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Joined March 2013
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'When you win the toss – bat. If you are in doubt, think about it, then bat. If you have very big doubts, consult a colleague – then bat.’ WG Grace
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Pakistan continue to stretch the limits of unpredictability in this World Cup. After losing to India and the West Indies, and managing an unimpressive…
While some may argue a poor performance in India was always on the cards, the sequence of events arising from Mickey Arthur's decision to…
Here's a hypothetical situation, which brings the real corporate world into the weird and wonderful world of the Australian national team. William* is a…
Well said Mark.. Khawaja getting frustrated is probably the case and anyone in Khawaja’s shoes would feel frustrated. Watson just got away with leaving the tour so not sure why Khawaja’s disappointment with not getting a go was seen in a negative light. If I were a coach, I would be more concerned if Khawaja didn’t show any frustration.
I think Arthur/Clarke are locked into some sort of ego battle with Khawaja but this should end at some point. If he is being taught discipline through suspensions, what good will that bring if he never even gets to play for Australia??
A stable batting order is the way to go
It does seem that Khawaja has little chance of being included in the playing XI for 4th test and going by the recent history, he has been left out even at times when it was almost certain that he would play. Hughes, Cowan and Smith have done little but probably enough to get another go in 4th test. Watson has rejoined the team and will be included in the XI and Haddin will also be considered as a batsman if Wade returns. Realistically, Khawaja has the least chance of playing in the 4th test and since he has not played any real Cricket due to him being an injury cover for last 5 month, he will likely be overlooked for Ashes selection. By keeping him as a reserve, not only he wasn’t given any chances in last 2 series but they have also damaged his Ashes chances.
Hughes, Smith and Cowan only did well on a flat Mohali deck and will be found out one more time in this series in Delhi where pitch will be even more spin friendly. Khawaja would have been an ideal choice for this series but will return from India with his morale and confidence hitting rock-bottom and it will take a lot of character for him to persevere and make another comeback attempt for next season and all that with the knowledge that his future effort may as well go to waste.
A stable batting order is the way to go
Not sure if it has been said before but Starc’s batting average is now more than all specialist batsmen except Clarke’s in the matches played since Starc’s debut.
India vs Australia Third Test Day 3: Cricket live scores, updates
Mickey Arthur was accused of racism against Ntini and some say that it eventually cost him his job as South African coach. He then accused Ntini of using the ‘race card’ in his book but Former Cricket South Africa president Ray Mali termed Mickey’s claims as white lies.
It is true that Mickey Arthur does have a controversial past and has been accused of racism in the past.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/110992/content/219141/content/196937/a-treat-deccan-heralds-facebook.html
All the way with UTK!
Good point.
Unfortunately, it is media and Cricket Australia to blame again. Who would have known what religion Khawaja adhered to if they had not made documentaries about ‘first muslim’ playing for Australia on his debut. That may have been done in good spirit but making any references to someone’s religion is sickening.
All the way with UTK!
An excellent article. Glad to see that we are choosing to discuss this openly and I applaud ‘The Roar’ for publishing this article.
I play grade Cricket in Sydney and have a lot of Aussie friends who come from diverse backgrounds not dissimilar to UT Khawaja’s background. What has really concerned me lately is the fact that there is now a growing feeling among a lot of people that UT Khawaja’s poor treatment may actually be due to his country of birth. I don’t believe this to be true and being a proud Australian fan, I have always tried to see things in a positive light but there is no denying that Khawaja has been treated poorly and this is frustrating a lot of people and every time NSP comes up with a creative way to keep Khawaja out, this feeling gets only worse among his fans.
What else has bothered me is the fact that not many people have come forward and objected to the whole situation. When Hughes was at the verge of being dropped just a few days ago, there were a lot of calls in the media for persisting with him but little has been said about Khawaja’s mistreatment by Cricket authors and sports greats and indifference towards him has mainly been discussed in forums only.
This whole perception building around Khawaja’s race being a factor is very bad for Cricket Australia and unfortunately our reputation as a diverse and inclusive Cricket nation is not already that great.
All the way with UTK!
Good point but I am not sure if Mickey Arthur’s performance is being judged at all on team’s on-field performance as far as Cricket Australia is concerned. He has definitely lost a lot of respect and credibility with fans but if his paycheck is not being affected, he is probably not that much concerned about team’s performance and more concerned about keeping his control and making those people happy who can help him stay in his job. One of the underlying issues behind all this is the lack of accountability for Mickey and other selectors.
Don’t let Mickey the HR guy ruin our cricket!
Many questions for Clarke/Arthur to answer:
1) If this was not just one incident as Clarke now maintains, were these 4 players involved in all the prior incidents?
2) What were the prior incidents? If not handing homework can get someone sacked, how much more trivial the earlier incidents were?
3) Were they given any prior feedback before this public action was taken?
4) Will they be given an opportunity to present their side of the story and will their side of the story be made public like Clarke/Arthur side of the story has been made public? If not, why not?
In all probability this whole drama has been set up to gain following objectives:
1) Let’s give Hughes two more tests.
2) Let’s give a lesson in humility to Pattinson who may be thinking too much of himself after getting the most wickets.
3) Let’s give another chance to Maxwell who we like a lot.
4) Let’s distract everyone away from our miserable failures.
Cheers
Professionalism starts at the top
I will NOT support Australian Cricket as long as Clarke is the captain and there are millions of other fans who are feeling the same way. Clarke has damaged Australian Cricket beyond repair in last couple of years and should be immediately sacked.
Old school rallies against Arthur's stance
But Khawaja has been in the current squad as the next batsman in line for almost 6 months now and this time he is not even the only next in line as Arthur mentioned Steven Smith being considered as well and given that Steven Smith can bowl too, it is very unlikely that Khawaja will be picked. May be another injury between now and Thursday and then Khawaja could get a go!
With one eye on the Ashes, Australia must change Test lineup
Good team but why not Starc?
With one eye on the Ashes, Australia must change Test lineup
It is being reported that Mickey Arthur has closed down his Twitter account due to ‘abuse’ by fans.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/mickey-arthur-quits-twitter-after-abuse-20130319-2gclp.html
He surely has a problem with taking criticism. There have also been reports of users comments being deleted from his Blog on Cricket Australia’s website.
He is now probably hoping that all the criticism will go away if he stops listening to it. This guy is an absolute disgrace to Australian Cricket.
A stable batting order is the way to go