Australia's batsman Phillip Hughes, left, plays a shot as South Africa's fielder Jacques Kallis, right, follows play during the third day of the second test match at Kingsmead stadium in Durban, South Africa, Sunday March 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Australia start their seven ODI series today in Vadodra, India, but will sorely miss the in-form NSW batsmen Phil Hughes, Simon Katich and David Warner – the success stories behind NSW Blues recent triumph in Champions League T20 final.
Having farewelled the NSW Blues in Sydney last week for the Champions League T20 earlier this month, I somehow feel paternal pride at their victory, defeating Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) team in the final by 41 runs last night.
In my post for The Roar on 9 October, I ended the story with ‘Go Blues’. And how they went, faster than speeding bullets – thanks to their quickies Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, their razzle-dazzle batsmen Hughes, Warner and Katich and all-rounder Moises Henriques!
Apart from winning the Championship, they played like a team under the astute Katich. He took bold decisions which worked every time. The Blues shone out statistically too:
• After JP Duminy of Cape Cobra (224 runs at 112.00), Warner (207 at 34.50) and Hughes (202 at 40.40) were the only ones to top 200 runs.
• Hughes’s 83 was the third highest individual score after Cape Cobra’s AG Puttick’s 104 not out and Duminy’s 99 not out.
• The only century partnership in the League was recorded by Hughes and Warner, 121 for the first wicket against T&T on 16 October.
• Only DJ Bravo of T&T took more wickets (12) than Henriques (10) but the latter had a better average (11.60) and economy rate (7.03) than Bravo (average 15.83 and economy rate 8.63).
• Among those playing more than one match, Henriques had the best strike rate of 9.9.
• Katich and KA Pollard from T &T took most catches, five each.
• Katich took most catches in a match, three, vs. Victoria in the semi-final in Delhi.
• Brett Lee was the Man of the Match in the Final.
• Lee was adjudged Man of the Championship.
Luckily for Ricky Ponting, Lee is in the squad for the seven one-dayers against India. But is he a certainty in the team which includes Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus who had done so well in the Ashes?
On his current form in India, a fit Lee cannot be ignored. Pity his NSW team mates Michael Clarke, wicket-keeper Brad Haddin and economy specialist Nathan Bracken are out with injuries.
But dare-devil openers Hughes and Warner and the brainy Katich (who can bowl an evil wrong’un) are fit and hungry. But unwanted! So is Stuart Clark.
Who will win the one-day series which starts today and ends on 11 November in Mumbai?
India has the home and spectator advantage but statistically Australia is ahead. Of 37 ODIs between the two strong and aggressive teams, Australia has won 19 matches and lost 14 with four remaining undecided.
Hope the series is as exciting as the one in 2007, minus the chants.
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vinay verma said | October 25th 2009 @ 7:02am | Report comment
Kersi, this seven match series, far from being meaningless,actually poses a conundrum. When the Indian team does well interest is usually high with the spectators and viewers in India…and correspodingly with advertisers. The early exit of India from the World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy deflated the viewers in India.
This current series will “test” the interest of viewers and sponsors alike. In keeping with CA and BCCI’s’ MOU to have more marquee contests this is an oppurtunity for both to see if any gold nuggets can be panned.
I fear unless “sporting” pitches are prepared the games will be meaningless in terms of the cricket. If India wins the spectators and sponsors will fill the administrators’ coffers. If India loses the TV czars will rethink. So there are many intricate permutations here.
In the final analysis it will be the quality of the cricket and the “personality” of star players. The Indian captain Dhoni will be under pressure as never before. There is no Yusuf pathan and Yuvraj is coming back from injury. Ishant sharma has hit a road block and Sreeshanth is consigned to the breakdance floor. Tendulkar and Sehwag hold the key to an Indian victory. I believe Australia are better prepared from their CT triumph and in Lee they have a matchwinner. Ponting is in the Tendulkar master class and this will be an occassion for Mike Hussey to rediscover his mojo. In the end Australia’s fielding could also prove decisive.
Philip Hughes,I would not rush but Katich is wrongly pigeon holed by the selectors. He kills with a thousand cuts and is no slouch when freed from the rigours of Tests. And he would help Ponting with the Captaincy.In fact Katich should be the vice-captain of the Test and ODI’s. You will understand my reluctance to push him as Captain because I do not believe Ponting is as bad as some would have you believe.
Why are they playing at Vadodra and for heaven’s sake why Guwahati..these are politcally motivated venues and only the charitable would call them any more than “backwater” The continued exclusion of Eden Gardens is another indictment of the internecine feuds that characterise the BCCI. No Australian Team has played at India’s home of Cricket since 2001.How can cricket survive when the most passionate fans anywhere in the world are denied the no 1 team? The BCCI could be a power for good if only it stopped playing politics.It is hard when 19 of the 27 State associations are run by politicians or their annointed ones.
Plenty to look forward to,Kersi.
Kersi Meher-Homji said | October 25th 2009 @ 8:21am | Report comment
I must say, Vinay, your comments are more thought-provoking than my article. I miss your columns in The Roar for over a month.
I agree with you on all points except one. Phillip Hughes should be in the Fifty50 and Twenty20 Australian teams. Also he should be given a chance in Tests at home. He did wonderfully well in Tests in South Africa earlier this year. A few aberrations in the Ashes should not go against him. He is no Bradman as some critics raved in March and is certainly not a has-been as the same critics are saying now.
I echo your views on Oh, why no Kolkata?
Spiro Zavos said | October 25th 2009 @ 9:48am | Report comment
The pro-Victorian bias of the selectors is all too evident in the selection of the Australian ODI team. NSW’s splendid victory in the Champions League T20 tournament was achieved with a team that included few players in the Australian T20 and ODI sides.
Simon Katich demonstrated that he is the outstanding captain in Australian cricket. I’ve always warmed to captains who have the shrewdness and the toughness of mind to use spinners in the shorter forms of cricket where the theory is that it is a hitters game. Katich opened with Nathan Hauritz in one match, a trick pulled off years ago by Martin Crowe in a World Cup tournament. He also used Steve Smith, a leg-spinner and hard-hitting batsman, to capture a vital wicket in the final.
Katich should be captaining the Australian T20 and ODI sides, in my view.
Phillip Hughes should be in all three Australian sides.
There is a strong case, too, for Andrew Clarke to be restored to the squad for the shorter forms of cricket. He is also a formidable hitter on his day.
Finally, the failure of the IPL teams to make the final must cast serious doubts about the quality of the sides playing in this tournament. Will the Indian spectators continue to support a tournament that is clearly second-best, if that? And if the magic and hype goes from the IPL tournament, will the money it is generating also begin to dry up?
Hansie said | October 25th 2009 @ 10:46am | Report comment
I totally agree that Katich should be the captain. His use of the batting line up throughout the Champions League was outstanding. There was almost always a left-right batting combination, and the choice of the next batsman in was based on the position of the game.
But overall, this 7-match series holds no interest. T-20 is taking over from one-day cricket.
Freud of Football said | October 25th 2009 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
“The pro-Victorian bias of the selectors is all too evident in the selection of the Australian ODI team. ” – Couldn’t have said it better. I find it a tad ironic as Hilditch is South Australian but I get the impression he kisses to much arse with the Victorians. Merv Hughes of course is the Vic but Boon and Cox, both Taswegian will also be pro Vic, generally Vic is the only state that “accepts” Tasmania not to mention, the captain, Ponting, another Taswegian (how did Tas get so much power??)
That being said, we are almost in 2010 and we still have to put up with biased selectors? Make them professional and fire them when they don’t perform. There are so many good players being ignored under the current selectors that in 5 years time we might have won nothing and also have missed out on players like Tait and P Hughes due to the selectors ignorance and agendas.
vinay verma said | October 25th 2009 @ 10:26am | Report comment
Spiro..Nathan Hauritz is finally starting to believe in himself. And you are right,Simon Katich has a lot to do with this.By extension,though, Ponting has also stuck with Hauritz and given him plenty of oppurtunities. With Ponting residing in Sydney this would help hauritz. I myself am glad Hauritz is believing in himself. This self belief is so important for a spinner. A sympathetic captain is a must. A spinner comes of age when he takes a wicket with a flighted ball after being hit for six the previous ball. I had my doubts about Hauritz but he is proving me wrong and it is good to see.
I do however think the Victorian bias is a bit of a stir by you. I think the current side is a fair mix of players.Who by the way is Andrew Clarke?
Spiro Zavos said | October 25th 2009 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Stuart Clarke, Vinay. I must have had the chairman of selectors on my mind. Do you not think, for instance, that if say Geoff Lawson was a selector, as he should be – or coach – that the composition of the various teams would be different?
It wasn’t so long ago before Merv Hughes that Victorians were complaining about a lack of representation.
It is ludicrous that the most successful state in Australian cricket, the state that has produced far and away the biggest number of great players, does not have any representation on the selection panel.
There should always be someone from NSW on the selection panel.
Instead we have TWO selectors identified with Tasmanian cricket! Ludicrous.
vinay verma said | October 25th 2009 @ 1:16pm | Report comment
It makes sense,Spiro,now that you have explained. Correct me if am misunderstanding you but your comment of bias is more directed at Merv Hughes than at the Victorian players. If this is the case then yes there is a bias because merv does not appear to spend enough time being a selector. The selection panel may well represent jobs for the boys. Allan Border resigned as selector because it conflicted with his role as a broadcaster. But then Border is as concientious as any human can be.
Henry as a selector would be good but I dont think he would take it on for the money currently on offer. Nor would I. As far as being coach,I think he would do as good a job as Nielsen and/or Cooley.
FIsher Price said | October 25th 2009 @ 12:05pm | Report comment
Stuart ‘Clark’ No ‘E’!
Katich should be captain in all three forms of the game.
Hughes is Australia’s best opener, though Jaques could well get back up there.
The Australian one day team is full of inferior non-NSW selections. Adam Voges – wtf? Voges the well-performed WA batsman is a total myth.
Kersi Meher-Homji said | October 25th 2009 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
Spiro,
I am a huge NSW supporter. However, I cannot agree with you on your pro-Victoria bias theory. The current Australian squad in India has three from Victoria (Jon Holland, Peter Siddle and Cameron White) and four from NSW (Doug Bollinger, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee and Shane Watson). Had it not been for injuries, it could have been seven Blues as Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin and Nathan Bracken were near certainties.
I agree with you though that Stuart Clark, Simon Katich and Phil Hughes should have been there.
I also agree that ‘Henry’ Lawson would make a good selector. But if there were 11 NSWmen in a squad of 16, other States would scream till they are blue in the face saying: “There is a strong pro-NSW bias”!
Selectors can’t win, can they?
Freud of Football said | October 25th 2009 @ 4:35pm | Report comment
Kersi,
I sympathise with the pro-NSW camp. I come from SA and that’s part of why I push the case of Tait and Cosgrove (if he can get himself fit) so much as I have seen them the most when I’ve been back in Aus.
Vic shouldn’t be holding so much power at the selection table and with no disrespect to the Taswegians I believe they side with the Vics.
NSW just won the CLT20 and from the lineup of:
1) Warner
Lee
2) Hughes
3) Katich
4) Henrique
5) Rohrer
6) S Smith
7) D Smith
9) Hauritz
10) Stuart Clark
11) Bollinger
1) , 2) , 3) , 4) ,
, 10) should all be in the squads, Warner only in the shorter forms. 11) should be around that area and then of course M Clarke should be in the test and one-day but not T20 (or we can reinforce Brett McKay’s wish and say “scrap international T20′s altogether) , Haddin is the number one glovesman and Bracken in the shorter forms as well.
For Vic only Siddle is good enough, the othre two are there because Warne said White would be the next big thing, everyone paid attention and he hasn’t delivered but he’s the captain of VIC, one of the old powerhouses and it’d be pretty embarassing if their captain wasn’t there or there abouts and Holland is the same, Warne said he was the next best thing since sliced bread and hasn’t yet delivered, either way there are plenty of non-Victorian players as good and better who aren’t getting a look in because of the current selection biases.
Spiro Zavos said | October 25th 2009 @ 4:43pm | Report comment
I’ve been watching the Australia – India ODI and it is clear to me that Shane Watson’s usefulness as an opener must be reaching its end date. He looked all at sea against some useful swing bowling and on a pitch that was slowish. My belief is that he is NOT a long term prospect as an opener at any level of cricket which is all the more reason why Phillip Hughes should come back into all the teams as soon as possible.
vinay verma said | October 25th 2009 @ 9:56pm | Report comment
Spiro,I maintained at the time that dropping Hughes smacked of panic and especially when you consider England stuck with Bell when he obviously was struggling. Watson is not an opener and good bowlers will find his technique out. As for his bowling he nearly lost the game for Australia. His thinking is robotic and he kept bowling waist high full tosses outside offstump. I will criticise Ponting here because at 7 for 201 he took his foot off India’s throat. Lee should have been brought straight into the attack with Siddle and it would have been a comfortable win.
Brett McKay said | October 25th 2009 @ 6:05pm | Report comment
Agree Spiro. I suspected the worse when I saw the scorecard, and the news highlights confirmed that yet again, Watson was out playing across a straight one. What’s the count up to now, 15, 20?
Haddin and Hughes at the top would be great to see, but I’m not convinced it’ll happen soon, much less Warner or even Katich.
Freud (thanks for the mention!), you would have enjoyed Gerard Whately’s comments today on The Offsiders, that Australia still lingers in it’s selection approach to limited over cricket, and particularly T20.
Anyway, 8/292′s not a bad score first up. But yet again we’re in a 7 game ODI series. Will the articles covering the 6th and 7th games get this many comments??
FIsher Price said | October 26th 2009 @ 9:09am | Report comment
Voges fails AGAIN.