MadAsHell

We've done it again, youngest and least experienced team of the round. To be fair we played the 2nd youngest & 2nd least experienced team of the round. But still.... Other interesting notes are the fact that GWS fielded the 8th most experienced team of the round which I think would surprise most. Richmond & Freo seem to have made an effort to field younger teams and St Kilda also, however that was more by circumstance then by design. Also worth noting that 6 of the top 8 teams were in the top 8 of oldest & most experienced teams that played. Bulldogs are the only team that bucked that trend on both fronts, GWS on age only (10th oldest). AVERAGE AGE North Melbourne - 28 years flat Geelong - 26 years, 2 months West Coast - 25, 9 Essendon - 25, 9 Carlton - 25, 8 Sydney - 25, 6 Hawthorn - 25, 5 Adelaide - 25, 3 Fremantle - 25, 2 GWS - 25, 1 Richmond - 25 flat Port Adelaide - 24, 8 Gold Coast - 24, 6 St Kilda - 24, 6 Western Bulldogs - 24, 5 Brisbane - 24, 2 Collingwood - 24 flat Melbourne - 23, 5 AVERAGE GAMES EXPERIENCE North Melbourne - 155.9 Geelong - 117.1 West Coast - 114.1 Hawthorn - 111.0 Sydney - 105.9 Essendon - 101.1 Adelaide - 96.0 GWS - 95.2 Richmond - 94.9 Carlton - 91.0 Fremantle - 89.5 Gold Coast - 89.5 Port Adelaide - 87.1 Brisbane - 73.1 Western Bulldogs - 72.7 St Kilda - 72.5 Collingwood - 72.5 Melbourne - 62.3

Was just looking at the stats for this from the weekend, and once more I note that we fielded the youngest and least experienced team against the Hawks who fielded the 3rd oldest & 2nd most experienced team of the round. The stats actually make for some interesting reading. Paints a good picture for us, Bulldogs, Adelaide & of course GWS. And it makes things look pretty grim for the likes of Fremantle, Richmond, St Kilda (given their performance) and it also outs Carlton's efforts into perspective (as well as Bolton has done). AGE: North Melbourne 27 years 11 months Geelong 26 years 4 months Hawthorn 26 years 2 months West Coast 26 years flat Fremantle 25 years 9 months Carlton 25 years 7 months Sydney 25 years 6 months Richmond 25 years 6 months Essendon 25 years 2 months St Kilda 24 years 11 months Collingwood 24 years 8 months Port Adelaide 24 years 8 months Adelaide 24 years 7 months GWS 24 years 5 months Gold Coast 24 years 4 monhts Western Bulldogs 24 years 4 months Brisbane 24 years 4 months Melbourne 23 years 7 months GAMES EXPERIENCE North Melbourne 151.3 Hawthorn 125.6 Geelong 120.8 West Coast 118.4 Sydney 104.9 Richmond 104.1 Fremantle 103.1 St Kilda 93.2 Carlton 90.1 GWS 87.1 Collingwood 86.3 Port Adelaide 86.1 Essendon 84.5 Adelaide 79 flat Gold Coast 79 flat Western Bulldogs 71.6 Brisbane 71.3 Melbourne 64.2 North played a 22 that had more then double the games experience that we fielded. We also fielded a team on average 9 months younger then any other in the comp. Encouraging signs of things to come hopefully!

Would be interesting to see how they do it. Given Richardson i suspect they may initially go 5 & 5 and the relegation and promotion happens after every 2 seasons (allows for home & away series). So as it stands now you'd probably see Australia possibly start doing 7 tests a summer while in top division bringing Manuka Oval in Caberra into the equation. Means one summer they'd probably have 2 tests v NZ & a normal 5 test Ashes series, then the following summer 3 tests v Pakistan & the usual 4 against India. And it would be nice to see them bring in a 3rd division to see if some countries can move up the rankings. As it stands now that group would include Afghanistan, Ireland, UAE, Scotland & PNG. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Cricket_League Whatever ends up happening, i think we all agree, change of some kind is required.

It seems so. Hopefully what's being considered in my above post may help get people's interest in the sport back.

I like the idea of this. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/cricket/icc-keen-to-introduce-two-divisions-in-test-cricket-with-promotion-and-relegation/news-story/2a00386734f3b8f4279fac23019ca636 Ideally I reckon it would be best giving Ireland & Afghanistan test status and having two groups of 6, but I'm sure there's different ways they'll be able to make it work.

Australian test squad for Sri Lanka announced. http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-australia-2016/content/story/1018833.html I feel like I'm saying this every time, but it really gets to me the armchair ride some NSW players seem to get with selection over the Victorian guys! How Henriques is selected over Stoinis and how O'Keefe is selected over Fawad Ahmed or John Holland is so so farcical I don't know what more needs to be said or done. Henriques (older then Stoinis) has a batting average of 31.91 as compared to Stoinis's 39.05. Henriques does have a betetr bowling average of 30.18 compared to 53.42, but 98 wickets in 62 First Class matches is hardly the figures of someone you expect to bowl you to victory. Stoinis has 21 wickets in 33 matches, so 77 wickets in his next 29 matches (less then 3 a match) is more then achievable for Stoinis to show his bowling is equally as good as Henriques. As for O'Keefe, I don't get what the selectors see in him. He's just a conservative straight arm darter that doesn't threaten the batsmen. He took 17 wickets in 6 first class matches last season @ 24.64 which is impressive for an average, but only because he doesn't go for many runs as he doesn't bowl a lot of hit me balls. Fawad on the other hand was brought up on sub continent pitches, so I would have thought would have been an ideal second spinner to pick. Or if you wanted to go with a left arm spinner, how about John Holland who's been held back by constant injuries over the years. Finally got a couple of games late last season and took 14 wickets in 2 matches @ 20.92 and is still in his mid 20's as opposed to O'Keefe & Fawad who are in their 30's. If it were me, I'd of gone with Stoinis & Holland over Henriques & O'Keefe, but then obviously I'm biased as I actually have some Victorians in my squad. And while I'm at it I'd of had Handscomb in ahead of Shaun Marsh as the reserve batsman also, as if Neville gets injured the morning of a test, I don't know who's going to keep?

And to think, for something that was only 5 & a half years ago, the only players from our 22 that day still on the list are Jones, Watts, Dunn & Garland.

That fateful night against the Dogs in 2010....

You make some good points Macca, and i think those measures can be introduced while still looking at a two tier system. Ashley Mallett shares a similar view to myself, however is far more scathing on the Windies then myself: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-v-west-indies-its-time-to-relegate-the-windies-from-top-tests-20151210-gll03b.html Crust of the article is a similar scenario to what i suggested. Difference being top tier of 7 and bottom of 6. He also suggested Canada and Scotland to be promoted with Ireland rather then Afghanistan which i found strange. Lets just hope for a better showing from today on.

The way this series looks like it's going to go says to me it's time to introduce a two tiered test system. Promote Ireland & Afghanistan and have two tiers of 6 teams. You play a home & away series against each team in your tier over the course of 3 years, and after that the bottom ranked team from tier one is relegated and the top team from tier two is promoted. One sided series like what we're about to see aren't good for the game.

Announced the 13 man squad for the next today. Pattinson in (early) O'Keefe (baggy blue/baggy green selection) S. Marsh (FMD!)

Not till Boxing Day.Give him a chance to build his fitness up.

Struggling unfortunately Faulkner. Made 105 runs in 6 innings so far this season @ 17.50 with the bat. Taken 9 wickets @ 28.11 with the ball however at an economy of 2.69. I think Mitch Marsh keeps his spot due lack of options. I do think Marcus Stoinis is a better option personally as he is a batsman who can bowl more then useful medium pace. First class batting average of 39.5 with a bowling average of 61.71 with 14 wickets from 25 matches that doesn't read that well. However last Shield season he made 785 runs @ 49.06 and took 7 wickets @ 40.14 with an economy rate of 3.16 having bowled 88.4 overs, so he's a bit more then part time. So far this season he's yet to take a wicket, however is averaging 43 with the bat with two half centuries in his 4 digs. Having said that I reckon they'll stick fat with Marsh. Won't happen, but I'd like to see 4 changes for Adelaide with three debutants. OUT Johnson (ret) Khawaja (inj) Marsh (dropped) Hazlewood (dropped) IN Siddle Fawad Stoinis Klinger Australian XI Burns Warner Klinger Smith* Voges Stoinis +Nevill Starc Siddle Lyon Fawad Watch Hazlewood & Marsh keep their spots though.

Further to my above comments re: Hazlewood, so far this series he's taken 4 wickets @ 68 with an economy rate of 3.8. With Johnson's retirement i really hope they do bring Siddle & Pattinson back into the XI. Could really do with Siddle's experience.Three wickets for Pattinson for the Vics today also helps his chances.

I don't watch it myself, but amazed this thread didn't get bumped last week.

Been out of action on this thread for some time. The thing that's annoyoing me is we're no longer seeing an even contest between bat & ball. New Zealand have done well to make something of this match, but teams shouldn't be making 400 & 500+ everytime they bat first which is sdaly becoming the trend in Australia. Agree with your point about trying to have one of England, India or South Arfica out here every year. And I thought I read somewhere that South Afrcia were going to come out for Boxing Day again, but I'll have to search for that. On an individual note, Australia should be concerned about the significant loss of form of Mitchell Johnson. Since the start of the Ashses, Johnson has taken 20 wickets in 6.5 tests (including this one up till stumps Day 3) @ 40.90 form 204.1 overs, meaning he's also going at 4 runs an over. I think it's fair to say Mitchell Starc has become the leader of our attack. Josh Hazlewood has also been hugely disapointing. It must be said, that our wickets have turned into roads, but if that is the case then CA should look at players like Siddle who know how to bowl on these dead wickets. For me, I'd look at bringing Pattinson & Siddle in for Johnson & Hazlewood. I'd bring Siddle in as early as the Adelaide test, and maybe hold Pattinson over until Boxing Day, just to give Mitch a few more tests to get his mojo back. As for the question of who comes in for Khawaja. I hope Klinger gest his chance, he's in great form, and at his age you can justify him coming in for cover for two test matches given he can bat anywhere. Also if Handscomb can make some runs in the 2nd Innings he'd have to come into consideration given he made a 100 in the openning Shield Match and didn't get a chance to bat v NSW. If Shaun Marsh comes back into the test team, I'd have to consider giving it away I think!

The more i think about it, the more i'm convinced we'll take Parish with our first Pick. We've been linked to all of Curnow, Weideman and Francis who are all talls, who are all also a chance of at least one of them being available with our 2nd Pick. Parish is the only genuine mid we've been strongly linked to and we know wont be available with our 2nd pick. Fingers crossed for a Parish/Curnow combo from me!

If we decide to go tall at Pick 3 rather then Parish, then I'd be very happy to see us take Tucker at 7. Don't get me wrong i'm a big fan of Oliver at 7 also, but Tucker's probably a little more versatile.

If he's a jet who breaks the lines and hits his team mates lace out then I'm not to concerned about his contested marking. Don't see Nathan Jones or Jack Viney taking too many either.

Not sure how some older members will feel with a player with this appearance running down the wing on the G?

Not even a 4th round pick back!

Trade Radio just said something else will be coming back our way also.

Howe to Gold Coast for Pick 19 Pick 19 to GWS for Bugg & Pick 27 Pick 27 to Essendonfor Melksham Howe gets us Bugg & Melksham. Win for me!

Your optimistic. I don't think he'll get past Essendon's Pick 4!

When i say early, i don't meañ early in the draft, i mean earlier then where they were expected to be taken.The names you mentioned were all expected to be high draft picks. Cook was expected to be a mid 2nd round pick and Molan early 2nd round from memory. Weideman is expected to go from about pick 10-16 range, so i'd have big concerns of we took him at 6.