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Australia vs England: 1st Ashes Test in Brisbane Nov 25-29

yappy

yappy

Bench
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I don't think I've ever seen a scoreline of 1/500 in the 30 odd years I've been seriously watching test cricket.
 
ElectricEelMan

ElectricEelMan

Bench
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3,114
chefman21 said:
Hughes isn't playing that well at the moment. O'Keefe might be a little raw. I like the side though.
Click to expand...

Who says Hughes isn't playing well?
He looked okay against England in scoring 80 odd and just scored 47 in the Sheffield Shield.
That's better than North's doing ... plus Hughes has an average of over 50 in tests and should never have been dropped in the first place.

O'Keefe might be a little raw, but potentially great players are always picked when raw (Warne and McGrath are two notable examples)
 
ElectricEelMan

ElectricEelMan

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3,114
JJ said:
In Pontings defence it is 493/1

There's no defence for the catches - especially Johnson's and Clarke's woeful
Click to expand...

and it wouldn't be 1/493 if they could catch and there was more than one slip in place (for Watson anyway whose bowling has lead to a number of edges)
 
Tonearm Terrorwrist

Tonearm Terrorwrist

Immortal
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33,280
ElectricEelMan said:
Who says Hughes isn't playing well?
He looked okay against England in scoring 80 odd and just scored 47 in the Sheffield Shield.
That's better than North's doing ... plus Hughes has an average of over 50 in tests and should never have been dropped in the first place.

O'Keefe might be a little raw, but potentially great players are always picked when raw (Warne and McGrath are two notable examples)
Click to expand...

Ian Healy was selected after 8 first class matches was it? Sometimes you just need to throw caution to the wind.
 
J

JW

Coach
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12,657
Tonearm Terrorwrist said:
Ian Healy was selected after 8 first class matches was it? Sometimes you just need to throw caution to the wind.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Australia simply doesn't have the luxury of picking seasoned first class performers up to the Test side anymore. We have to punt on youth in the right positions and see where it takes us.
 
Tonearm Terrorwrist

Tonearm Terrorwrist

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JW said:
Agreed. Australia simply doesn't have the luxury of picking seasoned first class performers up to the Test side anymore. We have to punt on youth in the right positions and see where it takes us.
Click to expand...

Exactly. There is no Andy Bichel to call upon when a bowler is out of form and there is no Darren Lehmann in shield cricket waiting years for a shot. When our first 11 are playing so poorly we can't look at reasons to not select them just get the best players in there and if he has played 10 FC games then so be it.
 
Mr Angry

Mr Angry

Not a Referee
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51,811
Tonearm Terrorwrist said:
Ian Healy was selected after 8 first class matches was it? Sometimes you just need to throw caution to the wind.
Click to expand...
McGrath was damn early too.

I do prefer Watson not opening, but it is our bowling that is not good enough. That said, the Poms ain't much better.

We could go 5 games without either side taking the 20 wickets required.

0-0 Ashes back to England as the holders.
 
ElectricEelMan

ElectricEelMan

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3,114
Tonearm Terrorwrist said:
Ian Healy was selected after 8 first class matches was it? Sometimes you just need to throw caution to the wind.
Click to expand...

Yes. You are right. But it might have been six games.

The problem with administration of this current team is their adversion to youth and potential. It is one of the reasons we are on a slippery slope to mediocrity.

Warne was like 1/150 in his first test and an average of 335 after his first three innings.
McGrath had an average of 43 after his first 8 tests.

Thankfully the selectors perservered with both

Both were much better bowlers because they were given the chance when raw.
 
C

chefman21

Juniors
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1,220
ElectricEelMan said:
Who says Hughes isn't playing well?
He looked okay against England in scoring 80 odd and just scored 47 in the Sheffield Shield.
That's better than North's doing ... plus Hughes has an average of over 50 in tests and should never have been dropped in the first place.
Click to expand...
Consistency is the key. He's showing glimpses of form but there are still parts of his game that are noticeably out of touch. Some of his footwork seems slow at times, he seems to lack the time that he used to have etc etc. He's not playing as well as he has in the past. For a young guy that's a big deal. I remember Rahul Dravid a couple of years ago when he was in terrible form but he still scored 90 odd. But that's one of the greats.

ElectricEelMan said:
O'Keefe might be a little raw, but potentially great players are always picked when raw (Warne and McGrath are two notable examples)
Click to expand...
Yes they are. But there are a few other guys who are playing as well as him at least of not better than him. Give him another season in first class cricket and see how he is then. Punt on youth by all means. In fact, I encourage it far more than picking old guys (see big spill on picking ten year players in another thread). But let him develop over another season. Don't pick him in an Ashes series to make his debut where if he gets taken apart he gets dropped and we lose him forever.
 
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