I suppose we don’t know, but if you just go by gut feel, it’s hard to not see this bloke setting the world on fire for the next 12 years. Even the best 20/20 players usually need 4 or 5 balls before they start smashing balls out of the ground, this bloke needs none which is extremely rare. And I haven’t even mentioned his bowling and for that matter his fielding. Fortunately for Australia we now have 2 that can hit from ball one in David. Not sure how it can be done but Australia’s odds drop dramatically if Green is playing in the World Cup

With the squad they have chosen and Finch a certainty to captain, id like to see
Warner
Finch
Marsh
Smith
Maxwell
Wade
David
Starc
Cummins
Zampa
Hazlewood.
We are going to play 3 quicks and one recognised spinner plus Maxwell. We won the World Cup in spin friendly conditions a year ago with only one recognised spinner so that’s not going to change in our conditions.
We need Smith for the odd game we are 2 for not many or we are chasing a tricky 140 target. If we get off to a flyer and don’t lose too many wickets he bats 7

“There will probably be an outcry from non-cricket followers if he is allowed to resume a leadership role, the type of people that like to be enraged for the sake of it” Absolutely spot on, although I’m sure there will be some cricket followers that will be enraged for the same reasons. It was so long ago now and he’s paid a very heavy price, surely it’s time to move on

You could well be right. I hope so because he brings a lot more to the table than Holland outside of their bowling

For me Matt, Agar bowls too flat and basically doesn’t take enough wickets. Holland is a proven wicket taker at shield level and without looking has taken 30 shield wickets in a season a number of times. I would doubt Agar has. I’m not against Agar playing because his batting gives us more depth and he’s a brilliant fielder. I just think Holland is a lot more likely to have a couple of innings where he runs through them than what Agar is

It would be great to see Renshaw back in some form Jammel. He looked really comfortable last time we were over there. Pretty sure he played all 4 tests and made 2 or 3, 40 to 50 odds without going on. Reckon he averaged about 40 odd after the first 3 tests fell away in the last test. He showed on that tour he can play spin. Spin in India more to the point

Thanks for the article Jammel. Personally, I think we need to think a bit outside the square to have any chance in India next year. Unfortunately I can’t see Hazlewood having too much impact. I think he had one really good test over there last time on an up and down wicket, but other than that was pretty much useless. His type of bowling doesn’t usually have impact over there. He’s more a hit the deck with a bit of seam movement type bowler and you aren’t going to get any seam over there. Starc with his reverse is clearly picked over him. We only really have one world class spinner so who the other spinner is I’m not sure. Finger spinners usually do better over there so if Jon Holland has a good shield season I’d seriously consider him. Worst case scenario he offers a lot more control than Swepson. We have 2 batsmen that play spin really well. Smith and Labuschagne. If they don’t have good series we can’t win. I don’t think it’s as silly as it sounds to open the batting with Maxwell. Often in India the best time to bat is the first 20 overs so give him a bit of licence to play his natural game and see if we can be 80 odd after 20 overs. Head cannot play. I can’t bat, but my guess he would only average 2 more than me over there and I don’t reckon I’d last more than a couple of balls. I’d go with Handscombe who uses his feet well to the spinners and generally plays spin really well. Green is a lock. Potentially he may only average 20 with the bat, but would you be confident that anyone else would do better? So with that in mind, you have to go with Green because he can take wickets and is as good a gully fieldsman you will see. My 11 would be
Khawaja
Maxwell
Labuschagne
Smith
Handscombe
Green
Carey depending if he improves with the gloves this summer)
Cummins
Starc
Lyon
Holland

It’s all good to say that Warner should retire, but do we have anyone better to replace him? I reckon he averages about 35 in test match cricket overseas which isn’t great. But the guys pressing claims in shield cricket average around 37 on rock hard roads against guys that aren’t good enough to play international cricket

Koroisau was the nearest man there. What was he meant to do when one of his mates was getting beaten up by two other guys. I think he would have been forgiven if he came in throwing haymakers, but he didn’t

I was one calling for Inglis to replace Carey after the ashes because his glove work wasn’t up to test standard during that series. But no one can deny he showed great improvements in Pakistan. Didn’t miss a chance in 3 tests and was generally tidy. The first test in Sri Lanka he was outstanding. Took some great catches off the spinners and was tidy. This test he was poor but so were 7 others. I reckon he’s improved a great deal since the ashes. I’m not going to complain if Inglis came in for Carey but I’d think Carey would be a bit stiff

Didn’t see all of Sri Lanka’s innings but I’m pretty sure I heard Carey missed 3 stumpings off Lyon and he also got 2 LBW’s but we couldn’t refer as we had lost them all. Smith dropped a tough chance at slip as well. So Lyon will cop the flak like he always does when he doesn’t take wickets but it could have been a completely different story for him

Disappointing to say the least. We are as good in the subcontinent as the subcontinent teams are in Australia. We need to start making smarter selection decisions. Just because someone has played great in Australia doesn’t mean he’s going to have success in different conditions in other countries. We need to start picking horses for courses. Maxwell should have played for Head. Head is a walking wicket over there. Would have been a tough decision after his ashes but tough decisions need to be made. No doubt he will carve up the Australian summer again this year and all will be forgiven. Until the third test in India early next year and he hasn’t scored a run and we are 2 or 3 nil down when they finally remember he’s no good in these conditions. Anyone with half a cricket brain knows that Maxwell is a better bat, bowler and fielder in those conditions.

Agree. I don’t think any English sporting team can be as bad as an English touring cricket team to Australia

Ok Riccardo, maybe England are bowled out 30 runs ahead of New Zealand, the kiwis are 6 for 130 after day 4, and bowled out for 190 after some late hitting from Southee. England are left with 160 to win off 60 overs but are bowled out for 135. That sounds better

I don’t think you can call it a draw this early. I can’t see the kiwis winning but England are still in it with a shout. If they don’t get bowled out, they’d be looking to bat until after tea, they could possibly have a lead of 100 plus by then and then have a crack for 25 overs or so and if they get 2, 3 or even 4 wickets before stumps without having passed England’s score they’d be in a bit of trouble day 5. I hope this doesn’t happen though

It could be day 1, both teams bowled out for 60 in the first innings, the team batting third bowled out for 60 and the team batting fourth 8 for 40 at stumps and the draw would still not be paying a million to one in England

Absolutely devastated. Can’t believe this keeps happening. Great cricketer but I enjoyed his dry sense of humour in commentary more than anything else. We should have had another 25 years of that. Thoughts to the family

With Broad second best

Broad and Anderson could be about 60 if you think they could fill in as captain until a suitably qualified captain is found

That’s the big issue, do they actually have anyone possible. Stokes is the obvious one, but he has stated that he’s not that keen on it. That was a while ago so maybe his mind has changed. Is he a half decent option though? His record off the field isn’t good, and he missed nearly a year of cricket with mental illness issues. Is captaincy going to help that. Who else could possibly do it? Butler is not in the team and neither is Broad. Bairstow is, and I think he has captaincy experience at his county. If Stokes says no then maybe Bairstow is the man. Not a great option I wouldn’t have thought

Loved it all Matt. Reckon you nailed all the ratings. In regards to Nathan Lyon, I really don’t think he should be judged by just how many wickets he takes. Sure, it’s obviously important, but I think what doesn’t get talked about is his durability and his economy rate. First up, has he missed a test since his debut? Not through injury anyway. Think he missed 2 in England when he was dropped for Agar. Then you’ve got to factor in his ability to bowl for sessions without a break. The fifth day he came on about 30 to 45 minutes into the days play. He bowled unchanged until Cummins took the last wicket. That’s 4 to 4 and half hours without a break. And he still had immaculate control until the end. You just can’t underestimate that. The other important thing about Lyon that doesn’t get talked about enough is his ability early in test matches when there is nothing on offer for him, to hold up one end, bowl 25 overs at an economy of 2.5 still chip in in the wickets column which means the 3 quicks can just power in from one end, stay fresh all day and have maximum impact while the deck is at its best for fast bowling. He has taken so much heat off our quicks over the past 5 years. Maybe, just maybe, that’s a key reason why Starc Hazlewood and Cummins have stayed relatively free of serious injury over all that time. I just think he is an underestimated cricketer all round. He’s an unbelievable fielder which doesn’t get talked about much and does the job as a night watchman. I said this on a different thread, be certainly hasn’t been our best cricketer over the past 10 years but arguably our most important. Clearly I love him. Lol

Does Don Freo like him? Lol

It is incredible to see how much stick Lyon still cops. The guy is an absolute gun and deserves more credit than what he gets. While he certainly hasn’t been our best player we have had in the past 10 years, he has arguably been Australia’s most important. He was fantastic on the last day of the second test and bowled unchanged yesterday from about 30 minutes into the days play. He could easily have taken 8. He got Babar Azam out twice and Head missed a chance for a third dismissal. Babar is probably the world’s best batsman at the moment. Some people will only realise what an unbelievable cricketer he has been for Australia when he’s gone unfortunately.
Awesome win

I don’t think this wicket is like the first two where par score was 450. Tough wicket to score on and the bounce is inconsistent already off the quicks. Cummins will be a handful on this and so will Green be with the variable bounce. 300 and I think we are ahead of the game

Absolutely spot on James. If Pat Cummins didn’t work it out himself when he was appointed captain, hopefully someone else told him, that when you make a mistake as captain, and things don’t go to plan, you will cop it from the critics. But if you had of done it there way, and things didnt go to plan, those same critics will scream you should have done it the other way. Sadly that’s the way the world works. Need to have thick skin as Australian captain, and thankfully he has loads of that .