These issues are not necessarily brought on by adversity, so resilience isn’t really relevant here.

The first time Pucovski raised this issue, he was on 64 overnight on his way to a double century.

It wasn’t brought on by a form slump. He was in form, and said to his coach “This is how I feel. I don’t feel right. I can’t explain it and I don’t know why, but this is how it is.”

I quite like Khawaja, but I’m not sure he’d be performing any better as an opener in this series.

While it’s true that his statistically small record at opener is phenomenal, let’s look at how this series has played out for him.

In two innings at Edgbaston, he came to the crease at the end of the fourth over and the start of the fourth over.

At Lords, he came in mid fifth over and mid fourth.

At Headingly, start of the fourth and mid second.

So I don’t really see how opening the batting would have changed a lot for him. In every innings so far, the opening bowlers would still have only bowled 1-3 overs. They wouldn’t even be sweating yet, let alone tiring.

I watched through to about 250 for Aus. It’s interesting seeing a different perspective. A colleague told me her husband woke up to see the score and groaned with a For F’s Sake. I told her if he’d seen it from the other side, watching it all the way through, he’d have been ecstatic with 284.

Maybe with a prudent investment in two fake beards the NSW side can field two unheralded debutants for the remaining games – Stan Smith and Darren Warner.

Since the SA incident, Australia has reminded me of Rocky being made to fight right handed in Rocky II.

All year we fought right handed.

First India test we fought right handed.

First 3 days of the second test we fought right handed.

Day 4 – Paine says ‘Ok, go back to southpaw’.

Yo Adrian. We did it.

I just flew in from the Moon, and boy are my arms tired.

Rock, what’s the first thing you think about when you think of Greg Chappell? I reckon the career of a great batsman is now overshadowed by the underarm incident.

Yeah sorry mate. Nobody’s with you on this one. If you are a cricket fan, you are well aware this series is almost upon us. If you are a casual sports fan, you will never take an interest in an away series where you have to make adjustments for time zones and such.

My iPhone weather app still has Ranchi and Chittagong screens left over from last year.

One could argue that the 24 hours the lost The Ashes happened in Bristol a few months back. Not that Stokes the cricketer would necessarily have been the difference, but the collective negativity from press, pundits and players after Stokes was ruled out must have made an impact.

Yep. If rugby league (and any football code for that matter) is anything to go by, as long as you couch it in terms of “It’s best for him to be in the structured environment of the team…..” then it all seems ok.

Matt Lodge terrorised two women before assaulting a man who tried to help them, terrifying his family and wrecking his house. He’s back not two years later.

And lets not forget, David Warner took a swing at Joe Root in a bar on an Ashes tour. He returned to play later in that series.

Hard to deny Maxwell has had his issues. However, in terms of calling him a specialist batter, his FC average is higher than both Marshes, Handscomb, Patterson, Bailey and Stoinis. Cartwright has a slightly higher average. Leamann is close in averages but his 17/18 FC results have not been that of a man in form.

I know stats don’t mean everything. Maxwell is also coming off a very mature century in India and some very good Sheffield Shield scores this summer. I think he’s moved past the flighty stuff in red ball cricket.

And I did point out that Maxwell’s bowling isn’t great, but M Marsh has not looked like taking a wicket this summer. His only bowling purpose has been to kill time while the fast bowlers have a breather. He will probably get better as his shoulder improves, but that will probably not be before the SA tour.

To be fair I did leave the door open for other bowlers depending on what is needed.

My point is they should be specialists. Pick who you want as a backup batter or bowler ahead of Maxwell or Bird. It doesn’t affect the point of the article as long as they are a proper first class red ball batter or bowler.

Simple question – if Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Josh Hazelwood or Pat Cummins went down, would you happily pick Stoinis to replace them?

Given that the point of the article was that people are already discussing the touring squad for the SA series, I’d suggest people do care, quite a lot.

Fans and commentators alike are already starting to list their preferred 11 or 15. That’s what prompted the article.

I agree that getting a chance to experience touring, particularly in a completely alien environment like the sub-continent, could be valuable.

Living out of a suitcase. Moving between plane, hotel, bus, cricket ground while also watching what you eat/drink is a lot to take in without having to try and hit a century against a rampaging Indian attack as well.

It must be a little demoralising though. After your excitement at being selected to tour with the Australian team, to be overlooked for a bloke they have to fly in after he was originally deemed not good enough to tour in the first place must be devastating.

You’re targeting the wrong villain here. Barring an overblown emphasis on some mythical need to sledge opponents to death, there is nothing wrong with The Ashes or Test Cricket in general.

The major difference in this series was the gulf in ability of the two teams. That is no fault of The Ashes. It’s simply part of the cycle of any nation based sport. Teams like Man U, or The Patriots or even The Storm stock their roster by buying the best players, so they can be expected to maintain a strong roster. A country, however, can only pick their team from who is available, and at the moment England has a drought. They will find their fast bowlers. They’ll find their spinner. They’ll find some batters. The Ashes you are pining for, maybe the Bradman days or perhaps the 70’s days of flowing hair, sideburns and evenly matched contests, were simply a product of both teams synchronising their strong rosters. Both teams had good fast bowlers and strong batters. In time that will happen again. This Aussie team has the makings of a good side for some years to come if they all stay fit, so if England can find some players in a year or two we will have some good contests coming soon.

The other main symptom, again not the fault of The Ashes or Test Cricket, is the unfortunate drive for efficiency, economy and automation in pitch preparation. In days gone by the pitches in Australia all had their unique characteristics and were much less predicable. They were much more ‘human’ in their preparation and they were what they were. Our batters played on pitches where the ball would move a bit more unpredictably, so when we went to England the conditions were not so alien. Now the pitches are, for reasons of automation and the desire for crowd pleasing runfests and maximum gate attendances, less lively and more predictable. You can’t blame that on The Ashes.

And please don’t forget, the last Ashes series in England was very much a contest. The series scoreline proceeded through: 1-0, 1-1, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2. That’s surely not bad for a hard fought contest.

I’m not here to argue whether they should pick Handscomb, Marsh or Maxwell. Without a crystal ball we don’t know whether any of them will get 100 or 0 in Perth.

I’m genuinely curious though, and I don’t have the time to research it, what was M Marsh’s state form like when he’s been picked for Australia previously?

The two obvious arguments being thrown around are that he is in good batting form at the moment (true) and that he has failed to step up at test level (also true).

So when he has stepped into the national team in the past, was it on the back of strong Shield batting form? If that’s the case, it supports the argument that he fails to step up. If, however, he was picked on the strength of being a better bowling option than the others and could get ‘handy runs’, then the current batting form may indicate that he has improved.

If he was averaging in the 40s before being picked in the past and never transferred that to the test arena then it seems that his current good form is irrelevant.

Good point. Compare the number of times you lose a test match because a front line bowler breaks down with an injury compared to the consistent damage caused by a number 6 who averages 21.

My dream is that Curious George will learn to comment based on the article in question, not repeat his four (largely incorrect) regular points that:

* Maxwell is an automatic selection because he is mates with Smith (neither of which are correct).
* Wade will continue to be selected (ok this one has been alarmingly correct but hopefully not for much longer).
* Smith is a snowflake. I’m not even sure exactly what he means by this. I haven’t noticed Smith displaying any weakness under duress as yet.
* Warner is a slogger and nothing else (while neglecting to mention his 50 average).

I’m pretty sure Curious George could read an article about Santa Claus and still somehow make a comment about Maxwell, Wade and Smith.

I’d agree Smith is a big fan of Wade, but I can’t see that Maxwell is in Smith’s pocket.

Smith fined him last year for his comments about Wade when he wasn’t really obliged to issue any punishment. Plus Smith almost never bowls him, even when he’s been named specifically as an all-rounder and is playing in India.

What exactly is it about Cartwright’s 50 average that makes him not a pure batsman?

The fact that he bowls as well doesn’t make him an all-rounder. It makes him a batsman who can bowl a bit.

I’m loathe to use the dreaded A word (all-rounder) because it’s been used so much in recent years it’s lost all genuine meaning. However, that could be a way for him to get into the team on a permanent basis.

Pattinson is not an all-rounder at this point in time, and it would certainly be disrespectful to Kallis, Hadlee, Imran, Botham et al to call him one. His overall first class average is nowhere near what you would call an all-rounder but his batting has vastly improved in recent years. He averaged 35 in the shield last season and 50 in county cricket (albeit division 2).

All I’m saying is that if Mitchell Marsh’s name is ever spoken out loud at a selection meeting again, I hope someone points to a picture of Pattinson. If one of them is going in to bat with Australia 5 or 6 wickets down, I know who I’m more confident will deliver a positive outcome. And his bowling would be a good step up from M Marsh as well.

More batting and less bowling might prolong his body a bit too. Although I’m aware this is treading terribly close to Watson territory here. Still a trigger for most of us.

Not sure how Pattinson feels about doing homework on tour.

Wow. Mega positive.

Lyon and Cummins are bowling very well. Lyon is 3/14 so far in this innings.

Worst team ever? Based on what? Losing in foreign conditions? It’s not uncommon. India flog us at home and then struggle over here. England beat us over there and then don’t do well here. Bangladesh are not the easybeats they once were.

With Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon all fit, this would be on par with most attacks. Most of our top order are averaging well over 40. Smith averages about a million.

Surely they can’t do that. They want to foster a team who can do well in these conditions. The only way to do that is to actually let guys play in these conditions.

You don’t learn to ride a bike by riding a horse. Sure, you’ll fall off the bike a few times, but then you work it out.

They could, based on bowling style.

Neither of them are considered to be genuine all-rounders. At best they will chip in a few overs to mix it up or give the bowlers a rest.

If they consider the batting ability to be much the same with both, they could pick Cartwright if they value his medium pace over an extra spinner.

I’d actually be happy either way. I believe they will both do a job in Aussie conditions.

Can’t judge Cartwright on one innings.

You know The Ashes aren’t next week right?

Two and a half months gives a decent recovery time for Starc, Hazlewood and Pattinson. Obviously anything can happen in that time, but nobody is ruled out yet.

I feel like I’m feeding a troll here, but the Ashes are nearly 3 months away. I’m confident one or both of Starc/Hazlewood will be fine.

In any case, there’s a slight chance on fast Australian pitches that they selectors might opt for, geez I don’t know, Sayers, Bird, Behrendorff, or any one of the other fast bowlers on offer before going for an all-out spin attack.