I see Chris Rogers almost scored a century against Australia: Tour Match: Derbyshire v Australians at Derby, Jul 8-9, 2010 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com
If Watson still struggles with the bat I would say Rogers could replace him.
Simon Katich is a way better leg spin bowler than Smith :ninja
Actually I am serious, Katich averages 36 at FC while Smith averages 48. Apart from their stats, it is obvious to the naked eye that Smith is missing many techniques which a leg spinner must have. In simple terms, he is just a pie chucker.
If I want an instant wicket, I'd give the ball to the Kat, but otherwise Smith is going to be holding fairly defensively at one end while the pace bowlers rest and attack from the other.
Hmm I'll stop you there - Katich bowls a lot more pies than Smith. Smith may look lie a pie chucker, but he bowls less of them. Post Warne, the Aussie spinner must be able to bowl maidens. Krejza couldn't and Hauritz can. Katich can't and Smith is a bit more likely. If I want an instant wicket, I'd give the ball to the Kat, but otherwise Smith is going to be holding fairly defensively at one end while the pace bowlers rest and attack from the other.
I agree with you there, but if we actually wanted a defensive spinner, why not stick with Hauritz?
I mean playing Pakistan probably wont cost us much as their batsmen would probably throw away their wickets against Smith anyway, but against a team like SA or India, an economical spinner is not going to do anything.
Yes, Warne came along and then he waved his wand and like that, Smith was suddenly a better bowler than Warne himself was at the same age.Simon Katich is a way better leg spin bowler than Smith :ninja
Actually I am serious, Katich averages 36 at FC while Smith averages 48. Apart from their stats, it is obvious to the naked eye that Smith is missing many techniques which a leg spinner must have. In simple terms, he is just a pie chucker. The only reason why he got selected is because he was an exciting prospect (and apparently 1 game makes a season), well the experiment was worth it but it is over now and he should just go back where he belongs, at club level.
This is quite apparent when you watch the recent MCG Test match against Pakistan. Katich came in late in the evening and completely bamboozled the batsmen with almost every delivery he bowled. There were ripping leggies of a length, nice drift and flight, and the occasional googly which the batsmen missed by a whole bat length. He had the ball on a string, balls which looked like full tosses landed on a length, and the batsmen were forced to go into panic mode, because they knew they couldn't survive against that type of bowling.
But watching Smith all these games is giving me a really bad headache. Not only does he have one of the most retarded run ups I have ever seen, almost every delivery he bowls looks exactly the same. Can I ask where are the variations?
It looks like Warney didn't teach him anything
/rant