FaaipDeOiad
Hall of Fame Member
Well there doesn't seem to be a thread for this yet, so I thought I should start one.
Hayden was also dropped from the ODI squad, and Gillespie and Kasprowicz from both, all of which are understandable, but Martyn was, prior to the Ashes series, one of the best batsmen in the world, and dominated consistently last year.
His series averages before The Ashes for the previous year were outstanding:
55.50 vs Sri Lanka
50.75 vs Sri Lanka
55.50 vs India
41.50 vs New Zealand
103.33 vs Pakistan
78.33 vs New Zealand
Why does one poor series, in which he had some poor decisions as well, warrant being dropped from the team? Even dropping Hayden would have been a bit of an overreaction given his century in the final game, but dropping the guy who was the most in-form Australian batsmen a couple of months ago and has had four poor tests is simply inexplicable. I don't usually criticise the selectors, but this is surely the worst selection decision in recent memory, from any country.
Anyway, the test and ODI squads:
Test squad: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Stuart MacGill.
ODI squad: Adam Gilchrist (wk), Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait.
The good news is that Bracken has been returned to the ODI squad, and Watson to the test squad. Why Katich made the ODI squad ahead of Hodge I have no idea either.
Hayden was also dropped from the ODI squad, and Gillespie and Kasprowicz from both, all of which are understandable, but Martyn was, prior to the Ashes series, one of the best batsmen in the world, and dominated consistently last year.
His series averages before The Ashes for the previous year were outstanding:
55.50 vs Sri Lanka
50.75 vs Sri Lanka
55.50 vs India
41.50 vs New Zealand
103.33 vs Pakistan
78.33 vs New Zealand
Why does one poor series, in which he had some poor decisions as well, warrant being dropped from the team? Even dropping Hayden would have been a bit of an overreaction given his century in the final game, but dropping the guy who was the most in-form Australian batsmen a couple of months ago and has had four poor tests is simply inexplicable. I don't usually criticise the selectors, but this is surely the worst selection decision in recent memory, from any country.
Anyway, the test and ODI squads:
Test squad: Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting (capt), Brad Hodge, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist (wk), Shane Watson, Brett Lee, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Shaun Tait, Stuart MacGill.
ODI squad: Adam Gilchrist (wk), Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting (capt), Damien Martyn, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, James Hopes, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken, Shaun Tait.
The good news is that Bracken has been returned to the ODI squad, and Watson to the test squad. Why Katich made the ODI squad ahead of Hodge I have no idea either.