Looking Forward to the Ashes - A look at the Aussies

[War]

Probably if they had known Ponting and Hussey were going after this summer then they could have picked Rogers instead of Quiney as having the old fella in the current lineup isn't all that bad as we have more than enough youngsters in there as it is. But definitely too late to start considering them now.

My biggest worry with guys like Voges and Bailey is they still haven't made many runs since their ODI stints. Bailey hasn't passed 20 in his last 5 innings and Voges last 3 innings are under 10. I was coming around to the idea of Bailey in the side after his ODI performances and expecting him to bang home that point in these remaining matches but he hasn't thus far.

It should not be late to consider Rogers now as an opener or a # 3 batsman for the Ashes.

On Bailey/Voges. I never really have seen Voges as a test option, he is barely making it as an ODI option.

Don't see why so much AUS fans have so much worry about Bailey. He should have been in the test team already, especially before Quiney got a chance & Smith got recalled.

In a perfect world it would be nice if Bailey was hammering home first-class runs for Tassie this season. But i believe his international limited overs performances in the last 12 months showed gloss over that & he should have already been in the test team.

Some players step up when they play international cricket & Bailey comes across as that clearly. Look at how his T20 batting game has improved in the last year, after getting picked to the T20 team after never doing anything significant on the domestic T20 scene for tassie.

He has scored well for Tassie on the FC scene fairly consistently in recent years, so i reckon his struggles this season should be excused as an aberration.

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Warner
Cowan
Hughes
Clarke
Bailey
Watson
Haddin/Wade
Siddle
Pattinson
Starc
Bird

Hit them with that 4 prong pace attack!

Yes i've been saying it since 2008, AUS should be playing a 4-man pace attack more often than not in test cricket. A good spin currently just doesn't exit.

Also Watson has to open the batting for AUS - this is fairly straightforward.

In that position he played 24 tests, 1878 runs @ 43.67 with both his hundreds in that position & 15 of his 19 50's too.

For all the sentiment Cowan has his average is fastly reaching the sub-30 mark. If Hughes & S Marsh didn't have their recent struggles as top-order batsman, Cowan would have never played tests.

Cowan was essentially a bandage option over the broken top-order & he is been average to be frank & after the India series he should be let go immediately. Watson must open.

 

[sifter132]

I'd probably take Rogers as one of the reserve batsmen on the Ashes tour, Joe Burns or Alex Doolan being the other. It could be good to have a guy with experience on the tour, and to cover any meltdowns by Warner/Hughes/Cowan. I don't really WANT to take Rogers, I'd rather take Khawaja or Marsh - but they haven't stepped up, and no one else is scoring any runs...

As for Bailey...Bailey worries me because as much as his lack of production for Tasmania bothers me, he just doesn't LOOK like a Test player in my subjective view - the eye test. He's a scrapper, not a smooth technical player who looks the part - like Shane Watson, for example. Scrappers can still do well in Test cricket of course, but it concerns me that even with some useful ODI knocks in the last 12 months, in many of those he's never looked like he's truly conquered the bowling. eg. despite being the leading run scorer for Aus in the series, I remember him playing and missing a fair bit in England in the middle of last year. He did look good dispatching half volleys from Dwayne Bravo straight down the ground this summer, I'll give him that. But majority of the time I don't find him convincing. That's my particularly biased and subjective view.

 

[bigred]

I think England should win handsomely at home, if the 3 current quicks stay fit. But the Australian team I'd least like to play is;

Watson
Warner
Rogers
Clarke
Khawaja
Haddin
O'Keefe
Siddle
Starc
Pattinson
Bird

Rogers gives the batting a more solid look, and has scored lots of runs in English conditions. Haddin always seems to frustrate England with quick fifties here and there. O'keefe just plays to get Pietersen thinking about left arm spin, and the fact he bats better than Doherty. Starc is slightly better than Johnson in my opinion, and Pattinson has the potential to be a real handful with the new duke ball. Jackson bird reminds me a lot of Glenn McGrath, so if he does a quarter of the damage that he did, he'll be worth having in the team.

 

[War]

As for Bailey...Bailey worries me because as much as his lack of production for Tasmania bothers me, he just doesn't LOOK like a Test player in my subjective view - the eye test. He's a scrapper, not a smooth technical player who looks the part - like Shane Watson, for example. Scrappers can still do well in Test cricket of course, but it concerns me that even with some useful ODI knocks in the last 12 months, in many of those he's never looked like he's truly conquered the bowling. eg. despite being the leading run scorer for Aus in the series, I remember him playing and missing a fair bit in England in the middle of last year. He did look good dispatching half volleys from Dwayne Bravo straight down the ground this summer, I'll give him that. But majority of the time I don't find him convincing. That's my particularly biased and subjective view.

Funny you should say that about Bailey & i can see why. But his scrapping like batting style is pretty similar to Nick Compton who is having a good start to his England career.

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I think England should win handsomely at home, if the 3 current quicks stay fit. But the Australian team I'd least like to play is;

Watson
Warner
Rogers
Clarke
Khawaja
Haddin
O'Keefe
Siddle
Starc
Pattinson
Bird

Rogers gives the batting a more solid look, and has scored lots of runs in English conditions. Haddin always seems to frustrate England with quick fifties here and there. O'keefe just plays to get Pietersen thinking about left arm spin, and the fact he bats better than Doherty. Starc is slightly better than Johnson in my opinion, and Pattinson has the potential to be a real handful with the new duke ball. Jackson bird reminds me a lot of Glenn McGrath, so if he does a quarter of the damage that he did, he'll be worth having in the team.

You know what i like this team. I'm not totally sure about O'Keefe as a # 7 in tests although he can certainly bat welll, but your reasoning just to have him in just to have KP thinking about left-arm spin is a fair one ha .

Bird also would work well as the defensive quick in the 4-man attack. But i think Ryan Harris will certainly play if AUS are smart & plays 4 quicks in England, regardless of the overall balance.

I personally have serious reservations about Harris playing test & 4-day cricket because i fear it will end his career prematurely. But he is back playing first-class cricket currently & once fit he probably still is AUS best test fast-bowler.

 

[bigred]

To be honest, I assumed that the selectors had totally given up on Harris playing 5 day cricket again, but if he is up for selection then yes I'd have him in for Starc.

Thinking about that number 7 spot, Australia are going to have to concede that they will need 5 bowlers to bowl England out. Because of this they'll probably have to bat someone at 7 who is more of a number 8. I could see Johnson doing it if they wanted to play Lyon ahead of O'keefe.

 

[War]

To be honest, I assumed that the selectors had totally given up on Harris playing 5 day cricket again, but if he is up for selection then yes I'd have him in for Starc.

Thinking about that number 7 spot, Australia are going to have to concede that they will need 5 bowlers to bowl England out. Because of this they'll probably have to bat someone at 7 who is more of a number 8. I could see Johnson doing it if they wanted to play Lyon ahead of O'keefe.

Conditions over the 10 ashes tests will occur when AUS would certainly need 5 bowlers to bowl out England. But i don't think AUS will need 5 bowlers all the time.

During the Ashes in England for example if the conditions are traditionally overcast & the wickets a seaming - a simple 4-man AUS pace attack should be able to test ENG batsmen's efficiently.

 

[aussie1st]

Thinking about that number 7 spot, Australia are going to have to concede that they will need 5 bowlers to bowl England out. Because of this they'll probably have to bat someone at 7 who is more of a number 8. I could see Johnson doing it if they wanted to play Lyon ahead of O'keefe.

I'd say we should be fine with 4 bowlers in England, the last time we were in England our bowling attack of Hilfy, Johnson and Siddle topped the wickets tally and our bowling attack now is significantly better.

 

[Aislabie]

And just to add to the hilarity, it looks like Watson's about to lead the rabble in the fourth Test. You couldn't make it up.

 

[sifter132]

Yeah it's pretty good stuff...but better to get this soap opera stuff done now though rather than imploding mid-Ashes. I think this is the opinion of quite a few fans out there, and it demonstrates that Aus-Eng is still the #1 rivalry. If Aus goes down 4-0 in India it will just be written off as a horror tour (or as Mickey Arthur's fault), before attention moves onto the Ashes.

Funny you should say that about Bailey & i can see why. But his scrapping like batting style is pretty similar to Nick Compton who is having a good start to his England career.

Or Alastair Cook. I remember watching him a few years back and wondering how he'd ever made the side. Looked like he couldn't get the ball off the square, had no shots and looked completely lost. If Bailey could turn into Alastair Cook I'd be head of the Bailey fan club in a flash