2011/12 Australian Summer Of Cricket (*SPOILERS*)

I'm annoyed they didn't play Dan Christian.... It's ok though to keep gifting a hack like P Hughes baggy greens... Geez, I remember when those things were earn't and not given on "potential"... Ask Boof and Mike Hussey how many first class runs they had to score before they got a look in (Jamie Siddons and Martin Love I think played one or two tests between them and scored thousands of first class runs at ridiculous averages )

But if your a hack from NSW who has "potential" they will gift them out, aint that right Phil Hughes and Steve Smith????
 
I can't stand Hughes and he should have been dropped for this Test. Potential is one thing, watching us be 1/not much is even worse. Though one wag at my work said it was nice CA was handicapping the batting order and letting NZ have a chance by still playing Hughes. And think about it, if ABC commentators are roundly criticising a player with open scathing, hostility and laughing when he is out...you know something is wrong.

But this ridiculous notion that NSW are gifted baggy greens is just that. There's two Vic players in the Test team, and some might argue that is two too many. :lol:

NSW is the best state and we produce the best cricketers. Hell, we have to provide THREE teams these days - Test, One Day and 20/20 national teams.

:lol:

Now if that hasn't baited a few people I don't know what will.
 
I can't stand Hughes and he should have been dropped for this Test. Potential is one thing, watching us be 1/not much is even worse. Though one wag at my work said it was nice CA was handicapping the batting order and letting NZ have a chance by still playing Hughes. And think about it, if ABC commentators are roundly criticising a player with open scathing, hostility and laughing when he is out...you know something is wrong.

But this ridiculous notion that NSW are gifted baggy greens is just that. There's two Vic players in the Test team, and some might argue that is two too many. :lol:

NSW is the best state and we produce the best cricketers. Hell, we have to provide THREE teams these days - Test, One Day and 20/20 national teams.

:lol:

Now if that hasn't baited a few people I don't know what will.

Yes, two from Victoria may be argued as two too many :D

Plenty of great players past and present from NSW, just as many hacks get a chance from other states too... Xavier Doherty????

Just a nice little line from someone above the border to a fellow Aussie below the border that was designed to bait as well :p

Actually I'm originally from SA so I am loving watching Lyon bowl... guess that's why I'm biased towards D Christian.... I do feel though that if S. Smith got a cap, why can't D. Christian at least be given a one test shot or at least until Watto comes back.

I have watched a lot of D. Christian and I feel that besides his batting his bowling would have been more than tricky on this deck and it was a perfect surface to take wicket or two for him and mop up after a possible top order collapse to show something. He can bat on pretty much all pitches and in all conditions and dictates terms to the bowler successfully. I would love to see him n Clarke put on a massive partnership one day.

Guess I'm dreaming...

At least we agree on Phil Hughes
 
I see it this way.

You have to bowl 90 overs in day.

So they pick 3 quicks and a spinner. The quicks bowl 18 overs each and the spinner maybe 20. That's 74. So they need to find 16 more overs.

If two batsmen bowl 4 each that leaves 8. If Watto (or another) all-rounder can squeeze out 8 overs, we're laughing.

Of the batsmen in the squad, those who bowl are:
Warner, Watson, Clarke, Hussey.
Ponting could bowl, but probably won't ever again.
Khawaja has bowled, though not much and let's face it, you only need 2-3 of the 6 batsmen to be able to bowl a bit.

Now if you can't bat intelligently and score a bit and also bowl a bit or at least contribute decently with the ball, why are you in the team? Being a gun fielder doesn't cut it for me either.

Shaun Marsh doesn't bowl either and I have the feeling with his back, he's going to be one of these guys who is in and out all the time like Bruce Reid and soon, we will move on from him.

In Hughes case, he's been shifted from the specialist fielding spot by Khawaja, doesn't really score any runs and doesn't bowl.

If I was a coach, I'd be telling all the gun bats to add a feather to their (baggy green) cap by bowling too.

However, if our bowling attack can get to a point where the 3 quicks, spinner and all-rounder can take 20 wickets with minimum fuss, then the emphasis on the batting order will intensify.

Hughes, sadly needs to go. I loved him in 2009 but then they dropped him and his technique changed, and endemic of all pro sport now, what got someone somewhere by being idiosyncratic is then coached out of them, putting the natural instincts, flair and ability of the player in two minds and then they're stuffed. I don't know what the answer is, but there are better bats out there piling on the runs. Sure, take the skill factor in to consideration but surely we can't allow ourselves to be 1/not much against India or we will be murdered. Right now, he is a liability.
 
Mitchell Starc had an iffy day:cool:

Yeah he did, a bit too Mitchell Johnson like is all. I think he could be great for us, but can't see him fitting into the team ahead of Cummins, Siddle and Pattinson. Good luck to the guy though, great to see young blokes giving it a red hot go.
 
Mitchell Starc had an iffy day:cool:

He's been crap for the series.

---------- Post added 09-12-2011 at 08:51 PM ----------

There was a young batsman named Hughes,
what to leave he did struggle to choose.
Now he's in a deep trough, playing well outside off,
and I think that his test spot he'll lose

(limerick from cricinfo)
 
This is the problem with the captain also having a say in team selection - Michael Clarke and Phil Hughes are good mates, and it is only natural that Clarke would want to "look out" for his mate when it comes to selection decisions...he is only human after all.

I have always believed that the Selectors should select and the Captain should captain the team that he is given. This Phil Hughes situation is going to end in tears, either with Clarkey becoming snakey at his press conferences or the media running an anti-Hughes campaign, as they have done with Ricky Ponting.

I am not sure what should be done with Phil Hughes - how can a bloke who made twin centuries in one Test match in South Africa now be regarded as no more than a "walking wicket" for any half-decent bowler?

Maybe, just maybe, he is really a No. 4 batsman?
 
Starc needs to go but Hughes Stays?
Starc has taken Wickets and Scored More Runs than Hughes in the Series.
Philip Hughes is Going to Struggle against Ishant Sharma, enough said.
 
Ishant Sharma is a bad excuse for an opening bowler..Then again Zaheer Khan will be a handful if he's fully fit.

Harris will come in for Starc, Watson for Hughes, and maybe Warner for Marsh. I would like to see the backs of Hussey, Haddin and Ponting, they aren't going to get Australia up there in the test rankings so they may aswell hand over to the next generation..
 
Starc took only two wickets.

Hughes scored four runs.

The numbers don't lie.

Starc should go. And as someone said, he had an iffy day. 2/30 off 11 overs is just bloody terrible. Hughes deserves until 2020/21 season to prove himself.
 
It looks like Harris will struggle to get back in the team especially with all the Injuries. Ishant Sharma has got Ponting and Clarke Out 6 times each or just 6 times in 8 inning or 8 Matches. Not Sure. If Strac gets Dropped then Hughes has to be dropped. In 31 Innings Philip Hughes has got out 25 times Caught and in the last 12 Innings he has had an average of 28, Only 3 Times his got over 28 runs in the 12 innings.
 
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