Give em both Gene. Not saying that every year the Coleman = Brownlow but Franklin’s 2008 season he kicked 100 goals and his team had the 2nd best record in the league and you would be crazy to say he wasn’t the best player in the league or the #1 name on the scouting report. Adam Cooney was the eventual winner but he finished #5 in disposals and didn’t get the same attention Franklin did

A great read this is Steve. Haven’t read much of your stuff before but its nice to read cricket from someone who crunches the stats too.

– I really disagree with you about R.Sharma getting a mention. Yes he made some runs but those were made on a pitch catered for Tendulkar’s farewell. That pitch was as flat as a pre teen girl. Would only give him props for his 72.
– M.Vijay was dropped from the side. I can’t see how you can have him in the side considering he couldn’t make the national side. Bit like Agar at the 1st Ashes Test
– Agree with you on S.Smith’s rise. Its been amazing. Before this year he was our cult figure joke and now he’s one of our best bats in the side. What I love more is Jadeja’s rise with him with both killing the critics and stripping themselves of the joke status that fans have cruelly given them

– My World XI side would be: D.Warner (AUS), C.Rogers (AUS), K.Sangakkara (SL), R.Taylor (NZ), AB De Villiers(SA), S.Smith (AUS), C.Anderson (NZ), M.Johnson (AUS), T.Southee (NZ), R.Harris (AUS), R.Herath (SL) 12th: T.Boult (NZ)

– Warner a certainty but Rogers deserves a spot over Smith who was my other candidate. No other opener has been consistently steady as these two (refer to Vijay point)
– Middle order picks itself. Monimul Haque and BMac very stiff to miss but I wanted to go for a good blend of attack and defence so Misbah was my next in line for a batting spot (77 with the bat). But any of those 3 could have walked into my side
– Corey Anderson is a weird selection and I do get it but I want an all rounder. Gives me the extra quick and batting cover at 7. He averaged over with bat and ball which satisfies my all rounder prerequisite. Considered Ben Stokes for this role but he only played 3 Tests although played them superbly.
– Fast bowlers also pick themselves. Rreally wanted to go with Boult – his figures have been ridiculous (48 @ 21 and 47 SR). Shows the brilliance of the rest of the quicks. Stuey Broad also stiff to miss but he might get my team into some media trouble for not walking 😉
– Herath as my spinner is debatable but not many options elsewhere. Ajmal has been off this year (by his lofty standards) and Lyon is too limp and doesn’t attack enough. Shillingford has good stats but leaks runs and not sure about his action too

Great stuff as usual Tim – good luck to your Hawks for back-to-back considering the pain you’ve been suffering through your Villa boys!

1) I wouldn’t say the umpiring has been atrocious but the lack of consistency with the MRP is the one that gets me. I remember Shaun McKernan getting two weeks for an awful challenge on Brad Sheppard while Ziebell got three for a fair hit. Sub rule also needs to go. Players have been pretty vocal on getting rid of it

2) Tough to pick a challenger to the Big 3. I like your picks of North and West Coast – I think it will be North if they get over their late game yips but never count out the Magpies. Starts all over the park and the inclusion of Jesse White adds a different dimension to their side

6) Can’t agree with you more. Franklin should have gotten one when he kicked 100 goals (bar suspension). If you kicked the most goals and had one of the best records through the regular season – can’t understand why you’re not the best. Lack of quality key position players will render this argument useless this year though.

I’m a big fantasy sports buff and had in my squad and he ripped it up in the 2nd half of the year. So underrated he didn’t even feature in the Top 10 of the Brownlow! Stevie J as well if he can stay out of trouble is always a smokie for the Charlie. Wanted to put Naitanui in there as a ruck representative but struggled too as its a midfielders game. Couple of youngsters in Hannerberry and Rockliff who should feature in coming years

I think he could be the next Test keeper especially if he improves both batting and keeping. Playing him at 6 and Faulkner at 7 will allow more flexbility in the side

Wrote this squad before Muirhead turned gold! Would definitely have in there in replace of one of the quicks

Good selection in Bird. I had in my preliminary squad but I’m not sure he has enough pace to trouble batsmen. If things go astray he has nothing to rely on except line and length

Wrong selection of from the Brown and Gold Tim! I would have Mitchell in there for sure especially with his transition into the back line. Hodge as well one of the most inspirational players in my era. I wouldn’t go for Roughy – think he had one good year where Clarko knew Buddy was leaving and I wouldn’t have Birchall in my Top 20

My List:
Ablett
Pendlebury
Selwood
Franklin
Dangerfield
Cotchin
Stevie J
Fyfe
Griffen
Mitchell

Not a bad squad Brendan but I would go for an extra quick considering Maxwell can bowl. Boyce isn’t a favourite of mine in the shorter formats. A big fan of him in the longer format but he’s very limited and his love of tossing the ball up gets punished. I would rather have someone like a Christian or a M.Marsh instead of Cutting. His bowling is just too one-dimensional and his batting isn’t significantly better than the other two.

And no Shane Watson?

With you on that one Santosh. The Thunder lack explosive batsmen in their line-up who would do well with Khawaja as their foil at the top of the order. His strike rate is only about 100 or thereabouts but he rotates the strike well but usually ends up running out of partners

Can’t disagree much with your squad Brian. Stay tuned for Part 2 of the article where I name my squad 🙂

Agreed on Hoggy. Has an infectious attitude that would be great in any dressing room or work place. not bad for a former Postie!

I do agree with that especially if Aus play Watson and Faulkner, it gives them flexibility to play more spinners but simply I don’t think Australia have enough skilled spinners to put out. Either Hogg/Lyon and Maxwell as a part-timer is more than enough.

I’m a firm believer to playing to your strengths. Australia’s strength is pace and as much as spinners are advantaged in the subcontinent , if their spinners are good enough I wouldn’t play them

Being a university student, the summer break allows me to kick back and watch all sorts of cricket including the Big Bash. I’m much more of a Test fan but it hurts me to say watching the T20 has been quite fun and a tasty dessert to the appetizing main course that was the Ashes

In terms of Cutting I felt he has been sub-par this year and has been devastating with the bat only with a couple of brilliant late cameos. With the ball he is far too one-dimensional and not the weapon we are accustomed to seeing in Shield cricket. Mitch Marsh for me needed to play up the order instead of coming in late. His bowling has been solid but the array of world-class all-rounders at the Australian’s disposal will count against him

Not supporting Siddle’s inclusion here just defending his role in the team. He’s used to control games and build pressure instead of being the go-to guy but I find Siddle always breaks partnerships when there is a lull in the game after a big partnership. I prefer Bird in my attack and play MJ as a first change bowler. Pattinson’s inclusion will just give the attack too much volatility with him and MJ being impact bowlers who can go for runs. At least with a Siddle/Bird they are able to control one end and as aussie1st said Harris has quality control in his bowling

I disagree although I rate Pattinson very highly. To have him plus Harris and MJ is way too attacking and no one will heap pressure on the batsmen if those two are having off days, The 2nd and 3rd last lines of your article is extremely incorrect. Siddle bowls a constant line and length which dries up the scoring and places a ton of pressure which results in rash shots from the batsmen as we saw plenty of times this Ashes series in Bell, KP and Prior

If anyone should make way for Siddle I’m liking Jackson Bird. A very good bowler with the new ball and we must remember the South African batting isn’t as brittle as the English. All SA batsmen are not only capable of scoring big but they also score quickly. Bird will dry up runs leaving MJ and Harris to attack from the other end.

Pattinson, Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood will one day form a great pace quartet but now is not the time

Yep I did but I think they’re still reviewing it. Only submitted it in the very early hours of this morning

Rehman I haven’t seen a lot of but Ojha is quite a player and would be on 50 Test caps if he played for Super Kings in the IPL. No idea why he doesn’t play for the national side!

Yeah I used to play for Hussey’s club Wanneroo but recently moved to play for Fremantle in the Districts competition with our newest ‘Test superstar’ Shaun Marsh. Bedi a real idol for my game. Herath is doing quite well in terms of lefties in the current game

I recently just posted an article regarding the T20 World Cup – hope you get a read of that!

No one else exactly knocking down the door mate and his keeping has improved nicely in last years Shield games if you watched them. Paine has been shocking in Shield. Hartley will never get a look-in. Only possible call-up would be Peter Nevill

Hey Tim – another great article showing some brilliant insights

Would have to agree with Border at #1. He laid the foundations of what is now the ‘Australian way’ of playing cricket with that fearlessness and never-say-die attitude to the game. Its such a shame for us younger generations not to be able to watch the greats as we go through a transitional phase in the game that currently lacks an array of legends that was present in the last decade.

Also very glad to see your love for Laxman still alive since back in the old Cricketainment days!

My Top 5:
1) Rahul Dravid
2) Allan Border
3) Bishan Bedi
4) Mike Hussey
5) Younis Khan

Haddin shouldn’t have much left in him. Get Wade to bat 6 and Faulkner at 7

Don’t you remember his 80-odd batting with Agar? That was his only start at #6 and seems lencouraging

I think the push for Doolan for the 5th Test was due to Bailey’s shaky tenure in the batting order. If it was Warner or Rogers struggling I think Hughes would have been in the squad instead.

Looking forward to the Tour in South Africa, Hughes should make the squad of 15 if they decide to take 2 spare batsmen. Was looking forward to Hughes returning to the top for Rogers before the MCG Test but Rogers to his credit should at least see out another calendar year. The second leg of the Sheffield Shield needs to be a productive one for Hughes leading up to the Tour and lets hope he’s not overtaken by some other new project CA tries to develop. He played well in the winter Ashes but was used as the glue to bind the batting order together after letting others play in their favourite spots. He deserves another go. A huge talent

Contenders: List A Stats
Steve O’Keefe – Average: 66.57, Economy: 4.93, Strike Rate: 80.8
Nathan Lyon – 37.55, 4.73, 47.5
Xavier Doherty – 32.98, 4.67, 42.3

Steve O’Keefe is far and away the least likely to take the spinners spot. His numbers are woeful and he has the added factor of being not the selectors’ cup of tea. Realistically the options are between Lyon and Doherty. My preference goes with Doherty when playing at home and looking towards the World Cup. The pitches will not assist spin much at home and as impotent as Doherty is he is incredibly economical which is the ideal role of the spinner when you have venomous fast bowlers at the other end on assisted pitches. I do understand the discussion about Lyon but as we saw in India, he will revert to being defensive (or being Doherty) once he gets smacked around rendering his wicket-taking abilities moot.

Looking towards the future there are some great spinners worth taking a look at. Adam Zampa has been dangerous since his move to South Australia and Cameron Boyce who is a favourite of mine. Boyce has improved dramatically in Shield cricket this year and looks good as a young Test option