Why isnt Bracken playing tests?

[Cricketdude]

Symonds has matured??? He seems crazier now than he was before.


I didn't say anything about averages.

Yes, Symonds has matured, remember when they tried him for the test side earlier and wasnt good enough, well now he is.

About the averages i was talking to aussie_ben91.

 

[angryangy]

His to slow. He bowled to Matthew Hayden in a state game before the Sri Lankan series and I vividly remember watching constant replys of Hayden walking down the pitch and hitting him over his head with ease.

Erm, do you realise what you're saying about Australia's Test side? Johnson bowled 0/155 in 36 overs. Lee bowled 0/188 in 50 overs. That pitch was useless and Katich's 300 made Hayden look like a rookie trying to show off.

Bracken had a difficult first series, but that was not a bowler's series. Based only on that performance you would have to drop every bowler except Anil Kumble. Indeed many bowlers have since disappeared, Agarkar, Gillespie, Williams, Bichel, Nehra... but Pathan still gets a game, as do Brett Lee and Zaheer Khan. In fact, Bracken was one of only two bowlers to average less than 3 runs per over. Fairly, Bracken played two more games in 2005, but that's where the confusion starts, rather than ends. He took 6/154, a good return that included some scintillating swing bowling in Brisbane. To think that he was 28 then and how far his game has come in the last two years, it is just a conundrum.

The thing is, you want your bowlers to bring different things, so they cover each others' weaknesses. Clark doesn't have Bracken's swing and neither Clark nor Lee have his left arm angle. Lee doesn't have Bracken's height.

In comparison with his opposite number, Johnson doesn't have the swing, the slower ball, the accuracy, the devilish off-cutter or surprise leg-cutter. Johnson has pace, but none of the armoury.

It'd now be remiss to drop Johnson after a couple of series, in fact it would be to do to him exactly what was done to Bracken. However, consider how much Bracken has added to his game to not even be in the Test side. That's how much Johnson has to improve to hold his spot.

 

[smssia0112]

Yes, Symonds has matured, remember when they tried him for the test side earlier and wasnt good enough, well now he is.

About the averages i was talking to aussie_ben91.

He hasn't changed at all though, he's as aggressive as he was last time, it's just that he's been luckier this time. The only mature innings I've ever seen him play was Australia v England, Boxing Day Ashes test in '06. He played a smart innings there, building up from a defensive start, getting his eye in and then playing the big shots when he was settled.

As for the averages bit, no one mentioned averages. Ben hadn't even posted before that and you quoted my post.

 

[aussie1st]

Just doesn't get enough movement with the ball at his speed to be dangerous. Hes not a hit the deck hard bowler to be successful as Clark or McGrath and hes not as accurate as those two.

In 5 games Bracken has less wickets than Mark Cameron who has only played 3 games and George Denton not to mention the fact that Bollinger with only 2 games more has 25 wickets more than Bracken. So form wise he doesn't deserve a spot.

 

[SciD]

Bracken is much better bowler than Jhonson is. But the diffrent variations he has are helpful in ODIs. If he does not swing the ball then he will be useless in test matches. Hence he always would need to maintain his swing to be considered in Test matches. But I feel he will be more useful in subcontinent as he keeps bowl close to stumps.

Also Jhonson has what Bracken does not have. Ponting.

 

[Cricketdude]

Bracken is much better bowler than Jhonson is. But the diffrent variations he has are helpful in ODIs. If he does not swing the ball then he will be useless in test matches. Hence he always would need to maintain his swing to be considered in Test matches. But I feel he will be more useful in subcontinent as he keeps bowl close to stumps.

Also Jhonson has what Bracken does not have. Ponting.

Agreed.

 

[Inbox24]

Bracken is much better bowler than Jhonson is. But the diffrent variations he has are helpful in ODIs. If he does not swing the ball then he will be useless in test matches. Hence he always would need to maintain his swing to be considered in Test matches. But I feel he will be more useful in subcontinent as he keeps bowl close to stumps.

Also Jhonson has what Bracken does not have. Ponting.

BOOM! +2

 

[angryangy]

Just doesn't get enough movement with the ball at his speed to be dangerous. Hes not a hit the deck hard bowler to be successful as Clark or McGrath and hes not as accurate as those two.

In 5 games Bracken has less wickets than Mark Cameron who has only played 3 games and George Denton not to mention the fact that Bollinger with only 2 games more has 25 wickets more than Bracken. So form wise he doesn't deserve a spot.

Simon Katich couldn't get a call up for his insane form this season, when the gap opened, he was overlooked. Mind you, Bracken's 21 wickets at 20 isn't indifferent form. On a long term view, he's had a run that is hard to fault. It's interestingly ironic really, because when he made his Test debut, he averaged 29.4 in first class cricket. From 03/04 onwards, which includes all his Tests, he has averaged 23.7. Since 05/06 he has been a fixture of the ODI side, so one can say he is rewarded for his efforts, but the facts remain.

 

[The Mongrel]

Clark's first class average is actually higher than Bracken's.

Clark has completely changed as a bowler over the past few seasons. When he first started out, he himself admitted that he tried to bowl too fast and as such struggled for accuracy and was duly carted.

The problem with Bracken is that he doesn't have the pace or the movement to be a viable test option. He moves the white ball but has never really done it in the longer game (except, of course, that game against South Australia).

In any event, Noffke and Bollinger are well ahead in the pecking order on the back of awesome seasons. If Johnson is to be dropped any time soon or we decide to play the four quick in the tour of the Windies (providing there are less flat decks than in the past) - Noffke surely has to be first cab off the rank.