Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince EWS
Yep; the MCG is a good bowling deck in Shield cricket. If he had to play against that batting lineup in Adelaide though he'd been average at best, IMO.
Being accused of "Butterworth hate" is a new one for me. I don't reckon you'll find anyone on the forum (other than yourself, evidently) who rates the bloke more than I do, out of those who actually watch Shield cricket anyway. If you go have a gander at the pecking order thread I listed him pretty high, and I think he should be in the general Test frame, especially for some of the overseas Tests. Picking him in Adelaide (especially on debut) would be absurd though, frankly.
Again I don't want to mix up the formats of the game too much, and that's definitely not usually my go, but chaminda is right when he says the fact that Butterworth can't even get a game for Tasmania in one day cricket because the decks are better is telling. Yes, his skillset is better-suited to four day cricket than one day cricket in general, but the Test pitches are more like the Ryobi Cup pitches than the Shield pitches, so when Tasmania's hierarchy rightly rule him out because of those decks, it's worrying. More than anything I actually think it'd be grossly unfair to a guy who I think we should be considering for tours to England and South Africa to have his career ruined by an inevitable toothless Adelaide debut.
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I didn't mean that at you btw. Don't see why it would be absurd for him to debut at Adelaide, because part of the reason I think he would be a good addition is the balance he adds. At worst he would probably hold up an end and build some pressure. If Hilf continues to bowl how he was though, he isn't providing strike power or building pressure despite his good economy (it's closer to how he was a year or two ago). I don't think a potential lack of 'options' would be that much of a concern either if Watson can bowl. Fair point about it maybe not be great for his prospective test career, although at this stage it looks like he might be a no-test wonder anyway so...