Andrew Symonds

[hondeyho]

The Australlians do look unbeatable, they will regain the Ashes come next winter

 

[Gilchrist]

No, I wouldn't be so sure of that, in his current form, Gilchrist looks like he will struggle to get to the next Ashes Series.

 

[BigCrickNan]

Aus aren't that good. They smashed a weak West Indies team, and have won a test against SA, that doesn't show that they are unbeatable.. right?

Symonds played well against SA, it came at right time. If he didnt perform in this game it might of been his last test.

 

[aditya123]

Andrew Symonds has done well in this test match . Well done to him.
It reminded me of the career saving performance at Jo`berg in WC 2003 .

Still , I feel he is not made for test cricket . Australia will find in the near future that dropping Martyn was a big mistake .
Symonds has the ability to tear attacks apart but I would like to see how he performs under pressure.
His dibbly-dobblers won`t be of great effect while playing tough tours in the Subcontinent .
Fair enough he was under some pressure (individual pressure) in this game.
I would like to wait for some time longer before I say he has come of age as a test player .

 

[langerrox]

id like to see how long he can ride on this perfomance, granted he does nothing for a few matches, seeing Clarke rode on 2 centuries for about 2 years

 

[kodos]

I agree he has one good game and everyone have good wraps about him. The SCG test will really decide whether he should maintain his spot in the team or whether his performance at the MCG was a one off.

 

[aditya123]

If you're after facts, you should check the stats. A player doesn't have to be scoring 100's to be in form. Since his recall to Test match cricket he has maintained and excellent average each year

2000 (8 innings) 2 50s 0 100s avg. 80.25
2001 (14 innings) 4 50s 3 100s avg. 65.80
2002 (16 innings) 4 50s 2 100s avg. 41.06
2003 (9 innings) 2 50s 0 100s avg. 42.38
2004 (26 innings) 5 50s 6 100s avg. 56.38
2005 (13 innings) 2 50s 1 100s avg. 36.92

Marto had 4 average matches, in one dig he was run out, and in two others he received some of the poorest umpiring decisions ever to be handed down. In the 12 months prior to the Ashes series his form was as good as anyone in the world, and was instrumental in two of the most impressive series wins Australia has acheived in recent years.

No question he was a scapegoat and deserves a place in this Australian side. Unfortunately for him, so do alot of other blokes going around. But you can't say that he isn't capable of again being one of the finest players in the game, unless of course you apply the good old experts logic (can't believe Hayden is still in the side, did you see him in the Ashes, he's too old..... past it....)

reps for that !

I don`t think Marto has ever failed long enough to be dropped . He was at the receiving end of some poor decisions during the Ashes . Just 4-5 failures and you drop a man who has scored 6 Test match 100s the previous years ! Height of arrogance by the Aussie selectors .

It was Marto who won you a series in India after 4 decades . Had he not batted a day and a half in game at Chennai, the game woul have been over in 4 days before the rain could interrupt on the last day .
He has also scored 100s in SRL against on dreadful tracks (against Murali,Vaas and Co.).

I would rather have a Martyn kind of a player in full flow in the test side than Symo (who is a tremendous ODI cricketer) .

Why are we looking at age . Was`nt Marto nearing 35 when you picked the Ashes squad ? Did `Tugga` not play till 39 ?
If a player is good enough to be selected in the test side, then he must be selected irrespective of his age .

 

[langerrox]

reps for that !

I don`t think Marto has ever failed long enough to be dropped . He was at the receiving end of some poor decisions during the Ashes . Just 4-5 failures and you drop a man who has scored 6 Test match 100s the previous years ! Height of arrogance by the Aussie selectors .

It was Marto who won you a series in India after 4 decades . Had he not batted a day and a half in game at Chennai, the game woul have been over in 4 days before the rain could interrupt on the last day .
He has also scored 100s in SRL against on dreadful tracks (against Murali,Vaas and Co.).

I would rather have a Martyn kind of a player in full flow in the test side than Symo (who is a tremendous ODI cricketer) .

Why are we looking at age . Was`nt Marto nearing 35 when you picked the Ashes squad ? Did `Tugga` not play till 39 ?
If a player is good enough to be selected in the test side, then he must be selected irrespective of his age .

great points reps for you, Martyo should be in the team and NEEDS to be, our middle order is so fragile without him, heck play 5 bowlers and 5 batsman.

 

[Pace-Ace]

Is martyn still in the odi team or is he dropped from that as well? And yeah i definitely agree that martyn should never have been dropped.

 

[aditya123]

great points reps for you, Martyo should be in the team and NEEDS to be, our middle order is so fragile without him, heck play 5 bowlers and 5 batsman.

First they tried Watson who is a honest trier at best an them Symo who would get smashed by better batting lineups . Symo or Watson will never be your answer to Freddie .
So why are you guys so bothered about having a genuine all rounder in the side when you`ve ruled world cricket for a decade withouut one .

If you cannot find a world class all rounder, so be it. Specialists can always do the trick for you . Symonds` dibbly-dobblers might have got him wickets this test but he won`t get wickets against a batting lineup in good form and in tough bowling conditions. Also, Symo is not the sort of player who can graft and win matches for you under tough batting conditions.

His(Symonds) sort of batting is okay when the ball comes on to the bat as in MCG but when it comes to tough batting conditions like in the subcontinent ,

Australia would need someone like Marto to grind the opposition . The Aussie middle order ATM looks their weakest in many years.
It took them 39 years to realize that you cannot win test matches by being too aggressive in India and it neds some application while batting against spin on those tracks.
Marto showed just that and was the main reason for Australia beating India in India after 39 years !

 

[rahulk666]

The humiliation of losing the Ashes after a long long time was bound to have its effects when it came to selection of the team again. Martyn surely was made a scapegoat. His luck was bad and the selectors had the poor batting stats at their disposal so they just went by his poor batting stats in the Ashes and dropped him without paying attention that he was given out incorrectly on two occasions + a run out as someone rightly pointed out.

A humiliating loss to a country almost alway brings about a radical change in the team. This is not new. SL's 1-6 loss in the one dayers ensured that Jayasurya was left out of the team. Pakistan's poor show in WC 2003 saw Waqar and Akram retire. India's horrible show down under in 1999 saw many changes in the team. These things do happen all the time.

 

[Sureshot]

Martyn got dropped despite being unlucky in the Ashes, Class>Form.

 

[gary0808]

Symonds=Brilliant with Bat and BAll

 

[Sureshot]

He certainly can be, not quite proved it in tests yet. (despite his efforts t'other day).

 

[sachin]

id like to see how long he can ride on this perfomance, granted he does nothing for a few matches, seeing Clarke rode on 2 centuries for about 2 years

No more Martyn!I know you wanted him to fail :

First they tried Watson who is a honest trier at best an them Symo who would get smashed by better batting lineups . Symo or Watson will never be your answer to Freddie .
So why are you guys so bothered about having a genuine all rounder in the side when you`ve ruled world cricket for a decade withouut one .

Wait,SAF are a very good batting side.They bat right down to 9.Not many sides can say that.Symonds bowled brilliantly.I watched him and was very surprised at the lift and cut he got.