Australia only has itself to blame as a whole RE: side-lining Sheffield Shield cricket for the likes of horseshit like the T20 Big Bash.

-PB

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/the-ashes/ashes-2015-who-are-the-contenders-to-break-into-australias-batting-order-20150805-giskqy.html

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Ashes 2015: who are the contenders to break into Australia's batting order?
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August 6, 2015 - 3:57PM
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Jesse Hogan
Jesse Hogan
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When it comes to batting candidates for Australia – seen as an urgent issue after the collapses in the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston and now the embarrassing 60 all out at Trent Bridge - there is no-one smashing the door down, but many who warrant careful consideration.

NEXT IN LINE

The candidates can be split into four groups: the ready-made replacements, the young grafters, the young neutrals and the young dashers. Who selectors choose depends on the role that needs to be filled in the team.

READY MADE.

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Michael Klinger

Age: 35. Career Sheffield Shield average: 46.8. Last summer: 58.11

Having just turned 35 does not disqualify him, but it is hardly a great selling point. His career shield average is only exceeded among his peers by Usman Khawaja. Playing in the top order should enable Klinger to comfortably slot into any middle-order role, should one become available. On one hand, the success of Chris Rogers after his belated promotion adds weight the notion Klinger should be considered. On the other, if Michael Clarke departed and was replaced by Klinger, you would be shedding someone with 11 years' international experience for someone with none, who is eight months older. Klinger's best hope for an international debut is probably in limited-overs, especially if players are rested as expected at the end of this series.

Michael Klinger Photo: Getty Images
Ed Cowan

Age: 33. Career first-class average: 40.59 Last summer's SS average: 47.94

Four centuries before Christmas in the Shield last season, fuelled by a deliberately more aggressive approach, demanded attention. While his return to NSW will make him the beneficiary of more attention he will need to start 2015-16 in a similarly strong fashion to be a contender to replace Rogers.

Late bloomer: Ed Cowan is into the coffee business. Photo: Getty Images
Usman Khawaja

Age: 28. Career Sheffield Shield average: 47.6 Last summer: 27.5 (2 matches)

His move from NSW to Queensland has helped him press his claim for a recall, especially in limited-overs. The left-hander did not look out of place at Test level, but an average of 25.13 in 17 innings does not reflect that. Knee and hamstring injuries ruined last season for Khawaja. His selection as Australia A captain for the current tour of India was a boost, although he did not repay the faith with his scores. His career shield average is indicative of his class, but the big knock has been a perceived lack of "intent" or urgency at the crease.

Callum Ferguson

Age: 30. Career Sheffield Shield average: Last season: 52.25

A quiet achiever. It's almost four years since he just missed out on a berth in the 2010-11 Ashes. Four centuries last season has pushed the South Australian's career shield average to the cusp of 40. The right-hander looks the part; if selectors can be confident he can curb his aggression when required, which he could not do in 2010-11, he may prove it.

Alex Doolan

Age: 29. Career first-class average: 34.56 Last summer's SS average: 20.88

Could consider himself unlucky to be dropped for last October's series against Pakistan, and had he displayed even moderate form in the Sheffield Shield on his return he would likely have returned last summer. But his fall was so severe he is now well down the pecking order. The only reason he should not be off it completely is that his good is very, very good.

Moises Henriques

Age: 28. Career first-class average: 32.5 Last summer's SS average: 31.86

An outsider for this category on the strength of his assured debut, a half-century in each innings, in India in early 2013. His shield average of 31.86 last season was disappointing, yet in each of the preceding three it was over 40. With Mitch Marsh's emergence he would likely be more chance to earn selection as a specialist batsman than as an all-rounder.

NSW star Moises Henriques has been suggested as a possible replacement for Shane Watson..
GRAFTERS

Arguably the strongest of the three categories. Rather than "grafter" having a negative connotation it is a reflection that these players have consistently demonstrated a level of restraint many of their peers, even international ones, have not.

Joe Burns

Age: 25. Career Sheffield Shield average: 44.21 Last summer: 52.86

Burns' aggressive batting in his debut Test series last summer was an anomaly. He started his career in the middle-order but has spent his past two seasons opening for Queensland, and experience which will help him, if, as expected, he rates highly in selectors' thoughts for Warner's long-term shield partner.

Missed out on Test tours: Joe Burns. Photo: Getty Images
Cameron Bancroft

Age: 22. Career Sheffield Shield average: 34.51 Last season: 47.15

The Western Australian's average is modest, but at 22 he represents the future. Has unusually high levels of patience for someone so young, he faced 567 deliveries in making 211 against NSW last season. Scoring 150 for Australia A in India has also helped his cause.

Jordan Silk

Age: 23. Career first-class average: 33.67 Last summer's SS average: 27.94

Silk slipped into selectors' minds by averaging 57.83 when he debuted late in 2012-13. His first five innings, in which he faced an average of 177 deliveries including the Shield final, earned rave reviews from his peers. The Tasmanian's bid for a Test berth faltered last season, but he still has credit in the bank.

Jordan Silk was 97 not out after the locals took 46 minutes to seal the deal on the final day of play. Photo: Getty Images
NEUTRALS

Those whose batting approach is balanced between attack and defence.

Peter Handscomb

Age: 25. Career Sheffield Shield average: 35.31 Last season: 53.91

Handscomb's average does not befit his talent. He has long been one of the spin-bowlers, a handy trait for whenever Clarke departs the Test team. Last season he also demonstrated his improvement against fast-bowling. If he were to be elevated it would be savoured in Victoria, given they have not produced a batsman who has held his Test place for a sustained period since Dean Jones.

Marcus Stoinis

Age: 25. Career first class average: 39.20 Last season: 49.06

A bolter in the selection debate. He got a taste of the Shield six-and-a-half years ago in Western Australia, but left for Melbourne club cricket with no guarantees. Conversion from half-centuries to centuries is a problem, he has reached 50 on 12 occasions but 100 only once, yet those who see him bat are likely to be impressed by his combination of textbook technique and immense power. He is officially an all-rounder, but given he is averaging 61.78 with his seamers, it would be a bonus for Australian selectors rather than the reason to pick him.

Marcus Stoinis on his way to making 99. Photo: Getty Images
Kurtis Patterson

Age: 22. Career first-class average: 33.27 Last season's SS average: 28.61

One to watch. The New South Welshman was just 18 when he scored 163 on debut almost four years ago. He has only averaged about 30 since then, but is said to be one of the early pace-setters in NSW training.

DASHERS

If the selectors are willing to take a punt.

Glenn Maxwell

Age: 26. Career first class average: 38.5 Last season's SS average: 24 (from 2 games)

Maxwell's limited-overs duties have curtailed his red-ball availability over the past two seasons, to the extent he has played only four shield matches in that period. While the manner of his limited-overs strokeplay invites scepticism his shield average of 42 indicates a switch to Tests is possible.

Creative at the crease: Glenn Maxwell batting for Yorkshire. Photo: Getty Images
Nic Maddinson

Age: 23 Career first-class average: 38.53 Last season's SS average: 53.66

Has had a taste of limited-overs internationals for Australia. While his talent in unquestioned his temperament against the red ball can be, specifically his ability to curb his enthusiasm for going after the bowlers when conditions and circumstances demand it. Having dropped from an opener to No.4 in recent seasons it was encouraging that he last season averaged above 50 for the first time.

Travis Head

Age: 21, Career Sheffield Shield average: 31.61 Last season: 37.70

Has already played 32 matches and has 16 half-centuries to his name. The negatives are that he is yet to convert a 50-plus score into a century, and that he averages only 31.67. It appeared a big risk for South Australia to appoint him as captain given it could have been a distraction to his Test bid.

Chris Lynn

Age: 25. Career First class average: 45.88 Last season's SS average: 62.71 (in five games)

The Queenslander wouldn't be a safe bet, but offers a huge upside if he succeeds. Big Bash viewers have seen proof of Lynn's ability to dispatch fast-bowling deep into the stands. While inconsistency, and a casual approach, lost him a Shield position for the Bulls, his career record, averaging 44.65, shows his skill. Last season Lynn scored 250 at home to Victoria on the way to averaging 62.71 in the Shield. Selectors could look to an innings from his second season, an unbeaten 142 from 290 deliveries to secure a draw for Queensland after they had been forced to follow on, as encouragement that Lynn possesses fight to go with his flair.

Chris Lynn was unable to better his overnight score.


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Edited by Decentric: 7/8/2015 08:42:38 AM






Edited by Decentric: 8/8/2015 09:40:26 AM

Back injury.

Is the problem not many of our cricketers play county cricket over there anymore? Nobody seemed to be able to handle the conditions of the pitch and swing of the duke ball. Is the IPL destroying our batsmen?
Yes in 20/20 it is exiting but it looks like we no longer have batsmen who can grind out a score by sticking around the crease for a day.
Most wickets came from being squared up not getting in behind the ball. COnditions like this you need to leave leave and leave some more .... be aware of where your stumps are, Get through till tea the ball wont move as much and reward your hard work then and punish the bowlers.

Credit where credit is due Broad bowling magnificent. Used the conditions to his advantage and the aussies played to his style.

Wasn't that awful?


The whole team out before lunch.

According to Geoff Boycott, apart from Rogers, the rest were all dismissed due to bad shots, going too hard at the ball instead of soft hands.

I don't think 20/20 improves batters' defensive shots much.

Probably true.

That's what I mean. Yes when Warner is on he plays exiting and scores quick. But when the going gets tough not many players anymore have that ability or patience to sit at the crease soak up 10 or 20 overs and steady the ship. Tests go for 5 days but some play it like it has to be finished in 2

I think vogues and marsh are bad selections
it takes About 20 tests to get going at test level. If you average in the mid 30s affer 20 tests you have a god chance of getting that averge into the 40s or fifties. You usually end up with the same first class average as test average eventually. So by the time vogues finds his feet he is retiring and shaun marsh will end up with a crap average eventually anyway.
I was surprised they werent more opportunities given to kawaja but its probabky too late now

we need to just select the best of these young batters and persist with them for 20 tedts despite the pain

smith clarke and warner are all a good core and rogers too if he can stay on though. Neville looks good a couple of times im optimistic about him but needs 20 odd tests.

warner Has scored some fine innings when the going was tough we also had plenty of collapses when we had more patientbplayers. The least amount of collapses happened when we had arguably our most aggressive team with haydos ponting and gillchrist

the biggest issue with this is the fact the ABC news 24 reduced itself to reading tweets about the match - as news

journalism is so shithouse nowadays.

Twitter has been used to interconnect with the world. It's amazing that my EAL class actually have to make a minimum of 5 tweets a class and its used and professional development as a teacher. I would not at all be suprised that this would be done in journalism as well.

Can you add to this by explaining batting with soft hands for English pitches as opposed to Aussie ones?

Even in this abysmal series warner who is arguably our most aggressive batter has had a couple of good knocks when things were tough

I personally believe its a myth that soft hands and a different approach is needed in different conditions

our most successful teams have been attack minded on all pitches and been able to blast their way out of trouble.

You could make a similar analogy to football. You could argue that you should be less aggressive on a bumpy pitch and not try and play it out from the back but it is actually better to only make subtle adjustments to your style. Granted you look silly in both sports when you fail but the problem is with the skill level not the style

the Australian psyche is to be aggressive and proactive and it has worked a charm for us in the past. At the moment the problem is the overall level of skill and the mental strength. This would be true regardless of the style we play.

One thing I have noticed the new generation has been poor at is rotating the strike

batting is a team sport. I was taught that if a bowler is going well never let them have six balls at you. We would learn how to rotate the strike through sneaky runs

It is particularly important after an aggressive shot - successful or otherwise - to get off strike so you can have a break in concentration and you don't cross the line into getting too aggressive.

Matthew hayden was brilliant at hitting a boundary and then getting off strike
Hussey was fantastic at getting busy at the crease and getting off strike when pressure was building

of the new generation Watson is probably worse but just about all of them are poor at this.

It doesn't matter what the conditions are if you are facing an aggressive batter that hits you for runs your line and length is likely to wilt under pressure

more importantly if you are constantly facing a new batter it is hard to get into a rhthym

this creates poor bowling
aggression then rotate strike

it doesn't matter how good bowling conditions are if you can create poor bowling by a proactive approach then you are going to succeed

This is (was) Australias way of playing

incidentally soft hards are often used in rotating the strike.

You drop the ball at your feet and run
identify the weak hand of an infielder and knock it to that side and run
you play the ball slowly to an infielder with soft hands and run
even placing your defensive shots to get a quick single say slightly to the right of cover


I'm struggling to think of too many times this generation has used these sort of shots

these shots also draw fielders out of the slips as they frustrate opposite captains

I know little about any changes in our development recently. Can anyone enlighten me?

When I learnt cricket as a young'un the progress was
1. learning to step toward the pitch of the ball, play with your head over the ball and your elbow up. You would use this shot even against the short ball at first and learn to keep the short ball down. You would do a lot of work with a ball in a sock
2. Learning to place your block shots away from your fielder (necessary for quick singles)
3. Learning to use a follow through to turn it into a drive
4. as soon as you could do 1-3 if you were promising you would be playing in the lower mens grade at the age of 12-14 (Michael slater wrote an article a while ago iirc that complained that the practice of playing kids in lower mens grades had stopped in NSW. He feared it would make them mentally soft)
5. Learn to pick up the pitch of the ball and step back or forward depending on the pitch. At this stage you still don't play cross bat shots. You learn the back foot drive and back foot blocks first
6. Learning cross bat shots last. Particularly focus on getting over the ball and rolling the wrist. I would annoy my coach because I hated the cut shot, instead I would pull it through midoff but keep it down. I still don't see the problem with that

Can anyone inform me if things have changed much?

Edited by grazorblade: 7/8/2015 01:48:16 PM

What he said RE: soft hands

Quality post.

I know little about the technical part of cricket, but love listening to those who do.

Don't know.

Very interesting info though.=d>

Should we of played Siddle in this test.?

Yes.

Instead of Hazlewood who has not bowled as accurately as hoped. Siddle used to be able to bowl long spells, drying up runs.

There was a really good article on this in The Guardian or SMH. I should have posted it here when I saw it.

All Oz Batters failed, but I was perplexed at the discarding of both all rounders too.](*,) At the same time saying this, I don't know much about the performance side of cricket.

the schadenfreude on pages like news.com.au is hilarious

grazorblade and Decentric

With all due respect, I personally disagree. I was taught soft hands was of critical importance.

The football equivalent of not having soft hands is having no "give" when trapping the ball, if you get what I mean. It leads to the ball landing a metre in front of you.

You need soft hands whatever wicket you're batting on. The problem is that English conditions expose this technical flaw more than Australian wickets. So it's critical in seaming/swinging conditions. Firstly, it makes it much more likely the edge won't carry. Secondly, and more importantly, it positions you to get the technique right in the first place.

As you said grazorblade, you're taught to play the ball under your nose. Think about this. If you play with soft hands, it's very difficult to play the ball in front of your body. Did you see the side on dismissals of half the Aussie batsmen? They were all playing the ball half a metre in front of their body. Shocking technique. You lose control and you have hard hands. If you have soft hands, it's really difficult to play the ball half a metre in front of your body. It just won't happen. You'll end up playing the ball really close to your body. This is what you want.

So one of the best things about soft hands is it encourages the right type of technique in other areas too, imo.

Contrast the way guys like Root and Cook batted with the way Warner bats generally. Those guys have far more control and are far less likely to edge the ball. Root and Cook have really nice footwork.

You're spot about the need to try to get to the pitch of the ball and play with a high, straight elbow.

Use your feet to get to the pitch of the ball and keep your hands soft and close to your body (so that you're playing the ball under your nose).

That's my two cents (or tuppence, as this is being played in England).

Edited by quickflick: 7/8/2015 07:11:48 PM

grazorblade

wholeheartedly agree about the importance of rotating the strike. Australia aren't doing the little things right.

But the way I see it, unless you're trying to hit the ball out of the ground (which is what the T20 approach sometimes demands), you can use soft hands for almost all shots. Obviously when you block, you can and should use soft hands. It's a bit tougher when you drive (i.e. your hands will gripping the bat a bit harder), but I wager the sweetest timers of the ball do so with soft hands. As for cross bat shots, I think soft hands are ideal again. For the pull shot and cut shots, you need soft, supple hands to control the ball, to roll the wrists (as you correctly identify). If you have hard hands, you're just as likely to top-edge the ball. For the pull shot and the cut shot, you're getting you feet and body into position nice and early and then waiting for the ball to come onto the bat. This needs soft hands.

I think soft hands should be taught for basically all shots as they work for all shots. Joe Root plays an aggressive brand of cricket and he uses soft hand. They oughtn't to have a horses-for-courses approach to shot selection. If a player has soft hands, he'll find it far easier to rotate the strike.

Edited by quickflick: 7/8/2015 07:18:52 PM

Decentric

Sorry, I only just realised I hadn't responded to this, so I've edited it.

My limited understanding is that soft hands means not to have too firm a grip of the bat.

I would have thought that textbook technique would dictate having soft hands regardless of whether you're batting on an English or Australian wicket.

As I say, with soft hands, it's harder to play the ball away from your body (which is bad) and you're more likely to play the ball under your nose (good). It's all the more important than in England, compared to in Australia, because there tends to be more swing and seam.

In Australia, the bounce is true and even and there is little or no swing. Usually there is not swing for long passages of play (unlike in England). A batsman with outstanding hand-eye co-ordination, minimum footwork and not so soft hands can do very well in Australia (although good bowling should challenge technique in Australia). Whereas, in England, because the ball swings and seams (lateral movement) it's harder to get away with this. Soft hands means you can adjust late to late movement and if you do edge the ball, it's less likely to carry.

Textbook technique, from what I gather, entails seeing the ball early and playing it late. So you use your feet to get to the pitch of the ball, to play with a straight bat (at least when the ball is reasonably full), to play through the line of the ball with the body behind it, to play it under the nose as late as possible and with soft hands.

Don't get me wrong, it's possible for a batsman without such soft hands and with minimal footwork to score big runs. But it's harder. When the ball is moving all over the place, technique gets tested. In the right areas, you need good technique.

The other technical thing which might interest you is that the batsmen kept getting squared up. Assuming we're talking about a right-handed batsman, his right shoulder, right hip and right toe would come around such that his whole body was almost facing the bowler.

Coaches would be horrified by this. In addition to playing with hard hand, not moving the feet and flashing hard at the ball, we're talking about really basic problems with technique. You'd be quite right to suggest that the technical level of the Socceroos (in football) is substantially higher than the technical level of batsmanship displayed by the Australians at Trent Bridge.

I can't completely account for it. T20 hasn't helped. But T20 (and the Big Bash) are here to stay because cricket in Australia will die without it. The fact that Australian wickets don't offer nearly as much swing or seam means that the Australian batsmen are used to getting away with murder in Australian conditions. In such cases, you can make big scores with lousy technique. But in English conditions, you get found out.

But there's another thing. For the players' technique to be that bad, I suspect something is amiss mentally. When I played a lot of football, when I wasn't happy or confident, the technical side of my game went to shit. I couldn't trap the ball properly sometimes, I wasn't striking the ball cleanly and I didn't take lots of nice small touches, so I had no 1 vs 1 ability. This wasn't because mentally/emotionally, I wasn't in the right place. I doubt I'm the only person in the world who has been afflicted this way. Whereas when I was confident, I felt on top of the world in terms of my technical abilities. It wouldn't surprise me if the players are mentally/emotionally drained and this is worsening their technique.

Edited by quickflick: 7/8/2015 11:19:58 PM

Edited by quickflick: 7/8/2015 11:26:27 PM

Edited by quickflick: 7/8/2015 11:27:09 PM

Interesting discussion about soft hands
it wasnt something i was taught personally unless you want to take the power out of a shot to sneak a single
for all i know i was taught wrong. Never heard of playing aggressive with soft hands (have heard of not letting your bottom hand dominate and keeping ur head still)

Curious for those who pay attention

in our golden gen did haydos gillchrist langer ponting leihman symonds hussey and the rest of the golden gen play with soft hands even with aggressive strokes?

If I was Cook I'd say fuck it and declare now and try and win by an innings within 2 days.

It's probably a bit difficult to say who played with soft hands because it's the kind of thing you don't really notice. I reckon it's one of those things the good players do that go unnoticed by many and that they make look easy. Whereas it's fairly obvious when a player doesn't have soft hands. The players who have soft hands would surely know, themselves.

I was a bit younger when a lot of those fellas played. So I didn't think that much about technique back then. Plus I didn't play at a high enough standard to think a lot about technique when I was younger.

But from what my uncle (who is quite knowledgeable and coaches) says, and from my limited memory, players like Mark Waugh, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn had soft hands. Steve Waugh probably did too. Ricky Ponting probably had soft hands when he defended and when he played off the back foot. Whereas when he drove he might have had slightly harder hands. Then fellas like Gilchrist and Hayden probably didn't have such soft hands, but still were excellent. Maybe Michael Slater too.

There might be a correlation between soft hands and good footwork. And both those things form textbook technique. If I, and my uncle, are right about those golden generation players, notice that players like Hayden didn't have much footwork and probably did have harder hands. Whereas players like Mark Waugh had beautiful footwork and probably did have soft hands.