If Symonds does not return to the Aussie squad...

[aussie]

1.A.Noffke
2.S.Magoffin
3.B.Hilfenhaus
4.D.Bollinger
5.S.Tait
6.B.Drew
7.B.Geeves
8.P.Siddle
9.M.Cameron.

Haven't seen those bolded. But of the rest, Siddle should be a bit higher up that list in the top 3 or 5 surely & don't think Greeves should be a serious test match option.

 

[Richard]

1.A.Noffke
2.S.Magoffin
3.B.Hilfenhaus
4.D.Bollinger
5.S.Tait
6.B.Drew
7.B.Geeves
8.P.Siddle
9.M.Cameron

Now these are the blokes whom i see with a realistic chance of making it to the Australian side in the future, given they can sustain their performance and fitness levels over the period of time, so there is a pretty good mix of youth and experience there for the Aussie selectors to work with, there age though shouldn't be much of problem considering Aussie selectors aren't really known for picking greenhorns in the first place.

Haha, Brendan Drew. If he ever plays Test cricket we'll know there's a problem.

Also, Hilfenhaus >>> Magoffin, of that I've absolutely no doubt. Though I'd quite like to see Hilfenhaus play a full season again this year, rather than be pitched into the team yet.

Tait, meanwhile, should either be at the top of the queue or not there at all, IMO. If you think he's in a fit state to play again, he should be straight in the team. If you don't, he shouldn't be under any consideration at all until you think he is.

Also, playing for Australia any time in the imminent future is the last thing Mark Cameron or any bowler of his age and first-team state experience requires.

 

[Uppercut]

Haha, Brendan Drew. If he ever plays Test cricket we'll know there's a problem.

Also, Hilfenhaus >>> Magoffin, of that I've absolutely no doubt. Though I'd quite like to see Hilfenhaus play a full season again this year, rather than be pitched into the team yet.

Tait, meanwhile, should either be at the top of the queue or not there at all, IMO. If you think he's in a fit state to play again, he should be straight in the team. If you don't, he shouldn't be under any consideration at all until you think he is.

Also, playing for Australia any time in the imminent future is the last thing Mark Cameron or any bowler of his age and first-team state experience requires.

Tait? You think that he, when fully fit, is the best test seamer they have outside of Lee and Clark?

 

[four_or_six]

Tait? You think that he, when fully fit, is the best test seamer they have outside of Lee and Clark?

Tait surely has to actually do something in Shield cricket this season before they pick him for a test. He's done nothing really so far I think.

 

[Richard]

Tait? You think that he, when fully fit, is the best test seamer they have outside of Lee and Clark?

Perhaps not better than Noffke, but certainly he's done more to convince than Johnson, who is in the team, has.

 

[Richard]

Tait surely has to actually do something in Shield cricket this season before they pick him for a test. He's done nothing really so far I think.

He's done not-much in the last 2 seasons - barely played so far this year and of course didn't play much last year.

Had a pretty decent year in 2006/07 after, obviously, hardly playing in 2005/06 with that injury he picked-up after the 2005 Ashes. However, his 2004/05 was better than anything pretty much any other Australian seam-bowler aside from Clark, Lee and Noffke have ever managed, with the possible exception of Bollinger in 2007/08.

 

[NUFAN]

I disagree that Tait should be up the top of the pile for Tests.

He does well in the ODIs however..

 

[Uppercut]

I disagree that Tait should be up the top of the pile for Tests.

He does well in the ODIs however..

True, and completely the opposite of what i'd expect.

If i was sure Tait was fully fit tomorrow, I'd still play Johnson ahead of him. Johnson's definitely improving, if he's going to be dropped now is probably the worst time to do it since he first played for Australia. If we're going for four seamers, and outside India i certainly would, then Tait is probably more likely to make a match-changing contribution as fourth option than either Noffke or Johnson would.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Tait's more likely to lose you a match than either of those players as well.

 

[Uppercut]

Tait's more likely to lose you a match than either of those players as well.

But if Watson plays, it's a five man pace attack we're talking about. If he bowls badly, there's no need to keep him on long enough to cost you the match. If they're going three seamers+ a spinner + Symonds as an example, Tait shouldn't be close to consideration.

 

[four_or_six]

But if Watson plays, it's a five man pace attack we're talking about. If he bowls badly, there's no need to keep him on long enough to cost you the match. If they're going three seamers+ a spinner + Symonds as an example, Tait shouldn't be close to consideration.

A four-man pace attack + Symonds seems like it might make sense in some ways, but a four-man pace attack + Watson seems totally pointless as he's plenty capable, especially in conditions that suit.

Also, people keep saying they're missing Symonds for his spin, but how much success with his spin has Symonds actually had in tests (or ODI's recently)? I seem to recall him bowling mainly medium pace in tests but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Richard]

Symonds isn't a particularly good spinner. He's a decent enough seamer on non-roads though.

 

[Richard]

True, and completely the opposite of what i'd expect.

If i was sure Tait was fully fit tomorrow, I'd still play Johnson ahead of him. Johnson's definitely improving, if he's going to be dropped now is probably the worst time to do it since he first played for Australia. If we're going for four seamers, and outside India i certainly would, then Tait is probably more likely to make a match-changing contribution as fourth option than either Noffke or Johnson would.

I'm not advocating dropping Johnson at all, it's not like he's been rank poor for more than 1 match at a time in his career so far. I don't know that he's improved all that much but he certainly hasn't exhausted what opportunities he should be being given yet.

However, the fact is that he was put in the team on the basis of, well, not much really - just guesswork based on ODIs rather than actual performance at the First-Class level. Tait has done far more at domestic level and therefore if Johnson deserves to be in the side, Tait certainly does - if Tait's mentally fit. Noffke should be ahead of them both really but given that he's not merely dropped behind Johnson but Bollinger and Siddle (the former of which is poor, the latter of which is ridiculous) he's clearly done something wrong to someone and thus seems in a fairly similar situation to Matthew Hoggard.

 

[Top_Cat]

Symonds isn't a particularly good spinner. He's a decent enough seamer on non-roads though.

Bowled quite well laying on the pressure against India at home, though. His off-spin has definitely been on the up for a while now.

 

[pup11]

Bowled quite well laying on the pressure against India at home, though. His off-spin has definitely been on the up for a while now.

I thought it was the other way around tbh, since he had that bicep tear injury, his offies have gone down the hill a bit imo, in the series against India down under he filled in with some good overs but to think he would fill in as a viable spin option in test match cricket on a regular basis is asking a bit too much from him.

Australia need a decent spinner if they hope to be competitive in test cricket in different conditions, and that is something the Aussie selectors just can't shy away from.

 

[pup11]

Haha, Brendan Drew. If he ever plays Test cricket we'll know there's a problem.

Also, Hilfenhaus >>> Magoffin, of that I've absolutely no doubt. Though I'd quite like to see Hilfenhaus play a full season again this year, rather than be pitched into the team yet.

Tait, meanwhile, should either be at the top of the queue or not there at all, IMO. If you think he's in a fit state to play again, he should be straight in the team. If you don't, he shouldn't be under any consideration at all until you think he is.

Also, playing for Australia any time in the imminent future is the last thing Mark Cameron or any bowler of his age and first-team state experience requires.

Funny you say that about Drew because from whatever i have seen and read of him, he has come across as a bowler with good potential, consistency has been his problem, but then he is far from a finished article, he still has got a lot of work to do on his bowling and if he does that and stays fit then over the period of time he may come into contention to play for Australia.

Hilfenhaus of course is way ahead of Magoffin in terms of natural ability and talent, but one can't really argue with the kind of performances that have been on display from Magoffin for over the past few seasons now, he is a much improved cricketer and deserves to be in the contention imo, Hilfenhaus had a back problem last season which hampered his performances a great deal so his stats last season weren't too good, but he has made a strong comeback this season and if he keep this going through the rest of the season then he might leap-frog both Magoffin and Noffke in the pecking order.

Tait is somebody Aussie selectors need to go slow with, first he should be allowed to play a full domestic season and his performances should be monitored, and if he merits a place in the side on the basis of his performances then he should be back in the team.