When someone makes 329 not out, it is hard to escape the obvious. Great concentration and execution for so many hours by Hussey and Clarke, and so many lovely strokes. It was a treat.
I guess when you have been around as long as those guys, you want to cash in whenever you get a flat deck, and Ponting and those two did so very nicely.
The guys who faced the music early, Warner, Cowan and Marsh, will be spewing they could not combat the swing and movement off the track and the bounce that brought them undone. They would have cashed in later in their innings.
Haddin didn’t get to bat and I felt for him when he dropped Gambhir, but I have been advocating his demotion for over 12 months, and he still gets the nod every time.
That is patently wrong to me, and so are many of the hoary chestnuts produced by selectors.
They used to say that wicketkeepers were a protected species. Now it’s wicketkeepers and old guys, old guys like the selectors (and myself).
Maybe just as well the old guys were around, though you say, and I hear your logic. What has saved Hussey and Ponting has been their supreme fitness and mobility, their ability to adapt, their great inner strength, and their experience.
They could understand the public outcry at their retention, not that they ever accepted it. That is supreme testimony to their gutsiness. And it appears that both believe they have more than just 2012 in mind.
I think the guys in the 12 understand the privileged position they find themselves in, and they are all hard workers, so they deserve whatever opportunities come their way.
But there are at least 10, maybe more, guys outside the team who would walk in to other national teams, and they are posing a great and happy dilemma for Mickey Arthur’s men.
I have advocated Haddin and Lyon be rested, not dropped forever. They need to relearn their craft, or face the music in domestic cricket.
I still see no better spinners than Warne, Hauritz, and Beer, and one wicketkeeper who works his tail off is Matt Wade. Tim Paine will have to repair his finger.
If baseballers can play into their mid 40s, so can cricketers. It is purely mind over matter, and personal fitness.
I think we underestimate sometimes the steely qualities some of our backup cricketers have.
Superd
Totally agree with you Matt F about Lyon. There is nobody else in the State ranks that is a better alternative. I think he has been a bit more reticent to flight the ball against the Indians and he has also been bowling too straight. Against NZ he was bowling outside off stump with loop and bowled a few guys through the gate. There were signs in the Indian second innings that he was going back to this line of attack. I don't think we'll see him in Perth but we will in Adelaide.
Red Kev
Guest
I am so sick of hearing that. Cowan was not bashing the door down. He has had two decent shield seasons at 54 and one average one under 40 in the last three seasons. He was the beneficiary of a purple patch of form (4 centuries in 3 shield & 2 tour gamess if I recall correctly) at the same time as we desperately needed an opener to replace Hughes and cover the injured Watson. That is lucky timing not banging down the door.
Tony
Guest
Would those "10, maybe more, guys outside the team who would walk in to other national teams" walk into the England side? The way I see it, potential replacements for Ponting and Hussey are thin on the ground. Cowan was the only player bashing the door down with runs, the rest are barely tapping politely on the knocker.
Matt F
Roar Guru
I think you're being a bit harsh on Lyon. He wasn't that bad. He's not the first spinner to struggle against India (even Warne averaged 20-25 higher against India then anybody else.) I thought he looked better then Ashwin, though that's not saying much! A flat track against the best players of spin in the world is never going to go well for a spinner and he only went for about 3 an over. He's no Warne but we'll never see another Australian spinner like him for another 50+ years at least. We just don't produce them. I've been a lot more impressed with Lyon then I have with any of the current crop of Australian spinners. It would also help him if Tests went to a 5th day for a change and the pitches started to turn, which they won't given we're playing India. The fact that India hadn't scored over 300 until yesterday says that he hasn't really had alot of opportunities to bowl at them, as they've generally been out before then! We're basically judging him on one average innings which is very harsh. If the WACA pitch is as green as it was last year then they might play 4 quicks (though Pattinson's injury doesn't help) but I don't see another spinner better then Lyon for now.