Why Australia should change a winning team

Hodge and Hussey were and still are both superior bats. Klinger had one good year that had everyone excited. Stiff turds., plenty of blokes do that. Usi has put seasons together of excellent run making and will be a much better cricketer than Marsh or North could hope for. And why on earth would you pick a half baked all rounder (which was essentially what they thought North could be)? If there isnt an all rounder good enough then its pretty simple - 6bats/keeper and bowlers!

That is exactly my problem with this notion of needing a big score immediately though. North scored a hundred on debut, but ammassed 13 single figure dismissals in 20 tests. Marsh scored a hundred on debut, but has racked up 4 single figure dismissals in 6 tests. Khawaja hasn't has his breakthrough innings yet (neither had Laxman, Kallis, S.Waugh, Langer, Boon, Martyn by their sixth test - just off the top of my head), but has only been dismissed for single figures once, and below 20 twice. His top score of 65 in a fourth innings run chase is often overlooked, as is the fact he got declared on at 13* on the pitch that Marsh racked up his 141. Khawaja is a solid cricketer. He isn't flashy, he will rarely plunder attacks, but he does (and will if given the chance in test cricket) score a lot of runs. He is the only cricketer in the country putting together back-to-back shield seasons averaging over 60 (this season is currently his third in a row if he maintains it). He scores centuries in first-class cricket at more than twice the rate of Shaun Marsh. He has a double century to his name (another good indicator of test-match ready concentration) unlike Shaun Marsh. He deserves more faith than 3 tests then dropped then 3 more tests then dropped again.

On Brad North’s selection. From memory, the standout contenders were Brad Hodge and Callum Ferguson. Klinger had a great Shield season (but no one seemed to be seriously mentioning him for higher honours) and some people were agitating for Cameron White. As usual, David Hussey’s name was bandied about. North was coming off another good season at Gloucestershire, had a good year with WA and insiders seemed to value his cricket brain. There was even talk of future captaincy. Also, given that the slot he was occupying was the Andrew Symonds role, I’m not sure that the ‘bowling option’ rationale was “laughable”. Overly optimistic? Maybe. It’s also probably worth mentioning that the guy actually came out to bat in Jo’burg in his debut against Steyn, Ntini and Morkal and got 117, so it’s not like the selectors plumped for a bloke who couldn’t perform at the top level. I’ve yet to see Usman Khawaja do that.

The names escape me now but I said at the time that he didnt deserve his spot and others were in front of him. The only thing that got him over the line was the selectors mistakenly going with his strength as a bowling option. Just another laughable Hildith thought process...

Kris, Norths FC record is not significantly better than ANY batsmens!

The harsh comment was with regards to Justin's "North should never have been selected" statement. North had done enough to warrant his call up, especially in the context of a lack of other options. It never panned out, but he was worth the initial punt.

Not harsh at all, I refer to North's inconsistency. He had 20 test matches and over 1000 runs but 45% of those runs came in 4 innings. He had 13 single-figure dismissals in 20 test matches! Shaun Marsh is very similar to that so far (45% of his runs come from one innings and he has 4 single figure dismissals after 6 matches) and in my opinion likely to remain so right up until the selectors wise up and dump him - shockingly inconsistent.

That's more than a bit harsh on North. His F/C record was significantly better than Michael Clarke when he was first picked.

One of the luckier blokes to play Test cricket, along with North (what a selection that was)! One of the things that shirts me most is the commentators who automatically stick by someone once they are in the team. Once they are out the new guy gets defended. Most of these former players dont have the balls to say "Marsh or North should never have been selected" for fear of being criticised or upsetting someone who they will run into at a point in time...

"Will Marsh waft early outside off stump again? Will he save his skin with a big innings in a dead rubber?" I think it is very likely that Marcus North ... oops I mean Shaun Marsh (so easy to confuse them) will do exactly that and save his career with a big score in a dead rubber on a flat track..

Cowan just needs a ton in Adelaide and he's safe for a while. Marsh and Haddin are the two really under fire. There are nice little sub-plots with each player. Will Warner get out early, or take the innings away from the Indians? Surely he can't bat that well two tests in a row? Do the early test fields (no one out, empty covers) suit his style as there are less catchers in his danger zones? Has he learnt to leave better? Cowan seems to leaving less lately. Can he go on with it for a bigger score? Will he bog the innings down, esp if Warner is out early. Will Marsh waft early outside off stump again? Will he save his skin with a big innings in a dead rubber? Will Clarke get out cheap or make a big score? Will Punter struggle and grind out some runs again? Will Haddin bat like a millionaire again (or should I say, play his natural game regardless of the circumstances)?

Yeah I like Cowan and Khawaja (probably down at 4) as innings steadiers. Warner, Watson, Clarke and one more Hussey/Ponting/Marsh or someone else as the attacking weapons. Also it's 4 of Khawaja's 11 innings, but two of those were not-outs: so he's only been dismissed twice below 20 - a record of starts not bettered by anyone since the end of the Ashes series. Interestingly Cowan is the other one always getting starts (he also only has two dismissals below 20); everyone else has 3 or more single figure dismissals in that time.

It's the batting. Watto back, Cowan for Hughes and Haddin replaced by Nevill or Wade is a good start. And harsh as it may sound, Clarke needs to be less feast or famine too. His last 14 test innings have been 13, 6, 112, 151, 2, 11, 2, 139, 22, 0, 31, 1, 329no, 18. 837 runs at 64 ( ave 42 if you take out the extraordinary and average busting 329no), but he's only contibuted to the innings 4 times out of 14. He has to consider scoring 6 or less 5 times in 14 innings unacceptable. He still wafts too much early on and needs to rein this in. Ponting's in trouble if they now well to him early, but he's knuckling down. Hussey seems to be batting well, but he seems to have superman or superdud series. All in all it makes us inconsistent. These three fail too often as a proportion of their innings. Khawaja by contrast failed to pass 20 in maybe 2 of his 11 innings. He needs to go on with it of course, but at least steadies things.

Can I remind everyone that prior to Australia's supposed improved form v India, they lost a Test to a very mediocre second tier test nation in NZ in Hobart. This recent series says much more about India's woeful form than it does Australia's return to form I would have thought. With this in mind, the Australian side still requires new blood in my opinion.

Steve Waugh batted just like Ponting is now for his last 100 tests! In reality if Ponting scored another 50 or 60 in Adelaide (regardless of how they were scored) and hence averaged over 50 for the series and had no desire to retire why should he be dropped? The chance to get rid of him came and went against NZ. He will survive until he is on another succession of outs. Based on form how anyone could justify dropping Ponting or Hussey over Shaun Marsh or Brad Haddin defies logic. What so many people are aiming for is to have all batsmen firing at the same time - I'm not sure this has ever happened in the history of test cricket. Different people carry the team at different times when a team is winning. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.

Keeping the same side, including the strugglers, doesn't afford non-incumbents a chance to play in a low-pressure match at the Adelaide Oval. However, it does give the likes of Marsh, Ponting and Haddin even more un-earned opportunities.

NZ selectors have more balls that Cricket Australia's NSP.

I would agree with the form slump hypothesis regarding Haddin if not faced with the manner of some of the more recent dismissals. His awful shots during the collapses against New Zealand and South Africa were ugly viewing. I also agree about the fast bowling dilemma facing the selectors. Last season Harris consistently moved the ball when he could get on the park. Hilf swung straight from the hand, Siddle was gun barrel straight and Mitchell Johnson was, well, Mitchell Johnson. Now we have 6 guys all bowling full, fast and moving the thing whether it's new or old. Perth showed how dangerous this lot can be without Pattinson. And the whole summer has shown how dangerous they can be without Cummins. Augers well for 2013.

Because quality of keeping is subjective, whereas batting averages are black and white. Was it a drop, does it count if it's standing up, did he get his hands on it, were the byes unlucky and should have been wides??? Plus no one keeps stts on catches dropped and taken. Keepers should never drop one unless it's a really tough one.