MadAsHell

Continuing on our theme of our terrible batting line up and potential changes that can be made going forward, below is a list of what I reckon would be the leading contenders from the selectors of batsmen that could be brought in if need be. Some of them have played test cricket already, but to try and compare across an even playing field I've just put up everyones first class averages. I've put in 11 batsmen and 4 all rounders and sadly the stats show how little we have in reserves. Hopefully the list comes up ok? PLAYER AGE MATCHES 50's 100's AVG WKTS AVG (BATSMEN) George Bailey 30 96 30 14 38.29 N/A N/A Jo Burns 23 32 9 5 39.52 N/A N/A Tom Cooper 26 29 10 2 33.47 8 61.00 Mark Cosgrove 29 120 49 22 43.22 40 42.07 Alex Doolan 27 45 16 5 38.66 N/A N/A Callum Ferguson 28 72 25 8 36.05 N/A N/A Nic Maddinson 21 26 6 5 38.29 2 30.00 Shaun Marsh 30 77 25 7 35.77 2 65.50 Jordan Silk 21 5 1 2 42.30 N/A N/A Adam Voges 33 133 45 16 40.61 42 34.64 Matthew Wade 25 67 22 6 39.68 N/A N/A (ALLROUNDERS) James Faulkner 23 36 8 0 29.90 131 22.63 Moises Henriques 26 45 15 1 31.80 85 27.49 Mitch Marsh 21 25 5 1 21.27 36 25.88 Glenn Maxwell 24 18 9 1 37.46 34 33.38 Going through that list of players I reckon the most credentialed player would have to be Mark Cosgrove. Still only 29 and has over 20 first class 100's and nearly 50 50's! We all know about some of his fitness issues, but I tell you what with the state our batting's in, as long as he fits in and helps provide a happy dressing room then surely he'd have to be close to getting a gig on the return leg if we loose 5-0 here!?

Tea on Day 3 England 1st Innings 361 I. Bell 109 J. Bairstow 67 R. Harris 5/72 (26) S. Smith 3/18 (6) Australia 1st Innings 128 S. Watson 30 M. Clarke 28 G. Swann 5/44 (21.3) T. Bresnan 2/28 (7) England 2nd Innings 4/171 J. Root 97* T. Bresnan 38 P. Siddle 3/51 (19) J. Pattinson 1/24 (18) I've said it before and I'll say it again, we've had no luck at all since the tea break on Day 2 of the first test. How the third umpire gave Bell not out for Smith catch off Harris is nothing short of a farce! Can't see us bowling them out within another 15 runs unfortunatly, and the way it's going I can see them looking to set us 550-600 odd to win and we'll need to bat the best part of two days to save the test. Maybe at some point over those two days we can get some luck. And maybe all our players should refuse to walk, even when it's caught down at long on!

Forgot to comment on this bit. You may be onto something there. Wade's first class batting average is better then the likes of Marsh, Doolan, Ferguson, Bailey etc and we've already seen that he can make centuries at this level and knuckle down and bat time when required also, but can explode when need be at the same time. Brendon McCullum's now a specialist batsman with New Zealand, so maybe Wade could become that for Australia. We've got a tour match against Hove I think after this test. If Wade plays and makes runs maybe they'll consider bringing him into the middle order somewhere?

Half the side, not the entire side, and sadly I don't think it's over the top if we were to loose 5-0 after loosing 4-0 in India. Cowan I agree isn't good enough Watson despite his talent has had such an extended run and only has 2 test hundreds and an average in the mid 30's. If on top of that he does cause friction within the team well then he should be let go. Warner has that x factor about him, but one has to question whether he'll ever have the ability to be a consistent test player. It may be worth cutting our losses and letting him concerntrate on the shorter forms. Rogers & Haddin as I mentioned would be stiff to be moved on but it would simply be part of a bigger picture. Hughes & Khawaja as I said because of their age I'd be willing to give them a go as first pair to have a crack as the opening combo but the likes of Maddinson, Silk & Doolan should also be considered there. I'm amazed you rate Shaun Marsh TU. This is a guy in his late 20's who only average around 37 at first class level. If he can't establish himself as a top batsman in Shield cricket I can't see him doing it at international level. As you said Henriques & Maxwell are both project players and will probably be in competition with Mitch Marsh for the long term all rounder role. Reckon Marsh & Maxwell have the inside track due to their younger age but we'll see. Doolan, like Shaun Marsh only averages about 38, however at least he's seems to have averaged over 40 for the last two years, so he seems to be coming into his best. And as has been mentioned, George Bailey shouldn't be discounted as he brings a lot to the table. But for some good news, Australia A knocked off Zimbabwe by 80 runs in their 3 day match. Australia A 1st Innings 226 M. Henriques 71 K. Jarvis 4/54 (16) Zimbabwe 1st Innings 142 M. Waller 25 F. Ahmed 4/54 (11.5) Australia A 2nd Innings 156 A. Doolan 52 E. Chigumbura 4/26 (10) Zimbabwe 2nd Innings 160 (Target 241) H. Masakadza 69 F. Ahmed 4/23 (11) Well done also to Fawad Ahmed who ended with match figures of 8/77 off 22.5 overs. and Pat Cummins who took 4/43 off 19 overs in his comeback.

Certainly is cause for concern. If this series ends up being an England whitewash which is still a possability and something many people predicted then changes should be made and for the start of the Australia leg. There's no point waiting till after the Ashes down here as after that we have a tour of South Africa, then Pakistan at a neutral venue and then a home series against India, so you may as well bite the bullet heading into this coming summer. As others have mentioned, it may be time to cut loose some of our serial under performers who seem to cause issues within the team and say to the likes of Watson & Warner that they're ODI & T20 specialists from now on. On top of that thank some of the older player we brought back for this series like Haddin & Rogers but say we need to move forwards. Bring in Jo Burns to bat at 3, bring George Bailey in as captain to bat at 4, throw Mitch Marsh into the deep end at 6 as an allrounder and bring in Tim Paine a keeper & vice captain. Our bowling line up can pretty much stay the same. That would then just leave the question of openers? Maybe give Hughes & Khawaja first crack at it, but keep a close eye on players like Nic Maddinson, Jordan Silk & Alex Doolan who could come into that role also. Potential Australian XI for the GABBA Test: Phil Hughes/Alex Doolan/Jordan Silk? Usman Khawaja/Nic Maddinson? Jo Burns George Bailey* Michael Clarke Mitch Marsh +Tim Paine Ashton Agar Peter Siddle Ryan Harris Jackson Bird 12th Man: James Pattinson/Pat Cummins/Micthell Starc Edit: Added Silk

Stumps on Day 2 in both matches England 1st Innings 361 I. Bell 109 J. Bairstow 67 R. Harris 5/72 (26) S. Smith 3/18 (6) Australia 1st Innings 128 S. Watson 30 M. Clarke 28 G. Swann 5/44 (21.3) T. Bresnan 2/28 (7) England 2nd Innings 3/31 J. Root 18* A. Cook 8 P. Siddle 3/4 (5) S. Smith 0/1 (1) Well after what looked like a very good start quickly turned to disaster with yet another batting collapse. Watson & Hughes wasting reviews while Rogers didn't use one when he should of and copped a horrible decision. They really should hand over DRS to the 3rd umpire! Will take a very good bowling effort followed by batting effort to pull off a miracle here. I'm hoping we can knock them over for under 190 and chase 420odd which would set a new record. A very long shot, but not totally out of possability! Meanwhile, elsewhere at Stumps on Day 2: Australia A 1st Innings 226 M. Henriques 71 K. Jarvis 4/54 (16) Zimbabwe 1st Innings 142 M. Waller 25 F. Ahmed 4/54 (11.5) Australia A 2nd Innings 156 A. Doolan 52 E. Chigumbura 4/26 (10) Zimbabwe 2nd Innings 4/51 (Target 241) H. Masakadza 35* J. Hazlewood 2/10 (5) Australia A seem to be in control there on what seems to be a pitch that's crumbling! Cummins up to match figures of 4/25 off 14 overs which is fantastic and it's also good to see Fawad Ahmed taking wickets! David Warner made 11 in the 2nd innings to go with his 6 in the first for those of you interested.

Stumps Day 1 in both matches England 7/289 I. Bell 109 J. Bairstow 67 J. Trott 58 S. Smith 3/18 (6) R. Harris 3/43 (20) S. Watson 1/41 (12) & in the other match Australia A 226 M. Henriques 71 G. Maxwell 61 A. Doolan 35 K. Jarvis 4/54 (16) E. Chigumbura 3/42 (11) T. Chatara 2/49 (13.5) Zimbabwe 5/82 M. Waller 19* T. Maruma 16 V. Sibanda 15 P. Cummins 2/6 (6) J. Hazlewood 2/20 (9) F. Ahmed 1/17 (3.3) As I mentioned earleir, it turns out that Siddle no ball when he bowled Bairtow has hurt a bit as he ended up making about another 40 odd runs, however on this wicket if you had of offered us 7/289 at stumps I reckon we'd of taken that as it looks a great batting wicket. Hopefully we can knock them over in the first hour for about 320, bat out the day and most of Day 3, make about 450 with a lead of 130odd and then really put the heat on England late Day 3 and heading into Day 4 as the pitch starts to become more difficult. And good to see the Aussie A team in a reasonable position despite their soso batting performance. Very good to see both Cummins and Fawad Ahmed amongst the wickets especially!

Tea on Day 1 England 4/183 I. Bell 62* J. Trott 58 J. Bairstow 28* R. Harris 3/28 (13) S. Watson 1/22 (7) A. Agar 0/22 (8) Well that no ball by Siddle hurts, if he had of taken that you'd say it's break even, maybe even us slightly ahead, now it's possibly break even with them inching ahead. We need minimum two but hopefully closer to 4 wickets in this final session to finish the day off strong and put us in a good psoition heading into Day 2. England 8/270 sounds ok to me. Meanwhile 6 overs out from stumps Australia A have Zimbabwe at 4/53 Pat Cummins 2/6 (6) Josh Hazlewood 2/20 (9) Fawad Ahmed 0/5 (2) Good to see Cummins take a few wickets and seeing as Zimbabwe are also struggling maybe it's a difficult wicket over there? Anyway I'm turning in with dreams of a big finish in the final session to the Aussies!

Siddle bowling Bairstow just before tea off a no ball makes me want to tear my hair out! On somewhat better news, Cummins has picked up his 2nd wicket to go with Josh Hazlewood, another up and coming pace bowler who's had his injury issues to have Zimbabwe at 4/49.

Pat Cummins takes possibly the first step in his long comeback from injury dismissing Sibanda from Zimbabwe with his 10th ball back!

Australia A bowled out by Zimbabwe for 226! M. Henriques 71 G. Maxwell 61 A. Doolan 35 And as I mentioned above, for those of you interested Dave Warner made 6. Australia A have about 25 overs to bowl at Zimbabwe tonight, so hopefully the likes of Pat Cummins and Fawad Ahmed can take a few wickets to keep some pressure on the lot over in England.

Lunch Day 1 England 3/80 J. Trott 34* I. Bell 23* A. Cook 12 R. Harris 2/21 (9) S. Watson 1/12 (4) A. Agar 0/5 (1) Great first session, especially first hour by the Aussies, with a great bowling change made by Clarke bringing Watson on early. Fingers crossed for another 2 or 3 wickets in the next session at least. Oh and in other news, Australia A 7/205 against Zimbabwe with Warner out for 6! Henriques and Maxwell have saved the 2nd Australian XI from a complete embarasment over there in Africa. Hope for Warner's sake he makes some runs in the 2nd innings or in the next match if he wants his spot back for the 3rd test. Edit: from, not for.

I almost forgot, double the cricket tonigth with Australia A taking on Zimbabwe in a three day mtach kicking off in two hours featuring David Warner & Pat Cummins. Can follow it here: http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/current/match/643351.html Hopefully with bat in one and bowl in the other!

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/cricket/ed-cowan-mitchell-starc-axed-for-usman-khawaja-and-ryan-harris-for-second-ashes-test-at-lords/story-fni2usfi-1226681302949 Little paper claiming Cowan & Starc out, Khawaja & Harris in. Personally I would have left Cowan one more test and waited till Warner was avaialble and brought Bird in instead of Starc, but if there's changes are correct, lets hope they work well.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/current/story/652325.html Quote: "He's obviously still very keen and committed to play for New Zealand". Do I get Jesse back???

Not aware jazza.

What's also of interest is what the make up of Englands team will be for the 2nd test? Two things are very clear about their XI after that first test. Well three if you include that Broad's a [censored]! 1. Steven Finn gives them nothing, and if you look at the amount of overs he bowled compared to the other bowlers, it's aparant that Cook has no confidence in him. 2. They rely on Anderson with the ball about as much as we do Clarke with the bat and he needs more support. So apart from the what you'd think would be obvious change of Finn out for another bowler (both Bresnan & Onions were in their squad for the 1st Test). Will they make a 2nd change and bring ina 5th bowling option probably at the expense of Bairstow who's only averaging 30.23 after 9 tests. Those are Ed Cowan type numbers! When you consider that Tim Bresnan has a batting average of 31.28 and both Broad and Swann are handy with the bat, you could see a situation of Finn & Bairstow out with Bresnan & one of either Onions or Panesar (if they want 2 spinners) in. Would give them an XI of: Cook* Root Trott Pietersen Bell +Prior Bresnan Broad Swann Anderson Onions or Panesar Will be interesting to see....

First come first serve kind of basis. If the sessions already been extended for one reason, it can't then be further extended for the same reason even though it's the other side.

It is a difficult one deciding what our best line up is going forward for the next 9 tests, especially with our batting line up. Our bowlers are pretty set, especially with the quicks. Pattinson & Siddle are probably the first two picked at this point in time with the likes of Starc, Harris, Bird and hopefully by the time the Ashes heads down under, Cummins to be puching for the 3rd seamers spot. Agar will be given every opportunity, as well as he should to cement himself in the team. A lot to work with young Ashton, apart from his great lower order batting the kid has very good control with his bowling and he seems a pretty reasonable fielder also. That leaves Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed waiting in the wings in case of injury or poor form, which could happen with a player so young. Haddin's will play all of the 10 Ashes test due to his experience. He may well move on after the Sydney test for one of Wade or Paine, but he showed his value last night. Rogers & Watson looked pretty solid at the top of the order so I reckon you can pencil those two in for now, and we know one of the 4 middle order spots goes to Clarke. Don't expect any changes in the batting department for the 2nd test however as the selectors wont want to bring Khawaja in for one test with the risk of then having to then drop him after one for Warner if Warner makes runs in the interim in Africa with Australia A. For those reasons I'd expect the batting line up to stay the same. The biggest move you may see is Clarke back to 5 with one of Hughes/Smith to bat at 4 and the other at 6. So for the batsmen going forward you'll have Rogers/Watson at the top. Clarke and Warner will be two of the middle order batsmen with Hughes/Smith/Khawaja to fight out for the other two spots for the last 3 tests (Cowan will get dropped after Lords IMO). One of Hughs or Khawaja will bat at 3 and Smith at 4. I know you listed him at 3 dee-luded, but I've never seen him bat any higher then 4 outsie of T20 while both Hughes & Khawaja bat at the top of the order for their states. By the time the series gets to Australia though, hopefully the likes of Burns and Maddinson may start to put the pressure on with big runs in Shield cricket, but they're both long term projects at this stage I reckon, where as the likes of Alex Doolan, I reckon would just be another Cowan at the top level. The only player from our squad that I haven't mentioned is Faulkner, who i reckon is there as the emergency all rounder in case Watson misses a test through injury. If that were to happen, expect to see Hughes or Warner open with Rogers, Haddin up to 6 and Faulkner in at 7. First class batting average of 29 and bowling average of 23. He's got a lot of potential Faulkner. If only he could boost his batting average by 5-10 runs, he'd go close to overtaking Watson IMO. So dee-luded, for mine, my 2nd Test XI would be Rogers Watson Cowan (last chance) Smith Clarke* Hughes +Haddin Agar Siddle Pattinson Bird Starc 12th man (unluckily) Warners couple of games in Africa with Australia A and Khawaja's tour game with Australia before the 3rd test will determine who comes in for Cowan. You'd have to expect Warner will be given first crack, meaning for the 3rd test Hughes bats at 3, Smith at 4, Clarke 5 and Warner 6. They actually had already gone 30 min over for the session jazza seeing as Australia were 9 down and the umpires though the math could finish in that time. Can't remeber what the exact rule is, but to my understanding an umpire can't extend a session by anymore then 30min. It was a shame though that they had to go to lunch when they did, as it certainly robbed us of some of our momentum.

Looks like Malcolm Conn and I think alike. http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/the-ashes/jackson-bird-could-replace-mitchell-starc-for-australia-in-second-ashes-test-at-lords/story-e6frf3gl-1226679366919 Don't know if the two of us thinking alike is a good thing or a bad thing? I guess as long as I avoid David Warner I'll say good thing. Edit: Spelling

That's it. England 1st Innings 215 J. Trott 48 P. Siddle 5/50 (14) Australia 1st Innings 280 A. Agar 98 J. Anderson 5/85 (24) England 2nd Innings 375 I. Bell 109 M. Starc 3/81 (32) Australia 2nd Innings 296 (Target 311) B. Haddin 71 J. Anderson 5/73 (31.4) What can you say, but it had to end with DRS didn't it! Wouldn't be suprised if Australia opt out of DRS after this match. Great effort Australia and you've shown more fight then England ever did from 1989 - 2004. Lords starts on Thursday night nowm and if there's one change I'd make funily enough it wouldn't be any of the batsmen, but Jackson Bird must play at Lords! Bowl him from Glenn McGrath end where he bowled down that slop bowling line and length and wrecked havoc. Bird's our modern day McGrath so I'd take a horses for course approach (not rotation) and bring Bird in for one of Pattinson or Starc.

I enjoyed the below tweet from Damien Fleming. Damien Fleming ‏@bowlologist33m Stuart Broad campaigning for the individual Spirit of cricket award for this Test #ashes Expand

Lunch on Day 5 England 1st Innings 215 J. Trott 48 P. Siddle 5/50 (14) Australia 1st Innings 280 A. Agar 98 J. Anderson 5/85 (24) England 2nd Innings 375 I. Bell 109 M. Starc 3/81 (32) Australia 2nd Innings 9/291 (Target 311) B. Haddin 69* J. Anderson 4/73 (30) This is just an amazing game. Who knows which way it will go? But well done Haddin & Pattinson for this amazing fight back. Just think if Broad was given out we'd of won by now!

Surely Stuart Broad should be fined after this test for not playing in the spirit of the game, if that's even an option of the match referee? First the not walking incident, then the blatant slow over approaching lunch to try and get the team off the field so they can re-group. This guy is a dead set [censored]!

Can already say, no matter the result from here, well done Australia for the highest ever 4th Innings score at Trent Bridge. Love the fight we've shown!