The three I mentioned have been credible under the circumstances.

Yadav is young and looks good. Both Sharma and Khan have done well after injury lay offs. At 3/31, it was series on! It took a truly awesome innings from Clarke and then Warner's special cameo to break then but FMD they have been given no totals to bowl at by the insipid batting.

I'll pay 'credible'. Nothing special, and out-performed by all of our bowlers. But life would be easier for them for sure if they had support from the batsmen.

Take away Warner's swash-buckling innings of 180 in the first dig and the total is around 189 (Total 369). Take away Cowan's important and watchful 70-odd and the rest of the team contributes a paltry and disturbing 119 runs. Much of the time India bowled too short and wide (rubbish) to Warner - but it's a credit to Warner for unsettling some of the bowling. However, India did bowl reasonably well at times for the remainder to get Australia out for 369, considering it looked as though the Aussies were looking at 450+ easily. Aided by the pitch and a better line and length they made inroads. I thought Siddle's cameo of 30 was pretty handy too.

The Aussie bowlers to date, bar probably Lyon have had a golden Summer so far. It will be interesting regarding selection for Adelaide. Lyon may have to come in; perhaps for Starc.

The Aussie bowlers to date, bar probably Lyon have had a golden Summer so far. It will be interesting regarding selection for Adelaide. Lyon may have to come in; perhaps for Starc.

Unless we want to give Starc some game time/rest someone else then that's the obvious swap, yeah. I think we'll stick with Lyon for a little while, but it's still an important game for him.

Despite the sterlng performance of the quicks this summer, I cant see how you can play 4 quicks and no spinner....unless you are one of the great West Indies sides.

Lyon must play. GIven its a dead rubber I would rest Hilfy ahead of the WI tour and play Starc for his own development. There is no surety that Harris, Pattinson or Cummins will be fit and we should be trying to nurture Starc through.

And if the Indians cant make runs at Adelaide.....well....there will be a procession out of the Test team. Laxman and Dravid should retire. Tendulkar will be in 12 months. Dhoni will step down and look at other pursuits. Khan could be gone within 12 months as well.

Despite the sterlng performance of the quicks this summer, I cant see how you can play 4 quicks and no spinner....unless you are one of the great West Indies sides.

Lyon must play. GIven its a dead rubber I would rest Hilfy ahead of the WI tour and play Starc for his own development. There is no surety that Harris, Pattinson or Cummins will be fit and we should be trying to nurture Starc through.

Dead rubber or not, I'd play Hilfy, Harris, Siddle & Lyon. Of course *niggles permitting*, but I reckon they're hungry for Test cricket and the short time nature of the results (ie. Perth done in 2.5 days), wouldn't be overly taxing. And the two days extra rest wouldn't hurt either. *If one fast bowler had niggles to get over, sure play Starc.

Yeah its the risk of the niggles becoming with twinges and the stresses.

http://www.heraldsun...a-1226245807831 - Malcolm Conn.

Hmmm.

Squad named and possibly Siddle rotated for Starc tweets Malcolm Conn. ie. Lyon in.

I think that makes sense as Siddle has played right through the SA, NZ and India series. i think we have had enough examples of bowlers breaking down to be prudent in this area....particularly with the WI tour on the cards.

I think its great experience for Starc in Adelaide. Happy with the move if Conn is correct.

It does make some sense. Siddle has been up for a while, and the Border-Gavaskar is ours.

What do you think of the article re: Haddin and Wade maybe leap-frogging the injured Paine ?

Must admit, I like Wade (as a cricketer). I think I've said that before ...

edit: clarification

Edited January 17, 201213 yr by H_T

It does make some sense. Siddle has been up for a while, and the Border-Gavaskar is ours.

What do you think of the article re: Haddin and Wade maybe leap-frogging the injured Paine ?

Must admit, I like Wade (as a cricketer). I think I've said that before ...

edit: clarification

I think Haddin is on the nose longer term. i dont think he has burnt up all his credits yet. But a cricket tragic friend of mine who is walking encyclopedia on the sport has told me that Paine's injury is not recovering as expected and he wont be ready for the Windies tour. There is no clear date when he will be ready to resume playing. The info is not gold but generally reliable. If that is the case then Wade could be the second keeper for the Windies tour. If they dont take one there at the start then Wade should be on stand by for injury/form etc. By the sounds of it Paine has missed so much cricket so far with more to come that he will be best preparing for the next summer. Another injury within our top 25 cricketers.

My theory is that Haddin will keep going, regardless, until Paine is fit. Paine is the best keeper in the country and the Australian keeping job is his. It would be very difficult to put Wade in for a series knowing that Paine is going to come straight into the side, regardless of how Wade performs.

It's easier for Haddin to keep going rather than face the sticky situation of having to drop a performing player when Wade makes runs against a poor attack on featherbed West Indian pitches.

....so long as Haddin is not injured or gets an extended bout of the yips with the gloves.

I think Haddin is on the nose longer term. i dont think he has burnt up all his credits yet. But a cricket tragic friend of mine who is walking encyclopedia on the sport has told me that Paine's injury is not recovering as expected and he wont be ready for the Windies tour. There is no clear date when he will be ready to resume playing. The info is not gold but generally reliable. If that is the case then Wade could be the second keeper for the Windies tour. If they dont take one there at the start then Wade should be on stand by for injury/form etc. By the sounds of it Paine has missed so much cricket so far with more to come that he will be best preparing for the next summer. Another injury within our top 25 cricketers.

I've read a few articles in the local rag that indicate Paine is a while off after setbacks with his finger. I expect he'll miss the remainder of this Shield season when it kicks off again, so I can't see him getting a real lot of miles in the legs between now and Windies, and he's missed a tonne of cricket as it is. If they give Haddin the arse, it'll be Wade that goes, not Paine.

It would be very difficult to put Wade in for a series knowing that Paine is going to come straight into the side, regardless of how Wade performs.

Even if Paine was going to come straight into the side, I don't see a problem with this. Wade gets experience that'll be good for him regardless of what happens after the Windies tour.

However, it'd be silly to assume Paine will come straight into the side. That's a big call for most players, let alone a 27 year old who has played 4 Tests and averages 35 (31 over his first-class career). Stranger things have happened than Paine failing to find form, fitness or simply falling out of favour!

I wonder what would be happening right now if the test team was performing as poorly as it was last year? It's easy to keep naming unchanged sides when you're winning but the lack of four day state games is IMO not ideal. For example, we have a few worthy candidates for the wicketkeeper position but they're being starved of opportunities to show their wares.

I think Haddin is very lucky to still have the gig.

Meanwhile, in Dubai the Poms are getting flogged by Pakistan in the first test.

I wonder what would be happening right now if the test team was performing as poorly as it was last year? It's easy to keep naming unchanged sides when you're winning but the lack of four day state games is IMO not ideal. For example, we have a few worthy candidates for the wicketkeeper position but they're being starved of opportunities to show their wares.

I think Haddin is very lucky to still have the gig.

Meanwhile, in Dubai the Poms are getting flogged by Pakistan in the first test.

And here's the live scorecard

http://news.bbc.co.u...ard/default.stm

Edited January 17, 201213 yr by Macca

Now fancy that. All out in the first innings for 192 after being 5/43 with Matthew Prior top score being stranded at the end on 70 not out.

I don't suppose they have green tops in Dubai?

Now fancy that. All out in the first innings for 192 after being 5/43 with Matthew Prior top score being stranded at the end on 70 not out.

I don't suppose they have green tops in Dubai?

Saeed Ajmal with his "Teesra's" did the damage . 7 for 55 ! 5 of them LBW .

Imagine if England had a weak tail.

They'd have been rolled for 100. As it is they are still in the game ... albeit not going well.

My theory is that Haddin will keep going, regardless, until Paine is fit. Paine is the best keeper in the country and the Australian keeping job is his. It would be very difficult to put Wade in for a series knowing that Paine is going to come straight into the side, regardless of how Wade performs.

It's easier for Haddin to keep going rather than face the sticky situation of having to drop a performing player when Wade makes runs against a poor attack on featherbed West Indian pitches.

I think this is exactly how the selectors see things. I don't necessarily agree with it, but I can see the argument.

It's a great shame Paine's not fit right now, as surely he'd be putting enormous pressure on Haddin.

Imagine if England had a weak tail.

They'd have been rolled for 100. As it is they are still in the game ... albeit not going well.

Imagine if England's top order hadn't gifted their wickets away. They'd have made 100 more runs, at least.

You don't want to be India and lose 4 for none to finish off the innings.

If pitches keep having more grass left on them then lower order runs are only going to get more important.

If you fail to plan then you plan to fail.

Paine's finger by all reports is far worse than expected. One person I've spoken to has even suggested his career in general is in strife purely through the finger not making any proper progress recovering. He's not a doctor though so it is only what he's been told.

I think Wade will make a more than adequate replacement. Heaps better keeper than Haddin and his style is far more suited to modern day test cricket than Brads. It wouldn't shock me if he didn't play in the West Indies.

Agree DL7. I'm on the Wade bandwagon and considering this is an interesting scenario, including the story of Paine's injured finger, I thought I'd compare the two statistically at First Class level: -

Tim Paine

Age: 27

Matches: 46

Inns: 84

Runs: 2467

HS: 215

Average: 31.62

100's: 1

50's: 18

Catches: 130

Stumpings: 6

* Paine has also played 4 Test Matches, 8 innings, 287 runs in total @ avg. of 35.87 with 2 x 50's, 16 Catches and 1 stumping. High Score: 92.

Matthew Wade

Age: 24

Matches: 50

Inns: 74

Runs: 2490

HS: 113*

Average: 40.16

100's: 4

50's: 17

Catches: 183

Stumpings: 5

It's hard to argue that Paine is better than Wade.

Whichever way the selectors go, you can bet the Australian keeping job will be in good hands. No pun intended.

It's hard to argue that Paine is better than Wade.

Whichever way the selectors go, you can bet the Australian keeping job will be in good hands. No pun intended.

i think the issue in Paine's favour is that he is capable at Test level where as Wade is not.

But you are right I would not mind either player. Thanks for the stats.

Stats were from Cricket Info (ESPN), btw.