A possible Test team for Sri Lanka

Time to give up on S Marsh. No matter how depleted we are it's just not worth carrying him anymore

OK I can live with that .... ..and yeah, the schedule needs to be completely revamped so that there are Shield games all summer...imho

I like your comments Anti Don, particularly regarding Head and Ferguson ! Head is an obvious talent but 4 times in a row - totally unacceptable ! M Marsh's recent batting record is 74 runs at 7.4 in his last 10 test innings. As a Callum Ferguson supporter, oh how I would have loved to have seen him have 10 test innings !

Yeah with Head I just think the fact he gave his wicket up so softly on 4 successive occasions that a line has to be drawn....and the line denotes that batsmen are not rewarded for such softness... but are punished... that it's just not good enough...if not just for Head's own learning curve as a Test batsman but as an example for everyone else.... we need to get some standards back into this test team and it starts with rewarding players at selection that deserve such reward and penalising those that have failed to keep up to the bare minimum standard required.

I am starting to understand why so much importance is placed on how our test players contribute in the dressing room and nets sessions. I remember those good old days when runs scored in the middle was the essential ingredient for top order batsmen. Now, Langer and company, recognise that their picks spend so little time in the middle batting, that would be totally unfair. Instead, focus on where they are for the vast majority of their time... the dressing room. I love that Aaron Finch, and others are hitting lots of balls in the nets. If only, they were hitting lots of balls in the middle instead of getting out early, due to significant technical errors. Move your feet, people! Until the selectors intend to pick players that deserve a test spot, this is all we should expect. Sadly, our major shortcomings are glossed over with comments like, "we were probably just 100 runs short in the first innings". Seriously, so barely reaching the follow-on mark would have solved the problem? I don't think so. "The boys are trying hard." I am certain they are. That however, doesn't fix the problem, which is that we have some batsmen in our top six that don't and have never deserved a test cap. Acknowledging that, accepting that is a big part of the solution and we can start moving forward. Even if we don't do it publicly, let our test selections acknowledge that recognition. Instead, we tread water, waiting for Steve Smith to be our saviour again. He might not be the same batsman when he returns. He isn't lighting up grade cricket and opposition players will have ammunition against him they never had before.

I don't get Siddle either.

Sean?

We need to have three selectors for the panel but the coach can't be one of them. I do like your panel but will CA?

Love watching S Marsh bat, but too many chances at 35 - give someone else a go Can we please have 1 selector & 1 coach responsible for the selection and performance of the test top 6. If Hick has spent half his time with bottom 7, he passes muster. The batsman seem to have their own coaches - and could possibly ignore Hick (see P Handscombe), however if 1 selector is responsible, the horribly muddled selection of batsmen - Renshaw dropped due to head knock, when fit, Finch and then Harris picked; Maxwell having batted every spot but open; Uzzi treatment for one dayers; Joe Burns parachuted into South Africa and replaced by Finch, Labuschnagne, Head and M Marsh etc If we are to continue with a panel, can a batsman chair? Preferred panel A Border, G Shipperd (responsible for batting), J Gillespie And the good bloke policy can go too - full-time batting, bowling, fielding and overseeing coach, physio and sports psych - surely one can make a connection to build rapport. The Libs all hate one another, but have more chance of winning than Aussie's;)

Because he is not Mitch or Sean Marsh

I'm with you Barry and Zac... although I wouldn't be giving Sean Marsh another crack...surely at he's done... I mean obviously, given his name is Marsh and Justin Langer is holding sway selection wise, he is definitely not actually done and he can expect to be packing his kit bag not only for the 'Gabba and Manuka but for the subsequent Ashes tour.... but okay, let's assume we are picking teams in a parallel universe that is free of selection bias, where 'good-bloke-ism' is not one of a test batsman's selection criteria and Marsh-cultists are not in positions of authority in Australian cricket, in that case, given it's a new series, let's look forward and not backwards and draw that line permanently this time under Smarsh who is I reiterate no spring chicken at 35 years old and not getting any sharper reflex wise... and I would bring in Maxwell, I dont think we losae much withg the bat and we gain someone who can bowl a few overs if needed and is Australia's premier fieldsman... The only other change I would make lads would be to to drop Travis Head. Now sure, it may seem harsh to drop Head... but I would do so as much on principle as on his stats (not that his stats demand inclusion mind you)....really more to lay down a marker for him and every other wannabe middle order Test batsman in this country... asserting that there is higher standard that must be applied for inclusion into our Test team...and that standard means that throwing one's wicket away so softly in 4 successive Test Innings after getting good starts... when Tests and series are on the line and are subsequently lost, is simply not good enough and cannot be tolerated...no matter who you are ...no matter who your dad is ...no matter who the coach is ...no matter how much 'potential' people claim you have ...no matter how good a bloke you are ...no matter what you have done in the BBL... if you want to bat in the middle order for Australia you need to apply yourself for longer then 45 minutes. If Head is good enough (and he seems to have the actual talent and I believe/hope he does) he'll be back in no time, better for the experience ...and more likely than not, putting a higher price on his wicket then what he has dished up so far. In his place it's a real lottery and I would actually reach out to Callum Ferguson and give him a second crack. Look I've never been a huge fan of CF personally, but given he has only ever been given 1 chance previously and was tragically run out in his first dig of his only test, dismissed cheaply in the second (along with the rest of the batsman) and was than axed and subsequently made 'persona non grata' is seems in terms of Test XI selection. I don't really care what his numbers are right now (Big Bash numbers totally irrelevant anyway), he has plenty of experience, has scored a load of shield and First Class run.... which makes him just as if not more deserving of the spot than anyone else current.y occupying it or being mooted to fill it. I mean if you are going to give Sean and Mitch Marsh 61 chances (and counting) collectively and still pick them than I think it's only fair that a guy that got 1 solitary chance previously, albeit against a world class South Effrikan attack on a track that wasn't a road and in conditions favouring swing and seam bowlers...is given a chance to better or at least 29.16 for the series... or 9.50 for the series even. Oh and I would think about swapping Khawaja and Renshaw..maybe open with Usman and Harris and bat Renshaw at 3....mainly to add some experience to the opening partnership and steady the top order at bit...but I could live with Harris and Renshaw opening ...anything is better than the current atrocity. So My top 6 would look like this: 1. Khawaja 2. Harris 3. Renshaw 4. Burns 5. Ferguson 6. Maxwell The rest of the XI pick themselves... and yeah I'd go for Siddle one last time as the back up medium pacer... experience, always put in and it will probably be his last hurrah....plenty of time for others being spoken of to take up that role once he's hung them up. All in all (apart from the Marsh/Head anomaly) nice work lads.

Siddle? Why?