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If we bat Agar at 6, we could drop Watson for Warner. Both wankers but I am sick of Watson.
I would play Ahmed, not Lyon.
I would also drop Siddle, and pick Harris, Starc and Bird.
Bird must be played...... bizarre that he wasn't for this Test.
Watson must be dropped - can't get rewarding the carpola he produces...... fly in another 19 YO IF THAT'S ALL WE'VE GOT....
Does Rogers get another go after that deplorable effort?
Way too many NSW guys in the team too. Smith? Meh?
Hughes - double meh.......Shaun Marsh is 6 times the player Hughes could ever be......
Voges? D. Hussey?
Mike Hussey saw the writing in the wall i reckon.
Is Clarke as Captain the problem?!!
Iaj,
Gilchrist was a specialist bat with gloves.
Wade is a gloveman (an inconsistent one) with a bat.
Add McCallum from NZ in there too.Calls to play Wade as a specialist bat are insane. Has zero idea of playing spin. Zero.
Correct....it never works playing the reserve keeper as a batsman only and is a move reserved for desperate teams only.....akin to playing ruckman as a FF.
I remember Wicketkeeper Richie Robinson from Victoria who was a great shield batter and was picked to play some tests as a specialist batsman with Rod Marsh
I think it was as the keeper.....Robinson failed and its a dumb move.
Only AB Devilliers has proven a success and he was/is a part time keeper who played second fiddle to Boucher but was never seen as a frontline keeper
and you are talking about a freak multitalented sportsman anyway.
I guess the only other I can think of his Kumar Sangakarra who gave away keeping to be a specialist batter but his batting is in the elite category unlike Wades...
Calls to play Wade as a specialist bat are insane. Has zero idea of playing spin. Zero.
Just read Pattinson gone now, stress fractures in lower back (again). Won't take part in remaining Ashes in UK.
enter Bird surely!
You would think so.
Where's Cummins at? Was touted as the great white hope before his injury and now he's barely spoken of.
The problem is, just like the 80's, development suffered on the back of a superb national team.
Plus, they gave Michael Clarke the captaincy 5 years ago and since then he's been waiting to get it from Punter officially, who was a crap skipper himself.
Clarke is the worst thing to happen to Oz cricket ever.
Clarke is a **** pure and simple and I don't mean a **** when he needs to be, like Alan Border, I mean just a **** every **** day of the week.
screw him, Watson and Haddin (all ****s) off and start again.
Australia are 1-0 down in the series and are facing not a world record chase, it'll be a universe record number of runs they need to win this second Test. However, the cracks that have appeared in this series, which will undoubtedly turn into gaping chasms by the time the team arrives back here for the return series, are not something that has just magically appeared. It is my strong belief that this has been coming for some time, its just that the pressure & microscope of an Ashes series has made them more visible than ever before.
Australian cricket, not dislike our fabulous football club, goes in cycles of success based on the quality of key players assembled at any given time. We have been giving the Poms some serious wallopings for some years on the back of having player like Warne, Waugh, McGrath & Gilchrist in the team.
If we take a look at the current team, only Michael Clarke is genuinely up to world standard although Ashton Agar has given us some future hope. Siddle & Pattinson are good bowlers, but not great, with both having some control issues and not knowing when & when not to be aggressive and in their face. Haddin is not a 'keepers bootlace yet if you ask anyone, they'll tell you he's the best of a bad bunch. Khawaja, Rogers, Cowan etc all have reasonable techniques but don't have the iron-clad mettle to build a long innings whilst Hughes is just a complete dud with an equally dud technique and footwork.
Basically, we have not been able to replace the gun players of the previous era (it is not something done with ease either) but the players we keep pinning our hopes on are too soft mentally or are too focussed on themselves, not the team (read : Watson).
We have recently seen the players have a hand in former coach Mickey Arthur being sacked with Watson's sooky-la-la attitude being central to it all. There is a culture within the playing ranks that is in complete contrast to that of yesteryear whereby the players did what was expected of them and didn't quibble about being pushed harder to achieve greater heights. They had genuine character and lived up to the standards that go with wearing the famous baggy green cap.
It seems like this behaviour is not only tolerated, it is considered acceptable by many of them too !!
To add insult to injury, the ACB is being run by one James Sutherland who to the best of my knowledge, has not done anything ever to promote the game in this country nor focus on producing better cricketers overall. I say this because I keep getting the online newsletters telling us at grass roots level how well cricket is going in this country yet he is undoubtedly out of touch with reality. Cricket does not have increasing participation levels at all James, sadly, it is on the decrease and by a reasonable amount too. So instead of facing the reality of the situation and making plans to address it, they just put their heads in the sand and say its all good, great work if you can get it I reckon !!
And the ACB itself, it has some serious issues to address for this thing to be turned around and heading in the right direction. It appears to me that it is more and more being run along the lines of what you would get an your local and well-established suburban club with the only difference being that these guys actually get paid for giving their old school buddy a lucrative job or getting their best mate's son into the state squad.
They say the 'fish rots from the head' and if we look at the ACB as a complete entity, this one is past being rotten, it is decrepit. I cannot see any reason for us to return to being a power in world cricket whilst we have lacklustre administration running the game.
With India producing Test quality players as quickly as they do Bollywood movies, we will fall further behind unless we have the right people running the game in this country with a passion & committed drive for success.
Right now, we are fast becoming a national joke and an international embarrassment.
Can't carry this selfish, petulant tool anymore. Replace him with a bloke who WANTS to play and who is a TEAM man. Plenty of half decent openers going around.... Australia A tour has a couple worth trying.
Directly cost Roger's wicket as well and this is unforgiveable IMO.
Watson = selfish selfish selfish. Has to go.... needs to start putting the team first.
Jammo certainly was bad. He has no pace this year and obviously hates playing N.M. He gets a bath every time. His fumbling tonight was especially bad, but at least he tries. Watson is an absolute NO-TRIER!
Elwood you mention Watson's mark. Well done, it was his only highlight and as I said, he was in the vicinity so he had a chance.
Purlease - for mine, Watson was our best defender tonight.....how'd his opponent go? Best game Watson has played by a mile, really encouraged with his performance tonight.
Jamo was disgusting.....that's 3 consecutive weeks of us possibly witnessing the demise of Jamo. Has not got a clue out there at the moment, embarrassing he is, total liability. Can't kick, constant brain explosions, can't get near his man - even in situations whereby his opponent is the obvious choice for having the ball delivered, Jamo manages to misread the play/flight of the ball/be too slow off the mark.......I'm over him. He got lucky with Riewoldt's kicking for goal last week, but he is in career-worst form. I hope like hell we're talking to some other full-backs out there come trade time.....Jamo's cooked.
Not cooked, far from it. Certainly out of form though.
Stick a fork in him......he's done. Not just beaten, has been obliterated for 3 consecutive weeks by 3 of the premier forwards in the game. If Jamo can't play FB (which all the signs are that he no longer can), where does he play? If he manages to reverse this 'form slump' as you VERY kindly put it, the guy is a champion - however I'm fairly confident that ain't gonna happen as every single aspect of his game stinks right now.....EVERY aspect bar none.
Also....loved Lucas' cameos tonight - were as important as anything anyone else did on the ground. He's starting to restore the faith is Kane....good on him too.
Jammo certainly was bad. He has no pace this year and obviously hates playing N.M. He gets a bath every time. His fumbling tonight was especially bad, but at least he tries. Watson is an absolute NO-TRIER!
Elwood you mention Watson's mark. Well done, it was his only highlight and as I said, he was in the vicinity so he had a chance.
Purlease - for mine, Watson was our best defender tonight.....how'd his opponent go? Best game Watson has played by a mile, really encouraged with his performance tonight.
Jamo was disgusting.....that's 3 consecutive weeks of us possibly witnessing the demise of Jamo. Has not got a clue out there at the moment, embarrassing he is, total liability. Can't kick, constant brain explosions, can't get near his man - even in situations whereby his opponent is the obvious choice for having the ball delivered, Jamo manages to misread the play/flight of the ball/be too slow off the mark.......I'm over him. He got lucky with Riewoldt's kicking for goal last week, but he is in career-worst form. I hope like hell we're talking to some other full-backs out there come trade time.....Jamo's cooked.
Was great to be on the right end of a close match.
Not a great contribution from Judd, Murphy, Gibbs and Carazzo tonight, so to get up was encouraging. So many questions tonight. When is this midfield group going to click? Are we better with Robinson and Bell around the ball? Is Brock really giving us something? What is the best use of Scotland?
Walker's contribution off half back seems to be waning and I'd seriously consider moving him to a HFF or wing role for the next couple of games and push Yarran back, to freshen things up.
I'd also consider bringing Casboult into the side, as whilst Rowe is bringing the ball to ground we really lack Casboult's attack in a marking contest.
