Australia A batsmen flop in Brisbane

Sayers 5 good wickets, Cutting 4 but bleeding heck Umesh Yadav has joined the 90s club with 90 off 66.

Why would you expect Faulkner to get quicker? He's a bit injury prone as it is.

Can't he do that now? only has to average 30 & pick up the odd wicket here or there. The only worry is he can be led astray off the field, bit of a loose cannon. Must be time to get some new blood in the team before Clarke hangs up the bat. They need to play along side him for a year or two. I'm a big fan of Chris Lynn but it's almost time for put up or push off, he's had that potential for 4 years or more. Silk could hurdle him unless this year is his breakout season. Don't know why this side features guys like Forrest who will never make the Australian test side, seems a wasted opportunity. Faulkner can take that third pace-man's spot if he picks up his speed by 5-10 kph, he's well worth the investment. Maxwell has to do a bit more, he's in the same boat a Chris Lynn, it's been on a plate for him for a while & he hasn't grabbed the chance. Surely we've all but given up on the Phil Hughes experiment, can't play test cricket with that technique. Future captain Smith will also need to knuckle down & do some work on his leggies, he's an integral part of the side now. Interesting that everyone here has forgotten Cummins who's a far superior quick than most of those named in these articles - hope he gets back one of these days!!!

Where is he now though? He has scored 80 odd runs at an average of 11 in what he was signed for. T20. No matter the format that's a poor return.

big fan of silk also, I'd like to see pat cummins back and fully fit also, by the way great fielding team with silk smith warner Maxwell, I reckon the KFC classic catches segment will be a cracker if that's the side for years to come.

Good. If Maxwell keeps smashing Ajmal around in first class cricket, he'll be nervous about Maxiwell when the tests rock around.

Only played one county game and scored 25 and 85 against and smashed Ajmal all over the park in second innings. So an average of 55 says he's not out of form

There is massive wraps on Mitch Marsh from the hierarchy at cricket australia. The lad is 22,what's to say he doesn't have the talent to be a guy that averages 50 in test match cricket,and 32 or so with the ball down the track. After all if your just 22 it's a great effort to be playing shield cricket at that age let alone scoring double hundreds for australia A. His first class statistics are fairly poor batting wise, but he's been ruined with injury so far. A month playing cricket a month missing cricket a month playing cricket 4 months missing cricket. That's always going to be tough to produce consistent good cricket. In my opinion he is ten times more likely to play 100 tests for australia than Faulkner. Faulkners never scored a first class ton and has a top score of 89. He has a great first class bowling average but so does Sayers Bollinger and plenty of other shield cricketers. You can take wickets at shield level bowling at 130 but it's another thing to take test wickets bowling at that pace. If we didn't have many young quicks coming through then you'd give him an outside chance but their is plenty

James - I'd think that Marsh onsiders himself a batting all-rounder, but my point is at the age of 22, why would anyone be writing him off or saying he doesn't fit in (to someone's fantasy) based on not knowing whether batting or bowling is his strong suit? CA are trying to make Faulkner a batting all-rounder so he's seen as fluid positionally. Though these fantasy future teams are fun to make up, I'll hand you that. We are all selectors, especially while a test match is on!

I consider Reeks a proper bowler too but if these guys are being used as batsmen - and they are - you are hardly giong to be bowling them a lot. That is what I mean.

Maxwell has been out of form in the English summer. I don't know if he is just playing T20.

I think there's a few factors which might explain (not support) their selections. I think they're looking to replace Watson long term so that warrants a good look at the all rounders. I also think that they knew this would be a road so they'd make sure there was plenty of bowling depth (at the expense of better batsmen). Many consider Faulkner a "proper bowler" (myself included) and Cutting and Sayers are. To clarify, I would have chosen a different team but these factors might explain why the selectors chose this team.

I'd prefer: Hughes, Warner, Silk, Smith (c), Lynn, Maxwell, Whiteman, Faulkner, Starc, Pattinson, Lyon I'm not sure who the vice captain would be. Maybe Warner, Faulkner or Maxie.

Well said James. I agree with all of that but I'll also note that I'm starting to like the idea of Smith at 3 and Lynn at 5. It'd be a real shame for Hughes to miss out though so maybe he comes in before Silk at 1. To be really picky Warner also prefers 2 because he likes to watch the first few balls before he faces (according to Chris Rogers).

BHT - I don't see where Marsh fits in. Is he a batting or bowling all rounder? Tom - yes - I can see both Maxwell and Faulkner in the test team. For both to make it, Faulkner has to be the 3rd best seamer, or close to it. In a couple of years Johnson and Harris will be gone, so who do we have? Pattinson, Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood, Cutting, Behrendorff etc. I can certainly see Faulkner being close enough to 3rd best, as first change bowler, to be given preference for his batting and fighting abilities. If you then have Starc, Pattinson and Lyon as your specialist bowlers, you have serious depth in your batting with Starc at 9 and Patto at 10 (I think both average around 30 in tests). How is that bowling lineup then? Pattinson Starc Faulkner Lyon Maxwell Smith Not bad. Pattinson could be a really top notch bowler. He's strongly built, gets good, consistent pace, moves it away and gets bounce. Witht he right fitness work and guidance, he could certainly spearhead our attack. Starc is a freak. He can reverse a new ball 8 overs old. He swings the new ball in and late, and the older ball away. He has a great yorker and gets good lift, with good pace. He just doesn't quite have the control or his method right yet. He needs to hang out more with Rhino and McGrath. The two lefties would also give Lyon and Maxwell footmarks to aim at. Maxwell's batting seems to be coming on the way we wanted. With his bowling, he still needs to get more work and drop on the ball, but that's improving gradually. With Clarke 4, Smith 5 and Warner 1 locked in, it really just leaves 2 and 3. I see Silk as a long term option at 2. Smart, can concentrate for long periods, brilliant athlete and fielder, technically correct, and overall seems a good foil for Warner. At 3 - well Hughes, Lynn and others could take that spot. It's the most up in the air for mine.

Yes, I found it really weird that they played all the all-rounders at once. Nice for Marsh and well done on him getting such a great return but why not have a proper batsman OR a proper bowler in there if you already have Reeks and Faulkner?

But Tom, Marsh is only 22. He could well have a future in the test team considering that half the batting line-up is over 30 already. No-one really knows. I sure as hell don't. The amount of injuries our young players get, test cricket is really anyone's gig over the next decade.

Marsh down the track I think will be the eventual replacement for Watson in say 3 years time. He is a better batsman than Faulkner, better bowler than Henriques and less of a hothead than Maxwell. Glenn will probably be the all rounder for a couple of years once Watson drops out some time next year I would say. But I can see Marsh averaging around 38-40 with the bat and under 30 with the ball in FC cricket. Whiteman has age on his side and keeping skills to see him be the replacement for Haddin after the world cup. For me, Whiteman should be the one day keeper now, and leave Haddin to tests. That should have happened a year or two ago. Maybe not with Whiteman then, but Hartley or Paine. If the selectors have any brains, Wade should have played his last game for Australia. When Clarke retires in a few years, the test team might look something like Warner, Hughes, Silk, Lynn, Smith, Maxwell, Whiteman, Marsh, Starc, Pattinson, Lyon. 12th Man-Faulkner

This is why I think Mitch Marsh doesn't have a future in the test team (except maybe to replace an injured Maxwell). Maxwell could well be in the top 6 batsmen in the country in the future (with Watson out and Smith staying at 5 or moving to 3). His spinners will then just be seen as a bonus. I don't think Henriques will ever be near the top 6 and I think he'll never be in the test team again (barring injuries to Maxwell and Faulkner). With Maxwell there as basically a specialist batsman that bowls, Faulkner could be a genuine all rounder at 8 in place of a third seamer. He's really going to have to become the third best seamer in the country though for this spot or you're obviously hurting your bowling. Do you see Faulk and Maxie both in the test team in the future? I hope Faulkner's not just a limited overs specialist. He's too good in the Shield; it'd be a waste of talent.

Can you fit both Maxwell and Mitch Mash in the team? I don't see how. Where do they bat and where does the keeper bat? Neither is close to the top 4 bowlers in the country, and you can't have both in the top 6.