That's what I thought as well. Wasn't that Commonwealth Games series where Fleming averaged about 5 played there?vic_orthdox said:Hoop galore in Malaysia?
Seeing as the selectors aren't letting Jacques into the one-day side, I guess this is the only way the "experiment" can end.Mister Wright said:Good to see Hayden back. Hopefully he can get good runs and do us all a favour and finish the Katich 'experiment' once and for all.
Hear, here.Mister Wright said:Good to see Hayden back. Hopefully he can get good runs and do us all a favour and finish the Katich 'experiment' once and for all.
How so?, three pretty good teams on show with some top players, it could be very good.FaaipDeOiad said:Should be a pretty forgettable series really, but it'll be a leadup to the CT at least.
I agree. Too many people are too critical of him. He is more consistent than most players and while other players may pick up the run rate he stays in and lets everyone else score faster.FaaipDeOiad said:People are WAY too critical of Katich. The guy was one of the most consistent Australian batsmen in ODIs during the last summer, and barely put a foot wrong the whole time. Several times when it was necessary he scored at a very good rate, and several times he held the team together when other batsmen were getting out and made a good score.
He needs to improve at converting starts into big scores, and he needs to be able to score at a 100+ strike rate when the team needs it, but he's certainly not done anything to warrant recalling Hayden at this point.
I'd agree with that. As I said, Katich has plenty of room for improvement, but he's certainly not been bad in the opening spot by any stretch of the imagination. At times he's made some crucial runs and basically he's done the job that's been asked of him. The way people talk about him you'd think he was neither playing a successful anchor role nor scoring quickly, when really that isn't the case. Also, if you look at the way he has scored his runs, quite often he's scored slowly when the team has been in trouble but gone along at a solid rate when they haven't been. If he scores at a run a ball or close to it in easy conditions and at 60-70 when stability is needed, he's playing a valuable role in the side, provided that he also maintains a good average. If he starts failing more often or can't keep up the rate when it's needed, I've got no problem with him being dropped for Jaques. Right now though, he deserves his spot.adharcric said:It's pretty clear that while all six have a solid average, Katich is the only one with a poor strike-rate. His playing an anchor-role would be important in a team full of inconsistent quick-scoring players like Sehwag, Jayasuriya, etc ... but in this team, everyone averages high at a good strike-rate so there's no need to have a guy play that type of anchor role. In other words, everyone in the team plays a strong ODI game and all of them can play that anchor role if needed. Just because they all score runs consistently at a good rate doesn't mean they aren't as solid as slower batsmen like Dravid, Kallis and in this case Katich. Australia could have Jacques or Hayden opening and averaging Katich's 43 at a s/r of 85. Katich doesn't merit being dropped, but by Aussie standards he certainly isn't secure of his place.