Roar Rookie
Joined November 2014
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Australia are the champions of the one-day cricket world. But as they head back to the Test arena, who should represent them in the…
Many Aussies have been standouts in the World Cup in the past, and a few come to mind. Ricky Ponting's win-loss record of 92…
Shane Watson of Australia is one of few players who are picked almost automatically, but does he deserve this luxury? Watson's figures of late…
Big Bash League 2014-15 has just come to an end, with the Perth Scorchers scraping past the Sixers in what was a thrilling finish…
Let's rewind. It is a few days before the first Test match against Pakistan at Lords, 2010. A couple of guys meet up and…
Many have written about who should be in Australia's starting XI for the World Cup, I'm choosing my XI from the World Cup squad…
I hadn’t considered that angle, but quite likely that will still cut out Coulter-Nile, and Mitchell Marsh, the other two, however, will be interesting to see whether they are selected or not.
Sixers have lost a key player in Brett Lee, but did aquire some nice talent over the offseason including former Adelaide Strikers Captain Johan Botha and Jackson Bird, which will hopefully suffice. I don’t see the Strikers getting up this year due to a mainly young and inexperienced middle order. Will be interesting to see how it all turns out.
Who are the big names in your team for the 2015-2016 Big Bash League?
You’ve made it sound like Perth Scorchers have ‘serious domestic talents on the books as well, with Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Cameron Bancroft, Nathan Coulter-Nile and the legendary Brad Hogg.’ However, it is probably important to note that Adam Voges, the Marsh brothers and Nathan Coulter-Nile quite likely wont be playing for much of the summer due to International duties. I doubt Perth Scorchers will win the title this year, instead expecting Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Stars, Melbourne Renegades and the Sydney Sixers to all be in the top four this year
Who are the big names in your team for the 2015-2016 Big Bash League?
Absolutely too harsh on the Suns! They fought hard for a long period of time on the Dixon trade, demanding more than just pick 10. Sure, they didn’t get the best return for Bennell, but that was only because of a lack of suitors because of his off field issues. And there is such thing as an A+ you know, Geelong deserved one after the terrific trade period they had. Why do you rate Jack Fitzpatrick so highly anyhow? And considering Patrick Dangerfield requested a trade and could have left for an end of first round compensation pick the Crows did very well in picking up pick 9, 28 and Dean Gore for him! Not to mention then gaining outside run in this year’s Anzac medalist Paul Seedsman, as well as the potential of young gun Troy Menzel. Deserved at least a B+. The Giants were also smart in the way they traded away average players for top end picks in both this years and next years draft so they have more draft points to get their two young local prospects.
Grading the AFL trade period from A-F
Hazledwood has bowled better then Starc or Johnson…
A composite Ashes XI: It's England 7-4 Australia
On the contrary I think that Starc and Johnson will play the Ashes together.. Watto and Marsh could easily be swapped but I went with Shane because of his slightly superior batting ability. Not necessarily, just means that Ahmed and Lyon will have to bowl the bulk of the overs. Hazlewood could easily be ahead of Ahmed, unless it looks like it’s going to spin which it has in recent times..
My team to face the Windies
Too true.. My problem is that both Starc and Johnson are Strike bowlers who you don’t want to bowl a lot of overs. Which means that the spinners will have to bowl the majority of the overs.
There are a couple of other options which involve Josh Hazlewood. Swap him for either one of the spinners, Starc, or the one that I like most but does weaken our batting is to drop Watson for Hazlewood. With Starc and Johnson both capable of batting that means the top eight will still be good but having both spinners means that Australia will have a bit more of a tail than usual.
I agree that this side has holes but I figured this was the best option..
My team to face the Windies
I’m not sure whether this is supposed to be funny or not but I am quite disappointed that this kind of stuff is written about.
Watson did the most brave, heroic and humbling thing when he uttered those words “I’ve only got myself to blame”.
He didnt try to blame anyone else, shift the spotlight, he just accepted the fault. I myself am not a Watson fan but the way he has conducted himself after being dropped is most definitely the way to go about it
Shane Watson's greatest failure
Finally someone agrees!
drop watson, smith at 3, clarke at 4, bailey at 5. last night marsh showed that he could be relied on more in the bowling department snaring 5 wickets. the last time watto made any decent impact was in the odi series against RSA way back in November.
i said b4 the game last night, for bailey to stay in the team he must score at least a fifty, watson needs to go out early and get no wickets and marsh has to show australia he can be relied on more by getting a couple of wickets
booom what happened!
Australia smash England in Cup opener, but there's one sour note
Yes sorry i realise that.. i misread it as 8 not 82 which upps his average by eight runs. Watson actually played 9 games not 7. The only reason he averages 40 in ODI’s and has 160 wickets is because of his two golden years on top way back in 2010 2011.. He has shown little if any of this talent this past year.
Sorry Shane, but it is time for you to move on
Shane Watson does not deserve a spot in your ODI XI. Two years of good cricket are not enough to make him a star.
Sheek's best Australian cricket XI
Have to disagree with you there, Finchy has averaged over 40 in the same period and with a better strike rate.
Sorry Shane, but it is time for you to move on
I know lots of you are talking about how there have been lots of Articles on Watson, but when i wrote this i was trying to mainly focus on ODI’s not Tests which are talked about a lot more. another reason for that being, a talk about how a player doesnt deserve to be playing tests seems slightly out of place when no one is playing tests
Sorry Shane, but it is time for you to move on
My apologies!! My stats were wrong. Mine said 8 not 81! However that still proves his inability to score centuries after he was in that game batting very professionally and well gave his wicket away.
Sorry Shane, but it is time for you to move on
Sorry. I’ll just clarify that by finalists, I mean teams who reached the finals (semi-finals)
Finalists dominate my Big Bash League All-Star team
Not sure what you mean by saying that the headline is confusing… The finalists do dominate with only 2 players from other teams being Peter Forrest and Jaques Kallis. There is 2 Adelaide Strikers, 3 Sydney Sixers (Including 12th man), 2 Perth Scorchers and 3 Melbourne Stars.
I did actually consider Voges however i instead opted for botha.
Also, Hoggy wasnt considered because he hadnt played the minumum six games
Finalists dominate my Big Bash League All-Star team
Ludeman’s a top order batsmen and didnt have room for him. Tom Triffit suited better as a n. 7 batsmen. plus, triffit had the second most catches for the tournament.
I didnt think Kallis was player of the tournament either. But he did make quite a good contribution on occasion.
I certainly didnt choose Lee because of that one over. In fact I started the article and chose the team before the last game and used the final as an example of Lee’s skill. I almost had Tye in my team, but I chose Lee’s experience over him too
Finalists dominate my Big Bash League All-Star team
You say Chris Lynn was the only shine for the heat, yet Forrest has a better average. Lynn only has 6 more runs than Forrest, yet he played 2 more games. Forrest even has a better average of 47 compared to 30.
Head did have one of the better strike rates of around 150 but usually batted from 3 to 5, so couldnt fit in with players in those positions quite comfortable
Finalists dominate my Big Bash League All-Star team
I agree… Burns has a lot of potential and value, being able to play in almost any position… hopefully he continues for the aussies in the West Indies
Has anyone not heard of Steve Smith?
I think he’s a tennis player.. not too sure though!
Has anyone not heard of Steve Smith?
Love this article Jack! Completely agree with you there… Whilst Cameron White knowing that that was out rather than not out in that instance wouldn’t have made a difference it certainly makes the game go faster and easier, and like you said – certain tactics can then be employed. I for one do try to study the rules hard so when I play I can have the most possible advantages over my opponents as possible.
Want to win? Then learn the rules of the game
He hasn’t played International Cricket for Australia since the first test against India in Adelaide – where he broke down injured and is still recovering. He hasnt played ODI cricket since the first ODI against South Africa, where he broke down injured and made 11. The last time he played for Australia in the ODI’s without breaking down was August 31 where he made 68 not out.
So Clarke may have averaged 40 in his past 20 matches, but you cant use that stat to say he should play considering that those last 20 matches were ages ago so their results can be used to see whether or not Clarke should be picked for the World Cup.
Me personally I dont think past stats from World Cups should come into consideration at all when choosing the team. Sure, there’s the experience side of things, playing under pressure and big games – but The last World Cup was 4 years ago. How can you pick a player due to stats from four years ago? I disagree with you there, in Bailey’s last 13 games as ODI captain he’s had 10 wins and just 3 losses. Nothing wrong with the Aussie while either Bailey or Clarke are captaining
No place for Michael Clarke in my World Cup XI
The question is though, doesnt Michael Clarke want to prolong his career? I read an article recently, of him saying he wants to play in the 2019 World Cup. While I think that’s slightly unrealistic, if he does want to prolong his career then i think he should skip the World Cup completely – Unless he’s recovery is going superbly… Or he’s silly enough to play when he’s unfit
No place for Michael Clarke in my World Cup XI
So true! Australia have a lot of depth – mind you a lot of them dont have a lot of experience (ie. cummins, m marsh, only have 21 games between them) ]… Clarke is too risky mind you at this stage if he wants to prolong his career..
That’s right – if you dont pick Maxwell you need to have the specialist spinner in
No place for Michael Clarke in my World Cup XI
On the contrary, although their Test Team is young and inexperienced, the likes of Chris Gayle, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and Samuel Badree are not to be underestimated. Chris Gayle is a big hitting machine, with an average of just over 44, not to mention a strike rate of 149.47! Andre Russell’s is even better at 168.18. Sammy’s experience cannot be overlooked, and his smashing and crashing to achieve quick runs is undeniably critical to his team’s chances. And finally, Badree is actually ranked as the second best T20 bowler in the world right now, so I don’t think I need to say anymore…
Who are the big names in your team for the 2015-2016 Big Bash League?