After the most recent humiliation in the ODI against Sri Lanka I am forced to ask the question. Are the selectors deliberately sabotaging our cause? How can a kid take 4 for plus a brilliant run out and then be replaced by Hauritz in the next game? If this is their ridiculous rotation policy I am horrified. Surely we don't have the depth of talent to be resting obviously in form players? Hauritz's form has hardly foced him into the side.
Apart from harming Australia's chances it also belittles a brilliant performance by Doherty. The best by an Aussie for quite a while which should have won us the game. Clarke's captaincy was woeful. The senior bowlers failed to step up when the game was there for the taking and the one that gets it in the ring gear is the BOG?
Congratulation Hilditch and Co. you have managed to top yourselves.
i know, what the hell is that all about?
ReplyDeleteWhile Doherty's fig at the end were closer to a normal strike bowler, hewas assisted so to have done all that work!
he turned it, landed it etc, so Hilditch and Co needs a LONG facedown dragging (thanks for adding that to my vernacular Nos) through broken glass and barbed wire.
Our leading bowler, basically...SUCKED!
Jono and Hey-did need to address the tactical part of their game.
i almost WANT to be sheelacked for the rest of the summer to force dramatic action on CA.
...can't believe i have even said that!
I don't really care about the limited overs stuff, but was very surprised when Doherty wasn't picked.
ReplyDeleteMy question though is why is Michael Hussey playing in this team when he has an Ashes series in the immediate future, is under pressure and hasn't played any long-form cricket in yonks.
He could have played against the Poms for WA like North did, surely that would have been a better preparation for the Ashes?
Or are the selectors hiding him from the English, hoping he finds Test form in a one-day series?
Jono failed again.
ReplyDeletei'm not a razor gang, but if he isn't performing...you know the answer. SS is the place to get his stuff together; and surely WA would be happy (maybe) to get some value out of him after all this time- one gme isn't it in 3 years?
CA left themselves very little room to move by scheduling an ODI series just before the Ashes. While Eng are playing 3 and 4 day games, Aus is wasting its time with 50 over cricket. They can't pick a second string side and get ridiculed (and offend Sri Lanka who've made the journey out here for 3 limited over games!) so guys that need time in the middle or long bowling spells are not getting the opportunity.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to come around to the idea of CA learning its lesson but to be honest I don't think they'd learn a thing. Excuses would be made and we may see the end of some aging players but it would be a clean-sweep with more uncertainty to come. The board always said that the Lillee/Marsh/Chappell vacating would never happen again. Well, now they have little choice with Katich/Hussey/Ponting. If Ferguson and Kawahja don't play a test this summer we'll have our answer on what is in the selectors' minds. Smith needs more time and he's really not being used well in the ODIs so throwing him a baggy green is a bit too much I reckon. Funny how Hughes is barely spoken about now.
Gerard Waitley from Grandstand gave CA a spray about this this morning. i'll write more when i have time
ReplyDeleteChappell/Lille/Marsh....Warne/McGrath/Gilchrist. Is there a friggin difference?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a captain in any form of the game that knows how to use bowlers, or set fields to alter the tempo of the game. The record books will show Ponting as the captain of the side with the equal most test victories in a row but the truth is I coud have captained that side to victory. "Let me see, who do I give the ball to? A guy that has 600 test wickets or one that has 700?" Add that to the fact he was probably defending 600 plus with the batsmen he had at his disposal. Sorry Stoph but Waugh too had that luxury. I would love to know what Waugh would do with this crop of players, Tubby too. I thinks Tubs just shaded Waugh in the captaincy stakes. Border even more so.
Hughes is young enough to mature before he starts wanting to be talked about again.
All one day stuff should be after the test cricket has finished in our summer. ALL. It is nearly dead and I can't see a World Cup after the next one without significant changes to the format. For me it's a test World Cup that should take precedence. Top 4 teams in a round robin playing each other twice. First innings points and all. Top 2 after that play a 3 test series for the title.
ok, back after all of those distractions like work...and the kilt.
ReplyDeleteWaitley said that CA were obliged to put the ODI/T20 in this time slot out of commitments to staging games and haveing the normal window shut out due to the world cup next year. hence the crazy oct/nov schedule.
the crowd numbers will show that for what it was... an exercise in obligation!
certainly, the practice of having test players in the T20 and odi side during a pointless competition and when they need multi-day practice reflects on bad player management by CA. why not have fielded an u19's side and get some experience into some grommets? SL might have bitched about such a practice, but given they do their best to play as few tests as possible against credable sides, who care what they think.
what SL do well that we don't is foster youth. they have 100 contracted players including many school boys!
Waitley didn't pull punches about CA's selection practices either; and it was good to hear opinions much like DTW's in the media with Hilditch coping the brunt of a to-the-point spray. the appointment of Chappell was applauded with the explination that it was about time we had a National talent manager and fulltime selector. unfortunatley (for mine) he is the spokesperson for selectors and will deal with the media- this is a bad move i believe as the chairman gets to weild the knife (OR NOT!) and gets off with out being grilled.
regardless, the position and responsibilities are a move forward for an institution that has forever been mired down in its own self importance and is desperate need of re-structuring!
this is how it should be:
chairman
national talent manager- who has a state rep (observer) under him for each state game played.
batting selector
bowling selector
me to cast deciding votes and break deadlock.
I think DTW should actually have group representation though, Stoph. I certainly trust your judgement and would be happy to have you as our spokesman but perhaps weekly phone-links would do the trick and you could take the views of the group to Chappell? :)
ReplyDeleteI can't see how a batting selector/bowling selector would work. You pick a squad or an 11/12 based in part on team balance so separating disciplines is fraught with danger I think. Having people where their job is to protect the interest of the discipline is one thing - but selecting is another. Do you play 6 batsmen, 4 bowlers and a keeper - what about an allrounder?
my thoughts on batting/bowling selectors are this:
ReplyDeletethat person is responsible for tracking performances of both aus XI and state players in their field, then presenting the best players/permutations to the commitee for assessment; they don't get to choose the people themselves as such
this way, we can be sure people are solely focusing on the core elements of the game.
all rounders will be shown up when the above figures are presented to the rest of the commitee. team composition should always be based on pitch/conditions/etc. in the modern game, all keepers need to be batsman/keepers so figure in with the batsman.