Okay, you lot in Jolimont Street, you can wake up now and try to forget the colonel from Kentucky and the rep from the brewery.
We have a World Cup to win.
The form of the Australian team in the last twelve months has been underwhelming in all forms, including the 50 over game. They scraped a 3-2 win over New Zealand and lost 3-2 to England in July 2010.
To compound matters, they lost to Sri Lanka for the first time in Australia.
Even though Australia is a fourth favourite with the bookmakers, they showed enough during Sunday’s win that they can take a fifth World Cup.
Ricky Ponting remains the man to lead our defence. He has earned the right to fail.
It is time to look beyond the statistics and see who scored what and against whom and under what pressure. Sometimes a loss is more instructive than a win.
Batsmen who have impressed in the last twelve months are Cameron White, David Hussey, Shane Watson and Michael Hussey.
Bowlers that have impressed and are currently fit (Harris is excluded due to injury, as is Mitchell Starc. McKay and Hastings are also injured)) include Bollinger, Nannes, Tait and Lee.
Watson doubles up in this category.
For those that discount Tait, just hark back to the look of disbelief on Strauss’s face when he was cleaned up last year. That delivery was timed at 161.1 kmh and only marginally “slower” than the 161.3 recorded by Akhtar.
Tait is the only one of his kind in the world and there is no batsman who is confident when the Wild Thing is not so wild.
Bollinger was expensive and is struggling to get above 135 kph. I think he has missed the plane.
Lee was economical in Melbourne and maintained his pace in the death overs. He is rusty but remains a proven performer. His fielding and late order batting place him well ahead of Bollinger.
The premier 50 overs all-rounder remains James Hopes and he rarely plays a bad game for Australia. Christian is a contender and could be the surprise packet if selected.
Of all the spinners, there is only room for Nathan Hauritz and the rest of the spinning duties will have to be borne by David Hussey and Steve Smith.
Nannes is seen as a Twenty20 specialist, as is O’Keefe, so they will not be part of the World Cup squad. Early wickets are a key in the sub-continent and Johnson, Lee, Tait and Siddle could be vital.
The omission of Siddle and Hauritz from Sunday’s game suggests they are on the plane to India. Johnson was also originally rested from this game and in spite of his idiosyncrasies will go to the World Cup. His football skills are sublime, as was evident in his runout of KP.
This brings me to my World Cup First XI in batting order:
Watson
Haddin
Ponting (c)
White
Hussey D
Hussey M
Hopes
Hauritz
Johnson
Lee
Tait
The other four spots to Callum Ferguson, Siddle, Steve Smith and James Pattinson.
The history of the World Cup, especially in the sub-continent, suggests that one or two of the top six batsmen has to bowl at least five serviceable overs. Think Aravinda De Silva in 1996 and Steve Waugh in 1987.
Watson and David Hussey can fill this role.
In fact, I see the Hussey brothers and Shane Watson as the most important men in the Australian line-up. Michael got Australia back on course after Clarke had scratched around for 36 of 57 balls.
Michael Clarke has been out of form all summer and I do not believe he can turn it around in four weeks.
David Hussey got the first two wickets and stalled England, just as they were looking to run away from Australia.
Steven Smith did not harm his chances with the wickets of Bell and Morgan, and though he failed as a pinch hitter, he would have learnt from the pressure. In a largely sloppy fielding display, he was Australia’s best.
The most glaring omission I have made is Michael Clarke and I cannot see any justification for his inclusion.
He is badly out of form and needs to go away and come back a better player. His reluctance to bowl also limits Australia’s options. But if the selections run to form, then Clarke will be included and possibly at the cost of someone like David Hussey or Callum Ferguson.
Anointing captains in waiting is a dangerous practice and Cricket Australia may rue the day they marked Michael Clarke as the next captain.
Tim Paine misses out in my squad even though he is a better keeper. Haddin was untidy on Sunday, but his batting can win games for Australia and with more game time, Haddin’s work to the spinners will improve.
Michael Hussey will have to double as a keeper should Haddin get injured.
Brad Hodge, unfortunately, will not figure in the final squad and this will remain a dagger in Cricket Australia’s heart as long as the current regime is in power.
And our custodians will have to be consigned to the ignominy of perpetual ignorance.
— UPDATE
Cricket Australia named its 15-man World Cup squad for the tournament to be held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from February 15. Victorian all-rounder John Hastings is the only surprise inclusion:
Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice captain), Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Timnaik
Guest
"If it wasn’t so tragic, it would be hilarious. Does Hilditch research anything before he opens his trap?" I think pie-hole is a better term rather than trap.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Prof,with the term "leatherflingers" I don't think Roebuck is hiding behind ambiguity. He cals every fast bowler leatherflinger. With Tait I have not heard of any questions being raised by the touring englishmen. Was there any mention by the 9 commentary team? We must have been seeing different pictures because I cannot agree with you.
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Vinay, I have seen many slingers with clean actions. Ratnayake and Thomson stand out. I would not question their actions, and Thomson would certainly have been bowling at Tait's pace, if tested with today's equipment. Brett Lee had a more upright action, but it was still called into question when he was striving for extra pace. Tait's action was shown in slow-mo during the recent 20/20. It closely resembled a baseballer's throw. There was clear elbow-bending, and probably more than 15%. I wouldn't care if he was bowling at 50 kmh, I believe he is throwing and would question it -- as I have with Andrew Symonds' diabolical offspin action. New Zealand raised the question about Tait in the past and it could be raised again. I think if Aussies are going to complain about throwers from other countries, we need to be aware of it in our own bowlers -- or to borrow Peter Roebuck's term "leatherflingers" -- this neatly sidesteps the term bowling or throwing.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Prof, Tait is a slinger. Not a chucker. Nobody would be questioning him if he bowled at 130kph. He was not called in 2007 and is no different now. I think we should forget about this.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Sherrin,Agree about Siddle but I do rate him for the longer form. The point will come when Test cricketers,like clarke and siddle will have to be compensated more because they are not picked in the shorter forms. Cricket australia has to send a clear message that the pinnacle of the sport is Test Cricket. At the moment they are looking to please specific sponsors and devaluinbg all the forms. Their contempt is in their ignorance of what works for the long term. Clint McKay,if not injured would have been one of the first picked. But there is no room for McDonald and Hastings. I think Hastings will be fine.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
Vinay - btw, even as a parochial Vic, Pete Siddle, i love him, but, he isn't a short form of the game bowler. From Vic, if fit, Clint McKay one would hope would've been a walk up start, and Andrew McDonald, if not having an injury interrupted season that has cruelled what was building into a massive shield season, McDonald would've been also a better bet. Alas, injuries at the wrong time. At any rate, the Aust bowling line up just looks a little bit too 'fast', which might seem an odd thing to say, and they'll get the job done against the Zimbo's and Canada and look world beaters.
OzFootballSherrin
Roar Pro
Amazed at Tait. Amazed that they figure they can run with Tait, Johnson, Lee and Bolly. That just screams of leaking runs in the Subcontinent unless the white balls over there are going to swing (for everybody) and make Mitch and Tait look like quality bowlers. The notion of 'blooding' players in a WC, why not? They already used the heart of an Ashes series to run with about 4 or 5 gambles that ignored exhibited current form in the Sheffield Shield - i.e. Hughes, Smith, Bollinger, Doherty and Beer. Normally in the past, the justification was that player X or Y weren't going to be in the reckoning for the next Ashes campaign in 2.5 years time for example. And here were the selectors treating the Ashes with contempt, and, not even having the WC as a justification unless they were planning for Hughes to head over??
Professor Rosseforp
Guest
Tait is a risk in the squad: it only takes one official to report him for his action and the squad will be down by one.
Lolly
Guest
This has been one of my main beefs against him for the last couple of years. No matter how long he bats for he never gets to a run a ball. Basically he is never 'in' enough to be able to hit out regardless of how much of the strike he has sucked up. In England in the series that the Aussies lost, watching him try and hit boundaries when he was present in the last 10 overs was embarrassing as he can't do it. That feeble attempt to hit over the top in the powerplay the other night was a very typical shot. I suspect that his slowness is going to lose us games, but he'll be ok as with that lot of bowlers, the scapegoats are lining up ahead of him
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Jason,the last two games have shown SAF to have a lazy tail. In the Newlands game being played now they lost their last six for 25. The game before they were cruising towards 190 and lost by 1 run. I think the choke is well and truly on.My picks are england,australia and India.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
jameswm,analysis worthy of the best statisticians.!I'll get you to research my gut feelings in future!
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Train,that is probably closer to off stump!
Jason
Guest
Of course what we haven't yet discussed is what tragi-comic events will result in South Africa falling short yet again.
Lurchn
Guest
In ODI's at the moment aust should not be looking to the future at the moment apart from the next two or so months. If a bloke is 55 and can help us win the cup he should be picked. It is not the time in ODIs to pick youth to rebuild. Tests on the other hand.... -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
jameswm
Guest
Interesting comments, Brendon. If his strike rate in the last 18 months is bstter, what was it like before? IN the last 18 months, these have been his scores: 16 off 28 v Scotland Edinburgh 28 Aug 2009 ODI # 2879 45 off 72 v England The Oval 4 Sep 2009 ODI # 2882 4 off 11 v England Lord's 6 Sep 2009 ODI # 2883 52 off 92 v England Southampton 9 Sep 2009 ODI # 2885 62* off 81 v England Lord's 12 Sep 2009 ODI # 2888 52 off 64 v England Nottingham 15 Sep 2009 ODI # 2890 38 off 81 v England Chester-le-Street 20 Sep 2009 ODI # 2892 58 off 76 v Pakistan Brisbane 22 Jan 2010 ODI # 2944 25 off 35 v Pakistan Sydney 24 Jan 2010 ODI # 2945 80 off 90 v Pakistan Adelaide 26 Jan 2010 ODI # 2946 10 off 11 v Pakistan Perth 29 Jan 2010 ODI # 2947 18 off 30 v West Indies Melbourne 7 Feb 2010 ODI # 2950 27* off 28 v West Indies Adelaide 9 Feb 2010 ODI # 2952 46 off 74 v West Indies Sydney 12 Feb 2010 ODI # 2954 47 off 58 v West Indies Melbourne 19 Feb 2010 ODI # 2960 22 off 31 v New Zealand Napier 3 Mar 2010 ODI # 2966 11 off 26 v New Zealand Auckland 6 Mar 2010 ODI # 2969 0 off 5 v Ireland Dublin 17 Jun 2010 ODI # 2994 87* off 111v England Southampton 22 Jun 2010 ODI # 3000 1 off 7 v England Cardiff 24 Jun 2010 ODI # 3002 33 off 54 v England Manchester 27 Jun 2010 ODI # 3003 99* off 106 v England The Oval 30 Jun 2010 ODI # 3004 111* off 139 v India Visakhapatnam 20 Oct 2010 ODI # 3060 27 off 31 v Sri Lanka Melbourne 3 Nov 2010 ODI # 3065 25 off 30 v Sri Lanka Sydney 5 Nov 2010 ODI # 3066 50* off 51 v Sri Lanka Brisbane 7 Nov 2010 ODI # 3068 36 off 57 v England Melbourne 16 Jan 2011 ODI # 308 So not one - not one single innings in this supposedly bright period, when he got to a run a ball. And several where he was below 50%. There are maybe 4 good innings in there, out of the last 27. And Brendon, here is another theory why his average is good. He comes in when the field is back, and is under little pressure. The opposition is happy for him to push 3 or 4 singles an over, and he's selfish enough to worry more about his average. And in addition - Clarke is completely out of form in all forms of the game at the moment. In summary - 1,082 runs, 27 innings, 6 not outs, average 51. And strike rate - a whopping 72. 7 times he got to 35 and struck at less than 65. Your strike rate is supposed to go up, not down, as you stay in. He puts the pressure on the other player. He's so boring I stop watching when he comes in. He's been a crap one-day player for 3 years though for most of that his test form stood up. MHussey was the opposite.
Train Without A Station
Guest
Pure lip service I'd say. If he didn't even want the job he wouldn't even talk about it.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Jason,averages don't tell the whole story in ODI's. When did he take the wickets? Economy rates would be more relevant in India as all the tracks are roads and 300 is a par score on the smaller grounds.I too agree with the hauritz selection and both he and Lee are handy with the bat if there are 30 or 40 to get.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Fisher,Hopes may well be a better batsman but hastings does have a high score of 93 so he may prove to be better in the long run. I don't know
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Jason, Hastings has played two ODI's. At least give him one tenths of the matches Clarke has played before we damm him. Callum Ferguson does not bowl and has had recent surgery and that would have counted against him. I would not have picked Bolllinger. He is struggling for fitness. Barely got over 135kph.
Fisher Price
Guest
But Hopes is a far better batsman, no?