Nov 17-20: Australia A v England XI at Hobart

[aussie1st]

This match is on Nov 17-20, 2010 between Australia A and England. This sees the return of the Australia A side which has been on hiatus for a few years. This match will be shown on Channel 9.

I suspect the Australia A side will contain a few players lacking fitness like Siddle, possible Bollinger. Whatever the selectors come up with will give us a good indication of the backups.

 

[angryangy]

This match will be covered by Channel Nine. Been a while since something like that has happened.

 

[aussie1st]

Now hopefully Sky Sports NZ does likewise My A side assuming the starting 11 won't play is:

Hughes
Maddinson (ok maybe too bias towards NSW, Cowan, Klinger and Cosgrove are other options)
Khawaja
Ferguson
Bailey
Smith
Paine
O'Keefe
Siddle
Copeland
George

3rd bowling spot is a bit harder to pick, a few youngsters that up coming up but George made his Test debut so I'd guess he would be the one.

 

[RoboRocks]

That's a pretty good A side. It'll give England the test they'll need before the 1st test.

 

[sifter132]

So Michael Slater was talking in the ODI pregame about how Australia should play a FULL STRENGTH team for this Australia A match. Make a statement - first XI straight up, no young guys at all. Thoughts? Good idea?

Watson, Clarke, Ponting and Haddin seem in decent enough touch and wouldn't need to play, butI'd like to see Hussey and North play at the very least. It could be a virtual selection trial for them, head to head with Khawaja and Ferguson - see who plays the Poms the best. If Katich wanted to play he could captain the team, but maybe he'd prefer to rest the thumb. You could give all the bowlers a go though I think.

You could go something like:
Hughes
Katich (c) / Shaun Marsh
Khawaja
North (vc)
Hussey
Ferguson
Paine (wk)
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfy/Siddle
Bollinger/Siddle

 

[aussie1st]

Bit on the fence on that one. I can see where hes coming from by suggesting the team needs to get some consistency and harmony back. But there is also the other side where the A games are usually a good place to try out the backup players. I'd prefer going down the proper A team route as I like testing our youngsters out. Plus their has been talk that the English won't be playing a full strength side anyway.

 

[angryangy]

The last A side was

Klinger
Cowan
Khawaja
Bailey
Forrest
McDonald
Wade
O'Keefe
Hilfenhaus
Pattinson
George

So maybe there won't be any real oldies, but I don't see them picking more than a couple of players who aren't contenders.

 

[aussie1st]

Side should be pretty similar to that I would say. Wade could well get another go since Paine has a bit of experience at the top level now. Speaking of Wade just looked at his stats this season and hes once again in the 40s for averages to backup the previous two seasons which were high 40s. Smith would probably take Forrest spot. We might end up with Siddle and Hilfy playing since they could use more gametime especially Siddle.

 

[Num]

Australia A team I'd pick:

1. P.Hughes
2. S.Marsh
3. U.Khawaja
4. M.Hussey
5. M.North
6. C.Ferguson
7. T.Paine (wk)
8. N.Hauritz
9. R.Harris
10. P.Siddle
11. P.George/C.McKay

 

[War]

Australia A team I'd pick:

1. P.Hughes
2. S.Marsh
3. U.Khawaja
4. M.Hussey
5. M.North
6. C.Ferguson
7. T.Paine (wk)
8. N.Hauritz
9. R.Harris
10. P.Siddle
11. P.George/C.McKay

Close to what i'd pick as well. But just some thoughts on the bolded.

I think Klinger has a very good chance of playing instead of him. After all Klinger was in the last A side AUS played.

They might give Wade a go instead of Paine, given that Paine has already proven himself on the international stage for AUS.

No need to pick Hauritz. But ha i guess you guys would expect me to say that . But seriously there is nothing more to see with him given his failures in tests, he shouldn't be playing in the Ashes anyway. So rather either test the other spinners out in Doherty or O'Keefe (even Krejza again (although unfortunatetly they wont with him) or Smith - perfect game to test out his leggies againts the English.

But if no spinner again. Then 4 quicks again, since thats the strenght of AUS bowling depth. Siddle/Harris/George are the main trio the play. So the last spot will be either Starc/Cameron/Pattinson - McKay should be behind these guys for test selection IMO.

 

[sifter132]

Well the Australia A squad has been named:
The Ashes 2010-11: Young batsmen still a chance for Ashes - Andrew Hilditch | Cricket News | The Ashes 2010-11 | Cricinfo.com

Australia A squad Phillip Hughes, Shaun Marsh (subject to fitness), Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson, Cameron White (capt), Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, Steve O'Keefe, Mitchell Starc, Mark Cameron, Peter George.

So none of the first teamers get a run. I thought it might be wise to see how the English will play Hauritz by giving him a burst here, but I can see why they've gone for the young guys.

But here's where I'm stumped: the squad for the first Test will be named on Monday the 15th, TEN DAYS before the first Test and with the A game still to be played and a full round of Shield fixtures about to begin. Why not name the squad on the 20th, the last day of the Shield and "A" game? There's still 4-5 days after that until the first Test. It's even more confusing when there is talk of a big squad to cover the injury concerns. If you pick the squad a few days later you might know whether Kato and Dougie will be fit.

 

[War]

The Ashes 2010-11: Young batsmen still a chance for Ashes - Andrew Hilditch | Cricket News | The Ashes 2010-11 | Cricinfo.com

Cant complain too much with this A side i guess.

I would have thought throwing North, Harris & Siddle againts ENG in this match would have been a good idea instead of them playing for their respective state sides. But i guess its not that much of a big deal.

Hopefully North not playing in this game is sign that he will not play in the Ashes. Fingers crossed.

War added 3 Minutes and 35 Seconds later...

Well the Australia A squad has been named:
The Ashes 2010-11: Young batsmen still a chance for Ashes - Andrew Hilditch | Cricket News | The Ashes 2010-11 | Cricinfo.com



So none of the first teamers get a run. I thought it might be wise to see how the English will play Hauritz by giving him a burst here, but I can see why they've gone for the young guys.

But here's where I'm stumped: the squad for the first Test will be named on Monday the 15th, TEN DAYS before the first Test and with the A game still to be played and a full round of Shield fixtures about to begin. Why not name the squad on the 20th, the last day of the Shield and "A" game? There's still 4-5 days after that until the first Test. It's even more confusing when there is talk of a big squad to cover the injury concerns. If you pick the squad a few days later you might know whether Kato and Dougie will be fit.

Ye more stupidty from the selectors really, these people are giving me a headache. I get the feeling they want to show some form of assurity in selection, instead of uncertainty like back in the glory days. But quite obviously AUS aren't in such a position, the squad really shouldn't be named until AFTER this A game & the final of round of FC fixtures.

 

[aussie1st]

Copeland is a bit unlucky but I guess once you have George you don't quite need another. I like the team though, all youngsters and all guys in the frame. White was forgotten by all of us in our predicted sides but he deserves to get rid of the ODI tag.

 

[Biggy]

I like the look of the A side.

 

[Covvy]

Why Steven O'Keefe? He's not that good, or is it because he's young?