Cricket XVIII -- Ashes and other psychological horrors

[williamjm]

Interesting tour match. So far everyone whose position is a bit shaky has scored runs (Cowan 66, Hughes 84, Smith 98*). Don't think 66 is enough for Cowan to force his way in at the expense of Hughes or Smith though.

I think the bigger threat to Hughes or Smith could have been David Warner after he scored 190 against South Africa A, but if they're also scoring runs then it might keep them safe.

Probably the more important battle will be Agar vs Lyon in the bowling. Fingers crossed that Lyon puts in a good performance...same for Bird. I find it weird that Starc isn't playing; with Pattinson out, they surely should be thinking of having a bowl-off between Starc/Bird/Faulkner. Unless they're already set on having both Agar and Lyon at Old Trafford....hrm.

Starc does seem to be playing. Currently, Lyon has conceded 38 runs off 5 overs, which isn't likely to help his cause much. It'll be interesting to see how Taylor performs here, a big innings could secure his place.

[Jeor]

So he is, don't know how I missed that. Swear he wasn't on the team sheet!

Early days yet but Starc and Bird the pick of the bowlers while both spinners are struggling. Bird has 2/29 off 12, which sounds pretty good. Looking at his stats, both his Test and first class bowling averages are sub 20. Although he's only played two Tests, he has taken over 100 first class wickets so he isn't a flash in the pan - although one might cynically add that his first class figures are against domestic Australian batsmen, who haven't proven themselves to be a particularly tough lot to dislodge. :P

[Daeric]

I think the bigger threat to Hughes or Smith could have been David Warner after he scored 190 against South Africa A, but if they're also scoring runs then it might keep them safe.

Them be fighting words!

[arya_underfoot]

So he is, don't know how I missed that. Swear he wasn't on the team sheet!

Early days yet but Starc and Bird the pick of the bowlers while both spinners are struggling. Bird has 2/29 off 12, which sounds pretty good. Looking at his stats, both his Test and first class bowling averages are sub 20. Although he's only played two Tests, he has taken over 100 first class wickets so he isn't a flash in the pan - although one might cynically add that his first class figures are against domestic Australian batsmen, who haven't proven themselves to be a particularly tough lot to dislodge. :P

It's true that Bird's averages are helped by Shield batsmen and his two tests against a weak SL lineup, but there's no doubt that he bowls like someone who belongs at test level. If he stays fit, by the end of the SA tour in 2014, I think he will be established in the top two amongst Australia's bowlers (along with Siddle).

[Jeor]

He's also only 26, which means his best days should be ahead of him, and he could be a long-term fixture in the Aussie side. Any tall fast bowler is talked about as "McGrath-like" but it's true in Bird's case, accurate, gets bounce, not express. We've seen guys like Philander and Asif don't have to be really fast bowlers to be world-class wicket-takers, so I have high hopes that Bird might be able to follow what those guys have done (perhaps not to the same extent though).

[ljkeane]

Interesting England squad. There's no surprise Taylor's in but Finn and Onions are replaced with Panesar and Tremlett. It gives them the option of going with two spinners although I'm still not sure they will.

[arya_underfoot]

There'd have to be a very good reason for England to change their bowling lineup. Broad has been the least impressive bowler but it seems like his spot is as secure as anyone else's in the team. Bresnan bowled very well at Lord's and the other two select themselves.

[Jeor]

Interesting looking at the tour match figures. Lyon has 1/93 off 25 overs, while Agar has 1/52 off 10 overs. Hopefully the fact that Lyon is bowling a whole lot more is an indication that the Australian selectors want to take a long hard look at him in the run-up to Old Trafford.

Does anyone know how overseas tour selection works for Australia? Given that Clarke is not a selector anymore, is it now Lehmann's sole prerogative?

I think in the past they used to have the captain, coach and the chairman of selectors as a three-man selection panel for overseas tours, but not sure how it works now.

[Hereward]

They don't just draw names out of a hat?!

[williamjm]

They don't just draw names out of a hat?!

Obviously the modern-day Australian selection isn't as similar to the 90s English selection as we thought it was.

[arya_underfoot]

I don't know how it works, but one would think that it is the selectors' responsibility to decide the XI. The captain and coach may have some advisory input I suppose.

Meanwhile, Khwaja continues to do everything in his power to convince people he does deserve to be in the squad with more wasted opportunities. Cowan, Hughes and Smith are all batting better than him, despite Khwaja being clearly the more talented and technically sound batsmen out of that lot. Someone's going to have to be dropped when the selectors favourite son returns from his sledging tour of Africa.

[Jeor]

Meanwhile, Khwaja continues to do everything in his power to convince people he does deserve to be in the squad with more wasted opportunities. Cowan, Hughes and Smith are all batting better than him, despite Khwaja being clearly the more talented and technically sound batsmen out of that lot. Someone's going to have to be dropped when the selectors favourite son returns from his sledging tour of Africa.

I'm less concerned about technique than I used to be...as a purist I like watching the Dravids of the world, but in this day and age where pitches tend to behave fairly well over the length of a Test match, good technique is not as essential as it once was. As long as a side has at least a couple of technicians in it who are able to lead the order when a draw or batting on a dodgy pitch is needed, there is a place for some ugly runs.

In short, I'd much rather get some ugly runs out of Smith than settle for constantly stylish 20s or 30s out of Khawaja. For the moment there's enough room in the side for both (as it should be - both have scored Test half centuries on this tour) but I wonder when the selectors are thinking of throwing Warner back into the mix.

[Alester Florent]

In short, I'd much rather get some ugly runs out of Smith than settle for constantly stylish 20s or 30s out of Khawaja. For the moment there's enough room in the side for both (as it should be - both have scored Test half centuries on this tour) but I wonder when the selectors are thinking of throwing Warner back into the mix.

Only when the series is dead and buried, it seems, or possibly in Australia for the return fixture, by which point he'll have been out of Test cricket for so long it'll take him a couple of matches to warm up.

I know that panic selections are rarely helpful (see Pattinson, D.), but you don't get the impression that this set of batsmen is suddenly going to explode with runs in the next Test, and if they don't, then that's the series gone. If there's ever a time to hit the panic button, now is surely it. Besides which, Warner at least has a reasonable Test record; except for Clarke, and in the absence of Hussey, he's been the only consistently successful Aussie batsmen over the last couple of years.

[Jeor]

You don't get the impression that this set of batsmen is suddenly going to explode with runs in the next Test, and if they don't, then that's the series gone.

True enough. Our bowling can be decent. I think an attack of Harris, Siddle and Bird plus Watson as a fourth seamer, and Lyon as first-choice spinner with Smith as backup, is good enough to get 20 wickets. But there's no getting around the fact that we're going to need to come up with at least one good batting innings to give the bowlers a chance. One thing I've noticed is that we seem to be losing wickets on the stroke of stoppages in play, e.g. the last over before lunch, or straight after the tea break, etc. If we could stop those we might have a decent chance of getting a partnership together.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Our cat is especially happy to see a certain spin bowler included in the 14-man squad for the next Test. ;)

[Daeric]

Tbh I think we are going to be lucky to get a test match, weather forecast up her is sun and rain, lots and lots of rain. The Pennine's are just getting drench at the moment.

[williamjm]

Tbh I think we are going to be lucky to get a test match, weather forecast up her is sun and rain, lots and lots of rain. The Pennine's are just getting drench at the moment.

The BBC's weather forecast suggests it doesn't look too bad for the first couple of days of the Test, although it looks unsettled after that.

Our cat is especially happy to see a certain spin bowler included in the 14-man squad for the next Test. ;)

Unfortunately, I think it's probably unlikely Monty is going to play, unless Swann gets injured (which isn't impossible since he has had injury problems earlier this year).

[Daeric]

Todays weather has being ferociously bad, thunderstorms and all, so hopefully that will have gotten it out of its system.

[Stubby]

Todays weather has being ferociously bad, thunderstorms and all, so hopefully that will have gotten it out of its system.

Bugger. The spells have peaked too early.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Start a new thread, ya punk! :commie: