I went camping with my son during the India series this year. There was no radio coverage on the Friday because of other weekday radio commitments.

I was stoked to find that the ABC was covering it on the Saturday. This was the afternoon Australia was primed to win their first match in India in 7 million years.

We had dinner. Got the fire on. Esky was full.

It got to about 7pm. Game was going great. Announcer then says “Our NSW listeners will be leaving us now for the Super 15s Rugby. I have never been so heartbroken in my entire life.

On the drive home on the Sunday, after the Aussies had won the historic match, Karen Tighe was on the ABC radio asking people to call in with stories about where they were when iconic sporting moments happened.

I was driving so I couldn’t call in, but I would have happily called in and told her where I was for the iconic 2017 test win in India. I was sitting beside a campfire NOT LISTENING TO THE BLOODY CRICKET.

Might have to resort to:

a) Coin toss,
b) Arm wrestle, or
c) Cage fight

to decide the No 6 spot.

Or I suppose they could use the Sheffield Shield. Much less interesting though.

Explaining/replying/logical/sensible/knowledgeable/consistent/etc/etc/etc.

Who are you counting as the non-batsman?

Cartwright averaged over 50 in the shield last season and Maxwell scored a century in India this year.

This year has been fascinating. Watching (well….not watching…..see below) Australia play two test series on the sub-continent has been great.

Rather than being negative like some on this site are, I’m really enjoying seeing how each batter takes on the challenge and seeing who can adapt their game. I actually feel with some of these guys we might have a chance of being competitive on the sub continent in years to come. Some prep with a lead up game might help.

I don’t have any form of pay TV which is annoying. Watching a computer page that updates the score every minute or so is frustrating but better than nothing.

The XI

Warner
Renshaw
Khawaja
Smith
Handscomb
Cartwright (I like Maxwell and won’t complain if he’s picked)
Wade (Last chance in Aussie conditions then out if he fails)
Starc
Cummins
Lyon
Hazlewood

Wicketkeeper is doing my head in. Nevill never scored runs in tests, but when was the last time Wade did either. Carey is untested at test level. Whatever will be will be.

As for quicks, if all healthy, I’d have to say Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood.

Starc and Cummins are different versions of good speed with occasional menace. Hazlewood is that deadeye, good line, McGrath-type bowler that’s so effective in Australia.

Nice to have Pattinson waiting in the wings.

There’s plenty of steam for Sayers. I’m not anti. We all have our favourites I guess. I just can’t leave out one of the above three for Sayers. I won’t whinge if it were to happen though.

Starc, Cummins and Pattinson are very good tail end batters too. People are much too keen to conjour up an all-rounder. They are not all-rounders, but you always think they’re a good chance of a quick 50 to change a 400 into a 450 in the blink of an eye.

Hazlewood can’t bat for shite, but he can sometimes hang around for a 90 minute 5 runs to support someone else.

What is this even about?

My dead grandmother knows they will not pick this team for Brisbane.

And do you really, honestly think we will get pumped in Brisbane. 3-4 healthy fast bowlers and a top order full of guys who thrive on Australian pitches.

This drives me mental. Diminishing a good innings because of a dropped catch or missed stumping.

I’d hazard a guess if you went through the various innings of Bradman, Tendulkar, Ponting etc you’d find more than a few missed chances.

Do we go back and recalculate the Don’s average every time we can theoretically end one of his innings with a missed chance?

That’s two comments that sound a touch elitist.

“Warner and Wade, the lower class contingent of the XI” and “belongs with the common T20 stock”.

Got a little case of the private schools have we?

Really???

Smith hasn’t had a good knock in ages?

Do you watch much cricket? He got centuries in his last two test matches and has three centuries in his last four test matches in India this year.

Sure that was in March, but that’s the last test match Australia played.

If you’re going to count short form games as a reference point for this test, maybe you shouldn’t be here, but in any case his last two ODIs were 56 and 22 and his last two T20Is were 61* and 2.

I think he’s doing ok.

Really???

Smith hasn’t had a good knock in ages?

Do you watch much cricket? He got centuries in his last two test matches and has three centuries in his last four test matches in India this year.

Sure that was in March, but that’s the last test match Australia played.

If you’re going to count short form games as a reference point for this test, maybe you shouldn’t be here, but in any case his last two ODIs were 56 and 22 and his last two T20Is were 61* and 2.

I think he’s doing ok.

This is a good point. In Australia’s glory days, they were so dominant that they would often only be chasing 100 in the second innings. So an opening batter or number 3 could have a high number of not-outs. I’m not bothering to check stats on this, just agreeing that multiple factors could affect 2nd innings averages.

I respect the players for holding strong. I am in a union and if we decide the actions of our employer are unfair we will take industrial action.

One of the strong themes of this article is that you lose the right to defend your position when you get paid more than a certain amount. Who decides that amount? You in this article obviously, but people can look at any industry taking action against an employer and have a whinge if those people make more money than them.

There are two main things with any industrial dispute.

1. Once you give something up, you will never, ever get it back.

2. If you give up without a fight on one issue, your employer will gain strength in all future disputes. If they know you will capitulate when things get tough, they will be prepared to wear you down. If you stand strong on every issue, your employer will think twice about trying to pull a swifty on you in future.

This will in no way diminish my love of cricket.

I agree re Handscomb and Khawaja.

Sacrificing our best batters for guys who might be able to unleash means you might get the occasional 400+, but your team will average well below 300.

Winning any game of cricket means scoring enough runs and taking enough wickets. When you pick your best batters and bowlers you will do that more often than not. When you pick a team stacked with bashers and half-baked all-rounders, you will usually not.

Starc said as much this week.

“For us it’s to get that win to get through to that next stage … but also to find some little weak points in some of their players going in to the summer as well.”

Bahahahaha.

I’m not always a qwetzen fan, but that’s a pretty comprehensive shutdown.

And I think one of the best arguments for NOT making Handscomb the keeper is that he doesn’t want it. If he thought he could be the best keeper and still a good batsman he’d jump at the chance but he is not keen. What we don’t need is to have a substandard keeper and, at the same time, cause one of our most promising batsman to suddenly score less runs.

I’m a fan of Warner and I believe the Australian team is better with him in it. I also believe the statistical sample is still very low. Two or three good scores and suddenly Warner’s average in India gets better very quickly.

However, I was very disappointed in this tour for Warner. Renshaw, Maxwell and Hanscomb made the effort to modify their game to suit the conditions, as did players like Hayden in the past. Warner, on the other hand, specifically stated that he can only ‘play his natural game’. No David. Your natural game isn’t working in these conditions. You need to change what you’re doing because it’s not working.

Renshaw and Hanscomb may have only just outscored Warner in this series, but they did so with a specific intention of trying to work out conditions and adjust to do what needs to be done. If they follow this mantra they will improve over time. If Warner keeps up with the idea that he can only do one thing and can’t change it, then I don’t see where the improvement is going to come from.

I’m happy for him to stay in the team because he is one of our best batsmen, but while there is a saying ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, there must also be an equal and opposite saying ‘If it is broke, for god’s sake do something to fix it’.

Wow that’s a negative way to look at it.

Two things I’d say:

1. Where you say a loss would be bad for morale against the Poms, wouldn’t a win be great for morale next time we play in sub-continental conditions, given that we haven’t won over there since Jesus was an apprentice?

2. We are always lamenting that we are crap against spin because we rarely have to confront those conditions. Why would you deliberately avoid another chance for Renshaw, Hanscomb, etc to get onto a dry wicket and test themselves?

I would have agreed with this article before this series. I’m a fan of Warner and I believe the Australian team is better with him in it. I also believe the statistical sample is still very low. Two or three good scores and suddenly Warner’s average in India gets better very quickly.

However, where I believe the article is wrong and where I was very disappointed in this tour for Warner was your question of why Renshaw and Hanscomb are cut more slack and why we believe they can improve and Warner can’t.

Renshaw and Hanscomb made the effort t to modify their game to suit the conditions, as did players like Hayden in the past. Warner, on the other hand, specifically stated that he can only ‘play his natural game’. No David. Your natural game isn’t working in these conditions. You need to change what you’re doing because it’s not working.

So Renshaw and Hanscomb may have only just outscored Warner in this series, but they did so with a specific intention of trying to work out conditions and adjust to do what needs to be done. If they follow this mantra they will improve over time. If Warner keeps up with the idea that he can only do one thing and can’t change it, then I don’t see where the improvement is going to come from.

I experienced the lack of coverage in the worst possible way.

I was camping with my son during the first test. While driving there on the Friday I could get coverage on ABC Extra, streaming online. No reception at the campground so resigned myself to no cricket.

Went for a drive Saturday afternoon to joyfully discover they were broadcasting on regular ABC radio. Happily settled in for an evening with the cricket until at about 6.30, when Australia was looking a very good chance to win the match, the announcer says “Our analogue listeners will be leaving us now for the Super 15 rugby”. I have never been so disappointed in my entire life.

Driving home on the Sunday listening to Grandstand, Karen Tighe was talking about the memorable win and asking people to text in with stories about where they were when iconic sporting moments happened.

Well Karen, I can tell you exactly where I was when Australia won an historic test match in Pune in 2017. I was sitting in front of a campfire, angrily drinking beer, NOT LISTENING TO THE BLOODY CRICKET.

Please stop your inconsistent use of statistics.

When listing the scores for Shaun Marsh you had to discredit his 66 with a (dropped on 14), but when you say Steve Smith was the third visiting captain to score two centuries on an Indian tour you didn’t feel the need to mention all the times he was dropped in Pune.

For the record I agree with you on Khawaja, but for god’s sake write an unbiased article for once. If getting dropped early in an innings means it wasn’t a good innings, then apply that rule to everyone.

This article is ridiculous for many reasons.

1. So Shaun Marsh was picked for “having good history on the sub-continent” and he failed here. You know who else has a good history on the sub-continent – Virat Kholi – and the rest of the Indian team. They all failed.

2. Mitch Marsh wasn’t bowled. Many people believed that in India we should play to our strengths – pace – instead of rely on average spinners. After the early success of Starc and Hazlewood on day 2, and O’Keefe being 0-30, you might have thought that logic was correct. Who would have expected O’Keefe and Lyon to suddenly cut loose, thereby rendering Mitch Marsh obsolete.

3. Mitch Marsh failed at No 6. Out of 44 individual innings, his 31 was the 6th highest, and his time at the crease was vital to help Smith get a hundred.

4. What does this mean for the Ashes? It couldn’t possibly mean any less.
*Australia didn’t play against England at Pune.
*The England series was a few months ago.
*The Ashes won’t be played in Pune.
*England didn’t play at Pune in their test series.
*England played an ODI at Pune and scored 350, narrowly losing.

Hang on.

Kohli is a spoiled private school kid and Warner has no class or pedigree.

Your window of what’s an acceptable social background is very tight.

Really??

Are we back in the English private school days of team selection? “He can’t play cricket to save his life but his father is a lovely chap….”. Is that how you want the team selected?

I’m not saying I love Warner’s personality, but I’d rather we pick blokes who will win a cricket match.

The bloke averages nearly 60 at home and nearly 40 away. I’ll take that thanks. For all those who say he’s a flat track bully, he’s averaging 60 on Australian pitches in test matches when Shield players aren’t averaging 60 in state cricket. If you’d rather replace him with one of them, I’m not sure where your head is at.

His test average in India is almost 25. That’s not great but 4 test matches is not a great statistical sample. I’ll wager if he plays this tour and the next one in a few years his average in India will be a lot better than 25.

It’s both sad and frightening that you had to (very correctly) use the words “the most outrageous decision I’ve seen the selectors make for some weeks”.

The fact that we can only go a few weeks between selection debacles is very demoralising.