Macca

If you look at it closely, we've sent some great teams to India who couldn't get it done. The conditions are probably the harshest for our team in some ways. You need to able to play spin really well on spinning decks, and you need good spinners in your team to have any chance. England defeated India 2-1 in Nov/Dec but they have 2 world class spinners in Swann and Panesar. England in England will be a different story but our batsmen will need to fire. We're screaming out for a young gun batsmen. Greg Chappell, Border, S.Waugh, Ponting, Clarke - who's next?

Is this thread still going TD? The fun was in the picking. More than half my team are either injured, out of form, have never played Test cricket, can't get a game or verging on retirement. (still a great team though )

The brutal truth is that we haven't got enough very good or great players. Clarke is our only great player. Pattinson, Cummins and Starc could be very good or better but that's it. The rest haven't shown enough. The selectors just need to keep giving new players a go until we start unearthing a few gems. It used to be that a new player was given a couple of Tests to show something and I still believe that tried and true method is the best way. We need an all rounder in the team so it's Watson, Henriques or Maxwell - but only one of them should play. I don't believe giving a player an extended run is necessarily the answer although I think in some cases it's warranted. (especially if that player has very good technique or has a bit of an X factor) As a general rule I reckon it's good to keep a player hungry and gifting players with games is fraught with danger. What's wrong with a player being under pressure to keep his spot? That pressure can bring the best out of people. We're not restricted with lists like we are in footy and other sports. They can pluck a player from anywhere and we've sometimes done that with some success. Warne, Walters, Ponting, Clarke and many other players were picked when they were very young. Often these young players had not had a huge amount of 1st class experience or were hugely successful at Shield level. A lot will point at Mr Cricket and the fact that he was 30 years old when he debuted. My counter argument is that he could have been played from the age of 22 or 23. We had a fairly good batting line-up that stopped this from happening but he could have had a 16-17 year career. If a young player is at or just below the level of a veteran then I'd pick the young player. There are a number of young players in Shield ranks that might be worth a punt. Doolan, Keath, Maddinson, Handscomb and Burns are possibilities. Khawaja will get his chance in India you'd reckon. Our fast bowling is not a major problem although we need to manage them well. Hopefully Ahmed can solve our spinning woes. Let's face it, only one spinner is usually needed. Wade is probably safe for now but Paine is an excellent gloveman (and he can bat)

At least our fast bowling stocks still look promising All we can hope for is that the team pulls out all stops in the next 2 Tests. A few of the batsmen will get 2 more Tests to prove themselves and make amends. The only batsman who could come into the team is Khawaja (although Smith might be given a chance) It's fair enough given the circumstances. I wonder if he'll go as high as 3? Our top 4 are really struggling and when you consider that the 1st drop is most probably going to be confronted with spin then he could jump 2 spots. Happy to change my mind on that one. Not entirely sure about England though. Maybe no.4 ? It will be a miracle if we've sorted out our batting before the 1st Ashes Test.

England would be looking at our top order right now and trying to figure a way to play Swann and Panesar in the same team. They could possibly get away with batting Broad and Swann at 7 and 8. Our top order looks all at sea against spin. Watson can only justify his spot if he bowls and is best suited as an opening batsman. Cowan and Hughes don't look to be good enough right now and Warner seems to have a real weakness against spin bowling. Moving Clarke isn't going to solve our batting woes. They could move him to no.4 for the last 2 Tests in India but I'd favour him going back to no.5 for the Ashes. Our overall batting is sub par and we need to address the issue as soon as possible.

Maxwell bowled ok as the back-up spinner but batting him at no.8 is far too low for a bloke who has batted as high as no.4 in 1st class cricket. They should have played Lyon and if they wanted to play Maxwell as well, then one of the top order had to go to make room. They didn't bite the bullet and tried to be too cute. Doherty is not a big turner of the ball and doesn't bowl with a great deal of guile or flight. Ravi Shastri pointed out yesterday that Xavier doesn't get side on enough before and during his delivery stride. He made mention that his right shoulder is pointed towards fine leg instead of 1st slip whilst in his delivery motion. Ravi's conclusion was that Doherty wasn't putting enough body into turning the ball. It was a very good pick up and it does make you wonder. He's still young enough to fix this fault but maybe he's not even aware of it.

The brutal truth is we don't have enough good/great players ... Now only Clarke is world class. Patto and Cummins could be, but not sure on anyone else. I don't reckon this Indian side are that good either. They can't beat England or South Africa and they were terrible when they last toured here. (losing 0-4)

Ha ha! How sad is this - I actually looked up the world record 2nd wicket partnership last night ! It's set at 576 runs (Jayasuriya and Mahanama) Highest partnership for each wicket

You just about nailed it. Any chance of the Lotto numbers?

Good post, TD. You've put a lot of thought into it and there are a lot of ideas there that make sense. I reckon our 'future team' is where our best side lies. We need to keep giving our young players opportunities and hope they turn into stars. Give them a chance when they're young. We have good prospects in the fast bowling dept but we need to unearth a star spinner (Ahmed?) Leg spin is where we've traditionally been strong. Our own wickets don't favour finger spin as a general rule. Wade is a reasonable keeper/batsman though I still wouldn't rule out Tim Paine going forward. The chances are that Paine will get an opportunity at some stage. I like Wade but we should always be aiming at having our 'best' players in the team. It's our batting which is our main problem. Good young batsmen with excellent technique and patience are needed. You mentioned a few in your post and we need to bite the bullet and give a few of these young blokes a go. We've done it with our quicks and unearthed some excellent prospects. Sometimes greater responsibility and a higher standard can bring the best out of a cricketer (Clarke and Warne spring to mind) Our top order in India are really floundering. A good top order batsman should be able to play pace and spin very well. Clarke is our only batsman who can do that. The others can do it occasionally. If Watson bowls then he's a valuable member (although Henriques, Maxwell or possibly Mitchell Marsh can claim the all rounders spot) Warner can be a match winner but he worries me when he's facing spin.

I like this from the Heat ...

3 poor shots from Warner, Cowan and Watson. Ed misses a straight one again, Warner played a terrible shot and Watson tries to pull a ball that was always going to stay low. Need a rescue mission. Just as well we bat to 8! Siddle and Patto can bat as well - we're probably going to need them!

Great toss to win. If we had to bat last I would give us very little chance of winning. Lyon out is a surprise. Not sure many saw that coming. Maxwell is a good inclusion but batting at 8 ?! We bat deep but can we get 20 wickets? We'll need just about everything to go right for us to either level the series or draw the match.

The possibility that they're even contemplating using either Hughes or Khawaja to 'don the gloves' only highlights the selectors poor decision to not take a reserve keeper on the tour. A few on this thread made mention of this 'oversight' at the time. Wade's injury may not be that serious but that doesn't rule out the fact that it could be a serious injury. Good luck to Wade and I hope he can get through 5 hot days of fierce cricket with a fractured cheekbone.

Alex Smith to KC Well the Chiefs are making some moves. Giving up a 2nd round draft pick (and possibly another pick next year as well) sounds like a good decision on the surface of it.

Good news re Fawad Ahmed.(I still haven't seen him in action but have no reason to doubt all the talk about him) Always like to see a leggie in the Aussie side (esp in our conditions) Interesting that our best performed spinners have just about all been leg spinners. (O'Reilly, Grimmett. Benaud, Warne and MacGill) Love this stat regarding Clarrie Grimmett - in his last 3 Tests for Australia he took 33 wickets (10, 10 and 13). He turned 44 years of age during that last tour ... Australians in South Africa 1935/36 I take your point on board re Patto and the Ashes, but I'm with TD on this one. We have to go all out in this next Test. Lose the 2nd Test and we can't win the series. He bowled 33 overs all up in the 1st Test and probably shouldn't have been used on the 5th day. I know the Ashes is the 'biggie' in most people's eyes but I view the series' against England, India and South Africa as being of almost equal importance. Always great to beat them and hate losing to them - anytime. I'll admit that the Aussies winning the series in India this time around is a bit of a stretch but you can bet the team hasn't given up on their chances. If they rest Pattinson so be it, but that would mean that Siddle and/or Starc will play both the opening Tests. Siddle is probably more seasoned but not so sure on Starc. He's probably as much a risk as Patto. We could go into the next Test with our 4 frontline bowlers being Siddle, Johnson, Lyon and Doherty.

There's talk that they might rest Pattinson. In such a vital Test? Second Test selection has Australian cricket in a spin

In that article O'Keefe is described as a 'Chirpy, confident lad not afraid to speak his mind' . What's happened to Australian cricket when that's somehow a problem?! I thought that attitude was a bit of a pre-requisite I've seen him bowl in some of the limited overs stuff and he looks a bit of a cricketer. Anyway, we'll find out soon enough. Good point Rogue, for some of the batsmen, time in the middle is very important. We're quite an inexperienced side when you look at it. I reckon a tour of India could toughen a few of the players up. It's hard yakka. Still got a bit of time for Lyon and I see him as our best off spinning option. He'll have learnt a lot from the 1st Test and hopefully bowls better in the 2nd Test.

Yeah, a bit like our 'best eleven' teams TD . Lots of options I heard today that Bird is flying home after sustaining a back injury - bad luck for the bloke and lets hope it's nothing major. Any news on his replacement (if any)? Surely they'll send another spinner over there. If Beer, Holland or O'Keefe are fit then we should send one of them over there - 'quick smart'. Like the make up of that eleven. Moises could hold down the no.4 for now - very impressive young cricketer. He'll most probably be facing spin when he goes in to bat anyway. The other option is for Clarke to go up to no.4 for these Tests only. Henriques could bat at no.5 if that happens. Watson is best suited to opening.

I agree with a lot of your summation TD, but I'd bite the bullet and make a few changes now. After looking at things overnight I reckon that we have to do something with the top order. Khawaja has a good technique to handle spin and I'd have him in. Also would find a spot for Maxwell, mainly because he gives the team another spinning option. Henriques had a terrific debut and even after one Test I reckon he could bat higher on the list. He didn't seem to be in any trouble at all and Gavaskar and Shastri gave him a good rap. I reckon we've found a cricketer there. Doherty is probably a certainty and Johnson might come in as well. Can't see them making 4 changes but maybe 3 (?) We have to assume that there will be a result in the next Test and we don't want to be 2 - 0 down.

Well, there's always a chance of an 'unseasonal' monsoon, TD. We may just escape yet. What we do know is that in the next Test, we'll probably be presented with another spinning track that is devoid of grass. Reality has set in for me. India are just so hard to beat at home. Ojha is waiting in the wings for them whilst we've got Xavier. This is where rotations can get tricky now that we're 1-0 down (barring a miracle). We really have to win the next Test. Patto has to stay. Siddle and Stark could be rested which would allow Doherty and Johnson or Bird to come in. I'd also bring in Maxwell in place of one of the batsman. None of our top order looked particularly comfortable although Warner was the best performed. We need as many bowling options as possible and Maxwell provides another badly needed spinning option. Khawaja has claims as well. His selection wouldn't surprise. It's difficult to hold your ground over there - it's now or never in a lot of ways. In this Test our batting and bowling hasn't been up to scratch.

Very handy late pick up for your 'best eleven' team HT He's shown a lot of fight and has a reasonably good technique. I like him as a cricketer. We'll need that extra seamer in England. Impressive debut and looks to have a bright future.

Fair enough, our sides are eerily similar 'TD' ... don't know what I was thinking with the 'Caro' comparison - I blame the heat. My thinking on the 2nd spinner came about when I came to the realisation that my 3rd choice seamer was not going to be a topliner. It also then meant that I needed a batsman who could bowl medium pace. Pollard was picked as a back-up for Watson (who will hopefully bowl again in Test cricket at some stage) In the end, having a 2nd spinner is not such a left field option. By the way, your series prediction re the India tour might be right on the money. My 'optimistic' prediction is looking very optimistic right now.

Tough batting conditions now for our blokes. We may as well try and smack a few. Trying to survive against these 3 spinners on this track is darn near impossible.

Ha ha ha ! Good comeback (I think) I hope you're joking re Scarlett but of course beauty does lie with the beholder It's funny how we view things - I try not to be too biased with anything. As I said, if I were to critique your team I would concentrate on your best 6 - 8 players and largely disregard your worst 3 - 4 players. You 'glossed over' my best players far too quickly and your view was far too biased. Your view shouldn't be in 'opposition' to my view. You have no need to square the ledger. Your view of my team was not fair and balanced (have you been reading too much of Caro?) . You could have written paragraphs on Prior, Smith, Amla, Vettori, Ajmal and Watson but conveniently chose not to. Are you telling me that Zaheer is not a very good bowler? That Bresnan hasn't got very good all round skills? I am by no means saying my team is the best team - that's up to Nasher to decide. But as I said in an earlier post, to concentrate on the last 3 or 4 players picked is wrong in my opinion. It's like the footy argument - do you want depth or do you want stars? Give me 'stars' any day of the week.