The Ashes and other cricket 2017/18.

[AndyP]

lots of strange things occur in low grade cricket.

Lots of strange things happen when Paki$tan play cricket......

[backintheswing]

The selection of loose bus change is seriously one of the most bizarre things we've ever done.

I get the sandpapering means a rethink but he is just so so so average.

Loose bus change scored more runs in this innings than the marsh brothers in 8 innings.

[Jarro]

Loose bus change scored more runs in this innings than the marsh brothers in 8 innings.

That's just sad

[3oneday]

No matter when you get pumped by 370+

[Yossarian]

Loose bus change scored more runs in this innings than the marsh brothers in 8 innings.

I think my thoughts on the marsh bros are pretty well known. Marnus' batting first class record might have been worse than mitch marsh's when selected. So their dismal returns don't really change the fact his selection was really out there.

[Stuart]

I'm actually feeling a bit sorry for Shaun Marsh. There can hardly ever have been a player more out of form than he is right now. Anything that reaches him looks unplayable.

As Exhibit A, I would like to tender the statistics and footage from 2011/2012 Australia V India, whereby our no.3 batsman had scores of 0,3, 0, 11, 3 and 0 across the Four Tests.

[TheNuclearOne]

Is the hunt for the next Warne getting excite quick or what.

[chappy1970]

Indeed, Pope is a freak

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[TheNuclearOne]

Indeed, Pope is a freak

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Definitely someone to get excited about. He will certainly be in the spotlight this summer to say the least.

[Stuart]

He has a great wrong-un, but I worry that his bowling arm is too vertical at the point of delivery to actually bowl a good leggie. It will be interesting to see how he develops over the next few years.

[Sydney Hacker]

So this new saviour is handy with the bat? Or is our tactic to bowl teams out for sub 150 and hope we can scratch together that many runs?

[TheNuclearOne]

He has a great wrong-un, but I worry that his bowling arm is too vertical at the point of delivery to actually bowl a good leggie. It will be interesting to see how he develops over the next few years.

He definitely comes over the top doesn't he. He's got a fantastic wrong'un at this point.

[dazza99]

Steady on. It was v Qld. And we have a habit of making opposing players look special.

Who was it got the fastest double-ton v us a month or so ago?

[Stuart]

He definitely comes over the top doesn't he. He's got a fantastic wrong'un at this point.

He will do well this season, but I suspect that once teams start playing him as an ‘offie’ he will start to struggle more. The Pakistan leggie Mushtaq was very similar in style, and he sadly disappeared off the scene once everyone worked out that he only really had either the straight ball or a wrong-un.Pope has great potential, and if he continues to work on making a few technical modifications, he could be a real star in a few years.

[Stuart]

A guy to watch, strangely enough more in terms of his bowling, is NSW’s young batsman Jason Sangha. He bowls very handy quick leggies - not a lot of turn, but a bit faster through the air to counteract the lack of spin. If he continue to develop this skill, it will go alongside his stronger suit of batting very nicely. Again, he needs a few years to develop but could be very handy.

[TheNuclearOne]

He will do well this season, but I suspect that once teams start playing him as an ‘offie’ he will start to struggle more. The Pakistan leggie Mushtaq was very similar in style, and he sadly disappeared off the scene once everyone worked out that he only really had either the straight ball or a wrong-un.Pope has great potential, and if he continues to work on making a few technical modifications, he could be a real star in a few years.

Good stuff. Kumble was a guy who didn't turn the ball a lot but had an incredible career. He pushed it thru so accurately with big overspin and kick. He's one in a generation tho i'd reckon.

[TheNuclearOne]

I'm actually feeling a bit sorry for Shaun Marsh. There can hardly ever have been a player more out of form than he is right now. Anything that reaches him looks unplayable. He cannot possibly get another chance, and he was a better player than we will possibly remember him as being.

A decent 80 today. He's halfway there.

[Sydney Hacker]

A decent 80 today. He's halfway there.

I think you misspelled “indecent”.

[TheNuclearOne]

A decent 80 today. He's halfway there.

And a 98 to back up. Selectors drooling.

[Stuart]

The question is - do you continue to pick a player like Shaun Marsh who will perform exceptionally well at times (last summer’s Ashes for example) but then fail miserably at other times, or do you go with someone who may have lower ‘highs’ but also less ‘lows’? Both will average about the same in the long run. For what its worth, Shaun Marsh’s batting average after 34 Tests is just 35. Is it likely to go up much at age 35? If it keeps pace with his age, he could be considered a genuine Test quality batsman in a decade.

Personally, I would prefer to see the selectors choose players in the middle order who are able to perform consistently with lower peaks but equally having less troughs.. One of the reasons that we have so many collapses in recent years is that with a number of these ‘hit-or-miss’ batsmen (both Marsh brothers) along with younger players means that there is no-one to steady the ship if Smith ever got out early. I know that Callum Ferguson is missing the current Shield round, but I would far prefer to see him coming into the side against India than for us to continue to persevere with Shaun Marsh who, after about 8 years after making his Test debut, is still no closer to achieving a reasonable level of consistency.

[TheNuclearOne]

The question is - do you continue to pick a player like Shaun Marsh who will perform exceptionally well at times (last summer’s Ashes for example) but then fail miserably at other times, or do you go with someone who may have lower ‘highs’ but also less ‘lows’? Both will average about the same in the long run. For what its worth, Shaun Marsh’s batting average after 34 Tests is just 35. Is it likely to go up much at age 35? If it keeps pace with his age, he could be considered a genuine Test quality batsman in a decade.

Personally, I would prefer to see the selectors choose players in the middle order who are able to perform consistently with lower peaks but equally having less troughs.. One of the reasons that we have so many collapses in recent years is that with a number of these ‘hit-or-miss’ batsmen (both Marsh brothers) along with younger players means that there is no-one to steady the ship if Smith ever got out early. I know that Callum Ferguson is missing the current Shield round, but I would far prefer to see him coming into the side against India than for us to continue to persevere with Shaun Marsh who, after about 8 years after making his Test debut, is still no closer to achieving a reasonable level of consistency.

They need to move on from Shaun. Whatever we do it will be with the Ashes solidly at the forefront. Do they see Marsh touring? He can nick off early when the ball is moving and i'd be leaving him out. We have Smith and potentially Warner and Bancroft coming back into the fold later. I'd give Mitch first crack at the allrounders spot due to his breakout series with the bat at home last season. Stoinis will be watched closely. Given what happened with the Pakistan selections i'd say The Big Show doesn't fit Langer's ideals/regime one bit. He's pretty much the opposite of what Langer was. I'd say they see Paine being the Ashes keeper and they almost certainly will show their hand against India. He's kept superbly and has been decent with the bat.

Ferguson is 34 in a couple of weeks and i can't see him replacing Marsh. It will be all about The Ashes and if Warner and Smith are in they would likely be accompanied by Kwaka and Paine so that's a lot of experience right there. I'd say guys like Finch, Renshaw, Head, Handscombe, Lehman and a handful of others will be jostling for Ashes spots. Our batting is still quite thin on the ground. A guy like Matthew Wade outperforms the vast majority of them in Shield.

Interesting times ahead selection wise.

[Stuart]

Can’t disagree with any of that.

I would also give Mitch a longer rope than Shaun - I think he has the potential to come good, but batting him any higher than no. 6 is a mistake.

I will be honest and admit that I am in no way convinced that Finch is a long term option either - he still drives at the line with a rigid front knee, and I suspect he will give the slips catching practice in England once the ball moves around a bit. Playing him in the middle order may work OK, but at age 32 (in a few weeks), you would have to wonder whether his 12 year first-class career record of just 7 hundreds and an average of 36 actually tells us a fairly accurate picture of his ability. It still does my head in that Warne wants him as Test captain, after just two Tests ....

A really left field option for the Ashes, and this is very much dependent upon fitness, is playing James Pattinson as part of a five man bowling outfit. His batting has come a long way, and a lower order of Paine (at no. 6), Pattinson, Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood isn’t too much worse than what we have at the moment. The Windies used to use the concept of ‘no matter how few we get, we’ll bowl you out for less’, and perhaps we need to go down that same pathway. The great Windies sides often had fairly weak players at no. 7, such as Roger Harper, Eldine Baptise or Malcolm Marshall, but the bowling firepower more than made up for it. Admittedly, they had Jeff Dujon at no. 6, and he was a genuine Test batsman in his own right, and I don’t think that Paine can make that claim.

[Stuart]

Apologies for that wall of text - for some reason the formatting has disappeared, and it reverts back whenever I edit it.

Edit: Was able to update on pc, but not on the iPad. No idea why.

[TheNuclearOne]

Agree about Finch for sure. Warne gets pretty radical at times but Finch is a Victorian LOL. When he goes early in one dayer's it's quite often to a ball swinging away. Anderson had a sensational series against India over there recently and he will be fired up, in form and rearing to go. Trouble is batting candidates still aren't exactly knocking the door down for selection or long term inclusion.

I'd be leery of playing an extra bowler. We might get away with it at home but it would be a worry i think particularly with Marsh at 6 already and Paine being quite handy but not overwhelming. Having said that i'm a huge fan of Pattinson. He's an awesome bowler (fantastic SR) when fit and bats very well for a bowler. In form and fit he will fit perfectly in the fast bowling rotations. We need that extra bowling class in the wings and he is it. We also need to pick a good swing bowler for The Ashes. Sayers is a real specialist and Tremain is knocking hard.Then we have dependable guys like Bird and Siddle's. Depending on injury and the like Tremain could fit into the teams against India and Sri Lanka sometime.

[dazza99]

Anyone know the full story with Warner today?

Walks off because he was sledged. Apparently (according to the news) he was called a "disgrace" by Phil Hughes brother.

What? Surely that's not the worst he's been called? And I get every impression he is/was the leading sledge merchant in the Aussie side.
Must be more to it.