Recently The Roar forums have seen a plethora of Ashes XIs as fans strive to find a way through the quagmire that Australian cricket has found itself in following the recent drubbing in the subcontinent.
In my last article, I stressed that reflection and learning rather than wholesale selection changes might be the answer for this very young Test team.
Poor results are hard to swallow for fans who have been brought up on dominance and outright victories, but the experience gained by these players who had never played quality spin in the subcontinent will be hugely beneficial.
Patience is key.
Commentators have spoken ad nauseam about the lack of nous and tactics shown by the team, for example Nathan Lyon failing to go around the wicket in three Tests, and Warner continually sweeping.
As I mentioned earlier, the real litmus test for this team will be how they grow from this experience, not through chopping and changing the team too aggressively.
In light of this, I want to pour some cold water on some of the more interesting selection choices that have been proposed by Roarers and experts. A sort of XI of players who must not play (in some cases, not yet).
1. Chris Rogers
No, too old. Perseverance with Ed Cowan (who has played a lot of cricket in England) is key. One Roarer, Brian Zhang suggested Cowan be cut for Watson because he didn’t score fast enough in his post today.
Their strike rates are not that far apart, and in England with the swinging ball, the openers primary obligation is to protect the middle order not to blast away like a Virender Sehwag or a Matt Hayden.
2. Alex Doolan/Joe Burns
No, not yet. If we can draw comparison with the All Blacks, the All Blacks would rarely bring brand new players into the most important Test series for their country. While these players show promise, they are not the Ashes answer.
3. Usman Khawaja
Just joking, Roarer Red Kev almost had a heart attack there. The golden question of Uzzie is an interesting one. Despite much discussion, I have no doubt he will eventually play, and it is just a matter of when he gets his chance.
4. Ryan Harris/Ben Hilfenhaus
No, no, no. Bird must take Hilfenhaus’ position as the swing bowler, while Pattinson fills the abrasive outswinging position of Harris.
I don’t care how good Harris bowled in a Shield Final, he did not bowl as well as Pattinson in India.
5. Brad Haddin/Glenn Maxwell/Steve Smith
Although, I, like many others was pleasantly surprised by the development of Steve Smith, I say no. He still needs more work and doesn’t fit the top six of my A-team. I would like to see the Aussies show some guts and give Tim Paine the ‘keepers spot, and let him play some tour matches over there.
No comment on the big show, other than just no.
6. Shane Watson
See any article posted by Red Kev on this topic. The boat has sailed, time to be a stay at home dad for Lee.
7. Xavier Doherty
He bowled well in spells in India, bowling a much more attacking line than Lyon (until Lyon went around the wicket).
If Argus recommended picking on form, then as many have mentioned Steve OKeefe must go as the backup spinner. But I think it would be a bold move to put Ashton Agar through at this early stage of his career.
So – in light of that, from Ashes to Ashes, here is my hat in the ring in terms of the Aussie XI moving forward.
1. Ed Cowan (vc) 2. David Warner 3. Phillip Hughes 4. Usman Khawaja 5. Michael Clarke (c) 6. Moises Henriques 7. Tim Paine 8. Mitchell Starc 9. Peter Siddle 10. James Pattinson 11. Nathan Lyon
I think this team has versatility in bowling with a left armer, deck hitter (Siddle), express outswing (Pattinson), good offspinner in Lyon and support in Henriques.
From a batting perspective our whole top six will perform better in seaming, faster conditions.
Khawaja at 4 should provide more stability in the middle order and hopefully long partnerships with captain Clarke. I have taken Paine over Wade on a purely personal basis.
@johnphilipson
Mukhtar
Guest
The Aussies have too many [out-of-form] lefties in their top order : (
Davo
Guest
I am looking at the facts and figures from India .. i am not on drugs ... but if you think I am then McGill, Ashley Mallet, Dean Jones, Warne, Fleming and Lyon himself who have either watched him / coached him / played with him and come out saying he should be in the test squad ..well they must be Stoned?! Look all I am saying is that there are a lot of flippant comments that burn a debut player who was thrown to the fire on a cricketers he'll that is India and came out with the best bowling figures of all the spinners including 5 top six scalps .. it took Lyon (19 tests) 147 overs and 653 runs to get 15 wickets .. It took Maxwell (debut) 41 overs and 147 runs to get 7 wickets .. they the facts! What more rights has Watson or Warner to maxwell ? But here is the clincher .. listened to Watson interview and read his article on his return to Australia ... it's all about Me Me ... I say go easy on 24 year olds playing their first test ... target the $5 million per year man Watson .. Surely you don't need to be on drugs to see how ridiculous it is to blame India on debut players who at the end of the day did ok
Paul
Guest
1. Smith 2. Khuwaja/Cowan 3. Hughes 4. Clarke 5. Warner 6. Wade 7. Maxwell/ Faulkner depending on conditions 8. Pattinson 9. Siddle 10. Bird/Harris 11. Lyon/Maxwell That's the team that will win the ashes!! No doubt!! I Where there is more than one player shown pick for conditions Smith has the temperament to open . If khuwaja fails use Cowan as the opener. But if Cowan is too slow use hughes as the opener with smith and bring Watson in at 3. Use Maxwell up the order when we need runs quickly to increase a lead in the second innings. Use Warner down the order as he is not an opener. Use Faulkner on seaming pitches and either maxwell or Lyon drop out. I agree with the article that we need to be patient and that means backing the guys who went to war for us in India including the young blokes. If Clarke does not play due to injury in any game bring in Haddin as captain and keeper and play Wade as a batsman, Finally I know this will not seem rational to a lot of people on here but I believe that both smith and maxwell are very important young players who we need to back and show patience with.
Richard
Guest
Whenever you think Hilfenhaus just substitute the name Faulkner. Faulkner has gone past him this season and thats just in the bowling.
Richard
Guest
Davo.. What drugs are you on? Maxwell will probably never be a test player again and he should never have been selected. The fact he was just shows what a desperate low state Australian cricket has fallen to.
Richard
Guest
I agree patience is required. Silk and Rogers will provide a lot of patience as our test openers in the Ashes and they will score when the opportunity presents. Unlike our current openers they have real skill combined with patience. Cowan is a weak stone wall that collapses too soon and Warner is a basher with a great eye masquerading as a test opener. Once the bowlers work him out he will hardly score a run, which I expect will happen in the ashes. What has happened to hard nose test selectors, did they die with the birth of T20?
Richard
Guest
Its weird that after the exposure of our top order as totally useless people keep picking them ad nauseum.. Its the definition of insanity. Cowan warner highes.. cowan warner hughes..cowan warner hughes.. cowan warner hugh.. oh we just lost the Ashes 8-0
Richard
Guest
What an absolute rubbish batting side. That top order has about as much steel as a marsh mallow.
Davo
Guest
Maxwell was our best spinner in India based on the stats 7 for 194 off just 41 overs at 27 runs and strike rate 35 balls. Lyon took 15 for 653 runs off 147 overs at 44 runs per wicket and strike rate of 58 balls ...,, I think Maxwell should be there as a back up for Lyon for spinning pitches
dasilva
Guest
Cowan Warner Hughes Clarke Khawaja Smith Wade Siddle Pattinson Harris Lyon Back up Bird O'Keefe Watson Paine Hilfenhaus Rogers
Blue Bro
Guest
Are these the actual teams people think will get selected or just wishlists? Hate to be a downer but they wont come true. Rogers and D. Huss, too old. Simple as that. Haddin's our back up keeper, so no Paine. You heard here first.. the team for the first Test will be this: Cowan Warner Hughes Smith - Why not give someone who could potentially be in the team in the long term another chance? Clarke - He'll go back to 5. Watson - He'll be bowling again by the Ashes and he's our VC. I don't think he's the type of player to know when to call it quits. I'd happily have him back in the team as a pure allrounder. Wade Siddle Pattinson Lyon Bird
Jonny Boy Jnr
Guest
Not a fan of that side I'm afraid. There simply has to be better players around than Cowan. If you insist on Hughes who I think is seriously risky against Engalnd's attack at home then put him at opener. Henriques should play at least two warm-up matches and see what he offers with his bowling but certainly would not be in a Test XI straight up. Not picking Harris who bowls at express pace, is deadly accurate and exceeded against all top sides is ridiculous. Diddle bowled admirably in the 4th test but would not be in my top three quicks for the conditions. Pattinson Harris Starc/Bird/ or Hilfenhaus if he is bowling at speeds in the mid - high 130's consistently
Richard
Guest
Tim Paine should be the keeper I agree, but Silk should come in for Cowan. The fact you have such a mediocre talent as Cowan as VC blows your team out of the water as far as I am concerned. Are you saying this loser should be captain next? Silk is young and is clearly capable and talented. He could slot right in now and be better than Cowan straight off the bat IMO and with unlimited growth and potential. I like the fact that Silk has just come into the Tassie side with Ponting about to go out. Its a very nice overlap and its fantastic Ponting is going to play on in the shield in general. Australian selectors have proved inept since our hey day. Too slow to move greats on and too slow to bring new talent in. Its a tough gig being a selector, no doubt , but it is impossible when you have a NSW captain obviously selecting and wanting his inferior NSW mates in the side. We need a total overhaul of how we select players and it has to be totally independent of Test and State personality issues . We have got to rise above it for the sake of our test team..
Richard
Guest
Faulkner has been as good if not better than Hilfy and he can bat. Hilfy is on the decline and he has had his chance, the Poms no what to expect if we take him. Faulkner is a prickly competitive customer, just what we need right now. He played a major hand in winning the shield and he deserves to go!
Joshua James
Roar Rookie
Cant agree with you more, you are spot on. Need to be patient!
Mr Toad
Guest
John: dismissing Rogers as "too old" seems very misguided to me. Sure, say he can't bat, or has had a bad season, or is inept in English conditions. At least these would be arguments, even though they're all untrue. Rogers is 2 years younger than M. Hussey. Was hussey too old to be playing Test cricket? Noone is expecting Rogers to be a long term proposition. But if he can be slotted in for 15 - 25 Tests and averages 40 + he'll have done us all a huge favour given the desperate shortage of top-order personnel. Frankly, the Cowan/Watson/Hughes/Warner options don't inspire much confidence.
chris b
Guest
Bowlers are easy to pick - siddle, Pattinson, Harris, hilfy (horses for courses) and bird. Spin - Lyon and for mine Fawad if qualified. Poms still struggle against leggies. Two offies (including o'keefee) not the best option for England. Wk - wade and paine. Batting - Clarke, cowan. Warner (last chance though), voges, khawaja, smith (deserves a chance after India), Hughes, rogers - for experience
chris b
Guest
You'd not pick Pattinson!!!!!!!!!! Why, if the rest of the attack is "economical" can you not play a hostile wicket taker? Good teams normally have a mix of the two.
JDP
Roar Guru
Interesting perspective. My problem with Hilfenhaus is that his swing bowling can be monotonous, especially when he bowls his predictable leaveable outswingers to the right handers. Against the English top 6 such as Trott and Cook who have the patience to weather any such swinging spells I don't back Hilfy to be that effective. I prefer Bird as he bowls a straighter line, swings it less, but gets more seam (ala McGrath). His height advantage on Hilfy also allows him to extract extra bounce in the early stages of the wicket. You can't play both because Siddle and Pattinson pick themselves as genuine wickettakers (not forgetting that 20 wickets wins the test). It may be that Starc is left at home for this ashes with a view to the future and that Lyon/Harris fight out the fourth bowler spot (which would be good imho). Watson v Henriques is an interesting one - Watson has the track record, but Henriques has the potential and future. From what he showed with the ball he could be good with the Duke (as will Watson though). I really don't understand all the criticism of Cowan, he looks to be more of genuine opener than Hughes or Warner? Is it because his strike rate is below 50? And he occupies the crease?
Justin
Guest
1. Warner 2. Hughes 3. Clarke 4. D.Hussey (average over 50 in 1st class) 5. Khawaja 6. Watson (if he can bowl too) 7. Wade 8. Siddle 9. Hilfenhaus 10. Bird 11. Harris/Lyon (depending on pitch) Basically the conditions suit Hilfo and Bird so why should they both not play. Until recently I never liked Hilfenhaus but he is a very good new ball bowler and in the last 2 years has become a very economic bowler in the middle overs. Siddle, Hilfenhaus, Bird & Harris will frustrate England with their accuracy. Pattinson and Starc are good bowlers but not as economical. If it's a turning pitch I would pick Lyon ahead of Harris. O'Keefe should be in the touring party - his stats at 1st class warrant it. Ed Cowan is limited in stroke play and will hardly send tremors through the English team. Steve Smith does not take wickets and he is no way a top 6 batsman. Henriques??? Please!! Johnson can only be picked for the Perth wicket. Our batting is the worry but the bowlers pick themselves for me