I started a series of these last season, never got around to finishing it. Just a heads up (bit late now obviously), you’ve missed a fair few Australians. Hogan, Jim Allenby, Angus Robson, Wessels, Sam Hain, etc. Hope to see another one of these soon.

How did I forget Ryan Carters? Though if he’s stuck behind an in-form keeper in Neville, he may be more of a batting prospect than anything.

How did I forget Ryan Carters? Though if he’s stuck behind an in-form keeper in Neville, he may be more of a batting prospect than anything.

There’s plenty of good wicketkeeper-batsmen coming through the ranks. Unfortunately it’s so difficult to gauge their keeping skills due to the lack of Shield visibility, but if Langer says Whiteman is a decent keeper then that’s something.

I really like the look of Peter Handscomb as a batsman, but he’s dropped off the run-scoring exploits in recent times, as has Travis Head while Jimmy Pierson started off well in the ODDs but is stuck behind Chris Hartley.

A five-way battle for the gloves between Whiteman, Wade, Hartley, Peter Neville (who is in very good form) and Tim Paine for Haddin’s spot will probably depend on how long Haddin sticks around. If Haddin does play until the 2015 Ashes, hopefully Whiteman can step straight into the team, but if he finishes up earlier, it could be a much messier scrap.

Yeah, Harris is not there which explains it.

Opening the bowling for Queensland as we speak.

As someone (I think Brydon Coverdale) said on Cricinfo, the great risk with Johnson is allowing the pressure that Siddle and Harris build up so effectively to be released. Virtually every wicket we took in England was the result of well-executed plans. That said, well-executed plans are not enough for someone in sublime form (ergo, Ian Bell), and that’s where Johnson comes in. So basically, it’s a calculated risk – one we wouldn’t have to take if any one of Pattinson, Bird or (perhaps) Starc were fit. I agree that Cutting should be ahead of Johnson, but both of them should be behind Bird and Pattinson, it’s such a shame neither are fit.

The moment Holger took Tim Cahill off was the moment that I decided he was okay. Gutsy decision, considering how many people would have demanded his head if the move didn’t pay off.

Completely agree that he’s got to keep that going. The temptation to fall back onto Thompson, Kewell, even Emerton, must be pretty tempting. The veterans in the starting XI (Neill, Bresciano, Cahill) need to be tempered with long-term prospects. So much depends on players such as Antonis, Ruka, Williams, Sarota, etc playing regularly and well next season. Going to be a big year.

Schwarzer 7 – As noted, didn’t have much to do
Wilkshire 6 – Plenty of loose balls, was not on the same wavelength as the rest of the team with ball retention
Neill 7.5 – Very, very solid
Ognenovski 5.5 – Poor error in defense, wasted opportunity in attack
McKay 6.5 – A better game from him, good distribution, not troubled hugely in defence for most of the game

Milligan 7.5 – Another very solid game, seized his chance and is now definite first choice over Jedinak and Valeri
Bresciano 6.5 – Got the assist, but general play was disappointing

Kruse 7 – Not as penetrative as recent games, always a threat. Unfortunate to have his goal disallowed
Holman 6 – Off the pace, his substitution off was one of the most important moments of the game
Oar 7 – Much more impressive than against Jordan, primarily because he sought out the ball. End product disappointing

Cahill 6 – Missed two huge opportunities in the first half to open the scoring. Brave from Holger to take him off

SUBS:
Rogic 7.5 – Just so dangerous with the ball at his feet. With the amount he creates in 20/30min cameos, can’t wait to see him become a starter
Kennedy 8 – You know why
Thompson 6 – Not much to do, in all honest

“Dont confuse arrogance with confidence dasilva. Australia will win tonight against a team out here for a holiday.”

I’ve never seen such a self-cancelling duo of sentences.

“When Australia win tonight, are you two negative blokes going to apologize for being so negative? I doubt it.”

Of course we’re not going to apologise for being cautious. Given Australia’s history of final-hurdle failures, tempting fate is not something I want to engage in.

How about not writing an article that assumes we win tonight?

The starting elevens against Jordan and Japan had an average age of 31. Obviously Schwarzer is an outlier, but, in an Osieck team, so is Oar. You’re counting your eggs before they hatch anyway – at the moment there hasn’t been any meaningful squad transition towards youth. Kruse, Rogic and Oar have forced Osieck’s hands due to performances at club level, there hasn’t yet been any meaningful generational change.

If Holger quits tomorrow, he’ll have left the squad in as bad a shape as when he started – WC qualification or no. The answer to whether or not he’s been a success will be in the year between now and the world cup – if (IF) we qualify, and it’ll be contingent on building a team towards 2018.

Well this is silly. He wasn’t great against Japan, he was shocking against Jordan. He’s not a left back. The criticisms are not an attack on McKay as a footballer, they’re attacks on him as a defender – and they’re more than valid.

Regardless think you’ll find that primarily the criticisms are of Holger playing him out of position. The idea that there aren’t any left backs out there is a fallacy. McKay is in the team because Holger is a conservative, and given the choice between a 24 year old converted winger and a 30 year old central midfielder, he’ll pick the 30 year old midfielder.

Happy with Clarke not playing. The equation would be difficult even without our distinctly sub-par form, and there’s no point in Clarke coming in only to aggravate his back, fitness for the Ashes is the clear priority at this stage of the season. Batting last against a total that makes us go down swinging might be a good thing, too – might as well hit or get out, watching our top order try to survive the opening overs is just painful.

A word of advice (though I’m sure you’re prepared for this) if you’re getting the train in, do it as early as possible. For the Oman game I was at Strathfield (the connecting station to Olympic Park) about an hour and a half before kick-off and only got there a couple of minutes before the game started – and that was with a crowd of 35K. The services will have been drastically increased, but CityRail is still liable to fail immensely.

The atmosphere at the Oman game was abysmal. Having said that, I can’t begrudge people coming out in droves for this game, it’ll be historic if we get the right result. I just really wish that it didn’t take the final game of WC qualifying to bring out a brilliant crowd.

Holman barely receives a mention in this article because the focus is on the left side of the team.

When I speak of ‘tackling’ I’m talking about the 3-4 instances of the Jordanian right winger taking the ball past an inert McKay. Whatever you want to call it, he was at fault virtually every time Jordan had a meaningful attack. There were 15 minutes at the beginning of the second half where a good final ball and some decent finishing would’ve had Jordan back on level terms – McKay is a defensive liability and offers nothing of note going forward. I’d rather have either a defensively solid (Lowry) or a decent attacking outlet (Zullo, Behich) rather than someone who offers a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ approach.

Zullo is a converted fullback from left wing, McKay from midfield. Zullo’s positional sense is better, and he’s much better going forward too. It’s the technical aspects of defending – tackling, marking – where he’s not quite up to scratch. I’d argue that he’d still be a better option than McKay, whose showing in both games was poor. He’s static in the tackle and non-existent going forward, his passing range is wasted and he’s positionally unsure. Zullo is a better option in the immediate future, unfortunately judging from Holger’s recent statements he’s not going to play.

I agree on the same XI, and from all indications there won’t be any changes. Hopefully, Oar is one or two games away from really hitting form with the NT.

I think I should clarify – regarding Brosque and Thwaite (and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, Leckie as mentioned above), Holger has shown time and again that when the chips are down he turns to the older players. He’s a pragmatist and a conservative at heart. I hate the idea of Brosque and Thwaite being anywhere near the Socceroos squad, but Holger hasn’t shown any inclination that he’s out of favour.

Obviously the hope is that next season a whole batch of youngsters and fringe Socceroos force his hand by playing well and playing lots. Outside of the left back slot, run through above, there’s plenty who can challenge the old heads and are much better long term prospects. Off the top of my head, high hopes next season for Antonis, Leckie, Babalj, Ruka, Herd, Sarota, Luongo, Ryan, Williams, McGowan(s), Davidson and Inman (who had completely slipped my mind, good shout jack).

Completely agree with the sentiment of the article, if we start preparing a nucleus of youngsters now, we will look in much better shape down the track than we will if we continue with our rather venerable first team under Holger. Unfortunately, he’s at heart a pragmatist and a conservative, so not only will the first choicers (Schwarzer, Neill, Bresciano, Cahill, Ognenovski) be going to Brazil, I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t take Kewell and Thompson too. Obviously some of the players are in there on merit – Cahill, Bresciano and Ognenovski most obviously, as well as Schwarzer – but it’s a distinctly short term selection policy on the part of Osieck.

Quite poor captaincy at the death by Bailey. Apart from dropping the catch, bowling Starc was obviously a mistake- those last two overs of his could well cost us. Why Watson only bowled 7 overs is beyond me.

Still, if we don’t collapse it’ll be a very chaseable target.

“Does Australia really lack batting talent?”

From the list you’ve put up, the answer is, to a man, yes. Burns and Maddinson need two years of averaging 45+ at FC level before they get called up. Steve Smith needs to do the same. If Silk continues in the same vein as he’s started then he’s a definite prospect, while Marcus Harris hopefully will start putting scores on the board consistently too.

The biggest problem is there’s a gap in class between the tail-end of our ‘golden era’; from the Husseys and Ponting down through Chris Rogers, Simon Katich, Marcus North and Phil Jacques, all of who are in their mid-to-late 30’s, and the current team. Of players in their late 20’s-early 30’s who have made the step up in class, only Michael Clarke truly convinces. At a pinch there’s Watson and Bailey. Then we have the young batsmen who have never really put the runs up in Shield cricket but are nonetheless the only options we have outside the veterans. The only possible exception to this is Mark Cosgrove, who for reasons legitimate or not, has never been given a chance at test level.

The headline here is misleading, it should read “Australia’s lack of wrist-spinners is a concern”, something that’s patently true. Australia has such little talent in the way of wrist-spinners that Ahmed’s performance towards the end of the Shield would probably constitute a call-up if he was an Australian citizen.

I think it’s wrong that CA have intervened on behalf of a single asylum seeker because he has promise as a cricketer, and that legislation is being rushed through to aid this one individual when thousands of legitimate asylum seekers are being held indefinitely in offshore processing.

Without wanting to bring my own politics into it though, I don’t see the big deal from a cricketing perspective. He’s obviously the best legspinner operating in Australian domestic cricket at the moment, thus he should be playing at least for Australia A.

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