Scape goats?

[Hooper]

It was his comeback tests after a huge layoff with an injury to his bowling arm, what do you expect? I'm tipping a big summer for him if he can get back to playing cricket consistently.

Hooper added 2 Minutes and 39 Seconds later...

This is what the problem is for Australia they're searching for a Match winning spinner ala Shane Warne all you really need is a decent spinner who keeps the run rate down. Look at Harris of South Africa on face value he isn't a great spinner but he has the ability to keep the run rate down and does a very good job.

Australia have a really good pace attack in development (Siddle, Hilfy, Johnson) and they only really need a decent spinner.

Hmm, I've never really looked at it like that before - interesting judgement. Maybe your right and we should stop looking for the next Warne? Maybe we just don't have one and never will get another? Shame MacGill was born in the same era, imagine if he could of taken over straight after Warne? He would of been the 2nd greatest leggie of all time.

 

[aussie1st]

Its not about looking for the next Warne, all we need is a spinner that can win us matches on a spinning deck ala Cardiff. Hauritz fits the bill on other surfaces but when its the spinning decks he doesn't lift to another level instead just does what he does on any other surface.

 

[woodzy]

Its not about looking for the next Warne, all we need is a spinner that can win us matches on a spinning deck ala Cardiff. Hauritz fits the bill on other surfaces but when its the spinning decks he doesn't lift to another level instead just does what he does on any other surface.

I think people are way too quick to write Hauritz off. Hes still developing and maturing as a test player. He improved immensely on the tour and did everything that was asked of him. People need to have faith in him. I think he is easily the equivalent of Graeme Swann, if not better than him and I think that if he had played at The Oval he would have picked up a five at least in England's 2nd innings. There arent that many match winning spinners in the world, apart from Muralitharan, who else is there that can turn a game on its head? The only two that come close for me would be Vettori, Kaneira and maybe Amit Mishra (its still early days for them). Even those arent genuine match winners.

 

[aussie1st]

Kumble when he was around, Singh, Vettori, Mendis, Herath, Sehwag, Shakib Al Hasan, even Clarke has won matches with his bowling. I'm talking about spinners that have won matches with their bowling, Swann probably won a few before the Ashes as well.

 

[Themer]

I reiterate the fact that you don't necessarily need a match winning spinner to go into the team Paul Harris' bowling alone has nearly never won a match for South Africa yet he still takes enough wickets. With Johnson, Siddle and Hilfy thats all that would be required to finish off the attack.

 

[blake]

Everybody here really hates Watson, don't they?

I understand he has a weakness with the straight ball, but 240 runs at an average of 48 is a superb effort for an opening batsman, especially when the pressure was on.

He didn't fail once. Yes, he didn't go on with any of his innings, but it's far more important as an opening batsman to relieve the pressure with the new ball as compared to blazing a 100 and then making a duck the next innings.

If he fixes his weakness, he is the way forward. Even with a weakness he still averages 48. I am extremely impressed and I can't understand why people are singling him out.

 

[aussie1st]

I reiterate the fact that you don't necessarily need a match winning spinner to go into the team Paul Harris' bowling alone has nearly never won a match for South Africa yet he still takes enough wickets. With Johnson, Siddle and Hilfy thats all that would be required to finish off the attack.

As I said he does fine until its a spinning surface where you would expect your spinner to have more of an impact. The guy doesn't have a FC 5 fer despite having the SCG as his home surface. You just have to look at Cadriff where the match was made for Hauritz to make his mark but instead we fall 1 wicket short.

And Paul Harris has way more 5 fers than Hauritz plus he already has 2 Test 5 fers not to mention he spun SA to victory in the last test against us and did the same against Pakistan so he has won matches for SA. Lastly SA have the great Kallis to fall back on to cover Harris if needed, we don't have that same luxury.

 

[Covvy]

Try Krejza again if he keep the run-rate down during the domestic series.

 

[Cricketman]

I think Lee needs to be back. Mitch was too wayward and just crap IMO, in conditions perfectly suited for his pacey swing. Siddle got wickets against crappy batsman but bowled with heart and venom. But when things weren't going his way he ended up bowling flat and lots of 'hit me' deliveries. Hilfy was excellent, traces of Glenn McGrath in his bowling, and gets it to swing a mile every time. Good pace too, hits 145+ pretty regularly and even touched 150 at times. That's the stuff of Lee!

Hauritz wasn't bad but wasn't too good either, but I think he fits the bill for Australia's spin needs for the time being. He'll do the job in places like England, Australia and South Africa where containment spinners like Harris, Hauritz and Swann can work through overs and pick up maybe a wicket or two, but I feel in places like India and Sri Lanka he is likely to get tonked by the the subcontinent batsman, but might pick up more wickets (ala Krejza). He's not an aggressive enough option for those conditions. Still though, he's the best Australia have.

Possible bowling attack:

Lee
Hauritz
Siddle (Barely)
Hilfy

Maybe Mitch or Clark can make a case for inclusion at home for Australia, as Clarke and Katich are good enough containers for those conditions.

 

[King Pietersen]

Unless my eyes decieved me, I'm pretty certain that Ben Hilfenhaus was not bowling at 150kmph. Peter Siddle only managed to reach over 90mph in one or 2 spells. Hilfenhaus was generally operating at around 83-86mph iirc.

 

[Cricketman]

Hmm, i thought he touched 150 a few times. I'm almost positive he bowled one at 151.1 or so, but it was a no-ball.

I might be wrong though.

Siddle touched 90 quite frequently iirc.

 

[King Pietersen]

If he did, he certainly didn't look like he was bowling anywhere near that quickly. I'm fairly sure that Hilfenhaus doesn't bowl at 94mph.

As for Siddle. I thought he was generally operating at 86-88mph in the series. He looked down on rhythm for the first 3 Tests, and it wasn't until the final one where he was bowling like the Siddle that was hyped before the series came out. He was bowling quickly at Headingley, but I'm not sure he was bowling consistently at 90mph or above for the entire series.

 

[Cricketman]

That's what I can't believe either. Hilfy looks like a medium pacer, but he is more than 2 yards quicker than any of our Indian bowlers (Like Zaheer, usually operates in the 135-zone) who looks quicker with the naked eye.

Hilfenhaus is Australia's best bowler ATM, I can't believe he didn't get a go sooner.

 

[Howsie]

Hilfenhaus made his ODI debut against New Zealand and I remember him hitting 90mph+ a couple of times.

Regarding Siddle I've always found him to be a 140-145K bowler, who much like Steyn can crank it up if wanted/needed.

 

[aussie1st]

Swann did well in India, he was equal was Harbhajan and the leading wicket taker, I wouldn't call him a defensive spinner, he gets quite a bit of turn.

Hauritz bowls a good tight line and even in his debut India didn't get him away. Krejza is an aggressive bowler who India just wanted to smash all over the park. He bowled some bad balls but alot was good batting by India in particular Sehwag. The balls he got wickets with were good balls, the problem was the damage done before it.