Of course they should be prioritizing the Shield. Then send A teams to the Northern Hemisphere in our off season. Or would that not work?

Namely Nick Winter. CA is going to let a big opportunity go begging by not getting to see this bloke firsthand in Pom conditions. Chadd Sayers is another.

Won't work.

That is having cake and eating it too.

If you want England to pull its best players out of county cricket for you guys, play on test venues and during typical season times - then England will expect you to reciprocate.

Our Southern Stars walloped your Silver Ferns today Paddles. 

Exactly! You get it!

I wish I cared, but I don't.

I follow Serena in tennis, though. :-)

(Silver Ferns is Netball, White Ferns is cricket... not that is matters to me all that much :P).

England's A boys are not their best players. But I see your point. CA needs to bridge that gap between Shield..which remains strong.. and international cricket. There are far too many good cricketers being cast aside because of it. Cricket is our national sport.. it is our largest participation sport (or is that soccer).. yet there are a mere 25 places available in our national cricket squad.

England A's boys are certainly their best A team. I assure you. They had Curran, Woakes, Cook, Malan all play in the A team last year!!! England is not playing silly buggers with the Lions. They take it very seriously.

It isn't just about closing the gap between domestic and international, it gets them ready for touring. It gets them ready for foreign conditions. It lets the dropped former intl player a chance to say "actually I am still the best alternative - give me a go again".  It gives test specialists like India's Vijay, Rahane, England's Cook and NZ's Raval a chance to warm up before the internationals when they have not been playing limited overs. 

NZ didn't even a name a full intl squad for any format for the current UAE tour - they just named the definites and said 6 more to come from A squad over there. Seriously. They put test players Raval, Wagner, Watling, Astle in the games, and debut'd the biggest hope NZC has had since KW and MD Crowe (and he succeeded!!!! Then got a pro contract with his local pro FC team - this was not a case of NZC playing silly buggers with A format - but politics between this particular franchise and NZC over squad selection - this kid should have been playing FC last year!!).

http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/959767.html



But the real beauty of this tour is right now - Will Young is identified as the next best batsman not in the test team. He needs to maintain this form against India A.

A tours simultaneous with intl tours are HUGE advantage for the touring team. They know who's hot and who's not.

T20 Tour Match. Allan Border Field. OZ is obviously made up from non Shield players. Would have liked to see some young blokes picked. Such as Param Uppal, Mac Wright or Will Sutherland.  Ben Cutting in Aussie colors once more is pleasing/.

CAX1: Kelvin Smith, Max Bryant, Ben McDermott (c), Alex Ross, Lachlan Pfeffer (wk), Chris Green, Ben Cutting, Gurinder Sandhu, Andrew Tye, Jason Behrendorff, Fawad Ahmed, Matthew Kuhnemann

SA: Quinton de Kock (c/wk), Aiden Markram, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius,Farhaan Behardien, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi,Imran Tahir, Andile Phehlukwayo, Chris Morris,Tabraiz Shamsi

The bowling's not entirely outrageously bad. But McDermott could have done with a batting partner. Just one of them would have been nice.

This is why tour games are next to pointless KW and why touring sides have lost all interest in them and England India have gone the A tour way. Hosts playing silly buggers and prioritizing domestic instead of international. Not having a dig at CA - it is a wider international problem. Which is rather myopic, because internationals pays the bills for domestic.

What's more valuable, Lehmann getting a crack against Rabada and Ngidi and realising he is either good enough or not good enough, or 3 points for South Australia in the Shield? Which helps Australia beat South Africa in the future? Which helps Australia form their WC team and wider squad?

Sandhu seems to make all these teams. He's like a CA and PM XI pro.

Further, I do not think SA batting has ever been this weak in the last 50 years. They're seriously running out of batsmen. 

Cutting  and Behrendorff underbowled and Tye overbowled. His 0-55 smacks of his belting in a T20 WC few years ago.

 I agree about these tour games. Superfluous if you dont have top quality players taking part. A couple of these CAX1 blokes I have not even heard of.

Lol.

Tye's bad form continues...

The knuckleball ain't kuckling no more?

McDermott needs a century here or its all over.

Waste of time for Safrica this match.

Ben Cutting for a 150 perhaps?

This is what killed tour games.

It has nothing to do with limited overs or t20. Or money, or the rest of the popular illogical excuses.

It was selection prioritization. It got it ass about face.

No international cricketer respects this crap.

He has run himself out yet again. Dont reckon it is all over. May as well say all ou r current limited overs players need a century. None of them standing out.

Avatar bet - if Safrica win - your avatar is Sir Richard Hadlee until Jan 1. If CA XI win - I will wear Don Bradman or DK Lillee - your choice ;-)

You have until the 13th over to accept before it expires.

I'll offer an extension until the end of the 15th over :P

heck make it 16 :P

I'll give you until the 20th over :P

Yeh.. sure you reckon I would change The Don for Hadlee.

I'd love you too. His 300th with Captain Grumpy Border in the background would be great :)

(I love Border by the way - as a cricketer, an analyst and commentator, and as a human being ((refused to accept a payment for Hadlee's benefit series - mad respect - imagine today's cricketer's turning down a payday???!!? Hadlee wouldn't in 1985/86  - let alone today :P))



https://teara.govt.nz/files/38313-nzh.jpg

It looks better in colour if you can find it.  And a more direct angle without the slip would be great.

Paddles lets revisit this idea next time OZ plays NZ.

Haha. By that time Hadlee's victories in Australia maybe no longer be something India never achieved and will have lost all gloss :P

Long summer. I'm telling you :P

Even if NZ lose in Aus next summer - NZC will keep India at bay at home again with swing ;-)

You may be old enough to remember swing, it is what Terry Alderman and Bruce Reid caused the ball to do... :P McDermott even had an outswinger. Remember those days? :P

If you want to see modern exponents of swing look to Pattinson, Shami, Kumar and Sharma. Bumrah has an inswinger.

If you want to see flat track road bullies see Smith, Kohli, Sharma,  Warner, Rahane, Pujara, Shaw... See the problem yet? :P

Very long summer. If Aus wins (heck even draws is a success right now), NZC still has something over BCCI...

NZC has outswung England 3 series in a row despite Jimmy, India is unable to outswing England, but can they outroad Aus with no Warner and Smith? This is the key question. Because if Aus pitches go green this year for the first time in decades, the team that competed more closely in England and Safrica with a swing attack that cans wing the ball this year will win with a fit Kohli. ;-) I have very little doubt.

Pray for for roads. NZ v Aus is a world away right now.   ;-)

This is a long summer for CA. Survival is a success. 

The variables are the pitches, and Kohli getting selection right (he get's this wrong a lot even in England and SA this year so there's a chance).

And SA is not a contender at next year's WC - that is Aus commentator dreams unless ABdV unretires himself before then.

I have had a rethink over my team for First Test. 
Finch/Doolan
Harris
Khawaja
Doolan/Finch
S Marsh
M Marsh
Paine
Starc
Cummins
Lyon
Hazlewood

Tremain, Cooper, Wildermuth, Agar

Riley Meredith could be a bowler for the future.

I think soccer is the largest participation sport in Australia.

This is going around the internet right now. Thought a few of you may like it.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/rankings/mens/player-rankings/test/all-rounder

These are the current test allrounder rankings:
1 Shakib (no surprises)
2 Jadeja (no suprisies)
3 Holder (no surprises)
4 Philander (no surprises)
5 Ashwin (no surprises)
6 Stokes (no surprises)
7 Ali (no surprises)
8 Mitch Starc
9 Woakes (no surprises)
10 Pat Cummins
21 Trent Boult (had to throw this in there as he bats #11)
26 Nath Lyon
28 Josh Hazelwood
32 Mitch Marsh

:D

Woah woah woah, what is he good for?