So that’s another Test in the series out of the way and a commanding victory to our English rivals. It was clear throughout this Test that the Australian team was outplayed in all facets of the game and the victory went to the most deserving side.
Now attention moves to the upcoming Test, and in particular, which players will be in the Australian squad.
Although many ideas are being floated about the makeup of this team, including some extremely left-field suggestions on The Roar forums, I think we will likely see four changes to the team.
Firstly, with Katich being ruled out through injury, a new opener is required.
Phil Hughes is most likely the man to get the nod, as he has some experience (not all good) in this role at international level and has proven in the past that he can cut the mustard at international level. The English fast bowlers tore through Hughes in the last Ashes series in the UK and will probably feel confident of doing the same again,
But I don’t think they will have the same luck this time around.
Another suggestion doing The Roar rounds is for Khawaja to come in as opener.
Although this is a possibility, I think it won’t be the right option for the selectors to take. I would prefer to see Khawaja come in further down the order where there will hopefully be less pressure on him so he can work his way onto the international stage.
For this reason, I would have him replace North, who has not been able to step up in this series, and whose place in the team is surely gone. North’s final opportunity was in the Adelaide second innings where the Australian team needed him to perform more than ever, and once again, he did not front up with the goods.
The Doherty experiment has not worked and should now be looked upon as a failure.
The question is who to replace Doherty with.
The selection seems to be between Hauritz and Smith. Hauritz has a better average, taking 63 test wickets at 35, than Smith who has taken 33 wickets at 50. Based solely on those figures you would have to go with Hauritz, but Smith might get the nod due to his lower order batting abilities.
At present, none of the Australian bowlers have shown that they know what to do with the bat and the Australian team desperately needs a tail end that knows how to wag now and again.
Bollinger was knocked all over the park and seems to have forgotten exactly what line and length is. As such, he will probably lose his place to Hilfenhaus, who should be more competent bowling at a length.
Johnson could make it back into the team, but I doubt this will happen for the next test. It’s a shame the selectors decided it would a good idea to make Johnson sit on the side lines in Adelaide rather than go and get some specialist coaching as he might have managed to find some form in time for the next test.
For this reason, I back Hilfenhaus to replace Bollinger.
So my test line up would be as follows
1. Watson
2. Hughes
3. Ponting
4. Clarke
5. Hussey
6. Khawaja
7. Haddin
8. Smith or Hauritz
9. Harris
10. Siddle
11. Hilfenhaus
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