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Joined November 2014
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Enthusiast for all things Cricket, all teams Adelaide, and a born double blue in rugby-state exile. I believe in solving the biggest issues of our time, like what to do with Phil Hughes, and who was a better test journeyman out of Beau "Buzz" Casson and Scott "Can't bowl can't throw" Muller.
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Absolutely. We would be mad to have a series in England and pass up Rogers. He lives for English conditions.
Chris Rogers must play in the opening Ashes Test
In the last season 7 players averaged over 60, and 16 averaged over 50 – it wasn’t a big achievement.
Compare the career record of Marsh with Voges or Rogers, or even with younger guys who also averaged 50+ last season and have a better career record that Marsh, like Lynn or Burns. The fact is the guy doesn’t deserve to there over many other contenders, especially given he doesn’t offer anything in the field or with the ball.
I feel for him in that he hasn’t been given a concerted crack at making a spot his own, but he also missed an opportunity to cement his place in the summer – he has played on roads all summer and didn’t do enough to keep out a promising young talent or an hot form player.
Chris Rogers must play in the opening Ashes Test
Any list of the world’s best batsman is invalid without Sangakkara. A far superior batsman to all bar perhaps AB and Amla (for them at least it’s debatable).
Is AB de Villiers the most complete batsman in the world?
I agree brittle is a good descriptor of Kiwi batting. With Taylor completely out of sorts, only Williamson has the combination of solidity and run-scoring ability. Apart from that the kiwis are hit or miss, and that’s not an ideal quality when you’re batting for a draw.
That said, our batting in Australia has been similarly brittle in recent years. I hope recent failures in UAE, England and India are not far from the players’ minds.
Black Caps falter to resurgent England in Lord's Test
Let’s be honest, for all the hand wringing from guys like Lara, and Indian pundits noting that long serving Indians get a farewell opportunity, Australia handle successions in a similarly ruthless fashion more often than not. Sometimes you need to force change, and unfortunately at age 40 Shiv has less rope than most.
Why isn't Shivnarine Chanderpaul playing against the Aussies?
The fact that he looks absolutely clueless at times and yet still has a 45 average on mostly green tops would make me want to persevere with his talent. The fringe talent around NZ is not particularly good – take Guptill for example, a potentially damaging white ball cricketer but not solid with the red.
Cook's form is ominous for the Ashes
Smith is clearly in Clarke’s camp, and has been for a long time. It’s part of why he got the gig as captain: as well as his obvious leadership qualities, he has no allegiance to any particular part of the dressing room and Clarke respects him. Makes the transition that much easier.
Michael Clarke to retire from ODIs after World Cup final
This is true, it’s also hard to do it coming it at 6 or 7. But that doesn’t change the fact that a straight swap of him for Clarke is a massive gamble.
Michael Clarke to retire from ODIs after World Cup final
SR of 80 as a No 4 bat? How dare he?! Strike rates are well and good, but someone actually has to build the innings and score the bulk of the total.
You ignore that he has the highest average in the team over the longest playing career, with most of those runs coming in a time of lower innings totals (and strike rates).
Mitch Marsh is far more of a gamble – only 1 career limited over century, none at international level. Plus, his bowling economy rate is higher than Clarke’s. Marsh is still not proven as a batsman, and it would be foolish to think he can do the job of a genuine middle order batsman to the same level as Clarke. But then, Clarke haters generally have to get used to looking foolish.
Michael Clarke to retire from ODIs after World Cup final
I agree with this completely, and share reservations about Finch. The way he seems to get undone shows he is a hugely limited batsman, and this is especially visible in red ball cricket
Michael Clarke should move up the order or quit ODIs
Haha, very true.
If we lose 2 wickets for not many (very possible given Warner’s occasional brain fades and Finch’s technical limitations), there’s no more reassuring sight than seeing your most experienced, most consistent ODI batsman and captain coming to the crease. Every batting order needs two anchors in the middle, whether they’re one opener and first drop (NZ – Guptill and Williamson, SA – Alma and Du Plessis) or the 3 and 4 positions (IND – Kohli and Rahane). Smith and Clarke are the best in the world at this job, as we saw in the semis up against Kohli and Rahane
Michael Clarke should move up the order or quit ODIs
Ferguson’s cast off from ODIs was unbelievable, considering who else was getting the nod before him.
10 wooden spoons don't begin to represent South Australian cricket's failures
Are you sure about Harris being born and bred in NSW? I was pretty sure he was born in Sydney but reared in Gawler…
Everything else you raised is pretty spot on. The effect of the Oval is an interesting one, does it make for a more brittle kind of batsman (even though I would argue that many other grounds around Australia play as flat as Adelaide)? The selectors certainly think so.
However as you pointed out, why is the inverse not true for bowlers? Sayers spent a good 2 years being unplayable at Adelaide Oval, no small feat for a medium pacer.
SA has this strange ability to produce eccentric players but revered coaches, the latest ones (Lehmann and Gillespie) being possibly the best. Hopefully down the line these guys can do something great for SA cricket, although it’s clear there’s rot at the top in SA cricket. Boof certainly thinks so.
10 wooden spoons don't begin to represent South Australian cricket's failures
And the best player who didn’t get to 50 tests, Darren Lehmann. How he was overlooked so often was unbelievable.
10 wooden spoons don't begin to represent South Australian cricket's failures
How could anyone not enjoy Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan steaming in to bowl? It was brilliant to watch them go all out, not just to make up the numbers but to attack whomever was at the other end.
Irish want answers from ICC on Cricket World Cup future
I’m not sure that you can say that – if a match is close enough to be decided by a dubious call then it’s not really conclusive, you could equally say if the catch was overturned that Zim were lucky.
You are probably right about Zim troubling more teams, but I think by overall health of the squads I would plump for Ireland. Zim has had some hot form players to pull their innings out the fire and I think Taylor and Williams papered over some cracks. On the other hand, Ireland were playing without their two best bowlers (one injured, one flirting with England).
As for test status, I think the idea of status should be rid altogether. If teams want to play for 5 days they should be allowed. What do the ICC fear? Some warped statistics?
Irish want answers from ICC on Cricket World Cup future
I think that’s a function of keeping once he was the “big show” of the Sri Lankan batting line up. In tests the effect was the opposite – a lot of his keeping time was at a point when he hadn’t developed into the batting monstrosity he is today.
Who will be the player of the Cricket World Cup?
The thing is, if the Pak vs WI game result went the other way (entirely likely with those two teams) then Ireland shoot into the QFs. They’re easily the best team not playing in the QFs, and the best team not playing tests too!
Irish want answers from ICC on Cricket World Cup future
It’s a shame that SL have been hit by so many injuries – they could take out whole thing if their bowling unit was at full strength, given the hot form of their batting order
Sri Lanka should be favourites against South Africa
No-one is interested because we play so many meaningless games against England rather than helping lower tier nations develop themselves. You expect Sri Lanka to come over here and do well in entirely foreign conditions considering they only see them every 5 years?
If cricket wants to survive, maybe the big nations like Australia and India should do more to develop their opponents – a bit of a stretch to ask that of India, their fans only want to see India win.
2015 Cricket World Cup: Improving minnows attain big fish status
Australia will be playing Ireland when they tour England this year I believe.
The Irish camp has said that Australia are one of their biggest supporters within the ICC, which makes me a bit chuffed despite all the other buffoonery in Aus cricket administration.
2015 Cricket World Cup: Improving minnows attain big fish status
No one would ever wish on him what happened this summer, but the whole segment reeked of PR control. The “changed man” schtick has been trotted out so many times, and his on-field/media behaviour the past few months suggest nothing has changed.
Boy can he hit a ball, but he’s a walking embodiment of the worst things about Australian Cricket.
Warner the aggressor shows softer side
With the game vs Scotland just played, I would have it at a close contest between Starc and Sangakkara for the moment. Given the amount of runs on offer this tournament, a bowler as unplayable as Starc is surely something worth noting
Who will be the player of the Cricket World Cup?
Got a ways to go yet to match Sanga, but taking his crown as the great man winds down his career is a good omen
Steve Smith named world's best Test batsman