MadAsHell

Not a bad team there 45HG and taking 20 wickets will be no problem for that line up I must say. Similar to Titan_Uranus, probably a question as to the strength of your tail, especially considering it starts at 7. Philander, Southee & Hilfenhaus are all capable of making some runs, but don't know how reliable they all are. Philander the only one with a batting average over 20 (22.75). Very strong middle order though with Sangakkara, Pietersen, Ali & Williamson and as you said if your strong bowling line up perform then there's every chance that you wont need to bat to much deeper then 6.

You're not wrong there H_T, that's why I had no issues getting him with a late pick in the cricket draft! Pattinson, Siddle, Starc, Harris, Bird, Johnson, Cummins, Hazlewood. We're certainly spoilt for fast bowling talent. I suspect we'll see Rhino over in England when the Ashes role around.

Would have to be up there, especially in One Day Domestic Cricket, their receord in the Shield Finals is a little better. I reckon there could be some tough decision in that squad come seasons end, especially regarding an underperforming and ageing David Hussey when you look at some of the younger players like Handscomb, Hill and Keath who need to start getting more regular games.

Hard to fault you there Titan, it's a pretty solid team without having any out and out stars except for Chanderpaul. Good solid batsmen and bowlers there. The only faults that I could potentially find would be Haddin's form with bat and gloves just before he got dropped (although his recent domestic form has been very good) and probably the weakest tail of all 8 teams which could lead to your last 4 wickets falling for not many. Pretty good team Titan considering you picked last and hard to find many weaknesses.

Good to hear about Ahmed H_T, I think he could be the missing link. I don't expect him to be Shane Warne or even Stuart MacGill. But if we can get a good solid leg spinner who can keep his economy at around the 3 mark and take wickets at about 30 we'll be set! I do agree that Pattinson is a vital ingredient for the Ashes going forward and he does need to be looked after, however I just think this test is a must win and if we're going to rest him this series the 3rd test would make more sense. I actually wouldn't be suprised to see 6 quicks go over to the Ashes and there could be a change of three for each test, 1st, 3rd & 5th Tests: Pattinson, Siddle, Starc 2nd & 4th Tests: Harris, Bird, Johnson Pat Cummins wont be able to get enough cricket under his belt before then. Otherwise I'd probably have him in there ahead of Johnson. Selection for this upcoming test and then the Ashes will be interesting.

Surely common sense has to come into it sooner or later and they'll play him in this test and rest him in the 3rd. If we loose the test, well we're down 2-0 anyway and can't win the series If we win then it's 1-1 and winning the 3rd test isn't vital, a draw could work just as well without Pattinson leaving him fresh for the 4th. If Pattinson is rested for this test then the whole policy has gone mad!

I know what you mean Macca. You have to wonder if we had this selection panel 20-25 years ago would guys like Merv Hughes or Shane Warne ever of got a game??? Let's just pick the best people avaialable. Unless O'Keefe actively dislikes Clarke and co and is plotting to bring him down from the inside then I don't see how having our best performed domestic spinner over there can make the team any worse... I think it was mainly India was very good and partially due to us being below par. Ashwin took 12 wickets for the match and Dhoni played an innings out of his skin! We had India 7 down when scores were level during their first innings, if we could have restricted their lead to about 50 we would have been right in the game. Siddle & Starc were well below par and some of our batsmen played some loose shots to get out so I don't think it's anything we can't bounce back from with the right team selection and right application. You're not wrong Titan, I don't think playing Doherty instead of Starc would have been the difference, however having said that there's no denying that Starc underperformed bowling 25 wicketless overs and seemed to be bowling to short on that wicket. Can't disagree that Lyon & Doherty are no Swann & Panesar, but if the conditions are favourable to them and our quicks (apart from Pattinson) were given first crack and delivered squat then on all accounts Doherty should be given a crack. I've said it several times now, but I can't wait until Fawad Ahmed is eligable to play, I think he'll solve a lot of our problems for a few years at least while hopefully one of Zampa, Agar or Muirhead develop. But you're main point is valid, unless we can bat against their spinners then we're going to struggle. One of the reasons why Phil Hughes is probably right in the firing line. I think the Aussie batsmen need to go old school and not worry about pushing 4 runs an over and not be affraid to go along at 2.5 - 3 runs an over. Make the spinner bowl to them, wait for the bad ball and just get a solid defence going. Against Ashwin in particular!

No news on a replacement as of yet, but I agree they should get O'Keefe out there quick smart, but for some reason the selectors have a line through his name like Brad Hodge. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/spinning-out-the-blame-20130225-2f22t.html Either way they need to come up with some answers come saturday. I'm still counting down the days till Fawad Ahmed's citizenship comes through and we have a decent leggie again!

Could be onto something there Macca. I guess if they were to look at those players we might see changes like IN: Doherty, Khawaja, Maxwell OUT: Cowan, Hughes, Starc batting order: Warner Watson Khawaja Henriques Clarke Wade Maxwell Siddle Pattinson Doherty Lyon Gives us three seam bowlers, three spinners and 2 part time spinners. Could be the right formula for the dust bowls of India.

All things considered we probably did well to only loose by 8 wickets considering where we were late yesterday. A few concerns of course. Only 1 wicket between Siddle & Starc for the whole match. Nathan Lyon ended with match figures of 4/244 @ 61 off 52.3 overs, economy rate of 4.67! Hughes looks in a lot of trouble on those piches and Cowan, Watson & Wade didn't do anything to overly impress. Bird heading home with an injured back also doesn't help things as I initially wanted him in the team for the 2nd test. Clarke, Henriques & Pattinson can all hold their heads high with very good performances. Just the one change for the next test at this point I think and that's Doherty in for Starc. I think if we were to loose the 2nd test just as badly then you could expect to see wholesale changes, for example Khawaja in for Hughes and one of Maxwell or Smith in for Cowan or Watson depending on what they produce in this next test. Obviously the fast man rotation will come into effect by the time the 3rd test roles around. Certainly a lot of homework for the Aussies to do here.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013/content/story/606383.html Oh great, just what we need! If we're to send over a replacement we may as well make it another spinner, I say Stephen O'Keefe, why Doherty was picked over O'Keefe in the first place makes no sense to me. Or we should send over Haddin as he's a good player of spin and can play as a specialist batsman, bat at number 3 possibly?

This now brings the question of what changes (if any) do we make for the next test. Do we go with the two spinners approach and play both Doherty & Lyon, even though Lyon took 3 wickets he did take a pasting, what way do you go? Should Pattinson be rested due to his history of injuries, I don't think we can afford to given he was our only bowler to look like taking a wicket. I really think Bird should play, I think his line and length/keep it tight bowling is needed on these pitches. Hughes looked all at sea in this match, he really doesn't seem to have a clue against spin. Do we drop him for Khawaja after just 1 test? My way Macca clearly didn't work of going with the pace barrage. Siddle & Strac didn't support Pattinson well and left to much up to him when Jimmy showed that the quicks can take wickets on that surface. So I think for the remaining 3 tests we should go with the two spinners approach that England used to great effect. Lets get Doherty in for the last 3 tests and he and Lyon can have a 3 test bowl off to see who will be Fawad Ahmed's understudy for the Ashes. CHANGES: IN: Bird, Doherty OUT: Siddle, Starc Pattinson and Bird can take the new ball, Pattinson can be our main man, Bird to bowl line & length, build pressure and support Pattto. Henriques gives us the 3rd seam option and then Lyon & Doherty spin twins. I'd have Hughes on notice for this test. If he fails as equally bad I'd bring Khawaja in for the 3rd test. Usman will need some cricket under his belt before the Ashes. You wouldn't want Hughes failing in all 4 tests, then to be replaced be Khawaja for the Ashes. As for the pace bowling rotation, I would rest Pattinson for the 3rd test when that comes around. Lets not kid ourselves that he'll be able to play all 4 tests. Bring Siddle back in for the 3rd test and Siddle & Bird can then effectively have a bowl off to see who'll support Pattinson for the final test.

You're not wrong with any of that Macca, all I can say to that is as I said underneath my first critique of Biffen's XI that I was doing it from a Devil's advocate point of view, not a balanced appraisal. I figure we're all going to talk our own XI up, just like you, Biffen, H_T, Django and muself have done when we've presented them, but we're not going to go out of our way to point out our weaknesses, so that's where I was coming from. None of the players you've selected are poor players or players I would never pick in my team, in fact we've picked very similar XI's as far as bowling attack balance goes. You've got new ball bowlers in Zaheer and Bresnan, I've got Morkel & Harris. You've got an all rounder bowling first change in Watson, I've got Bravo. You've got an offspinner and left arm orthodox spinner in Ajmal & Vettori, I've got the same in Ashwin & Rehman. You've got a part time spinner in Yuvraj and medium pacer in Pollard, I've got Sehwag, Munro & Mathews so in no way do I think you have an inferior XI, I'm simply providing the balance to your presentation and that's why I have no issue with someone doing the same with mine. You've got arguably the best batsman in the world in Amla, the best captain in Smith, one of the three standout keeper/batsmen in the world in Prior. Watson when bowling is probably the worlds best all rounder after Kallis. Samaraweera has a test record that we'd kill for an Australian batsman outside of Clarke to have. Yuvraj & Pollard are the type of players when on could take the game away from an opposition in a session especially if batting together. Zaheer's one of the world's smartests seam bowlers IMO and Bresnan is a very useful swing bowler who will cause headaches in overcast conditions and batting down at number 9. And of course I don't think I really need to say much about the spin twins of Ajmal & Vettori apart from Vettori's my favourite player outside Australia and Ajmal's the worlds best spinner if you ask me. Hope that can get rid the Caro comparisons That one will give me nightmares for months Macca!

Well I've done 3 so need to keep going now. Pretty solid side H_T, not to much to find fault with. If you wanted to be real picky (which I've been known to be) to only things you'd look at would be everyone's favourite whippy boy Guptill, although just like Nathan Bracken, when it's a white ball involved he's exceptionally good. An ageing Tendulkar, although we saw how well he played in his innings just completed and the jury still possibly being out on Henriques, Strac & J. Khan, although I do think Starc will be very good. I reckon you'll be a hard one to beat here H_T, covered you bases pretty well.

All in good fun mate, and funnily enough Scarlett Johannson doesn't do that much for me. I'll take issue with not mentioning any of your strengths, I made sure I mentioned everyones' strengths, such as your deep batting all the way down to 9. Your quality spinners and the batting power of Smith, Amla & Prior. Your more then welcome to disect my team and you're right there's fault there believe it or not. Keeper batting at 6 who the jurry's still out on as far as glove work goes, my 2nd quick can't seem to play more then 2 tests in a row without getting injured, a top five batsman who only just played his first test and now averages 7.5, will he make it? Dwayne Bravo hasn't played for some time, one would question whether Younis Khan is coming to the end and Rehman couldn't get a game in South Africa. As for London, I'm still getting over the pain of that one Macca and the quicks , that's just a work in progress, it's because they didn't play Bird which we should have done.

Your turn Django. To start with I think it's fair to say, well in my opinion anywat from 3 through to 7 you've probably got the best team. Great batting talent in there and it's fair to say I'm pretty jealouse. As you mentioned, no bolwers who average under 30, that amazes me that Anderson doesn't, however I think he copped a bit of stick early in his career so that may explain it. Mitchell Johnson, who knows what you'll get there, Mendis started test cricket like a house on fire, but hasn't played since May 2011 in which he only took 1 wicket in his last test. Bracewell is a good solid bolwer I'll give you. Your two openners similar to Mendis, started test cricket really well but are now both out of their countries best XI at the moment. Gambhir I'm suprised by, that may only be temporary. Umar Akmal did start test cricket really well, however I never saw him play as an openner in tests, one day games I think occasionally but never tests. Think this XI could see you 1 or 2 wickets down early in your iniings Django.

Time to get stuck into your team Macca! hehe. Pretty good team and similar to mine in going for spin twins and I'm big enough to say that your combo of Ajmal & Vettori probably slightly edge my pair of Ashwin & Rehman, but only just! Slight concern of maybe a lack of penetration with your quicks in Zaheer Khan & Bresnan. They're both good players but I can't see either of them hurrying a batsman up or roughing them up. I agree that you do bat very deep, Bresnan at 9 and Vettori at 8 is a dream. Your batsmen in general do raise some questions however. I can't question Amla, Smith or Prior obviously. Samaraweera has a great record but I don't think has been the same player since the terror attach on Sri Lankas bus some years back. I wonder how long he has left in cricket actually? Then you've got Watson & Yuvraj, two batsmen in your top 5 who average under 40 despite having been given extended runs at it. And then there's the big question mark over Pollard and what would he do in test cricket? First class average of 37 isn't bad, but don't think you'd get any better then that in the test team, and only 7 wickets in 22 first class games suggests his bowling while handy wont offer a great deal. (Says the man with Angelo Mathews I know!)

I'm goign to play devil's advocate here, trying to boost my own teams prospects! Biffen I agree your team has a heap of batting depth. McCullum coming in at 8 is enough to put fear into any bowling line up. However my biggest concern for your team is it's ability to take 20 wickets? Only one bolwer with an average under 30 in Jimmy P and your third main quick Ishant has an average in the high 30's. Also there would be some concern over your spinners. Yes Duminy, Root and Warner all bowl part timers, however Duminy goes at less then 1 wicket a test match, Root's only taken 8 first class wickets in 37 matches and Warner's only taken 4 wickets in 15 Test matches. You've got a team that would be very difficult to bowl out twice, however I can't see you ever taking 20 wickets unless Pattinson takes 12-15 of them....

Dam it Titan, haha. Good pick I must say. Ineligible Player Breach Pick 91 Colin Munro (New Zealand) http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/232359.html Just made his test debut in New Zealand's last test in South Africa and currently has an average of 7.5 after scores of 0 & 15 but he has a first class batting average of over 53 and in the recently completed first class season in New Zealand he came 16th in leading run scorer when only playing 4 out of a possible 10 games (missed the others on NZ squad duty) with 623 runs at an average of 124.60. In the mould of Jesse Ryder he's a hard hitting middle order batsman who bowls handy medium pace, so in effect I don't think I've missed out on anything with having Munro instead of Ryder and on their first class form it's actually an upgrade. So my XI reads: TESTS RUNS BATTING AVG WICKETS BOWLING AVG BOWLING S/RATE (Eng) Alastair Cook* Left Hand Bat 87 7117 49.42 - - - (Ind) Virender Sehwag Right Hand Bat/Right Hand Offspin 102 8559 50.05 40 47.35 93.2 (Pak) Younis Khan Right Hand Bat/Right Hand Legspin 81 6705 51.18 8 54.62 90.7 (Sri) Angelo Mathews Right Hand Bat/Right Hand Medium Pace 31 1668 39.71 11 70.45 135.8 (NZ) Colin Munro Left Hand Bat/Right Hand Medium Pace 1(17) 15 (1123) 7.50 (53.47) 2 (28) 20 (31) 54.0 (62.4) (Aus) +Matthew Wade Keeper/Left Hand Bat 9 510 42.50 - - - (WI) Dwayne Bravo Allrounder: Right Hand Bat/Right Arm Fast 40 2200 31.42 86 39.83 75.1 (Ind) Ravichandran Ashwin Right Arm Offspin/Right Arm Bat 12 596 45.84 63 32.41 63.2 (Aus) Ryan Harris Right Arm Fast/Right Hand Bat 12 212 17.66 47 23.63 49.1 (Pak) Abdul Rehman Left Arm Orthodox/Left Hand Bat 17 289 15.21 81 28.40 66.0 (RSA) Morne Morkel Right Arm Fast/Left Hand Bat 49 657 13.68 175 29.97 55.1 * = Captain, + = Keeper, () = First class averages for player who's played fewer then 5 tests and hasn't had opportunity to establish themselves. I'm pretty happy with my XI, my 4 main bowlers and my all rounder combined average 19.65 wickets between them a test which addresses your main need of needing to take 20 wickets a match. On top of that I've got part time bowlers of Sehwag, Mathews & Munro will help support my five main bolwers and with Munro & Mathews both bowling medium pace that comes in handy if Harris were to break down as he often does. I'd give Morkel and Harris the new ball, Morkel with his extra height, bounce and pace and Harris with his skiddy action at over 140km/h will complement eachother well. Bravo first change bowler with his outswingers in the 130k's range and then the twin spin of Ashwin with his right arm off breaks and Rehman his left arm orthodox. I've got two batsmen who average above 50 (3 if you include Munro in first class cricket) and then Cook, Wade and Ashwin who all average in the 40's and Mathews & Bravo with averages with the bat in the 30's. Cook obviously gets the captains gig and I think it's fair to say that I've got the best opening combination of all the 8 teams picked with the worlds best opening batsman at the moment in Cook and the most destructive opening batsman of the last 10 years in Sehwag. I'll be interested to see how everyone elses teams stack up and balance out. Edit: Cook/Sehwag opening combo.

Have a new born so not watching a lot of TV at the moment, only show I'm really watching is Law & Order SVU, pretty rock solid show, rarely puts in a bad episode. Late last year was watching A Moody Christmas on ABC, only 6 episodes, but was very good and good for a laugh, worth watching. I'm also hoping that ABC do a second season of Mad as Hell with Shaun Micallef, with it being an election year they'd be mad not to. Never misses an opportunity to take a stab at Tony Abbott does Mr Micallef, throws some good ones out there about Julia also in order to keep it all balances. hehe. Other good shows worth a look are my personal favourite The Shield, seven seasons and probably the best cop show you're likely to see. The Big C (Lauara Linney and Oliver Platt) is a good drama also, seen the first two seasons of that now so will hopefully get a hold of season 3 shortly. If you're after something more light hearted The Office always puts a smile on my face, coming up to their final season now I believe which will be season 9. Go Girls is a pretty good comedy/drama out of New Zealand which I got into when I was over there on my honeymoon. Also just watched season 1 of Parks & Recreation and that's pretty good also. The UK comedies Black Books and The Inbetweeners are hilarious! Inbetweeners is wrong, but if you're male and have gone through highschool is pretty much a running commentary on it IMO. Otherwise if you want some real classics, you can't go past The Simpsons, seasons 1-13 (all the seasons after 13 suck), Seinfeld and The old Micallef Program (ABC).

Well played sir.

Don't tell me we're three picks away from finishing up and we're now delayed for three weeks.

Your up Django with your two picks, one from Pakistan & Sri Lanka and then it's my Pick.

It's Sehwag so I'll take it anway it comes. He's a wicket taker Pattinson!

James Pattinson goes bang! And Vijay's stumps go flying for 10, India 1/11 in the 4th over. Love seeing Patto back, can't wait for the day that our three quicks in the team at the same time are Pattinson, Starc and Cummins!