Carlton Supporters Club

we'll lose by an innings....

we'll lose by an innings....

Can't help you there mate,  he's a lazy batsman with poor concentration levels and gets out in silly,  soft ways.

Three of the dismissals have been just poor batting, stupid errors which is why our blokes don't go with it.   Our blokes simply can't concentrate for long enough.   Khawaja committed suicide,  Harris changed his shot and Marsh didn't move and let himself get nailed on the crease.

Wait long enough and our blokes get themselves out.

The ball that Marnus just lifted to mid on (he batted well I thought)  swung appreciably from Shami.

I ask again.... How on earth are these blokes getting it to move so much and so consistently?   They must be diddling with the pill I reckon.

I loved it when Justin Langer was selected as head coach of the Australian team. Langer said he was only going to reward players with national selection when and if they had earned that opportunity.  Players who live up to the standards of what it takes to be an Australian cricketer. It was music to my ears.

Well, please talk me through selections for the past couple of Tests?

Our national selection panel is Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Langer and all three surely will be under notice by the new Cricket Australia administration. I firmly believe the selections have made this one of the weakest Australian Test teams I have seen and, while I truly hope they can rub my noses in this assessment, I doubt it very much.

You don’t need to have 20-plus Tests next to your name to become a good selector. It’s just a matter of knowing the correct game plan, selecting the right players to carry out that plan and having an eye for talent.

Also, I feel it’s only right that you pick players who are in some semblance of form. If they can’t play well in the Sheffield Shield, what hope have they got against the No. 1 Test team in the world?

It’s all about getting the balance right within a team. The perfect balance for a Test team would be four-five senior players, four-five intermediate players and one-two new guys.
...

SHEFFIELD SHIELD BATTING AVERAGES
(Players in bold have played for Australian Test team this summer)

Steve Smith 51.79
Usman Khawaja 50.07
Glenn Maxwell 44.15
Matthew Wade 43.11
Joe Burns 43.11
David Warner 42.94
Shaun Marsh 41.59
Kurt Patterson 41.48
Peter Nevill 40.73
Peter Handscomb 40.13
Daniel Hughes 39.76
Hilton Cartwright 39.50
Callum Ferguson 38.87
Cameron Bancroft 38.83
George Bailey 38.49
Jake Lehmann 38.39
Matt Renshaw 38.13
Travis Head 36.08
Marcus Harris 35.32
Marnus Labuschagne 33.88
Aaron Finch 31.08
Mitchell Marsh 28.02
Tim Paine 27.79

Can't help you there mate,  he's a lazy batsman with poor concentration levels and gets out in silly,  soft ways.

Three of the dismissals have been just poor batting, stupid errors which is why our blokes don't go with it.   Our blokes simply can't concentrate for long enough.   Khawaja committed suicide,  Harris changed his shot and Marsh didn't move and let himself get nailed on the crease.

Wait long enough and our blokes get themselves out.

The ball that Marnus just lifted to mid on (he batted well I thought)  swung appreciably from Shami.

I ask again.... How on earth are these blokes getting it to move so much and so consistently?   They must be diddling with the pill I reckon.

A good batsman at test level tends to be a good bat at the shorter forms,  yet short form ability doesn't transfer to long form success. But this series was lost in the head,  not just via technique,  we didn't bat to test expectation, which is mainly application.  It's been an issue for a long time.

I am firmly of the belief that the players did not get enough long form cricket coming into the test series to have form.  All the bats are looking for it,  how can you get it in the absence of first class cricket?

So we have a long list of players that aren't in top nick,  chuck in some horrid selections and it was never going to he a successful series.

The blokes that have really disappointed have been the so called senior players,  especially Khawaja,  Marsh, Starc and Hazelwood.  Paine has clear limitations with the bat.  If anything,  the new boys today showed better technique and intent than the supposed senior blokes. 

All the new bats have technical flaws to address. But they have a future.   At 34, Marsh does not.

The bowlers have tried but the reality is that they have been off the boil for some time and this test was the ideal time to try someone fresh. Opportunity missed.

I hope the selectors are smarter and pick a side with an eye to the future versus Sri Lanka.  No Marshes for a start.  Starc can find some form with NSW.  Piss off the all-rounder quest,  Cumming or the WK is essentially that.

Why aren't Burns,  Maxwell, Renshaw  etc being considered? Enough politics.  Pick on merit. 

I reckon we have the players,  we just didnt pick them or didn't have them ready to go.