Afridi is nothing more than a slogger with a magnificent eye, he won't get anything against quality bowling- also, I'd be fascinated to know how 10 overs could give Australia "no chance of winning it"

Kaneria took wickets in the Tests when the Aussies got bored and started trying to hit him out of the park every ball, he may take 3/70 in a one dayer but with our length of batting lineup I'd question the use of that

Inzamam is a good bat

 

[jdbais]

Remember the test match is going to be played in Sydney, so that whole issue of bouncing pitches or Australian conditions will not come into play

 

[taimurasad]

I'd be fascinated to know how 10 overs could give Australia "no chance of winning it"

oh yes, u will. Lets see!!!....

 

[ravigoteti]

The thing is, no team has succeeded in scoring big against australia in the first 10-15 overs. India has done it sometimes, pak. once or twice. Those are the crucial overs and because of Aussie bowling quality it is not easy. We will need experienced cricketers up that order in ODI's and there can't be anything better than seeing Sachin-Lara as openers. Both have performed wonderfully well against Aussies and others, especially sachin up the order.
Taking afridi will be a gamble, but if he continues his form it can well be a good choice. I also see a possibililty of kaif in the squad atleast, just for his fielding that match and sometimes better the Aussies. HIs batting too is in some sort of form.

We have to wait for couple of months to see clearly who will be in the squad.