Cheers Stephen, enjoyed the read.
Dutchy was a real leggie – prone to the full toss and long hop on occasions. And yes, a lack of understanding of field placing at international level often hurt him.
The chopping and changing of all players during those years 1984-88 was sometimes difficult to fathom, and the selectors decided finger spinners were more ‘accurate’ and ‘solid’ than the attacking options a wrist spinner offered.

That was simply to say that Stokes and Buttler have more experience at Test level than Head and Wade and are better placed to either halt a collapse or push on to dominate if the situation exists. At this stage I wouldn’t back Australia’s middle order to be able to do that. Not saying they can’t, but I’d be more confident of England’s five and six doing the job than ours.

England can’t find any opening bats so I agree they are trying to manufacture one in Roy. His technique looks as dodgy as Finch’s, but if he gets in and the ball stops moving he’ll be dangerous. I think this is what their selectors are banking (hoping) on.
I’m also sure that, like Australia, there is little chance of any fast bowler playing all five Tests due to how close together they are. Broad may be at the end of his career, like Anderson, but they will be hoping the nightmares of Trent Bridge four years ago give him a boost.

Joshua, in 1992 Australia had already won the World Cup before the tournament started. It was a foregone conclusion, and Australians more or less thought everyone else was playing for second place. Then they lost to New Zealand, then lost to South Africa, beat India by a solitary run and finally lost to England. The World Cup was over in the first four rounds and they missed the semi finals. That was devastating and brought everyone back to earth.
In 2015 the pressure was not as intense as there were quarter finals, so top eight qualified for the knock out stage. Australia also prepared a lot better than in 1992 and thus started on the right foot. The hype was there but nowhere near as belligerent.
England has prepared for this World Cup better than they have for any other in recent memory. I think they showed last night they are on the right path.

Agreed Paul. If they don’t win it this year with this team at home, they never will

I still remember that day like it was yesterday. Channel 9 only showed the first innings (Australia’s) live, because they wouldn’t take off the news and 60 Minutes and the Sunday movie. The only way to watch was to go to a club as they showed it on the then fledgling Sky Channel. In Kiama we got vision but no commentary, so the guys behind the bar had the ABC radio commentary piped in while we watched the game. Brilliant. Got home at 11.00pm, and had two HSC exams the next day. Still passed them both.

If Maxwell had been given as many chances to succeed as Watson did, he’d probably have half a dozen Test centuries now. Hopefully he makes this World Cup his own.

My main gripe about either Marsh brother is the number of chances they have had compared to other players. Last year the figure was given that Shaun has had nine recalls to the national team. Players like Callum Ferguson and Cameron White would love just one extra shot at the team, not eight more. It smacks of favoritism. And Mitch is only being chosen because he bowls a bit and they are scared the fast bowlers will break down in the middle of a Test.
In a perfect world everyone would like to see them succeed. But surely others deserve a chance, and also a fair run at the position like both Marsh brothers have had that others can only dream of.

I absolutely disagree with CA decision to cancel the Bangladesh tour. It is short-sighted and, again unfortunately, not in the interests of expanding and fostering WORLD cricket rather than CA coffers. I wouldn’t say it was more disturbing than the two things I covered in my article.
Steve Smith and Ricky Ponting never missed a Test match to warm up for another Test series. That is where I think the mistake in this instance has been made by Kohli and the BCCI.
I also agree that change should occur at CA. We may need some explosives to budge them however.

‘Bullies’ was not the sentiment I was going for in the article, and I didn’t write the headline.

Completely correct. CA has just struck a billion dollar television rights deal, but fobs off a Bangladesh tour for commercial reasons. At a time our cricket needs to be extending olive branches in order to win the hearts of the fans back, this is what our board does to Bangladesh cricket and its supporters. Yet another stake in the heart by the administrators of the game we try to love.

I’m sure India will come to the party on D/N Tests, but on their own terms in their own time. They did the same with T20 cricket initially, and look how they took that on once they realised the benefits. Whether they agree to play a day nighter in Adelaide on this tour is another question.
Personally i don’t like the Day Night Tests. I don’t like the pink ball, at the ground it is very difficult to pick up especially in the twilight before the lights take over. There is enough night cricket with ODI’s and T20’s. I understand the argument about bringing people to the game and being on in prime time for TV viewers, but I still don’t like it.

I’m sure Langer will bring the same approach to the national team as he has with Western Australia and the Perth Scorchers. And it has been successful. They play hard, they never believe they are beaten, and their skills are excellent. Not only that, he has managed to take certain players who were a ‘little undisciplined’ off the field, and helped them turn that part of their demeanor around.
Huge changes aren’t required, more I would think just need to hit the reset button. Langer is a professional and he loves the baggy green. i believe his task is coaching, not changing a culture. Getting the most of players such as Khawaja and Renshaw and Handscomb to ensure our team is performing to the best of its ability.

Growing up in the 80’s was a tough time for an Australian cricket supporter. When you are cheering on Mike Whitney to hold out for an over against Richard Hadlee to draw a Test in order to win a series against New Zealand in 1987/88… you know things are tough. Losing players of the calibre that went on the rebel SA tour made for a real lottery at the selection table for a couple of years.
I remember sitting in our Year 9 History class in 1985 when the whole selection fiasco for this was going on. We kept trying to pull names out of a hat to work out who would end up getting a touring spot. You have to wonder how the squad felt about touring with those guys who Packer paid to get out of their SA contracts. Not only had they now been selected to tour England, they’d been paid extra to do so!
Even so, I thought after we won at Lords when Bob Holland got five-fa in the second dig that we’d be able to snatch those Ashes. And then Richard Ellison turned up out of nowhere…

I think your campaign idea is a terrific idea.
But my goodness I dislike “You’re the Voice”. It is the equal of Daryl Braithwaite’s “The Horses”.
Please don’t make me spend a summer listening to either of those songs… lol

The only concern I would have in choosing what games to play where is the state of the pitch and the outfield.
Australia has thrived playing the first Test of the summer at the Gabba because of the fast wicket and outfield. The W.A.C.A was generally the same. Flat wicket at Adelaide, low wicket in Melbourne and turning wicket in Sydney.
Nowadays they are just about all drop-in wickets, and I’m sure we’ve all noticed how much the surfaces have now changed, to the point where there is no character left that these grounds all once had. The cricket on show has suffered because of it.
India shied away from playing in Perth last tour for fear of being blown away on a fast track. No doubt there were similar thoughts this time about playing in Brisbane. I’m not sure those wickets really have that pace in them anymore.
Surely the ‘facilities’ at all of these grounds aren’t what is the problem.
A day/night Test over the Australia Day weekend at the Gabba might be the perfect tonic to draw more Brisbane people back to Test cricket at the ground.

Absolutely agree Paul. Money talks. I’ve enjoyed watching Ireland and Scotland as well as Afghanistan in the last three years, and they need to be encouraged with a place at these big tournaments rather than being forced out because of other reasons. Watching Nepal at the qualifying tournament was terrific. Let’s hope those nations continue to improve and get to see more international competition.
I’ll always remember Pakistan’s run in the 1992 World Cup the last time this format was used. Pretty much came from nowhere to win it all. Great times. It could certainly happen again.

Agreed, I enjoyed the qualifying tournament, especially given the way that Afghanistan won it against all odds after their terrible start, Zimbabwe cracking under pressure against UAE and missing their chance and Afghanistan defeating West Indies twice.
It’s just a shame we won’t see teams like Ireland and Scotland, who both did so well, playing in the main event, especially as the tournament is right on their doorstep.

Agreed. Not only has he batted superbly he has been a leader on the park, and has slotted in perfectly in the captaincy role to replace Warner in all facets. Sunrisers bowling attack has been terrific as well, and it has been great watching Rashid and Shakib at their work.

To be fair, if you see the two points you have mentioned as being my reasons for him deserving a state contract, you haven’t really read the article too closely.

Absolutely agree. It had a bad look early on. Kohli has obviously decided these are my two bowlers to bowl the last six overs, come he’ll or high water.

I agree with most of what you say Paul, and I don’t have strong feelings one way or the other. I think that if I was Jackson Bird or Chadd Sayers though I would feel a little let down given the lack of opportunities they have been given in the last 12 months, and are then left off the contract list, while for instance both Richardson’s haven’t done a lot (if any) more at State level but are now contracted. It can only mean the selectors think they have more chance of being in the mix in the next 12 months than Bird or Sayers, otherwise why give them a contract?
Again, they’re all good discussion points for the cricketing public. It will be interesting to see the squad chosen for the ODI tour of England. That should be a reasonable pointer.

Hi Bob. I’m guessing the selectors have Matt Renshaw as a long-term proposition which is why he has a contract, but that they are unsure as to whether Burns is a short-term or long-term solution, meaning he isn’t on the list. I think the list for this 12 months is heavily focused on the World Cup team development, and most of these guys are the ones in the frame for that. That’s all conjecture though. 🙂

I agree that Chris Tremain is very unlucky not to have been considered. Each time I’ve watched him play at the ground he has been the most dangerous bowler on show.

Yes, poorly worded sorry. I mean to reflect he has been 12th man throughout India and Bangladesh over that time when he was passed over for Cummins and then O’Keefe who were not on tour at the time but flown in, but had played only the one Test in the past 12 months, and that on a dud pitch.