Sep 19 - Australia v Ireland

[angryangy]

In T20 cricket you need more than 4 bowlers in the event one of them has a bad day.

So although Christian isn't perfect, AUS T20 balance is already very messed up and axing Christian for another batsman or just to have 4 main bowlers won't help IMO.

Watson and Maxwell are the real all-rounders in the side, Christian is just playing as a bowler. In that case, I'd rather pick a better bowler. It doesn't change the balance of the side at all because he's not getting a bat.

 

[War]

Watson and Maxwell are the real all-rounders in the side, Christian is just playing as a bowler. In that case, I'd rather pick a better bowler. It doesn't change the balance of the side at all because he's not getting a bat.

I'd say Christian is certainly playing as an all-rounder. His batting depth for me is still crucial, since for me having a solid batting/all-rounder @ # 8 in a T20 XI is very important.

Watto obviously is the main all-rounder. But i won't call Maxwell a full fledged main all-rounder yet. His bowling is still slightly iffy and is not one i would trust to bowl in a pressure situation like David Hussey's off-spin for eg.


Picking another bowler based on the options in the squad in McKay, Hilfenhaus or Doherty doesn't give me much confidence. If it was Bollinger, Harris, Pattinson or Nannes to choose from instead then maybe.


Too much responsibility has been placed on Starc/Cummins, an experienced proven T20 quickie in the absence Lee (Harris, Bollinger or Nannes) should have been in the squad. And, i'm very nervy about Watson opening the bowling suddenly. Thats fine when he does it for his joke IPL team - but not for international cricket against strong batting line-ups.

 

[spooony]

I'd say Christian is certainly playing as an all-rounder. His batting depth for me is still crucial, since for me having a solid batting/all-rounder @ # 8 in a T20 XI is very important.

Watto obviously is the main all-rounder. But i won't call Maxwell a full fledged main all-rounder yet. His bowling is still slightly iffy and is not one i would trust to bowl in a pressure situation like David Hussey's off-spin for eg.


Picking another bowler based on the options in the squad in McKay, Hilfenhaus or Doherty doesn't give me much confidence. If it was Bollinger, Harris, Pattinson or Nannes to choose from instead then maybe.


Too much responsibility has been placed on Starc/Cummins, an experienced proven T20 quickie in the absence Lee (Harris, Bollinger or Nannes) should have been in the squad. And, i'm very nervy about Watson opening the bowling suddenly. Thats fine when he does it for his joke IPL team - but not for international cricket against strong batting line-ups.

Rather let him bowl against batsmen who do not have their eye in than against set batsman with a ball that got it seem knocked flat. It takes about 10 overs to knock the seem flat then the ball stop doing its tricks most of the time.

 

[sifter132]

Watson and Maxwell are the real all-rounders in the side, Christian is just playing as a bowler. In that case, I'd rather pick a better bowler. It doesn't change the balance of the side at all because he's not getting a bat.

Exactly. Plus if he is playing as a bowler, it's not a very good one. You can see it every time Australia are in the field. Christian is always the 4th seamer used, and he's always the one who is given the least overs, and the guy who is trusted the least. To have your #8 as a borderline 5th bowler is not good balance.

I can see the value of having a guy that can bat at #8, but he is only going to be used when the top order absolutely fails. Does it gives the top order batsmen 'security' by knowing the batting is deep? If that is the theory it doesn't seem to be working, the Aussie middle order is currently playing pretty poorly. I personally believe that it makes you play WORSE if you know that the batting lineup is longer because you lose some of that responsibility in your batting eg. in the back of your mind you are thinking that someone ELSE can do the job if you get out.

Think about a team instead that had McKay + D.Hussey instead of Christian + White/Maxwell. You get better seam bowling with McKay over Christian, you get D.Hussey's spin which is virtually as good as Maxwell's. The only thing you lose is your specialist batting at #8 and I think that's not worth much at all. Certainly not worth hamstringing your captain for. Because as it stands, if 1 or 2 of Starc, Cummins and Watson go the journey, then there is very little that Bailey can do. And I'm surprised he lets the selectors give him so few options. Hogg is purely dependent on batsmen not reading him (and bowling too many wronguns...), while Christian and Maxwell aren't great options if they need to get the innings back on track - good for some cheap overs in the middle like happened vs Ireland - but they don't have the quality to really trouble batsmen who are on top.