Yup. Certainly looks like it now. 145/9 chasing 231 to avoid an innings loss.
Philander now has 4 5 fors in 3 tests.
I expect the Indian batting to do somewhat better in Australia though, with the easier conditions. Pretty sure they won’t be able to take the series though. You’re right that they just don’t have the bowling for it. As for the OP, yeah I think everyone loves NZ having pulled off a win against the Aussies. And what a win at that.
Any ideas from our Aussie members as to why Khawaja has been dropped for the upcoming Test? From what I have seen of him, he looks like a pretty decent prospect (though has not been allowed to settle into a position in the order), so one assumes that either I am missing a technical flaw or the bloke coming in is even better.
Well it is true that Shaun Marsh is one out of the top draw and his younger brother Mitchell is probably better again. Conversely he’s carrying a chronic back injury and I wouldn’t pick him.
Usman has always looked solid, has produced minimal failures but equally he hasn’t looked like dominating. Technically there isn’t much wrong. He looks a bit like a player who’s not convinced himself he’s at Test standard. Regularly getting knocked over after scoring 20 isn’t a good look on the batting resume (he’s made 20+ 7 times in his 9 completed inning but only one 50). He’s had reasonable chance to show his talent at #3, and it’s less likely he could come back in the middle order. His form in 1st class hasn’t been at the level of last year when he forced his way in. He’ll get back with runs, but the schedule means he won’t get sufficient games to do so this summer.
Australia over the past few decades have chosen their captains from the batting ranks in their peak form. Ponting and Clarke have always been in my opinion were poorly selected captains because they never had the consistency when chosen, they never had what it took to put in a good captains knock when needed and will always be to me BAD CAPTAINS! Border, Taylor, Waugh could and would put in a good captains knock every time and proved themselves as GOOD CAPTAINS! Ponting has taken us Aussies down with him, Clarke the same. The next good Aussie captain will again come with this criteria, I can only hope that the selectors have the necessary forethought and hindsight to see this.
Cool, cheers for the update. Good that there are a bunch of prospects coming through. The number of decent test match nations is too small for Australia to be a poor side for too long. By the sounds of things Khawaja may need a bit more time. If he is not going to get loads of games to prove his place I would say he would definitely be worth a punt for a county side up here next season. Might even benefit him, as he would be looked at as one of the best players on the team for whoever he went to. Long term, you would think he would get back lower down the order. Hussey can’t last forever. Khawaja might even wind up being a bit like Ian Bell, and find himself with an extended run at 5 or 6 when Hussey finally goes.
Personally the push for Shaun Marsh baffles me. He is almost 30, has 11 years of first class cricket behind him and doesn’t average 40. He is a perennial cripple and at the time of his selection for Australia had 6 first class hundreds in 60 odd games.
He strikes me as one of the arbitrary picks that the selectors make because someone or other likes him not because he has figures that cry out for him to be selected.
Nah, as a New Zealander I love the current title…
I just found this thread, and despite the original post, I think it would have been a travesty if Australia had won. Although the series was 1 all eventually, I’m not sure either side can take much from the series. It was to short- a two Test series is pretty well useless. That aside, the series showed that neither side is very good.
As per Ultimate Thule I watched Australia get touched up pretty regularly after the WSC debacle, so I had no problem with the Team being number one for quite some time. The arrogance was a different matter.
Australia has aged players who refuse to go and the selectors have not had the nuts to tap them on the shoulder. I am not convinced that has changed. We also have too many soft players.
NZ, although correctly celebrating this win, would have to wonder if their team is any better than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Unfortunately, unless they get a really outstanding player such as Richard hadlee combined with several top notchers they generally have a team held together by one or two Test level players and a few who are useful at the level. (This is an observation, not a criticism).
So NZ deservedly won. I was hoping that would provide leverage for the Australian selectors to dump a few has beens. That didn’t happen so it compunded my summer of discontent.
You’re referring to Ponting one presumes. Or are there any others? I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
I think Hussey and Haddin as well. Prior to his injury I woulmped Johnson as well, but it seems unlikely he will now be back- well for an extended period.
This Test Match in Melbourne is shaping up to be another good un. 230 runs to the good, Aus have 2 wickets in hand in the 3rd innings. A target of 250 is both achievable and (historically at least) tricky for India to get. We could be winding up with another close one.
Interesting that Ponting and Hussey were the ones holding the order together for Aus. I would broadly agree that the old hands need to make way - but throwing them all out at once means the emerging players don’t necessarily benefit from their experience. I think Ponting should probably go - but I’d keep Hussey around for a bit (and this is not based on what is happening currently - he was also Aus’s best bat in the Ashes last year, in my view).
Unfortunately, this is the scenario I was concerned would happen- they would get respectable scores and secure their places for another series. Cumbrian, I would have to disagree with your view about the experience being needed. If they don’t stay long enough in the middle, that experience is not much use. Plus they have a captain, and a vice captain who have played a hell of a lot of matches between them (Watson when he returns). Throw in Haddin and there are even more games.
The other thing is that the “newer” batsmen are not teenagers. Marsh and Cowan are both approaching 30.
And the other thing that rankles is that Hussey helped to retain his place in the side after a century against Pakistan in a very suspect match a while back. However, I can’t say that there are a huge amount of batsmen here who have such form they are demanding inclusion.
I expect India to win tomorrow. What does give me heartburn is that they (India) refuse to adopt the referral system and unfortunately have benefited by doing so. There was at least one appeal against the Indian batsmen that was turned down and a third umpire would have overturned that - and Australian batsmen given out when they were not out. And the limited technology that was accepted agaon benefitted India when Dravid was bowled and then called back when Siddle fractionally overstepped the crease in delivery.
Meh. After all that Australia don’t deserve to win. Their bowlers were good. The batsmen inept.
Hmm. A lot to inspire discussion there.
There is a marked difference between Hussey and Ponting (I’d throw Haddin aside too if you’ve got another decent wicketkeeper knocking around). Ponting doesn’t demand a place, whilst Hussey does. Hussey has a Test average north of 45 since the start of The Ashes 2010, whilst Ponting isn’t above 30. If you’ve got young players knocking around who can do better than average 45 as soon as they come in the team, you’ve got some bloody good cricketers. More likely that Hussey is actually the type of player you need whilst the side is in transition.
This isn’t to say that Hussey (nor some of the others) shouldn’t move aside. It’s a question of whether the timing is right. Last Ashes series, I had a few (minor) heated exchanges with people on here about Paul Collingwood - who should have been dropped prior to the series in Australia in my view. Fortunately, his deficiencies were hidden by his team mates, but he should have gone earlier than he did. Ponting is in that position now (removing his innings here from the equation). I don’t think Hussey is (again, unless you’ve got someone who can come in and average 45 straight away - in which case, drop him!).
I don’t think I would be too dismissive of that score against Pakistan either. Alistair Cook was fighting for his place at the tail end of the English summer of 2010 and played Butt, Asif and Aamer, who have all since proved to be shonky. He got a ton in the last game of the series (reaching it when Asif overthrew his own wicketkeeper after fielding a forward defensive). All told, I’d say more suspect than Hussey’s ton. Still, Cook kept his place in the team and since then has scored hatfuls. I would say it’s best to focus on what the batsmen has done when deciding on his place - not on the merits/demerits of the opposition.
Why are the batsmen coming into the side so old? I ask because Australia always seem to have really good age group cricketers. Why are they not being given a chance? Or are the stocks not as full as we, up here, might think?
I have a big problem with the Indian attitude on DRS. It looks like everyone else in world cricket agrees that it is better to get decisions right, except them. And they are holding up progress. India is where the power/money is in the game though, so I guess we’ll just have to lump it.
I think Aus can win this from here but I wouldn’t put anything I valued on it. I suspect that it might be a handful of runs or 2 or 3 wickets victory either way (unless Sehwag goes mental).
The Boxing Day test is shaping up nicely for an exciting conclusion. How’s this for a fairy tale ending? Tendulkar to get his century and hit the winning runs for India…
Personally I think Australia are in a slightly better position, they have the runs on the board after all.
As for Ponting and Hussey, as I said in post #8 I think they should have gone after the New Zealand test.
Cicerohit the nail on the head about the NZ team, they are (and nearly always have been) a team of tryers with the occasional star. Our domestic competition is pretty damn weak so there aren’t a lot of players to choose from.
Regarding the DRS there was a howler in the NZ-Aussie test near the end, with the system showing the ball in a different position than the TV coverage, leading to an lbw being turned down. NZ won anyway but this could easily have affected the result. I think the Indian administrators are against DRS for two reasons, it’s not perfect and perhaps the costs in setting it up at all grounds.
Well a lot sure has happened since I posted late last night. Australia seem on track (barring a miracle for India) to record a pretty easy victory.
As regards Ponting/ Hussey/ Haddin the problem with replacing them is that there are no batsmen demanding inclusion by mountains of runs over a period of time. And the successor to Haddin (Paine) seems to have been injured forever. However Wade is a good prospect.
One thing that I believe helps both Haddin and Hussey retain their places is that they are both good, reliable fielders.
And withy the experience factor, I think the bowling attack needed that as much as the batting and Hilf and Siddle have provided that.
As the 8th Indian wicket tumbles.
Gah. Everybody here in India is disgusted, though not surprised, with the fold. I can only hope the poor starters tag will apply. It was a good test though, and could have been great, if it hadn’t been let down by India’s abject batting in the fourth innings. The Aussies bowled beautifully though. Full credit. My prediction of a drawn/lost series for India still stands.
As for the DRS, I’m all for consistency, but I have started coming around to the view that the technology really isn’t all that it is supposed to be. In the India tour of England for example, there were a number of instances with Hotspot which were very suspect. I don’t think there has been independent testing of the accuracy of either Hawkeye or Hotspot. Does anybody know if ICC has commissioned any such tests?
I think DRS should be applied to all games, but in a more limited fashion. Base it off regular video replays, and only to eliminate howlers. For e.g where an inside edge is visible for an LBW, or there is no edge(like Hussey’s first innings dismissal). If the third umpire on review does not feel there is conclusive evidence either way, the field umpire’s original decision stands.
I was against DRS to start with but I think it has now developed to the stage where it needs to be used and can be without too much difficulty. The expense is a factor, and the same level of technology would ideally be available in all countries. I agree hotspot is suspect (at times) and I think that snickometre is useless (do they still have that?) If the technology gets 9 out of 10, or confirms nine out of ten that is great. As you say, the original decision (or umpires call) stands on the remainder.
I think India is in a position similar to Australia but a few years later- the core of the team is going.
(Now if only it had been Pakistan we beat we could get the thread title changed. I jest- beating India is almost as good as beating England).
India is going to go Australias way soon if they don’t act up. Tendulkar and Dravid and Laxman going soon and no real bowler to speak off, they could really hurt in a few years time.