Rogue

My hope now is that the selectors choose a core bunch of guys who they feel are in our best 15 or so players, and stick with them for the next 1-1.5 years.

I'm sick of seeing guys run out...this is Test cricket, and we're not even chasing a big score.

As Dean Jones said when referring to Hughes' technical flaws, getting dropped and spending time (3 years in Jones' case) out of the side really working to address faults is not a bad thing for a young player. It's far easier to work on these things outside of the international cricket arena. Plenty of good players were dropped early in their careers, only to return - Martyn and S Waugh instantly come to mind. I don't think the answer is necessarily to 'persevere'. On Smith, I'm not even sure he's a long-term solution, let alone a short-term solution.

Jaques could do with some big scores right about now.

Australia's World Cup probables (30 players): http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/492953.html

The winner. Has D Hussey ever opened in his life? I'm not sold on Ferguson, let alone at # 3. Cameron White is another one I'm unsure about, and we're still a bat short IMO. Plus, if they're the best four quicks in the country we're even worse than I though. NB: I don't know Lynn.

Always good to see ex-players letting us know the gate's open after the horse has bolted Talking of Jones, what's with the 'bring back Warne' talk getting a run again this series?

You wrote more than me I noticed this in a recent Age article about a likely review of Aus cricket post-Ashes: The above is what I've been saying for a fair while now.

If England were making selections like us we - Australian supporters - would be in hysterics.

A few brief asides: The consensus seems to be that Katich will be replaced by Hughes. Not even scoring a mention is Jaques, who has a pretty handy Test average of 47. Note that I'm not suggesting he should be picked - simply pointing out he seems like yesterday's man. I'm open to replacing North, but I'm not sure Smith should be the guy. From what I can tell he's not a top-six bat and if that's the case he doesn't deserve the gig unless we're happy to bank on Haddin at 6 and pick Smith as an all-rounder. Maybe Dave Hussey is worth a crack. The bowling attack is probably the worst I've seen. I agree with the sentiment in general, but in this case I'm not sure Doherty's actually any good. If he's not, we're just throwing good money after bad. That said, I don't know - he's looked pretty poor in the Tests, but if I'd seen him bowl before that it wasn't something I paid attention to. I still think we need the selectors to decide on a core group of players who they think are the most talented 15 or so in the country, and then stick with them over a relatively long period. If Doherty's one of those then he should stay, but if he's not we should drop him now.

Interesting to see Cook and Hussey both doing well (to varying degrees!). On that note, the fact that Bell and Cook made decent but not great scores, while Haddin and Hussey went big, has been the big difference in the totals. Everything I've heard was along the lines of 'Bollinger isn't match fit'. We'll never know whether Siddle would have been selected if Bollinger had some cricket under his belt. (I doubt it). Ticket sales for the WACA and GABBA have been very good - both games are extremely heavily booked. Is Smith really in the top six bats we have? I heard him admit this on the TV coverage earlier today.

I can't figure out why Smith is in the squad. Surely he's not good enough to play as our #1 spinner. If he's not then who is he covering for, given Usman just got called up for Clarke?

A few brief points. I'm not sure McDonald is in the top six bats, but his form at the moment is very good. Smith isn't anywhere near anything IMHO. Dropping Hauritz for Doherty is another example of the poor selection decisions made by the panel in recent times, because it makes something like seven spinners dropped since Warne. Who's next cab off the rank? In case it wasn't clear, that was my point - I eliminated every bat except Bell, and thus Bell plays at #3 if Cook gets dropped. I don't think Morgan has ever batted at #3. Has he even batted there in county cricket?

...and who bats at 3? Morgan isn't a #3, and neither are Collingwood or KP. Bell has failed there many a time, and England have given up on him ever playing at #3.

Bell won't bat at 3 (at least not while Cook is opening).

Agreed, titan - David Hussey isn't in the picture at the moment. If they make changes they'll go young. On England, it's weird they don't have a back-up opener given Cook's been in poor form even before this tour. If he goes out they're going to have to make big chances to their team, given they won't open with Morgan (the likely replacement). Trott, their current #3, is the best candidate to open if Cook's left out, but Morgan is unlikely to replace him at #3 so there'd be another shuffle - maybe Bell back to the spot he's struggled in, with Morgan sliding into ~6 or so? No wonder Flower is saying Cook will be fine.

I don't get why we're naming our Test side closer to the match. I agree regarding Smith.

Ages ago in this thread I said the selectors need to pick a bunch of players and stick with them. While talking primarily about the Test team, consistently applies to the shorter forms of the game too.

So bad.

HT: Pretty sure I read a quote from the selectors that Haddin is still #1.

I haven't commented in this thread for a long while so a few quick points: I'm not criticising Clarke's strike rate in the latest game because we were in dire trouble early, but it's no surprise his was almost the lowest strike rate of the entire match. IMO he needs to do more in ODIs. Did reforming his game to secure a Test spot mean he lost the sparkle needed for ODIs? Far too often his strike rate is languishing in the 60s. Hodge not playing at least T20 cricket over the past couple of years has been bizarre (particularly when he's been in or around the contracted list of players). Haddin should be scared. Very scared. Not sure about Paine opening though.

Yep. Batting up the order in the ODIs shows this. Indeed!

Zing!

Haha :>

Clarke doesn't deserve his spot in the T20 team - I think his strike-rate is even a worry in ODIs these days. As he admitted, the selectors will need to re-think his position in the team, and thus the captaincy. Cam White hasn't done his chances any harm lately..!