*Official* Fifth Test at The Oval

[Maximas]

You genuinely think he's a better batsmen than Khawaja, Wade or Hughes?

he'll take wickets as well, but you have to build a whole cricket team, with batsmen and bowlers, you an't just load you team with your strengths and throw out the balance IMO.

 

[Prince EWS]

Worst 'letting rip with a rant' ever?

Haha, the sting of my rant was massively taken away by how I found out Watson was going to bowl. Would've been a lot different if I actually watched Watson run in at first change again.

 

[Jono]

Khawaja dropped A real faulk in the road for his career now.

 

[Spikey]

Khawaja dropped A real faulk in the road for his career now.

he might actually attempt to improve following this dropping

 

[Jono]

he might actually attempt to improve following this dropping

Not trying to improve has kept Twatto in the team, so no reason why Khawaja should do anything different

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, part of me wonders whether the little boy inside Watson is genuinely wanting the oppo to just stop bowling at his pads so much to give him a chance. Has a face like he'd have been that guy in backyard/driveway cricket.

 

[benchmark00]

Spike**** is right though. Khawaja has come back into the team with the exact problems he had when he left it.

The good thing about being dropped after a period of time in the team is that it really highlights what you need to work on because international cricket has a way of finding you out. Clarke is the best example of it. Started off well but his penchant to hit everything in the air at catchable height through the off side, and how loose he was outside off caught up to him and he got dropped.

He worked super hard at those exact aspects of his game and came back better.

Now I don't know if it's the selection panel or the coach or Pat ****ing Howard's role, but someone needs to point out exactly what he needs to work on, and until he improves those things he won't be selected again, even if he piles them on in domestic cricket again, because there were several of us who pointed out what his deficiencies were and he still hasn't done anything to rectify them. If he can't see them himself someone else needs to point them out. And if that's been done and he still hasn't worked on them or devised strategies to overcome them, then well....

 

[Tangles]

Between India and England its hard to rank the undeserved Baggy Greens been given out. But

1. Faulkner. Tasmanian.
2. Maxwell. Victorian.
3. Agar. Lyon took 7 the previous test.
4. Henriques.

So if your an all rounder who can show any return in any format your a chance. This whole thing still feels like wanting extra bowling because Harris and Watson may break. Yet they couldn't do the obvious and drop Watson. He gets a promotion and a spot on the team sheet. Maybe his name is actually 2nd one down.

 

[Jono]

Spike**** is right though. Khawaja has come back into the team with the exact problems he had when he left it.

The good thing about being dropped after a period of time in the team is that it really highlights what you need to work on because international cricket has a way of finding you out. Clarke is the best example of it. Started off well but his penchant to hit everything in the air at catchable height through the off side, and how loose he was outside off caught up to him and he got dropped.

He worked super hard at those exact aspects of his game and came back better.

Now I don't know if it's the selection panel or the coach or Pat ****ing Howard's role, but someone needs to point out exactly what he needs to work on, and until he improves those things he won't be selected again, even if he piles them on in domestic cricket again, because there were several of us who pointed out what his deficiencies were and he still hasn't done anything to rectify them. If he can't see them himself someone else needs to point them out. And if that's been done and he still hasn't worked on them or devised strategies to overcome them, then well....

So what you're basically saying is Faulkner replacing Khawaja could be a faulk in the road of his career.

 

[benchmark00]

So what you're basically saying is Faulkner replacing Khawaja could be a faulk in the road of his career.

intended double entendre?

 

[Jono]

intended double entendre?

 

[NUFAN]

Khawaja dropped A real faulk in the road for his career now.

Can we ban this guy, James?

 

[NUFAN]

You genuinely think he's a better batsmen than Khawaja, Wade or Hughes?

I don't think he is naturally better overall or anything but I do think that he is better at starting against Swann and therefore more likely to form a bit of a partnership compared to the other 3. IF Hughes, Wade and Faulkner all got to 30* though, I would much rather have the left handed batsman at the crease than Faulkner as they are more likely to go on with it, but the battle to get to 30 is proving difficult for most batsman this series.

 

[Jono]

Can we ban this guy, James?

I thought we were friends. What happened to us man?

 

[NUFAN]

I thought we were friends. What happened to us man?

Usie, you became a douche.

 

[Top_Cat]

Spike**** is right though. Khawaja has come back into the team with the exact problems he had when he left it.

The good thing about being dropped after a period of time in the team is that it really highlights what you need to work on because international cricket has a way of finding you out. Clarke is the best example of it. Started off well but his penchant to hit everything in the air at catchable height through the off side, and how loose he was outside off caught up to him and he got dropped.

He worked super hard at those exact aspects of his game and came back better.

Now I don't know if it's the selection panel or the coach or Pat ****ing Howard's role, but someone needs to point out exactly what he needs to work on, and until he improves those things he won't be selected again, even if he piles them on in domestic cricket again, because there were several of us who pointed out what his deficiencies were and he still hasn't done anything to rectify them. If he can't see them himself someone else needs to point them out. And if that's been done and he still hasn't worked on them or devised strategies to overcome them, then well....

Similar things were said after he was dropped the first time and he didn't even need to dominate Shield cricket to get back in. Hoping someone makes your latter point really clear. Hughes, for all his iffiness in Tests, at least he dominated the scoring in games for SA. Should be way back in the pecking order until runs flow for QLD, even if the Test side is losing.

 

[NUFAN]

Similar things were said after he was dropped the first time and he didn't even need to dominate Shield cricket to get back in. Hoping someone makes your latter point really clear. Hughes, for all his iffiness in Tests, at least he dominated the scoring in games for SA. Should be way back in the pecking order until runs flow for QLD, even if the Test side is losing.

I think Khawaja deserved his spot in the touring squad. He performed at a decent level in the Shield and was seen as the first replacement before Hussey and Ponting retired. Some batsman like Quiney, Cowan, Henriques were tried and it didn't work out so yeah I think the selectors have handled Khawaja well this series. Agree though that he needs to make a stack of runs for QLD to be given another chance now.

BTW, what was Khawaja told to work on again? It was definitely rotating the strike - which I don't think was an issue during this series and what were the other things? Better in the field?

 

[the big bambino]

I've said it a few times now, but I'm pretty sure this has a lot to do with the fact that Watson's bowling fitness is up in the air at the moment. If he was fully fit to bowl then I don't think Faulkner would be playing, so it's not as simple as "replacing a batsman with an allrounder."

If Watson is unfit then replace him directly with Faulkner. That would make sense. Your no.6 from last test who bowls replaced by a guy who'll bat around that mark and also bowls. Watson as a batsman alone is only justifiable bcos Usman and Hughes are little better. However the selectors might have flummed a partial answer to the threat posed by Anderson's line and Swann's spin by loading the top order with lefties and the MO with righties. Playing Watson at 3 and bringing in Faulkner now give a little bit more for Anderson and Swann to work at and over.

EDIT. Just read where Watto will bowl. I agree no need for justifications now. The selection is outright dumb.

 

[the big bambino]

On second thoughts if you're just of the mindset Khawaja has to go then I could get on board with that. Is Watson also better than Wade, Hughes or any other batting option right now - and I stress - while he's not fit?

I would say he is not as good as Wade as a test batsmen now or even since Wade debuted.

 

[Spikey]

BTW, what was Khawaja told to work on again? It was definitely rotating the strike - which I don't think was an issue during this series and what were the other things? Better in the field?

I'm pretty sure Khawaja denied he was even told to work on that, which if true is astonishing.