The season that wasnt....a tail of woe

[robelinda]

Well its tough to think of worse seasons that i've endured, especially with the talent in the Aussie side. Losing the test series to India, losing the one day series to Sri Lanka, losing the Ashes, losing the World Cup, doesnt get much worse than that in ONE season. Only consolation was the 6-1 one dayers win to england who were half way home mentally anyway. For all the talent in the side this is probably the worst summer i've seen in terms of performance by the Aussie side, its not 85/86 or 86/87- those sides were barely expected to compete, this current side was expected to go all the way, and quite rightly. Yes all we got a big display of fail. Most upsetting. Things had better be different come August.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Welcome to our world.

Being serious you need some pretty major changes in personnel or the same will happen next series, at present you have a few good players and a few massively overhyped players who aren't producing anything like the performances they should. Whether it needs a captaincy change or selectors change is not for me as an outsider to say but something has to happen.

 

[Cruxdude]

Welcome to the mortal world.

 

[Top_Cat]

Not that I want to get into a pissing contest but I don't recall either England or India losing 3/5 Tests at home by an innings. Australia failed and failed hard.

Do disagree with Rob about the Aussies being expected to win the Ashes, though. I certainly was under the impression that England were favourites. Didn't expect the gulf in class between the sides to be that much, though.

 

[robelinda]

You know what I mean though, The Ashes were not a lost cause before they began, but looking back we were in total denial, especially Nielsen after the 1st test.

 

[outbreak]

We have been pretty dire. I don't really rate that many players in our side very highly though. Looking down our list who do we have who is going to be remembered as a great player when they retire excluding Ponting?
Don't know how to fix the mess we're in besides riding it out as we don't really have that many ready players to step in, even our domestic comps have been disappointing and un exciting for the most part. No players have really stepped up and the ones who have done decently won't get a look in(i'm excluding most bowlers as generally pitches were prepared for results). We currently have a mediocre side talked up alot and it seems people are too scared/our stocks are too bare to risk mixing it up too much to look for a great side.

 

[robelinda]

No point in continuing to lose with the older guys, but the younger guys we have selected havent done much at all. Guys who are in their late 20's like Clarke and White and Johnson are not going to be our best players long term, and if they are then we are screwed.

Not happy, at all. Losing is ok, but the manner is which we have been losing is what hurts.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Not that I want to get into a pissing contest but I don't recall either England or India losing 3/5 Tests at home by an innings. Australia failed and failed hard.

Do disagree with Rob about the Aussies being expected to win the Ashes, though. I certainly was under the impression that England were favourites. Didn't expect the gulf in class between the sides to be that much, though.

Australia were definitely the ante post favs.

On 8th Nov Oz were paying 10/11 and England 2/1.

 

[Noble One]

The decline in Australian cricket is hard to stomach considering many of us have only known a period of Australian dominance. We can blame the coaches, the selectors, the domestic system, the captain, etc etc. But without the quality players of the past, the situation isn’t going to reverse come August.

Everyone has an opinion on who should and shouldn’t be in the Test side. The issue is, few can agree on a best XI. We have 18-20 very good cricketers in Australia, but no superstars that simply demand Test selection.

Fingers crossed that the likes of Starc, Pattinson, Khawaja, Lynn and three or four other names are the real deal.

 

[robelinda]

I reckon Cosgrove deserves a go. always been impressed with his technique, excuse the pun but he is solid, very solid defensively. doesnt hang his bat outside off stump and plays spin and pace well. Couldnt give a toss if he's fat, he has a touch of class about him. NUmber six in the test team, give him number 4 or 5 in the one day team.

 

[Kylez]

Some very valid points have been made in the thread so far. It's fairly annoying for me because for the last few seasons of cricket Australia has struggled big time. I'm old enough now to appreciate the art that is cricket and to comprehend what happens in different cricket situations.

Supporting Australia + South Australia = One frustrated fan.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah there's some real prejudice going on with Cosgrove. Not as if his weight gets in the way of his fielding or bowling, he's got really good hands and is quicker over the turf than you'd think.

But yeah, as a bat, he's a classy player. As far as Tests go, be a bit concerned about his ability to go on after a start, though. Even this season with his conversion rate as good as it's ever been, still a few 40's/80's. Probably being a bit harsh on him as it's more about his aggressive style of play than fitness I reckon.

 

[outbreak]

Out of the shield players Cosgroves definitely our best bat i think, i've been a fan of this since before this season. I have herd though it may not be so much his weight that's a major issue, but his attitude and commitment to following the fitness/diet regimes they've tried implementing for him.Our selectors are stuck in the mind set of our old side full of great players, we could auto select our team then and even if someone was out of form the rest would pick up the slack and truly great players will regain form on their own. These days noone should be a locked in pick. our selectors also seem scared that dropping a player will damage his confidence, in the past if a player was dropped they'd go off and look to improve in shield cricket before hopefully being reselected or allowing a better player to slot into his place. Other countries quiet happily chop and change and drop under performing players but we don't seem capable of making hard decisions about peoples careers.

 

[stephen]

I'd like to see Cosgrove and Jaques both get a run in the side. Now that Jaques has found some domestic form he should be given the opportunity to have a run at international level.

Dussey also could give us a good couple of years as well (it's ridiculous that a guy averages 55 domestically and doesn't get a single test match in a side that has suffered 3 innings defeats).

Smith should be dropped from the test XI. I would be willing to keep Hughes given his recent shield form. Hilfy should be dropped as well. Siddle and Johnson are both worth persisting with, but Copeland should be given a run and if not him then I'm sure we could find another fast bowler somewhere in this country.

O'Keefe should be rewarded for consistently good form for NSW with a test cap. Beer simply isn't good enough. Unless either Hauritz or O'Keefe is playing I think that we should pick a MacDonald or Hopes style bowler to occupy the 4th bowler spot.

Longer term we should be thinking that in 5-6 years the core "mid-20s" group of batsmen will include:

Maddison
Hughes
Lynn
Smith

Bowlers are a lot harder to predict.

 

[robelinda]

Seems easy enough to fix the batting, or at least we have the players there. Bowling is so different, I dont see us winning any tests next season bar the NZ ones.

 

[outbreak]

This is the side i'd like to see tried out, bats deep with O'keefe, Johnson and now Siddle all being handy with the bat and I'd rather watch Copeland try and get some wickets then Hilfy bowl his "oh he's so unlucky" line that seems to worry batsmen but never picks up wickets, for how long can we blame his lack of penetration on luck?

1. Katich
2. Watson
3. Ponting
4. Hussey
5. Clarke
6. Cosgrove
7. Haddin (if they must i prefer wade)
8. O'Keefe
9, Johnson
10. Siddle\Bollinger
11. Copeland

On the out skirts i'd have Hughes, Khawaja, Starc (or any of the other young quicks on the fringe and un injured) and Smith with the squad.

 

[robelinda]

Not bad.

 

[howardj]

We have been pretty dire. I don't really rate that many players in our side very highly though. Looking down our list who do we have who is going to be remembered as a great player when they retire excluding Ponting?
Don't know how to fix the mess we're in besides riding it out as we don't really have that many ready players to step in, even our domestic comps have been disappointing and un exciting for the most part. No players have really stepped up and the ones who have done decently won't get a look in(i'm excluding most bowlers as generally pitches were prepared for results). We currently have a mediocre side talked up alot and it seems people are too scared/our stocks are too bare to risk mixing it up too much to look for a great side.

Sit tight for my essay and follow the recommendations therein.

On a serious note, the thing that worries me in terms of anything being done to address our slide is the defiance of all involved with CA, and that they launched the review by saying: "this is not about individuals"!

These days it’s all about improving “systems”, “structures” and “processes”.

They just try to sound corporate, and as though things are always much more complex than just individuals who can’t do their jobs. That’s true in some respects, but certainly shouldn’t absolve underperforming staff within those deficient “structures”.

After falling from 1st to 5th inside two years in Tests, and being bundled out of the World Cup in the first knock out game, can we please have a different hierarchy (captain, coach, selectors).

You could understand clinging to those people if they were successful, but jesus christ man, why cling to people that have presided over falling from 1st to 5th inside two years in Tests, and being bundled out of the World Cup in the first knock out game.

Why cling to people who have overseen that?

 

[howardj]

This is the side i'd like to see tried out, bats deep with O'keefe, Johnson and now Siddle all being handy with the bat and I'd rather watch Copeland try and get some wickets then Hilfy bowl his "oh he's so unlucky" line that seems to worry batsmen but never picks up wickets, for how long can we blame his lack of penetration on luck?

1. Katich
2. Watson
3. Ponting
4. Hussey
5. Clarke
6. Cosgrove
7. Haddin (if they must i prefer wade)
8. O'Keefe
9, Johnson
10. Siddle\Bollinger
11. Copeland

On the out skirts i'd have Hughes, Khawaja, Starc (or any of the other young quicks on the fringe and un injured) and Smith with the squad.

I like Copeland and O'Keefe and appreciate the thought behind your team.

However, I don't see the point in still having four 35+ year olds (nearly in the case of Haddin) in your top seven.

Those same guys were all involved in the Ashes flogging.

If we're going to get flogged, then please let's get flogged with guys in the team who have an upside, who have some scope for improvement.

That's not to say I would jettison those four guys all at once, but in my view one of them, and preferably two, must surely make way.

 

[Spark]

This is the side i'd like to see tried out, bats deep with O'keefe, Johnson and now Siddle all being handy with the bat and I'd rather watch Copeland try and get some wickets then Hilfy bowl his "oh he's so unlucky" line that seems to worry batsmen but never picks up wickets, for how long can we blame his lack of penetration on luck?

1. Katich
2. Watson
3. Ponting
4. Hussey
5. Clarke
6. Cosgrove
7. Haddin (if they must i prefer wade)
8. O'Keefe
9, Johnson
10. Siddle\Bollinger
11. Copeland

On the out skirts i'd have Hughes, Khawaja, Starc (or any of the other young quicks on the fringe and un injured) and Smith with the squad.

I'd personally have Khawaja over Cosgrove, put him at #4 and put Hussey at #6 where some of his more unique traits (ie tail-shepherding) come to the fore. Otherwise this is a good lineup. If you're in the howardj school of thought then I guess Katman would have to be the one to go.

I agree however that the batting is fine. Hughes and Katich will do well with Watson now that Hughes has found form. Watson is Watson, obviously. Ponting is a different question, a lot of that hangs on whether he retains the captaincy for mine. Khawaja and Cosgrove are obviously great talents who are our best young hopes to do well at Test level (and Marsh, I guess). Clarke will at some stage remember how he batted not two years ago, he'll be fine, and will probably rework his technique (again) to accommodate some of his shortcomings this season (front foot plant in particular).

The bowling... I still can't see 20 wickets on a regular basis there.