***Official*** Australian Domestic Thread 2012/13

[aussie tragic]

ummm, if we were to pick the players purely on current FC stats (most runs, wkts, dismissals), the folllowing would be the Aussie A team....

1. Cosgrove (314 runs @ 44.85)
2. Hughes (239 runs @ 34.14)
3. Doolan (491 runs @ 122.75)
4. Ferguson (353 runs @ 44.12)
5. Burns (272 runs @ 45.33)
6. Henriques (295 runs @ 147.50 and 7 wkts @ 17.85)
7. Hartley (18 dismissals and 223 runs @ 37.16)
8. O'Keefe (6 wkts @ 31.66 and 104 runs @ 26.00)
9. Butterworth (17 wkts @ 17.52 and 140 run @ 70.00)
10. Hastings (15 wkts @ 16.60 and 89 runs @ 29.66)
11. Bird (17 wkts @ 23.05 and 7 runs @ 7.00)

12. Khawaja (238 runs @ 34.00)

Not surprising is that the spinner is the weakest link and then the batting form of Hughes, however as the team bats down to # 10 and has 5 bowlers it's a solid team.

[Ruckus]

It's interesting to see Hughes' FC stats continue to plummet. Do people think it's a result of his technique being 'found out' at test level and now other bowlers have caught on, or more to do with him being forced to make significant changes to his natural game, instilling doubt in him and affecting his confidence etc. I remember at one point there he was averaging over 60 in FC cricket, and now it's 44.8. That's a massive drop...

[Midwinter]

A combination of both.

It's dependant on if the opposition has the bowlers capable of exploiting his weakness or he is trying to overcome his intial reflex action and then being stuck doing neither one thing or the other.

He may not end up being the next Bradman, he might just be a good batsman.

[Spikey]

i really don't get why tassie got a replacement for ponting but nsw didn't for watson

[Ruckus]

Not convinced at all yet with Starc...so much loose **** still.

[Ruckus]

Christ... Khawaja is going ballistic out there...SR of 166.

[Spikey]

i almost wish i was watching

[Justo]

Originally Posted by Ruckus

It's interesting to see Hughes' FC stats continue to plummet. Do people think it's a result of his technique being 'found out' at test level and now other bowlers have caught on, or more to do with him being forced to make significant changes to his natural game, instilling doubt in him and affecting his confidence etc. I remember at one point there he was averaging over 60 in FC cricket, and now it's 44.8. That's a massive drop...

I think there's quite a few reasons for Hughes' stat drop and I think they also explain Khawaja's general decline as well.

1. Pitches. When Hughes came onto the scene domestic pitches were still pretty flat. The first season he played saw a number of Batsmen make significant runs. Since then few batsmen have actually matched this and even fewer(if any) have actually backed it up over several seasons.

2. Bowling Attacks. When Hughes came onto the scene a lot of the state bowling attacks were going through generation changes. Guys like Bichel, Kasper, Bracken, Innes etc were all retiring leaving some quite inexperienced bowling line ups.(the likes of Cutting, Feldman, McDermott, Starc, Haze, Cummins, Bird, Pattinson, NCN etc weren't even on the radar then)

3. Strong Team. The NSW(and even Australian team) team that Hughes came into generally featured the likes of Katich, Jaques and Watson. Katich and Watson had yet to regain their Australian places at this time. This allowed both to play with relative freedom knowing that the hopes of the NSW batting line up were not on their shoulders. When he was promoted to the Australian team the likes of Ponting, Hussey etc were yet to truly hit their decline as well.

4. Confidence. After both were dropped from Australia I felt that both players were alot more tentative when batting then beforehand. Both are generally aggressive batsmen but since then they've been generally playing more defensive and often getting out in the process.

5. Technical. After being dropped I feel that both players have been revising or at least thinking about their techniques. This partly plays into the whole confidence as well. You can also never count out the potential influence of Langer as well.

6. Getting Worked Out. It's no secret that Hughes loves the cover drive etc and was largely fed by South Africa's bowlers during his two centuries. After being "exposed" at international level domestic bowlers have taken note as well. He seems to be overcoming this though by introducing the Pull and Hook shots. Personally I think if he can keep playing them well he'll be back with a vengeance.

[Spikey]

Daniel Brettig ‏@danbrettig

Smith calls himself a batsman these days, but he still looks a more natural spin bowler than Maxwell. #cricket

i almost wish i was watching

[Pup Clarke]

Does Copeland think he bowls 140 or something?. Catches sometimes drop short when you bowl medium pace...

[morgieb]

Could a team of NSW expats beat the actual NSW team?

Someone wants an Aussie spot I see....

[Ruckus]

Trentland has this game in the bag.

[Riggins]

Originally Posted by Spikey

i almost wish i was watching

watch it ****

[Ruckus]

[Spikey]

Originally Posted by Riggins

watch it ****

nah **** i'd just woken up.