Rogue

Haha, wow - that's ridiculous. Asked about the sixes, Watson gave this nice response:

White has been dropped from the side in the ODI series vs Bangladesh - Ferguson has replaced him.

Yeah - I'm not a massive fan. Anyway, the squad to Bangladesh has been announced. The squad is one smaller than for the World Cup, and D Hussey is squeezed out*. while Tait has been replaced by Pattinson and Kreza by Doherty. Shane Watson Brad Haddin Michael Clarke Mike Hussey Callum Ferguson Ricky Ponting Cameron White Mitchell Johnson Brett Lee Xavier Doherty //for Kreza James Pattinson //for Tait Steve Smith Tim Paine John Hastings I don't think it's surprising that there haven't been massive changes. I'm most interested to see what happens later in the year. *Imminent birth of a child, so who knows whether he would have gone otherwise. Perhaps White has been saved.

If I was him I'd do the same. He clearly doesn't love cricket, and T20 is far easier on the body etc. There's also less scrutiny, at least in one sense. Given he can make decent moolah as a T20 player, and is less likely to get injured, it's a smart career move.

Interesting perspective. http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/508563.html Hah. Hilditch has said he won't walk, but he will probably get bumped by the assertion that we need a full-time chief of selectors.

Ponting's just announced his retirement from captaincy. He wants to play on.

I completely disagree. What exceptional on-field abilities did he display? I'm pretty keen to know, because I can't see where you're coming from.

NZ getting over SA is why I didn't buy the idea that we couldn't win the World Cup - it's been a pretty open field (no pun intended).

You don't take wickets with wides. You do take wickets when the batsmen are under pressure though, and once Tait got smashed in those two overs the game was over - there was no pressure. Had we continued to build the pressure, as we had been doing up until that point (you would have noticed the run rate was constantly increasing, and weas up around 6), the batsmen would have been more likely to get out. I also disagree with the implication that Tait was the most likely to break the partnership at that point in the game. Each to their own, though. Ponting's played more cricket than me and he clearly thought the same as you. As an aside, if Ferguson had faced 22 balls - the number White did - and scored at his average career strike rate the Indians would have been chasing 270, which would have made for a pretty interesting game. To chase 12 runs in the last 14 balls doesn't sound much, but that's not the scenario - with a larger total to chase there would have been more pressure on the Indian bats throughout the innings so who knows how it would have gone. White did achieve a run out, which I saw someone tweet as the best (or was it only?) thing he's done all WC - perhaps a fair call (unfortuately, because I like White). - - - - Anyway, a shame about the result from an Australian perspective, but there were some good individual performances. D Hussey shone, and it was nice to see Ponting bat well. I think Lee's been pretty good since he came back into the side, too. It'll be interesting to see what the selectors do from here.

According to Cricinfo, Lee would have had him at the 15th if Kreza had fielded a little better. Anyway, as it happens your post is a nice segue into a comment I wanted to make re: Ponting's bowling changes. I was liking them until Tait was brought on. Watson and Lee had 5 overs left and Johnson 3, with ~13 overs to go. These bowlers were all going at less than 5 per over and the run rate was ~6. All the spinners had plenty of overs too (including D Hussey, who has gone for less than 4 per over). Tait was introduced into the attack and went for 19 off two overs. Not a choice I would have made, with Yuv and Raina at the crease. Anyhow, India's in the box seat from here - we need wickets quickly. - - - - - - - Ouch, Lee returned to the attack, was hit for six and the equation is now 16 off 29. I think it's curtains.

Argh.

I agree. I don't buy that we can't win the World Cup, or that our chances are near zero. We need to win three consecutive games and no teams - not even SA - are looking unbeatable. We're certainly not favourites, but it's a pretty open season. (I reckon most teams are lucky this World Cup isn't on a more seam-friendly continent, because SA would be super hard to beat then).

Good innings by D Hussey.

I disagree with the reasoning presented here. First, carrying someone who is out of form doesn't help you win, regardless of how good they could be - it hurts you unless they turn it around. Second, you don't need guys who are able to smash it out of the park on a consistent basis to win (a run a ball gets you 300, after all). Third, Ferguson has a better strike rate than White.

I like White, but he's been in a prolonged slump. He does have power hitting that we would very much like, but if he can't stay at the crease it doesn't matter how far he can hit the ball. I'd be interested to know whether he also seemed out of form in the nets. I think Ferguson was amongst the runs late last year, and IIRC he looked okay against England in his two games (including one run-a-ball 45-ish).

I think Ferguson should come in for White, and Hussey for Smith. Ferguson was batting very well for Aus before he got injured, and since Smith isn't getting much of a bowl he should be judged on how whether he's a better bat than a potential replacement. I'd take Hussey - he can roll the arm over if needed. I don't think we can do much in terms of bowling, given only Hastings is on the bench. Watson Haddin Ponting Hussey M Clarke Ferguson Hussey D Johnson Lee Kreza Tait

It was pretty clear that if the game went 50 overs we were going to lose. Thus, I can't understand why Ponting didn't bowl Lee out earlier. PS. White must be in trouble.

I read this on Cricinfo: http://blogs.espncricinfo.com/zaltzman/archives/2011/03/twenty_utterly_crazy_minutes.php I also liked this (although RR may not):

It's fair to say he's lucky, that's for sure. Great last 16 balls though. Pakistan are a worry. By the way, NZ batted first. PS. Let's not revive a tired old personal argument.

On the other hand, I think it means we should finish top of the table, which is helpful.

It was a shame the Aus v SL game was washed out, but perhaps fortunate for us. How about those South Africans, hey? EDIT: Ooh -

I agree with 45 and t_u on the division proposal. I'm not a fan, but I do think there needs to be an overhaul of the FTP. (The first thing off the table - 7-game ODI series').

Hahah, well done Ireland. Netherlands got close and now a minnow has knocked them over. What a great innings by O'Brien - wish I saw it.

Yep. What's the deal with sending players over to put out cones at training or whatever? Any rules against it? If not, you'd be silly not to have a wicketkeeper doing so, etc.

There's still hope for Hussey! http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/503569.html