Australian off season domestic 2012/13

[bondi beach]

Solution: pick moar bowlers!

No.

NSW need to pick their best team. Lalor is the better cricketer. Cruickshank is 30 and scored 299 runs with a best of 75 from 10 innings last season and falls into the category of being unproven. The truth is that NSW need to go and sign an opener from another state.

 

[Prince EWS]

NSW need to pick their best team.

Indeed. And the best team - shock horror - isn't always just the best eleven cricketers you have available. Lalor may be a better cricketer than Cruickshank but he would add a hell of a lot less to that side.

 

[bondi beach]

Indeed. And the best team - shock horror - isn't always just the best eleven cricketers you have available. Lalor may be a better cricketer than Cruickshank but he would add a hell of a lot less to that side.

If Cruickshank is the best batsman outside of the current squad after Patterson then NSW need to sign an opener from another state or face getting the wooden spoon.

Last year Hughes, Maddinson, Khawaja, Katich, Smith, Rohrer and Nevill scored 3,842 runs between them. Can you see Maddinson, Cruickshank, Rohrer, Patterson, Smith, Nevill and Henriques even matching this figure becuase I can't?

What worries me is that three of the potential batting replacements are aged 30 (Cruickshank, Dawson and Smith) and the last two are keepers. Henry a younger option at 23 doesn't have a great record.

 

[toolie]

NSW are going to contract Daniel Hughes from North Sydney scored 100 in last 2nd XI game and is an opening batsmen.

Nathan Brain has lost his rookie contract.

Lalor and Cruickshank are the only additions I have heard. Haven't heard anyone else leave yet other than Hughes, Khawaja and Hauritz.

 

[benchmark00]

Is Zamps getting a rookie contract again?

 

[toolie]

Is Zamps getting a rookie contract again?

Haven't heard. Luke Doran has started doing some training though and would still be eligible for a rookie contract...

I think they are trying to contract 16 full contracts and 5 rookie. It's a bit hard to know with the blokes that are overseas as they have to organise to call them etc.

 

[Andre]

If Cruickshank is the best batsman outside of the current squad after Patterson then NSW need to sign an opener from another state or face getting the wooden spoon.

If they don't find an opener I have no doubt they will withdraw from all competitions. It would be indeed the end of the world for them as you have made out.

 

[brockley]

I guess we could open the batting with Joshua Lalor and bat Bollinger at no 3.we would have heaps of bowlers then.
Andrew Fekete signs with Tasmania,good signing i think good pace,Victoria let 1 good 1 go.

 

[Dan]

Some massive over-reactions here. I reckon we'll be fine as long as we actually back the batting talent in the state and don't just stack the team with bowlers. By all rights Haddin should probably be with us for basically the entire season and both he and Nevill are good enough to play in the Shield as batsmen alone, so that's a plus there that no-one has really mentioned.

In my years of following this team there have been many, many factors stopping us from world domination - disruption of the side by players coming in and out, prolonged under-performance of PONIs, awfully balanced teams, ageism, randomly blacklisted players, Scott Coyte etc etc - but lack of talent in the state has never been one of those problems. An exodus from New South Wales is always going to be a positive for Australian cricket overall as we have the depth and talent to cover for it more than any other side, and while I'd have definitely have preferred if some of the fast bowlers left rather than our entire top order, I think we'll be right.

I wouldn't be against bringing someone like Cooper back home if he was interested but I don't think we should really need to go on a recruitment drive and take the homegrown talents of other states; we're better than that. If it means giving Cruickshank, Dawson, Henry or Thornely a run in the side then I'm absolutely okay with that - I'll probably enjoy cheering someone like that on more than Hughes or Khawaja anyway and I definitely like the idea more than Shaun Marsh or Liam Davis in the side. As long as it doesn't mean that Henriques, Smith and O'Keefe are all in the top six, and we actually try to develop a proper middle order, then we'll be sweet.

Agree with everything above.

We have a strong enough batting line-up still - Smith, Rohrer, Nev & Haddin form a strong middle order, and in Maddinson and Patterson we have two of the brightest batting talents in the country. That's six of the likely top 7. Plus we'll get a couple of games out of Clarke while the T20 WC is on.

The top 6 doesn't have a 'gaping hole', if we find someone half decent from grade, or move a middle order batsman up to the top (à la Watson), we can slot someone in. In the context of Shield openers at the moment, anyone we bring in is sure to be better than Broad, Townsend, Stray, Kemp or Cazzulino.

And don't forget, we have SuperDom waiting in the wings.

 

[Top_Cat]

This plus Hughes told anyone who would listen that he was leaving after he got left out of the NSW one day side mid season.

Weak.

God he really is a perfect fit for SACA.

 

[vic_orthdox]

I guess we could open the batting with Joshua Lalor and bat Bollinger at no 3.we would have heaps of bowlers then.
Andrew Fekete signs with Tasmania,good signing i think good pace,Victoria let 1 good 1 go.

Yay.

Boo.

 

[Dan]

NSW need to pick their best team. Lalor is the better cricketer. Cruickshank is 30 and scored 299 runs with a best of 75 from 10 innings last season and falls into the category of being unproven. The truth is that NSW need to go and sign an opener from another state.

I cannot agree more with Cribb's response to this post.

The 11 best players =/= the Best XI.

If that were the case, India would be picking 9 batsmen, Dhoni and Zaheer Khan.
Sri Lanka would play 6 batsmen and three spinners. And not Dilhara Fernando.

Even if Lalor is the 'better cricketer', there is no reason why NSW should play him ahead of Cruickshank, if they've already got 4 better bowlers selected.

That is why NSW ran SA close for the spoon last season - they played too many frontline bowlers, expected PONIs to perform (and had no choice but to select them).

If you look at the early 2000s, when NSW excelled, you notice that a few 'international' batsmen (Bevan, past-his-prime Slater, recently dropped M Waugh) complemented up-and-coming youngsters (M Clarke, B Haddin et al), and were supported by a group of good grade cricketers who made the step up - Greg Mail, Dom Thornley, Shaun Bradstreet, Graeme Rummans, Don Nash, Matt Phelps et al.

Two star batsmen, who weren't quite good enough for Tests, supported by a capable group of domestic batsmen. Sounds rather like what we're looking at this year.

Smith and Haddin will be supported by up-and-coming Patterson & Maddinson, good domestic players in Rohrer, Nev & SoK, with the occasional input from Clarke and the other national players.

Yeah, we may be short a proven opener, but every domestic side is. We have a strong, proven middle order to compete with any state team, and we'll undoubtedly find a decent opener from somewhere. We don't have to go on a buying frenzy (In 2002/3-ish, only Katich and MacGill were sourced externally, IIRC). We will develop the talent, and having less underperforming PONIs with free passage into every game will allow us to pick on form, not on CA's whim.

 

[uvelocity]

Sri Lanka would play 6 batsmen and three spinners. And not Dilhara Fernando.

on the contrary, that's exactly what sl should do

 

[bondi beach]

Who has joined and who has left?

In

Cruickshank
Lalor

Out

Brain
Casson
Clarke
****ley
Hauritz
Hughes
Jacques
Katich
Khawaja
Lee

I presume Patterson will be one of the three rookies along with Cruickshank and Lalor. How can NSW have 16 pros and 5 rookies if the maximum squad size is 20? Surely quality is more important than quantity! At the moment NSW squad lacks any real quality especially in the batting department.

Even if they have CA players available what happens if they don't perform (e.g. Haddin last season). NSW are an opener short and I don't see anyone within the current squad or in grade cricket to fill the void left by Hughes.

None of the players on rookie contracts last season deserve to be retained.

 

[toolie]

Who has joined and who has left?

In

Cruickshank
Lalor

Out

Brain
Casson
Clarke
****ley
Hauritz
Hughes
Jacques
Katich
Khawaja
Lee

I presume Patterson will be one of the three rookies along with Cruickshank and Lalor. How can NSW have 16 pros and 5 rookies if the maximum squad size is 20? Surely quality is more important than quantity! At the moment NSW squad lacks any real quality especially in the batting department.

Even if they have CA players available what happens if they don't perform (e.g. Haddin last season). NSW are an opener short and I don't see anyone within the current squad or in grade cricket to fill the void left by Hughes.

None of the players on rookie contracts last season deserve to be retained.

You make some outlandish statements don't you. None of the Rookie players deserve to be retained?

You realise that this season a minimum of 3 to 6 rookie contracts need to be handed out. Abbott has shown potential. Bills has shown the last two seasons he is one of the best grade bowlers around and is only 20. Van Der Gugten had a very strong grade season but struggled with the step up to shield cricket. All these players have 2 - 3 years left on Rookie contracts if they keep performing. A good shield cricketer doesn't always develop in a year on a professional contract look at Steven O'Keefe etc but especially look at fast bowlers who need to develop physically.

Zampa is a handy cricketer but him and Doran don't look like potential four day options and I think Doran is a lot more likely to play one day cricket for NSW so it could be a straight swap unless they want to contract two rookie spinners.

Daniel Hughes has definetly recieved a contract and is an opening batsmen. I am pretty certain that you can have up to 20 full time contracts.

 

[bondi beach]

I believe the squad should only contain players capable of performing in the state side. There is a world of difference in terms of standard between Grade and State cricket. Rookie players were simply not up to the scratch last year. My three rookie players would be Cruickshank, Lalor and Patterson.

My squad would be:

Maddinson
Patterson (r)
Rohrer
Cruickshank (r)
Smith
Henriques
Nevill
O'Keefe
Bollinger
Lalor (r)
Hazlewood
Copeland

plus six players on CA contracts. I would then draft players from grade cricket as and when required. I still feel an opener needs to be signed as I don't see anyone in grade cricket capable of opening the batting for NSW. Let Zampa, van der Gugten, Bills etc. prove themselves before giving them contracts i.e. make them work for the contracts rather than handing them out like confetti. It will make them better players in the long run as you appreciate something much more if you have had to work for it.

You can't replace international players with essentially club cricketers and expect them to perform!

 

[toolie]

I believe the squad should only contain players capable of performing in the state side. There is a world of difference in terms of standard between Grade and State cricket. Rookie players were simply not up to the scratch last year. My three rookie players would be Cruickshank, Lalor and Patterson.

My squad would be:

Maddinson
Patterson (r)
Rohrer
Cruickshank (r)
Smith
Henriques
Nevill
O'Keefe
Bollinger
Lalor (r)
Hazlewood
Copeland

plus six players on CA contracts. I would then draft players from grade cricket as and when required. I still feel an opener needs to be signed as I don't see anyone in grade cricket capable of opening the batting for NSW. Let Zampa, van der Gugten, Bills etc. prove themselves before giving them contracts i.e. make them work for the contracts rather than handing them out like confetti. It will make them better players in the long run as you appreciate something much more if you have had to work for it.

You can't replace international players with essentially club cricketers and expect them to perform!

Jeez what has the world come to when we have a 30 year old rookie contracted player.

You obviously don't know much about the contracting system as you have to be Under 23 to recieve a rookie contract.

Nine contracts + 3 supposed rookies what a great way to make cricket an attractive sport for multi talented sportsmen.

I also repeat Daniel Hughes has been offered a contract. He scored 110 or so against Victoria 2nd XI in the last 2nd XI game of the year.

Bills performed pretty well in the Futures League last season one of NSW's best in terms of statistics but NSW didn't want to give him a run.

It's only natural that you can't replace International players that easily due to the fact only a limited amount of players do infact play International Cricket.

I would also say that most players who play State Cricket do in fact earn it through grade cricket. Only a select few haven't but some talented players have come through the underage system line and repaid faith. i.e Phil Hughes played state cricket before he had a 1st grade hundred etc.

 

[NUFAN]

Agree with toolie, don't agree with Bondi Burger.

Pls find some news someone (brockley) about any of the 5 other states! NSW contracted list isn't the most exciting thing to read about.

Actually I have a question. I hear the season could start as early as September, what are the chances that a few of the early matches will end up being played in Darwin?

 

[bondi beach]

In my eyes Cruickshank is totally unproven in state cricket. If you have to be under 23 then Hughes will be one. Lalor is 24. I would add Tremain as one of the three rookies who is a better seamer than Abbott, van der Gugten or Bills. How does Under 23 team work as Cruickshank and Jacques were playing for them during the season?

Hughes offered a contract on the back of one innings for 2XI? Have NSW not heard on the saying "every dog has its day". Players should only be offered contracts on the back of a continued period of performance or an exceptional innings in the state side e.g. Patterson 100 on debut.

There is a world of difference between state cricket and 2XI cricket and between 2XI cricket and grade cricket. I don't think some of you really appreciate the difference in standard.

20 man squad of: Warner, Watson, Clarke, Maddinson, Patterson, Rohrer, Smith, Henriques, Hughes, Cruickshank, Haddin, Nevill, O'Keefe, Cummins, Starc, Bollinger, Hazlewood, Copeland, Lalor, Tremain

 

[vic_orthdox]

The Futures League/2nd XI cricket last year required six players to be U23.