Discussion Cricket Discussion

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It absolutely baffles me that most of these batsmen who are not quite good enough to nail down a spot either don’t bother to, or can’t, get their bowling up to a decent level.

We have some of the best bowlers in the world and we still expect them to contribute runs.

Labuschagne is again the notable exception, it seems, and good on him for doing so.
Looks like they need people that can catch a ball more than anything right now. Even the one they did take took three attempts.

I know a few of the batsman do occasionally bowl, but I agree, if you are a batsman on the margin of selection, if you can bowl a little bit as well it's got to help your chances.
 
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It absolutely baffles me that most of these batsmen who are not quite good enough to nail down a spot either don’t bother to, or can’t, get their bowling up to a decent level.

We have some of the best bowlers in the world and we still expect them to contribute runs.

Labuschagne is again the notable exception, it seems, and good on him for doing so.
I think you’ll find a lot of them try to bowl at training. I know for a fact that Khawaja is a genuine pest in the nets but the skill levels are obviously not rated enough to see him have a bowl.

It’s hard for the batsmen who get pushed through the system to develop their bowling as they’re generally forced into focusing on their batting exclusively unless they are a genuine all rounder.

You are right though, any skill that can be improved at that level is extremely important as you never know when it might come in handy.
 

Darkie

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Very strange indeed ... so if Paine gets injured, the skipper is ... ?

Third highest average of the Aussies this series, Test average of 43, still only 25 years old:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/en...ing_bowling_by_team.html?id=12492;type=series
Cummins & Head are/were the vice-captains.

Averaging 27.00 this series , surely we are not at the stage of accepting that at Test level ?

Think Head's average is over inflated by the Sri Lanka series though , the other 3 series aren't that great.
 

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I think you’ll find a lot of them try to bowl at training. I know for a fact that Khawaja is a genuine pest in the nets but the skill levels are obviously not rated enough to see him have a bowl.

It’s hard for the batsmen who get pushed through the system to develop their bowling as they’re generally forced into focusing on their batting exclusively unless they are a genuine all rounder.

You are right though, any skill that can be improved at that level is extremely important as you never know when it might come in handy.
I’m not sure which I find more perplexing - that they don’t work on this enough to benefit the team, or that they don’t do it out of self interest! It does make sense more for a new young batsman (presumably still trying to work on their primary skill, as much as anything else), but for those that have long had access to international level coaches, and years of playing alongside elite bowlers, it just seems like a big omission.

Good to hear that Khawaja at least has a decent crack. Renshaw was decent in the Big Bash as well, and I think was pretty keen to bowl (I think he opened the bowling a few times).
 

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Cummins & Head are/were the vice-captains.

Averaging 27.00 this series , surely we are not at the stage of accepting that at Test level ?

Think Head's average is over inflated by the Sri Lanka series though , the other 3 series aren't that great.
You are spot on re SL, I’ve made the same point previously.

I agree that 27 is not good enough, but we can’t drop all the batsman except Smith and Labuschagne. It’s really frustrating as a fan to have such underwhelming options to choose from at times, but ultimately selection is obviously a relative call ... we have to pick XI even if they’re not all up to standard, and we can’t pick more than XI if we have an embarrassment of riches!

One of the things I haven’t figured out yet is whether this fast bowler rotation/horses for courses/whoever’s in form policy is now applicable to the batsman (given we seem to be dropping them pretty freely). In one sense it would seem fair if it was, but (1) batsmen don’t really need the regular rests, and (2) I think the argument for giving batsmen a somewhat longer leash is pretty strong because 1 or 2 bad balls can totally change their match, whereas for a bowler they get a larger sample of opportunities each game.
 
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You are spot on re SL, I’ve made the same point previously.

I agree that 27 is not good enough, but we can’t drop all the batsman except Smith and Labuschagne. It’s really frustrating as a fan to have such underwhelming options to choose from at times, but ultimately selection is obviously a relative call ... we have to pick XI even if they’re not all up to standard, and we can’t pick more than XI if we have an embarrassment of riches!

One of the things I haven’t figured out yet is whether this fast bowler rotation/horses for courses/whoever’s in form policy is now applicable to the batsman (given we seem to be dropping them pretty freely). In one sense it would seem fair if it was, but (1) batsmen don’t really need the regular rests, and (2) I think the argument for giving batsmen a somewhat longer leash is pretty strong because 1 or 2 bad balls can totally change their match, whereas for a bowler they get a larger sample of opportunities each game.
I would have dropped :-

Warner , Harris , Head & Wade

options are Bancroft , Khawaja & Marsh

Langer , Ponting & Waugh are there they would put up a better fight ?

You are right though can't drop them all (unless they are catches) but it is very frustrating when 4 of them haven't looked Test standard this series + Bancroft & Khawaja.

Smith & Labuschagne have papered over our deficiencies , our fast bowlers generally have been good and we have been lucky Anderson has missed and England's batting is worse than ours

Going forward v Pak & NZ it will be interesting what the side is especially if the Shield batsmen fail to deliver like the last few years.

Maybe we should just select 5-6 bowlers like England do.
 

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Hats off to Mitch Marsh for that bowling spell after tea and being honest enough in the after play interview to admit the majority of Australia hate him ?

Make some runs Mitch and I am sure you will be spoken about as FAC Marsh.
 

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surprise surprise Warner fails again (on review)

but he made 5 and Archer got him
They will still pick him for the first test in Australia where he will do a Watson to secure his position ... I guess Harris doesn’t have to do much to hold his spot now?
 
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