Shame Southee has been injured.

Initially seeing Johnson and Starc bowl some erratic balls the question arises about the value of having two types of similar bowler in the same team?

Then they both got wickets on an Oz pitch. One issue is that given Johnson's age, it is unlikely that he will play too much more Test cricket. This partnership may only be short term.

I'm thrilled for Kawaja and Oz cricket. I've thought he is one player who has underachieved but has the talent and skill set. At least he has has a few more years left as opposed to the likes of Rogers and Voges who were selected very late in their careers.

England have played better than we did in the UAE. I just wish Rashid had more control and consistency. He spins the ball nicely and has a sharp spinning googly.

Anderson has bowled some good spells.=d>

We really, really need Burns and Kawaja to succeed. On their home wicket they have. I just hope they can be consistent on other pitches.

Kawaja has a nice array of shots. =d>

home advantage seems to be growing although there are really only three types of conditions

bouncy fast wickets like OZ, SA and the windies
swing friendly wickets like UK NZ and to some degree SA
spin friendly wickets like the sub continent

some very typical aussie batting that session. Large step forward or back compared to what is optimal in a swing friendly wicket. Burns did a good job a couple of times controlling balls that were rising on him (bouncing more than he seemed to anticipate) which is the sort of technique which is ideal of oz wickets.
Warner got some good quick singles early though burns seemed to struggle a bit. One thing is I would like to see Warner rotate the strike after a boundary .
Innings management technique and control have been good on a initially tough wicket. Apart from the pace and bounce the wicket should be easier after lunch

the home ground advantage is just too much in cricket

Not only Australia at home

but when was the last time someone beat India in India?

And another big home ground advantage is Pakistan in the UAE, thats the biggest home ground advantage

At drinks, Oz has not lost a wicket.

Burns survived some decent swinging balls.

Icc world rankings consider home and away results and we are 2nd despite being the start of summer which is the strongest time of the year for results

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-v-new-zealand-black-caps-could-open-up-ashes-scars-20151104-gkqkx5.html


Ryan Harris

This New Zealand series looms as the highlight of the international summer, and the Black Caps have the bowlers who could reopen some Ashes scars for our batsmen.
Sir Richard Hadlee has said Tim Southee and Trent Boult could finish as the best new-ball combination in New Zealand Test history - and I agree with that. It's probably the best attack I have seen for a while, and they are only young.
From watching Boult in their mid-year Test series in England, he is certainly one to watch. He has pace and can swing the ball. Southee can also be a handful. They use the swing really well, especially Southee. That's his bread and butter. Their left-arm, right-arm combination also provides a point of difference.
New Zealand's Trent Boult could prove a handful for Australia's openers.
New Zealand's Trent Boult could prove a handful for Australia's openers. Photo: AP
I hope our batsmen have learnt some lessons from England. I am sure they have been working hard here in our training sessions, playing the ball closer to their body.
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What I am unsure about is how the Caps' third quick will go. There is pressure on Doug Bracewell to back up Southee and Boult, particularly if they do well early. But Bracewell played a key role in the win in Hobart four years ago and will take confidence from this.
Our boys are going to have to be on their game to make sure they can get through the new ball, especially in the hot, humid conditions we can expect. The ball will swing and nip around a bit. To that end, come the opening morning of the game, if it's cloudy, I am almost certain each team will seriously consider bowling first.
It is a big decision to make but the prospect of having a swinging ball in cloudy conditions in that first hour will be tempting. The ball can almost swing too much at times. For the batting team, it's hard to play your strokes, and you can quickly find yourself in trouble before lunch. I wouldn't be surprised that if Steve Smith wins the toss, he bowls.
What Smith will want is greater consistency from Mitch Johnson and Mitch Starc after a frustrating Ashes campaign.
They just weren't consistent and didn't bowl in partnerships. They can do that better here and their pace - having two blokes who can bowl 150km/h - is going to be hard work for the Caps.
Josh Hazlewood is also not far off that speed. He probably got a bit tired towards the back end of the England tour and needed a break. All they have to do is bowl as a partnership. Starc has started off the season in a dominant manner - he just has to make sure he takes that form into the red-ball arena.
Johnson is one of the fittest boys in the team - his body is immaculate. He is strong and looks after himself very well. While he is 34, he could play until he is 40 but whether he wants to is another question. If I can go to 35, I am sure he can go further than that. In saying that, he has played a lot more cricket than I did. It was documented that he contemplated retirement after the Ashes but I know how much he loves Test cricket. He will go as long as his body will let him.
It's an exciting time with a new-look side but I wouldn't say I am nervous. I am just interested to see how the guys approach the Test, especially the Queenslanders, who have wanted so much to break into the team. Are they going to try and just ease their way through it, or are they really going to grab it and attack it and go out and play the game they can play?
I hope they can do that - that's how they got a game for Queensland. It's good to see the talent coming through. Cameron Bancroft was unlucky to miss out but Joe Burns thoroughly deserved to get in. To have those dilemmas, where you think a couple of other players should have been selected, means there is depth. I have spoken to chief selector Rod Marsh and he says he wants it to be hard to pick a team - and that's how it should be for the national team. They are going up against a good attack so the challenge is there before them.
I have no doubt Smith will handle the pressure of the captaincy - as he did last summer when filling in for Michael Clarke.
He is probably a bit quieter than Michael. In saying that, Michael wasn't always barking orders. Steve is a different character. He has a pretty dry sense of humour but he isn't the type to come out and bark orders and speak all the time. We saw last summer that the extra pressure only made him get better.
Now he has got the job full-time, he is obviously going to love it. I don't think too much will change. The way you see him conduct himself or talk to the guys, he is down-to-earth and level-headed.
His cricket brain is quite amazing, to be honest. Over the last few years, he would talk to Brad Haddin or Michael, just sitting in his room, talking cricket and learning the game.
He also has David Warner to help him. He is not the sort of bloke that will try it all by himself. He will definitely take help from Adam Voges as well. He is the sort of bloke to listen.
There's been a bit of talk about the quieter manner of New Zealand's on-field play, and Australia's typically aggressive approach. That's just the way we play. People can take it or leave it.
If people don't like, don't watch. But I am not taking much out of the spat between David Warner and Brendon McCullum - that's a little bit of banter. McCullum is a really good guy.
If New Zealand have this thing about how they are playing good cricket, nice cricket, that's fine - they can play that well. But that's not how we play, although I wouldn't think that you'll see too much fireworks. The boys have to worry about playing cricket.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-v-new-zealand-black-caps-could-open-up-ashes-scars-20151104-gkqkx5.html#ixzz3qWU7EHSe
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Edited by Decentric: 4/11/2015 10:54:41 PM

I feel sorry for Siddle missing out again for the First Test tomorrow.:(

Man of the match in his last Test in England.=d>

Dropped.:roll:




Edited by Decentric: 4/11/2015 10:46:06 PM

I think Australia are weaker in world cricket than we think. Australia may be okay playing on home pitches that offer advantage, but overseas England are far more competitive against Pakistan ATM than we were in the UAE.

The Kiwis also drew 1-1 in England a few months ago, whereas we lost 2-3.

Pakistan won the first pretty resoundingly after England went close to saving the First Test with a draw. The Second Test is fairly even with Pakistan 270 runs in front, with 2 wickets in hand.

I'd certainly like to see Aussie wickets like the ones in the UAE that encourage enough spin to have them bowling from both ends.

The main hope for Australia is that Mitch Johnson bowls like he did in a few overs against Tassie in the recent Shield game in Hobart. He bowled the most ferocious spell of bowling I've seen at Bellerive in 30 odd years of watching cricket in this state.=d>

I've seen Brett Lee, Mohammed Zahid, Alan Donald, Waqar Younis, and Patrick Patterson all bowl very fast, but Mitch got more out of the pitch which was quite dead.

managed to keep this thread=d>

That is astonishing too.

It must have been rare that any player has been on the pitch for 100% of any game.

Amazing!

The trouble is for him is maintaining this standard. I've seen so many players enter the Shield with a bang, then fade within a few years.

A debutant being on the field for every second has to be a record.

Travis Dean scored a hundred in both innings of his debut shield game yesterday. Less than ten have done it, Arthur Morris was one of them. =d>

WA beats Tassie by 166 odd runs.

WA completely outclassed Tassie.=d>

Klinger batted inperiosily making 207 and 50 odd not out in the second innings. =d>

Quickflick, Jake Doran looks good, although failing. A few former Shield cricketers are quite taken with his technique.

Mitch Johnson seems to have recovered to bowl the most ferocious over I've ever seen at Bellerive, other than Patrick Patterson for the Windies. George Bailey was 70 odd not out after a 60 odd first innings. Mitch bowled a ferocious over with two searing bouncers that went into the Whiteman's gloves with a big smack one could hear for outside the ground! He got George out in that over.

Johnson often bowled 2 and 3 over spells.

Mitch Marsh bowled well and slogged well in the second innings.

WA did well to recover from 3-31 in the first innings and circa 4-50 in the second. The WA attack looked good, apart from Agar, who doesn't spin the ball enough, like Tassie's Doherty.

Shaun Marsh failed in both innngs. ](*,)

Faulkner batted for a long time to make 31 in a big partnership with Bailey in the second dig.




Edited by Decentric: 1/11/2015 02:17:41 PM

Doran played against some Mitch overs. However, Mitch was injured. Doran looked okay in handling him.

I find it hard to gauge a speed gun from the naked eye. Batters were jumping in the air as they played Mitch, whereas no other bowler on either side had this effect.

In terms of pace, the left armer from Pakistan, Wahab? was bowling at 140 -147 against England the other night in the UAE.

Bit of a shame that Doran wasn't here a few season ago to test himself against extreme pace in the nets. Tasmanians Gerard Denton (regularly), Brett Geeves (regularly) and Hilfenhaus (occasionally) could all bowl at 145kph plus.

When on song, Johnson is one of the most lethal bowlers to play cricket in history. Another Tassie Shield squad member told me that Johnson and Hilfenhaus can bench press massive weights compared to most cricketers. They are freakishly strong.

Mitch gets spiteful bounce from the pitch at times. Ed Cowan said to an audience Mitch is shocking to face because with his slingy action, one picks up his ball later than other bowlers.

Just a short time ago, the former Shield captain , was waxing lyrical about Doran's technique. Like Faulklner he was looking good with time to play his shots . He sees the ball early.

Another former Shield player and the Shield captain could tell from a more side on angle where we were sitting whether bowlers were bowling inswingers or outswingers by the way the batter played the shot . I can only tell if I'm right behind the bowler's arm at one end of the members' pavilion.

Doran got out trying to pull a ball that didn't lift as much as he though it would and was LBW or bowled.

Alex Doolan also looked fabulous in a well compiled 12 or so, until he was bowled by the impressive Mackin.

Doran looks to have good footwork.=d> Even I can identify that. Doran's feet moved quickly from the moment he arrived at the crease.



The first class cricketers also said Usman Kawaja plays with his bat too far in front of him when he plays his shots.

They also contend Shaun Marsh plays too square and is susceptible to balls going away from him. With a first class average of 38 he is hardly Test material given he needs to play more side on.

Bizarrely, WA's let arm quick Behrendorf looked very slow after the injured Johnson. He conceded 11 from his first over. Then I think he bowled 11 odd overs for only 16 or 18 runs. The cricket experts identified he was bowling late outswing from the batter's shots played.

The Shield captain also considered that Shane Watson had technical problems identified by all as needing fixing, with his plonking, heavy front foot, but only Shane thought he didn't need to change anything. Hence, he scored few centuries over a career lucky to go on as long as it did.

The Tasmanian batters struggled to rotate the strike with singles until Paine and Bailey got together.

Unfortunately, Mitch looks cactus for the Tests with hamstring issues.:cry: Great to see him talking to young cricketers over the fence. He is a hero in Tassie.

Edited by Decentric: 29/10/2015 11:27:25 PM

Great stuff, Decentric.

Keep us posted. As you're based in Tassie and you try to get along to the Shield games from time to time, please keep a look out for Jake Doran. I realise he has just made his Shield debut in this match.

Unfortunately, there's precious little footage of the Shield on either the TV or the internet which really does annoy me. It's hard to know how good players are, in more detail, until they make it to the Test arena, if you haven't seen them play in Shield cricket.

He's touted as the next big thing. A bit like the DDS of Australian cricket. And his headset seems to be in the right place. In an interview he almost went so far as to suggest he'd like to play County cricket as soon as possible.

I did see him bat in the Matador Cup against WA (I think it was). Anyway, he was facing Mitchell Johnson and he really struggled. He barely saw the ball at times. When Mitch bowled it short, Doran couldn't cope. He didn't it properly. He didn't move his feet and get out of the way, let alone get in a position to play a shot. He just fended at it blindly. Which is the worst thing you can do. I'm concerned he may have a weakness against express pace and against the short delivery. If that's the case and he doesn't fix it, he won't have much of a Test career. Having said that, maybe it was just that he's not used to facing the speed of grown men like Johnson, having played only U19s previously. So hopefully he learns how to face that kind of pace and can get out of the way and play a range of strokes against it.

Let us know if you get to see Doran bat.

Some in this thread have pushed for for James Faulkner as Test all rounder rather than Marsh, who they claim is a slogger.

A former Tassie Shield captain, who is also a member just told me over a beer at the Shield game that wha he likes about Faulkner is he has a lot of time to play his shots compared to most players in Australia. He demonstrated this trait in some excellent defensive work for well compiled 1, until an injudicious hook shot.](*,)

Faulkner had previously looked comfortable against Mitch Marsh's bowling.

Just arrived home from the WA/Tassie Shield game. WA are right on top. They succumbed on a lively pitch, being 3-31 when batting first. Test aspirants both Marshes and Bancroft failed.

Klinger made big century and sharing a big partnership with current Test vice-captain, Voges. WA made an excellent recovery, basically looking untroubled facing an attack of former and current Test players Bird, Fekete, Faulkner and Doherty on a wicket flattening out.

WA made 436. Tassie's bowlers shared the wickets with Jackson Bird taking 3.

A few minutes ago Tassie was 5 -102 at stumps, with Test aspirant James Faulfner looking excellent for a well compiled 1, until he got a rush of blood and played an awful hook he did not need to.:lol:

Former Test player Bailey, along with former Test keeper Paine, are still in.

Have to say this is my second day/night Shield game and it is terrific. The pink ball looks orange under lights.

Must admit, I've been able to get inside out of a cool breeze and drink some quality beer in the members' bar. :)

The atmosphere is better outside though. I'm surprised with so many teenagers playing club and school cricket , they didn't turn up en masse to a game at night and meet up with mates to have a look at so many current and former international players from both teams. Spectator numbers are up, but not by much from day Shield games.

Australia's trip to Bangladesh is currently in abeyance.

There are supposedly security issues.

Good luck! :d

X2

I've thought that bowlers like Cummins, Pattinson, Starc, all very fast, are the answer.

After seeing bowlers with less pace, more accuracy and clever use of swing and seam perform well in England, I'm not sure they are the answer overseas.

I think I've seen other players play better, even the Queensland all rounder ( whose name currently escapes me) who plays for South Australia as an all rounder.

I'd love to see Faulkner in the Test team though.

In the last few seasons he has not often had to make runs quickly in Shield cricket. I've been to most games. I think I've often seen him coming in on a good pitch, wen he should get on top and he hasn't. A times I've seen him bat possibly better than anyone else, but not consistently enough. Even if I don't have the technical knowledge, sometimes different batters look better on different days relative to others.

Then again, I've seen Siddle look innocuous at Bellerive for Victoria.

If Faulkner played at his best more consistently , given his decent bowling, he would be a useful Test all rounder. Apparently, he has a tenacity unmatched by almost anyone else in the Test team too.

Interesting to hear your thoughts about Marsh, Quickflick.

No argument against it from me! I don't think he should be allowed anywhere near pyjama cricket. But the idiots who run the show see marketing potential and all this other crap.

I reckon he should just try to play as many Shield games as possible and to play County cricket in the Australian winter.

That'll never happen, though.

The point would be well and good if Marsh was a terrific batsman. But he's not. He's a flat track bully. No footwork whatsoever, just a strapping lad who tonks the ball. He looked mediocre with the bat in the Ashes.

I'll also point out that Marsh hasn't scored that many f/c centuries. He has one (maybe two?) Shield centuries. It's not enough to count for much. The others have been against second string sides for Div 2 county sides on featherbeds. Fairly meaningless. He's neither statistically nor technically good enough to be in the Test side as a batsman.

I'm not suggesting Faulkner is the next Jacques Kallis.

Also, what makes you think the all-rounder needs to dominate? The all-rounder doesn't need to dominate. Attempting to dominate seems to be pervasive in Australian cricket at the minute. Look where it has gotten us? We just got beaten in the Ashes by a very mediocre English side.

Look at Hazlewood, Johnson, Clarke, Mitchell Marsh, etc. They all attempted to dominate and got repeatedly found out. Even Smith, when he attempted to dominate, look appalling.

Contrast that with Rogers, Root, etc. They were measured. They did punish the poor deliveries, but they didn't go to the wicket with the attitude of dominating the bowling. Those batsmen had real success.

In fact, the best example is Warner. When he went out there with ideas of getting on top of the bowlers, he went cheaply. When he went there and tried to stick around, he batted very well. Look at his first innings scores (attempt to dominate) versus second innings scores (measured response).

I'll take this opportunity to acknowledge that others will point out that successful Australian sides built that success on the back of domination. True. Just as successful (and possibly better) West Indies sides did the exact same. But the difference is that those sides didn't just talk the talk, they could walk the walk. They dominated because they were good enough to dominate. They had all the basics sorted. They were sides full of technically and temperamentally brilliant players who were well and truly in their stride, so they could dominate. There were no weak links.

I mean when you have a bowling attack of Warne, McGrath, Lee and Gillespie and batsmen such as Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn, the Waugh brothers, Gilchrist, etc. You can dominate.

Never mind a bowling attack of Marshall, Holding, Garner, Walsh, Ambrose or batsmen like Richards, Greenidge, Lloyd and Richardson.

Those sides are full to the brim of brilliance, enough of the players have outstanding technique and the couple who don't (like Gilchrist) have je ne sais quoi. Contrast that with the current Australian side. Half the batsmen have rubbish technique, no footwork and strike the ball early. None of them have done much at all. They don't have the ability to dominate.

Faulkner has batted well and truly down the order for Tassie. He has had to sacrifice his wicket on occasion, in the search for quick runs. He has a first class century for Lancashire (albeit in Div 2). He is more than capable of scoring more runs if he bats a bit higher up. Also, he can adjust his game. He has cricket smarts. He can stick around at the wicket or score quickly (which is a hallmark of some of the best players). Additionally, Faulkner was an integral part of a Lancashire side that just won promotion to Div 1 of the County Championship. They rave about him there. It would be a fantastic thing if Faulkner went back and played for Lancashire next season. But no doubt idiocy will prevail and commitment to international pyjama cricket will render such a move unfeasible.

If we want to win the next Ashes (and in the subcontinent), the smartest thing we can do is to give Faulkner every opportunity to play in the Test side and also to encourage him (and others) to play County cricket as much as possible.

Edited by quickflick: 24/9/2015 10:15:03 PM

From watching Faulkner bat a lot in First Class cricket, on decent wickets at Bellerive, I don't think he looks dominant enough as a prospective Test batter as an all rounder. Other members point out he still has not scored a century in First Class cricket in Australia.

They also point out that Marsh has scored First Class centuries that Faulkner hasn't - yet.

Usually, I'd expect Test players to be more dominant at Shield level than Faulkner has to date. Unfortunately, with all the limited overs cricket Faulkner has played in the last few years, he hasn't played enough First Class cricket.



Edited by Decentric: 25/9/2015 12:22:30 AM

Pat Cummins is out for the Test series against Bangladesh. Stress fractures in the back.

What the fuck is wrong with them (Cummins, the medicos, those involved in his training and action, etc.)?

In days gone by, players didn't break down as much as Cummins.

No more T20 cricket for Cummins and precious little gym work are in order. Running, etc. would be far more use.

If Cummins can be fit for the series that actually matter, then this may be a blessing in disguise. James Faulkner is his replacement. I reckon Faulkner is a better all-rounder than Mitch Marsh. Faulkner is almost certainly a better bowler, probably a better batsman (Marsh just stands and delivers) and has the best mentality out of anybody in the Australian cricket team. He believes he can win no matter the circumstances. The bloke's just a winner and can change a match in a session. Although, to be fair, I'm also a fan of Mitch Marsh's attitude. I just reckon Faulkner is unsurpassed. So good to see him back in the squad.