Nov 25-29: 1st Test: Australia v England at Brisbane

[woodzy]

Hughes and Khawaja averages over 50 in fc cricket.How are they struggling?Hughes averages 50 in test.How are you so sure they can't do better when you pick someone with a worst record in Klinger.

How many games have those two played and look at their form this season! Both have done bugger all in first class cricket this season Khawaja has played one or two seasons, Hughes exactly the same and he was picked way too early. I also think he is technically suspect! Klinger was ultra consistent last season and the season before that. Dont quote me on this but wasnt he among the top two or three run scorers in sheffield shield cricket?

 

[ZoraxDoom]

9 wickets in a session

Dare to dream?


But 517/1...wow. Epic. It's like Bot Bashing on Battrick...but in real life.

 

[lethalhughes]

How many games have those two played and look at their form this season! Both have done bugger all in first class cricket this season Khawaja has played one or two seasons, Hughes exactly the same and he was picked way too early. I also think he is technically suspect! Klinger was ultra consistent last season and the season before that. Dont quote me on this but wasnt he among the top two or three run scorers in sheffield shield cricket?

Khawaja has been in great form this season.Klinger has had only two strong seasons among many poor seasons.How has he done more than Hughes?

 

[CG123]

The fielding standard this match has been very average, that must be the fifth/sixth dropped catch, of which all of them bar one/two were not hard chances.

 

[woodzy]

Khawaja has been in great form this season.Klinger has had only two strong seasons among many poor seasons.How has he done more than Hughes?

Apart from his double century Khawaja has passed 50 only once for NSW this season. I never said Klinger is in contention, I said I was hoping that he would be in contention and he would be if he had a strong start to the season which he hasnt so that rules him out. Phil Hughes is only averaging 26 this season so I think hes out of contention for now. Perhaps Shaun Marsh is another name which should be thrown up there as a possible selection candidate!

 

[used2bcool]

But 517/1...wow. Epic. It's like Bot Bashing on Battrick...but in real life.

Yep. That was an interesting pitch though - bowler's paradise for a day and a half and then a road throughout the rest of the match. Generally pitches go the other way. I love the Aussie commentators trying to defend it as a sporting pitch, but if a combined two wickets fall on days four and five, you don't have a sporting pitch, brilliant batting aside.

Adelaide is usually the most batting-friendly pitch in Australia, and I honestly can't say that I see a result forthcoming from that test either, unless one team folds dramatically.

 

[ajdude]

Not good signs for Johnson at all, when they were showing his Gatorade ad, I thought to myself, "Gee, if that's what Gatorade does to you, I don't know if I want any ever again". On top of that, they cut off the ad halfway through for breaking news on the Victorian state election, and on top of THAT, I miss the presentations!

It hasn't been his test match haha.

 

[Robelinda]

I hate those Gatorade ads. Hate drinking it too, disgusting.

 

[ChefMan21]

Does anyone else find pitches that lack personality boring? It should be a test for 5 days, not score 100 runs a session. I loved the days when the batsman had to work for runs and the bowler had to hit the right spot for wickets.

 

[angryangy]

The pitch was midway between a green one and a dry one that gets unsteady. It started yellow and tacky, going on to become white and flat. Either direction I think it could have been better, but it was poor by the Gabba's standards.

Even though there were cracks, they never seemed to play a role. For the quicks they appeared too much of a safe distance from the stumps, but for the spinners the ball that turned in sharply simply did way too much. Maybe we needed to see the game go another two or three days.

Adelaide usually starts a lot drier than that. Although this can make it a bit dull on the first 3 days, it can bring interesting results in the last two.

 

[Num]

They cant do better at present...if theyre struggling to play well at first class level then what chance do they have at international level. Personally, id pick players when theyre 25-26, when theyve matured both on the field and off it. By picking players too early, your setting them up to fail! Look at Phil Hughes and Michael Clarke..classic examples. Let the players dominate first class attacks until theyve matured, then pick them for international cricket!

You mention Hughes and Clarke as having been set up to fail by being picked too early, yet Hughes averages 51+ and Clarke 48+ in Test matches.

 

[woodzy]

You mention Hughes and Clarke as having been set up to fail by being picked too early, yet Hughes averages 51+ and Clarke 48+ in Test matches.

Hughes had one good series vs South Africa..whats he done since then. Michael Clarke was picked too early...yes he played a few good knocks at the start of his career, but remember he was dropped after the the Hobart test vs the West Indies in the summer of 05-06

 

[Num]

Hughes had one good series vs South Africa..whats he done since then. Michael Clarke was picked too early...yes he played a few good knocks at the start of his career, but remember he was dropped after the the Hobart test vs the West Indies in the summer of 05-06

Hughes hasn't been great since then but surely he hasn't been a failure, got a quickfire 86 against New Zealand in his most recent Test innings. Clarke, on the other hand, so what he was dropped in 2005/06? Just because a player is dropped once in their Test career they are an inherent failure? I don't think so.

 

[woodzy]

Hughes hasn't been great since then but surely he hasn't been a failure, got a quickfire 86 against New Zealand in his most recent Test innings. Clarke, on the other hand, so what he was dropped in 2005/06? Just because a player is dropped once in their Test career they are an inherent failure? I don't think so.

Im not saying that they'll end up being failures, im saying wait until theyre 25-26 when they've matured both as a person and as a cricketer before selecting them for tests...let them gain experience at first class level first. Its almost an inevitable trend that if you select players as 18-22 year old kids theyll play the odd good innings but ultimately end up being dropped and playing first class cricket again and then being re-selected when 25-26

 

[Hooper]

The pitch was midway between a green one and a dry one that gets unsteady. It started yellow and tacky, going on to become white and flat. Either direction I think it could have been better, but it was poor by the Gabba's standards.

Even though there were cracks, they never seemed to play a role. For the quicks they appeared too much of a safe distance from the stumps, but for the spinners the ball that turned in sharply simply did way too much. Maybe we needed to see the game go another two or three days.

Adelaide usually starts a lot drier than that. Although this can make it a bit dull on the first 3 days, it can bring interesting results in the last two.

New curator bra!

Which means a bat friendly pitch again..