titan_uranus

I don't like it. The answer is not to put Clarke at 3 or 4 and shift a crap batsman down, or debut another crap batsman at 5. It's to find batsmen who are good enough. To me, it's papering over the cracks. Anyway, that's not the issue. As I said, we can bat Clarke where we want, but we're going to be beaten every time in India if we only have Clarke. Warner's not good enough. His flashy 100s look good, but he can't play spin. Hughes is worse, and is likely to be dropped. If he goes this time, he may well go for good. Cowan consistently shows technique, but consistently gets out. Not sure where he's going to go. Watson simply isn't good enough, and shouldn't be in the side at all (his batting average is terrible for a batsman, he's not bowling, so that's that. IMO he should be dropped first, but that's not going to happen). I have no idea, however, who to replace anyone with. IMO Shaun Marsh is a great batsman; his form last summer was abysmal but I wonder if something mental was affecting him. His form is returning and I think he could get back in. Usman Khawaja is like Cowan; looks good, doesn't score enough. George Bailey is just OK, David Hussey too old, Cameron White not much better than Watson. Alex Doolan is a flash in the pan. Andrew McDonald is good enough (and, unlike Henriques or Maxwell, a genuine all-rounder), but injured I think. I'd pick him in a heartbeat to bat at 6 and replace Henriques or Maxwell if he was fit. Australian batting is not in a crisis. Yet. But it's heading that way.

He shouldn't do it. He's batting brilliantly at 5, keep him there. We wouldn't be worried about our best batsman being at 5 if we didn't have a terrible top 4. The answer is to fix the top 4. None of Warner, Cowan, Hughes or Watson have shown long-term consistency, nor the required technique or ability to score runs, to be a proper Test batsman. They can't all stay.

I didn't see a ball bowled yesterday, but I can imagine what happened. The pitch was flat, Siddle and Pattinson bowled their hearts out but didn't extract any movement, rendering them virtually useless, Doherty was economical, which is his speciality, but bowled maybe 2 threatening deliveries all day, whilst Maxwell tried to be attacking but had no consistency and was attacked by Vijay and Pujara. We got nowhere by dropping Lyon, and now we're in a worse situation than before. Doherty is not a Test bowler, Maxwell is not close to a Test all-rounder, and in India we need much better than that. Thanks .

Can't see how dropping Lyon helps anyone except India. For one, Lyon loses confidence. For another, Doherty is terrible. Poor move, IMO. Batting is still very poor. Cowan surely is running out of chances, Warner is very hit-and-miss, Hughes and Watson don't inspire confidence, and we've taken two all-rounders with us, shortening the depth.

I'm happy to say I think my batting is better than my bowling. But I'm also going to stand by my bowlers. Steve Finn is now a regular in the England side, having gone past Stuart Broad into the number 2 paceman slot behind Anderson. He can swing the new ball, but also bowls well with the old ball. Trent Boult is no star and has only just started his career, but he seems to be getting better, and he swings the new ball. Jackson Bird also swings it, and, whilst he's not in Australia's top 3, he would get a game for most other sides, I'd reckon, based on what he showed in Melbourne and Sydney. With Herath as the spinner, and back up from Hafeez, I think 20 wickets is achievable. No world-beaters, that's for sure, and there are going to be other teams who have my bowlers covered, but I'll get the job done, I think.

And Hilfenhaus. For this reason, I think we will be mighty competitive in the Ashes. Unlike in 2009, we'll be able to take wickets. Batting obviously needs to improve, but I don't think we'll be scrogged like we were four years ago.

Definitely a choke, the chase wasn't huge, we had the batting power, but our top order didn't fire and we left too much to the end, and even then, we needed 9 off the last two overs with 3 wickets in hand. Should have got the job done, I think. And it was at the MCG, home ground advantage. Stosur is a worse choker, though, I'll pay that.

Victorian Bushrangers - biggest chokers in Australian sport?

Yep, more than happy to admit my tail is longer than most of the other teams'. Boult and Herath are both capable of scoring a quickfire 30 off about 25 balls, but overall it's definitely a long tail. Unlike others, I don't have someone at 8 who's capable of lasting a while to complement the top order. Haddin I'm not worried about - his current form is good, and he wasn't dropped for form (although he should have been...). Given where I got him in the draft, I was happy with that.

Alright. Let's see how my team stacks up. Alviro Petersen (RSA) - 1589 runs at 38.75, 5/5 (50/100) Mohammad Hafeez (Pak) - 2002 runs at 35.12, 8/5; 34 wickets at 33 Cheteshwar Pujara (India) - 813 runs at 58.07, 1/3 Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) - 10,696 runs at 51.67, 61/27 Ian Bell (Eng) - 5699 runs at 46.71, 34/17 Dean Brownlie (NZ) - 547 runs at 34.18, 4/1 Brad Haddin (Aus) - 2257 runs at 35.82, 10/3; 160 catches, 4 stumpings Rangana Herath (SL) - 186 wickets at 29.95 Trent Boult (NZ) - 30 wickets at 31.43 Steve Finn (Eng) - 70 wickets at 28.22 Jackson Bird (Aus) - 11 wickets at 16.18 So on paper the averages and stats don't stand out as amazing, but let's dissect. First of all, I have the world number 3 batsman, Chanderpaul, a proven star. He heads my middle order, ably supported by Ian Bell, who has come into his prime, is world number 16, and whose average has climbed past 45. I have India's most promising young batsman, Cheteshwar Pujara, at 3, a man who plays like Rahul Dravid and has better stats at this early stage in his career. He dominated England with consecutive centuries and looks likely to hold the number 3 for India for a decade. I've also got New Zealand's Dean Brownlie, who is coming off a great tour of South Africa, knocking off a 50 and a century against the best bowling attack bar none. Opening, I have South Africa's stylish Alviro Petersen, who with Graeme Smith forms, IMO, the best opening partnership in Test cricket at the moment, and Mohammad Hafeez, who has captained Pakistan and who also is my spin-bowling all-rounder (a bit of a golden arm for the Pakistanis, actually). My keeper is Haddin, a man who would get a game for most other countries as keeper, and whose form is still good enough to play Test cricket. More than happy to have him coming in at 7. Bowling-wise, I have the world's number 4 ranked bowler, Rangana Herath, who has tussled with Saeed Ajmal for the title of best spinner over the last two years. For pace, I have one of Australia's new pace prospects, Jackson Bird, who starred in his two chances against the Lankans, plus Steve Finn, England's tidy yet consistent wicket taker, and Trent Boult, a left-armer who has taken most of his wickets in his last 4 or so Tests, and who can also add handy lower order runs (e.g. see the Hobart Test of 2011). Overall, the numbers don't stand out, but keep in mind I had to pick last in Round 1, and last in the final round too.

Standard problems in India. Batsmen can't play spin (over the summer England's batsmen had no trouble whatsoever with Ashwin, Harbhajan or Jadeja, only Ojha troubled them), bowlers struggled to take wickets. Yes, we played pacemen, but does anyone honestly think Xavier Doherty is any better, despite being a spinner, than Starc? Of course he isn't. The raw fact is, we don't have any decent spinners, and our pacemen aren't good enough to pick up all the slack. England dominated India's weak batting line up because they had Swann and Panesar. Lyon isn't half as good as either of them. Doherty isn't half as good as Lyon. We're going to struggle if Pattinson, Siddle and Starc can't take 8 wickets, to go with Lyon's 2 he'll generally get. But more importantly, we're going to struggle if we can't bat against their spinners.

Sorry, still haven't had time to sit down and spruik my team. Tomorrow, hopefully.

I haven't got time at the moment to write up my side, I'll do it later tonight. Suffice to say, I think I can compete with any other team here, but I wouldn't be upset if my team wasn't voted the best, as there are some other equally strong teams.

Lyon chipping in nicely with Tendulkar and Kohil. Timely wicket of Kohli, too. Still in front by 56, with a chance to knock off the tail hopefully and not be too far behind.

We really need to get one of these two out early (preferably Tendulkar). Their tail starts now, pretty much. Jadeja, Dhoni and Ashwin are the next three, they're all 'all-rounders'. They can all bat a bit, but none are proper batsmen. I'll feel a lot better once we take one more wicket.

From left field slightly: Pick 88 - Dean Brownlie (NZ) He's the highest ranked batsmen (who isn't Bangladeshi) remaining. His stats are equal or better than any other remaining batsmen, and he recently managed a 100 and 50 in four innings against South Africa, in South Africa. He also looked decent enough against us last summer. I'll take that for 88.

So whose pick is it?

Actually, I can do this now. No one took who I was considering. Pick 72 - Brad Haddin (Australia) I know it's possible that he may never play again, but I need a keeper. There aren't any decent ones left, and frankly, Haddin is better than most other countries' keepers. Pick 73 - Trent Boult (New Zealand). I need a Kiwi. He's taken some wickets recently, so that'll do.

Sorry guys, I've been indisposed the last 24 hours, unable to even check in. I'll have a think tonight and hopefully choose (it's tough having to pick two every time!).

Nah don't worry about a 12th man. It's just the luck of the draw, unfortunately.

Just realise I get dudded in this. 11 picks means 11 rounds which means one odd round where I get to pick last again. Woot. Thanks HT. Haha. I guess you all needed the assistance after I clearly picked the best team the last time we did this.

Great pick up.

Awks. I searched for his name, must have spelled it wrongly. OK. Back up plan. Round 8, Pick 57 - Jackson Bird (Australia) Need an Aussie anyway.

Round 7, Pick 56 - Ian Bell (England) Round 8, Pick 57 - Tim Southee (New Zealand) Jackson Bird (Australia) Hope Southee's the Kiwi Nasher was referring to. He's playing some good cricket at the moment, to be honest. 20 wickets in his last three tests, all away in the subcontinent. Given what's left out there, and that I need someone from NZ, I'll take it. Bell is in the top 20 batsmen according to rankings, so that's not a bad get 56 picks into the draft, I'd say.

Indeed. But I've only been doing that for 2 minutes. Have been at work all day, but work is over now for a while, so I'll have more time to think. I'll consider my options and decide tonight.