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Joined January 2013
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Lyon will be 36 before the next Australian test. There are no test matches for Australia in the subcontinent in the next year. Succession planning means Murphy at least needs to play the Sydney test IMO, if not a couple more just to give him gentle experience in Australian conditions before Lyon retires or starts getting injured regularly.
Run out drama erupts as controversial Smith escape, Murphy cameo earns Aussies unlikely lead
So, after losing 4 out of 5 tosses, Australia “won” 3 out of 5 first innings and got more than 260 every time. For all our batting “woes”, that’s a very good result for an away Ashes series that might even give us grounds for claiming a moral series victory… 😛
Run out drama erupts as controversial Smith escape, Murphy cameo earns Aussies unlikely lead
Yep, they can’t leave Marsh out because of the batting form he’s in, but he looks partly injured and therefore unlikely to take much of the bowling load off a tired main pace trio, so we need Green in the team. One of Hoff, Starc and Cummins needs to be left out to get some freshness in, but Boland has looked unthreatening, so Hoff (who took wickets but looked bad in Manchester) should probably be dropped for Neser. The only way of making this all work is, to my mind, Khawaja-Green-Labuschagne-Smith-Head-Marsh-Carey-Neser-Starc-Cummins-Murphy. That offers variety and batting depth. Of course, it will never happen though because of the conservatism, “loyalty” and playing of favourites that we know all too well…
Ashes Fifth Test teams: Better late than Neser, Murphy in the mix, Warner looks safe again, Anderson under pressure
Sorry to get technical but, given how the MCC has stated the law on Twitter, the catch in this kind of situation is deemed made, according to the slightly different words of the actual law 33.3 “when a fielder obtains complete control over both the ball and his/her own movement”. That evidently is not the same as “when the player has ceased moving”, as some appear to have interpreted it, because you can’t have control over movement if you’re stationary. So now we need some more guidance from the MCC on the point in time one “obtains complete control over his/her own movement” while moving, which is ridiculously subjective of course.
'Biggest load of rubbish': Starc catch controversy fires up McGrath as Aussies on verge of victory after Lyon's heroic knock
Yep, people simply need to recognise that England will continue batting short-form style and that Starc is a much better short-form bowler than Boland. He also bats a bit better — though Boland was great as a NW in the second innings.
Ashes Second Test Teams: Starc pushing for recall ahead of Boland or Hazlewood, England facing dilemmas in key areas
To be fair to Green, he had no warning that one was going to turn that far and Carey also struggled against the amount of turn Moeen was getting on a pitch playing like a Day 5 wicket already. This pitch will be a slow, subcontinental Bunsen burner by the actual Day 4, so Australia, batting last, really needs a lead. Khawaja has brought his subcontinental game plan to the slow turner, can the others adapt batter when it’s turning even more and staying even lower in the second dig?
Uzzy's the man! Khawaja's finest ton keeps Aussies afloat, but advantage England after top-order failures
I’ll happily get this 🎾 ball rolling by noting your dangerously misleading and scientifically inaccurate statement “Omicron having no respect for whether people are vaccinated or not” as something that the editors should take note of before putting you into print.
In defence of Djokovic: Australians have never given Novak the respect he deserves
Not sure Flem, I reckon the selectors will pick Uzzie to open against the pink ball in Hobart and for the challenging overseas tours, particularly after his UAE opening heroics a few years ago. If Harris were five years younger maybe they’d persist with him instead of focusing on the here and now, but Harris turns 30 in July has now had 14 tests at an average of 25 and not got past 79 yet. Khawaja could easily be picked to do the tough opener’s job for which he has a good record for this year and then potentially be replaced next summer by Pucovski (if his sadly ongoing issues are resolved) or another young opener with strong Shield runs on the board who looks like a proper test match batsman.
FLEM’S VERDICT: A great ton but Usman will probably get dropped, and we have to stick by Green
Yes, I find it remarkable than in all this talk about the cupboard being bare for young batsmen, the most talented bat of the sub-28 group who isn’t already in the team (like Puc and Green) is not in either of Ronan’s Test or T20 elevens. McDermott is 26, clearly has talent to burn and finally seems to be displaying it consistently, including in FC matches this season.
Pattinson and Head in Australia's best XI for South Africa Tests
Why barely anyone here is talking about Jhye Richardson in this context is beyond me… He’s clearly good enough and ready, with different skills and style to the others — and younger!
The thing in common between Headingley and Brisbane was Nathan Lyon against a talented attacking batsman. He just doesn’t have the confidence or variety to be able to do it like he should on a wearing wicket against good batsmen playing their shots (probably why he’s never performed well in short-form either). It’s not the quicks’ job to do the business on the final day, so doesn’t really matter who they are.
Is Mitchell Starc lucky to still be playing Test cricket?
We’re all getting carried away thinking where we were at the end of Day 4 and not about why we were there (lifeless pitch from morning of Day 4 onwards) and where we could have expected to be on a slow SCG wicket when the fixtures were announced.
Even a week ago I would not have expected us to win the Sydney test on a pitch that didn’t suit our bowlers and with a group of batsmen who couldn’t make over 200. India may have exceeded pre-day five expectations on day five, but IMHO Australia exceeded pre-match expectations just to get in a position where they could have potentially won the game.
The 131-over rearguard that propelled this series into an instant classic
Exactly. Whoever scheduled a semi-final in Sydney in March without a reserve day probably deserves to lose the millions that Australia missing a chance at the final due to weather will cause.
Can the Aussies cover Ellyse Perry’s injury?
This, these good squads would have been even better had J Richardson been picked for the ODI and T20 squads and K Richardson only for the T20 one.
Maxwell and Marsh among four inclusions as Australia name South Africa tour squads
Looks like the poor quality of umpiring is the new normal and not just a high-pressure Ashes thing. Khawaja’s LBW against NSW was probably even worse, because it clearly struck him very high on a pitch where the ball was generally going over the stumps. One can’t help but feel sorry for the guy, such a talented batsman….
Usman Khawaja stunned after copping a shocker first ball
They’ve tried that, with only limited success. Ultimately nothing works in England, not even Erasmus. Australia are just not getting many LBWs given out this series, the slightest doubt and it’s given not (then HawkEye has it hitting), yet Broad is hitting left-handers from around the wicket (where there’s always some doubt) and consistently getting them given (then HawkEye has them just clipping or not even).
There’ll probably be more criticism of Paine for how he uses DRS again now, even though such criticism only ignores: (i) that a captain can only routinely cost his team runs with “bad” DRS calls if the umpire routinely gives demonstrably bad decisions against his team; and (ii) the umpire is the one who’s meant to be concentrating on whether it’s out or not, not the players and their captain. Ultimately, not too worried about the two bad decisions last night though, because we were never going to win this test anyway and have already retained the Ashes; nowhere near as painful to watch as the Lord’s decisions on Stokes (which would’ve turned the game in our favour) or the Edgbaston Stokes decision of course (which would’ve retained us the Ashes before we did). Fair play to England, our boys look mentally on the plane and have been punished accordingly on a good strip.
Flat Australia blunted by Denly and Stokes
To clarify, Spruce, I meant their career averages were over 50 throughout the time they were going through a lean trot; my research confirms the validity of my statement above. I’m not stupid enough to suggest that averaging 50 is a form slump, but can see how you misread it and am also on the angry pills over Warner’s selection, so have some sympathy for you.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
James, Khawaja is a clear alternative to Warner, with a decent test average, heap of first-class runs, better recent opening record and much better form.
In 1992, Mark Waugh was much younger than Warner is now (closer to Travis Head’s age, so could be persisted with as one for the future) and was, in terms of technique, vastly superior to Warner.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
Fair enough, but I reckon all of those three were averaging over 50 throughout their form slumps and/or not already 33 years old.
Hayden is the clear comparison, having been given an Oval test to get himself back into form, making a hundred and then dominating for a few more years afterwards to end his career with an average over 50. I’d be delighted if Warner can do that, but I don’t see it happening.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
If I can dare to speak for the brigade of Roarers who thinks Warner should have been dropped: If Warner is going to get picked for a game in England against Broad after three ducks, looking terrible and averaging under 10 over four tests, then he’s a certainty to be picked for tests in Australia (where he averages about 25 higher than he averages overseas) and probably until he decides to retire. So he might as well finally deliver an innings of consequence, help us win the series and use the flatter Oval surface to get in some long-overdue form for some flat-track bullying against Pakistan and New Zealand.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
Spot on! So now we see that CA’s post-war Town ban on David Warner being captain did not extend to stripping him of the untouchable status previously only afforded to actual captains. Of all our test batsmen over many decades, I can only remember Taylor, G Chappell and Clarke being allowed a form slump as bad as Warner’s without being dropped.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
Or Joe Burns the same number of chances as David Warner…
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
So now they’re neither picking on recent scores and form (otherwise Khawaja and/or Head would have to play ahead of Warner and even Harris) or “for the future”, because they’re leaving in yesterday’s relatively old men like Warner and Wade ahead of a guy they were hoping could establish himself to become the next captain and an accomplished bat who could solve the opener problem for a few years (Khawaja). The only possible conclusion is that they’re just picking their favourites, which is, frankly, a disgrace.
Dropping Head for Marsh was a mistake
How Warner and even Harris can retain their places with Khawaja and Head on the bench is beyond me. At least the latter two played a couple of decent innings each and averaged well over 20 instead of under 12. All while Langer talks about picking on form, I just don’t get it.
How Siddle and Marsh could both play at the Oval
Poor old Khawaja. If he doesn’t get back into the side when all three incumbent openers are averaging under 12 (and he was averaging over 20 effectively opening anyway), then the people who count really mustn’t like him.
Fixing Australia's XI for the fifth Ashes Test
And potentially McSweeney, whom they clearly rate very highly.
'Best six batters in the country': Smith will open and Green returns as Bailey denies Bancroft rift over Sandpaper saga