tim paine is a bit inconsistent imo, i can never be sure if he's gonna get a big score or get out cheaply

+1. Pick Paine and Haddin + forget about Hughes as an option. There is more than enough attacking options there and Paine can hold an end quite well.

As for Hilfenhaus v Bollinger.

Bollinger has 11 tests 49 wickets at an average of 23.79.

Hilfenhaus has 12 tests, 46 wickets at an average of 30.15.

I know who I'd pick.

Fair call. I just think Hughes' overly agressive style is too volatile for the top order of an international test side. He is bloody brilliant to watch though

then you turn to hilfy v siddle

hilfy, 12 tests, 46 wickets, average of 30.15

siddle, 17 tests, 60 wickets, average of 31.53

:-k

See that one's a lot closer, because both do tend to leak a lot of runs.

I don't think you can not pick Bollinger, he picks himself really.

8-[ but Hilfenhaus shifted the momentum in the last half an hour to Australia with his spell of bowling... you pick Johnson, even though he's very erratic but he gets wickets in Australia, quite often the batsmen get out to a bad ball of his


Agreed with Siddle, he can bowl all day and hold down one end very well, but when you need to shift the game and give some variation with the bowling Ponting often goes to Hilfenhaus, he offers something that no other bowler in Australia offers, Bollinger does a similar job to Siddle, but Siddle is only just back from injury and i think it's far to early to have in the XI for Brisbane tbh, he'd of only played a couple of state games after being out for 9 months or so


bat him at 6 in replacement of Hussey or Clarke, fuck i hate Clarke with a passion, you can't have a person like as captain... played well in the last Ashes series but ehh, just so hatable, an Australian captain should not be doing fashion shoots

I'd play all 4 of them. Bollinger, Siddle, Johnson, Hilfnhaus. There is no spinner in Aus good enough to be in the best 4 bowlers in the country, simple as that.

the only bowler sure of a place is johnson really imo

it's very hard to call out of hilfy, bollinger and siddle

then you've got steve smith and hauritz fighting it out for the spinners spot

bring back the old days of fat, ugly, pie-eating cricketers i say :p

nah the reason why you go with Hughes is because then your middle order is helped heaps more with Katich coming in first drop followed by Pointing, it seems of late that Australia's middle order collapses quickly, we need to harden that up abit, Paine would only be batting 6th-7th to bat with the tail, and i'm not completely convinced by Haddin in the middle order, it's an option but i'd go with Hughes to give the team a greater balance... they'd bat alot deeper too if we have Smith followed by Johnson too

I'd play a spinner at the SCG and that's it. It's not like when we had Warne and he could spin it on anything. Hauritz isn't good enough and neither is Smith yet.

maybe, australia has plenty of handy part time spinners anyway

This. Play a spinner on a spinning track, otherwise, play to your strengths.

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
M.Hussey (Only just, he's in atrocious form as well, would almost drop him)
D.Hussey
Paine
Johnson
Hilf
Siddle
Bolly

Dussey is quite a decent spinner and could fill the role with Katich and Clarke. That's what I'd play.

no i'm not saying that... i'm talking mental degregation, Steve Waugh working away at them, fuck i love SRW

your right in regards about our spin bowling stocks, but we've got Watson who can roll the arm over, if we pull a spinner we've only got Katich and North (Clarke can't bowl long overs with his previous injury problems)... having a spinner even an average one can prove valuable, remember the 5th test in the last Ashes series @ the oval

See Above doc.

Also, for thos suggesting bringing in Hughes, and dropping Katich to 3, the last thing you want to do, is break up a succesful partnership opening. It's the strongest point of the team IMO, and they need to stay together. Hughes was useless last time he was in the team, and hasn't done anything to show he should be called up.

Anyone else thing Usman Khawaja is getting close to a call up after another double ton for NSW.

He'd be in the next test if North hadn't tonned up. Looking at Mike Hussey's stats, he should really be on death row too. Has averaged 35 since 2008.

The problem with Hussey is he'll go on like shit and then save a match for us with an epic innings and all is forgotten:lol:

Agreed.

I remember in the Sydney test earlier this year, Hughes got caught in the slips after playing a horrible cover smash after about 4 or 5 overs. Front foot came straight down the wicket, the ball was a good metre outside Off Stump, looked like he was just trying to hit the ball as hard as he could.

You don't want your opening test batsman throwing his wicket away like that in the ashes.

How about Nic Maddinson.
Plays for the local grade club and on debut hits a ton for NSW.
good on him

tbh i wouldn't want to have a part timer in there if the game is on the line while the Poms have got Swann and Panesaar as options, I'd want one specialist spinner


was in the test squad when we played Pakistan so he's obviously getting closer and closer, Hussey and North seem to just buy themselves time, but would you want either of them when the game is really on the line, maybe Hussey? definitely not North every time the middle order has crumbled he's been one of the one's to go cheaply

Panesar is useless. And if the game is on the line, I'd want my 4 best bowlers bowling. And no, that doesn't include Dussey, or any of th part timers, but nor does it include any other spinner.

Here's hoping Panesar plays, man he is good to watch. I'm not talking about his bowling either :lol:

This past series with india was boring. australia are not up to their standard.

all this alk of pup to take over should stop now. ponting is the skipper and he should the one in charge. so far, you wouldnt think rick is there.

At least you guys have options outside the actual squad. The rift between the New Zealand side and our domestic scene is horrendous. Nobody in the domestic here can consistently sling it down over 135, and as a result our batsmen just aren't good enough to hold up against 145+ openers in the international stuff (see Peter Ingram).

Dan Vettori plays for my region (Northern Districts). He opens the batting in all forms for ND. Tim Southee regularly nabs 5-wicket bags for ND. Jamie How (if you remember him) scores 50's more often than not for Central Districts.

God knows how we compete as we do on the international stage. If domestic cricket was a perfect barometer for international fortunes then it's quite appropriate that we're getting the beatdown from Bangladesh, and it's surprising its taken this long.

Rant over :)

Edited by thewestisland: 13/10/2010 11:50:47 PM

Being robbed in the first test by a bent Kiwi didn't help:lol:

:lol: mind you the 9th wicket was pretty dodgey... but hardly boring cricket, beating Zimbabwae or the West Indies by an innings is boring cricket, this has been thouroughly tense and top cricket, Australia on the last day could have won both test matches, if you've got a game going down to the final 2 sessions it's hardly boring

This. Boring cricket was what happened when Australia played from 2000-2005. Watching them thrash someone over 3 days was hideous to watch.

the 04 home series against India during that era was pretty good (2001 series incredible, isn't it funny that Australia seems to lose the really incredible series') and the occasional test match against South Africa