*Official* Tri Series (Ind, NZ, Aus) Thread

[masterblaster]

..Yep another official thread for you all.

But this time, its pretty close to the mark

First game is on Thursday, a Day nighter between India and Nz.

VVS Laxman in the squad, which I think is a fantastic move.

Post away....

 

[Tim]

It looks like this series has been blown wide open.

A few months back I thought India & Australia would definately make the final, but circumstances such as Australia losing key bowlers & NZ doing quite well in India has made me think again.

I think India are going to hinge alot on whether Zaheer Khan can take early wickets & how Tendulkar feels after the test series. For NZ it will be whether they can chase down big scores & obviously for Australia it will be how their new bowling attack deals with the situation.

 

[iamdavid]

I think the competition for spots within the Australian team will also be pretty intense , with Lehmann out I assume Clarke will come in ahead of Maher for the same reason Katich was picked ahead of Love , he can bowl.

Likely Australian team for their first match-
1.+A.C.Gilchrist
2.M.L.Hayden
3.*R.T.Ponting
4.D.R.Martyn
5.M.G.Bevan
6.M.J.Clarke
7.A.Symonds
8.I.J.Harvey
9.G.B.Hogg
10.A.J.Bichel
11.B.A.Williams
12th man:N.W.Bracken

There is always the possibility they will drop Clarke & play Symonds at 6 with an extra bowler aswell.

A few weeks ago I reckon Kasprowics would have been 99% sure his international carear was over , guess with all the injuries around they need some experience & if Damien Flemming hadnt retired in May he would probably have been picked instead.

By the way Richard , how did you rate Damien Flemming as a bowler?

 

[Tim]

From a batting point of view, Australia lose nothing but particulary against India in an intense atmosphere it will be interesting to see whether they can cope with the new bowling attack.

 

[Mr. P]

I think the competition for spots within the Australian team will also be pretty intense , with Lehmann out I assume Clarke will come in ahead of Maher for the same reason Katich was picked ahead of Love , he can bowl.

Likely Australian team for their first match-
1.+A.C.Gilchrist
2.M.L.Hayden
3.*R.T.Ponting
4.D.R.Martyn
5.M.G.Bevan
6.M.J.Clarke
7.A.Symonds
8.I.J.Harvey
9.G.B.Hogg
10.A.J.Bichel
11.B.A.Williams
12th man:N.W.Bracken

There is always the possibility they will drop Clarke & play Symonds at 6 with an extra bowler aswell.

A few weeks ago I reckon Kasprowics would have been 99% sure his international carear was over , guess with all the injuries around they need some experience & if Damien Flemming hadnt retired in May he would probably have been picked instead.

By the way Richard , how did you rate Damien Flemming as a bowler?

Actually, when you look at it, the OD side isnt much understrength. The Test lineup is the problem.

 

[esgallindeion]

6.M.J.Clarke
...
11.B.A.Williams

Can someone tell me more about these two players?

 

[age_master]

i think Clarke will bat @ 5, bevan 6, Clarke is more of a top order player. and Bracken is a better OD bowler.


Hayden
Gilchrist
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Bevan
Symonds
Harvey
Hogg
Bichel
Bracken

Michael Clarke - a brilliant young NSW batsman, pretty similar tech to Ponting, played very well last season. bowls part time finger spinners, will probably bowl a little in this series


Brad Williams - right arm quick, used to be the quickest in the country apparently, still pretty quick, i personally dont rate him that much, but hes ok. better 4d than OD bowler

 

[iamdavid]

Can someone tell me more about these two players?

Clarke is the most promsing young batsman in a decade , very attacking player , his signature shots are the off drives & pulls , he's a brilliant feilder & handy bowler.

Likely to bat at 5 in tests after Steve Waugh retires


Williams is a fast bowler , when his rythym is good he can be as quick as anyone , when its bad he's terribly erratic , dosent swing it alot & I reckon he's overrated

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Can someone tell me more about these two players? (Williams and Clarke)

Brad Williams is a 28-year-old fast bowler who made his Test debut in the 2nd Zimbabwe Test. His ODI economy is one of the best in the world (at 3.50), but that might be due to coincidence as his limited overs economy is at 4.50. He replaced Gillespie in the squad.

Michael Clarke is a new and coming Aussie batting all-rounder. The 22-year-old has captained the Australia U19 side, and has played 5 ODIs for Australia. A player for the future.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Hmmm...need to be quicker.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Michael Clarke - a brilliant young NSW batsman

This is no exaggeration. The young man bats with amazing composure.

 

[marc71178]

Actually, when you look at it, the OD side isnt much understrength. The Test lineup is the problem.

Harvey, Hogg, Bichel, Wiliams vs. Lee, Warne, Gillespie, McGrath.

No, I see what you mean, that bowling attack hasn't lost anything!

 

[Mister Wright]

Bichel should be batting ahead of Hogg.

 

[Anil]

No favourites....any of the 3 teams can win.....

NZ are on a high after the test series....but they have lost Astle...which is a big blow for them....

Australia have some injury problems, but have really good backups, anyway one day wickets in India are usually flat batting tracks resulting in runfests....and the Aussie batting lineup hasn't been affected much....it's still the best in the world.....

India desperately need an in-form Tendulkar to make a push for the title.....

 

[esgallindeion]

India desperately need an in-form Tendulkar to make a push for the title.....

Not neccessarily, you know. Although, Tendulkar in form would be great. But in ODIs, India has begun to rely less and less heavily on Tendulkar. A Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Kaif lineup doesn't really require any one batsman in particular to fire.

Australia will be hard to beat anywhere. And New Zealand are in great form. I think... we might just see an India - New Zealand or an Australia - New zealand final.

 

[Tim]

NZ will have to play even better than they did in the test series to at least get to the final.
NZ have spent almost 2 months in India now so heat & ground conditions should not be a major factor to them.

 

[Top_Cat]

Clarke is the most promsing young batsman in a decade

Errrm, Ricky Ponting?

Ricky Ponting made his debut made his Test debut in 1996 so we're still within the decade and ignoring that I rate Ponting ahead of Clarke, if you look at their FC records at similar stages of their career, Ponting's was FAR superior.

That said, Clarke certainly does look good though, not Test standard yet. However, I've been around long enough to see so many 'potential greats' turn out to be 'actual nothings' so I think I'll be a little more cautious.

 

[Mister Wright]

I will only be convinced Clarke is as good as everyone says he is when he backs his seasons up. He has had one terrific season (2002-2003) and taken his chances in the Aussie side. But the true test for him will be when he is considered to be a permanent replacement in the Australian side. At the moment he is in a win-win situation, he can perform well or poor, and he will still be around the frindges of the Aussie team, but once he is considered to be the 'replacement' will he be able to deliver?

 

[age_master]

Clarke vs Ponting

they play pretty similarly in batting style, Clarke alot more mature for his age than Ponting was, Ponting is physically stronger, better pull shot, Clarke is better on the drive. Clarke is still learning however and this must be remembered, and does get out rashly in the longer version of the game sometimes, i think he will always be more a one day player he is soo agressive, yet doesn't seem so. I think he has the potential to be better than Ponting, whether he becomes so, time will tell, but im almost certain he will still be a brilliant player for a long time yet

 

[roofromoz]

I think that the injuries that have happened to key Australian players has put us back in the pack for this tournament... all three teams have the ability to win it.

Our attack does look a bit brittle, but the guys who have been selected will do the job. The penetration may not be there though as much as usual, and seeing that it's also in India, we may struggle to bowl out teams. Our batting line up still looks strong though.

Bichel should get a start somewhere in the middle of the order - he has shown of late that he is an all rounder that can do both jobs quite well.

India have got the team to win it - just a matter as to whether they can click as a collective.

New Zealand, as usual, will be the dark horse, and their long batting line up and tight bowling could be just the tonic in these conditions.

Whichever way, it's shaping up as one hell of a tournament!

 

[Tim]

Well as I said earlier recent events have probably made this series closer on paper than what it could have been originally.

NZ have picked a number of bowlers for this series who pride themselves on restricting runs e.g. Hitchcock & Mills aswell as Vettori so if they can actually do this NZ might be in with a chance considering the form of most of the batsmen.