***Official*** Sri Lanka in Australia 2012/2013

[flibbertyjibber]

Originally Posted by quincywagstaff

Back on Wade, after this series is a tour for India and I think most would agree that that's a much tougher challenge for keepers than any ground in Australia is. If he's struggling to keep to spin in Oz, how's he going to handle it there?

If Dhoni plays the way he has kept of late will make Wade look good so don't worry.

[Spikey]

Originally Posted by Spark

Bird must have gained brownie points from putting on a few kms. Was hitting 140 recently.

I've been a bit thrown by those speed guns. I mean, Richardson was getting close to 150/km the other game!

He's def above the hugely important 132.3 mark though. he's the clear winner in group 1, and i don't really think it's time for a poni imo, and in any case NCN ain't a poni like Starc, Pattinson etc. so it's whether a) they shock us and pick McD, who is a poni closer to the likes of Pattinson etc, or b) the group 3 winner wins out in the end. amd given it's hard to pick the group 3 winner....(bollinger the best, but)

[Crazy Sam]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Feldman's an interesting one in that CA don't seem too bothered about McDermott being left out for him (they've intervened in NSW/Victoria affairs as we know) even though McDermott played for Australia A and has even been in Australian LO squads - that made me think Feldman was being looked at too. Then Gannon started playing ahead of McDermott though and it kind of put that theory to rest.

All four of those Bulls pace bowlers have performed well this season which makes things difficult for the Bulls.

Feldman - 25 wickets @ 24.36 (6 games)
Cutting - 22 wickets @ 18.81 (5 games)
Gannon - 18 wickets @ 13.38 (3 games)
McDermott - 11 wickets @ 23.72 (3 games)

It wouldn't surprise me if they persist with Hauritz at 7 followed by those bowlers when Shield resumes.


I wonder whether Hastings's poor performance in Perth will have any impact on the chances of the other Shield bowlers. Hastings has a similar record to the above bowlers this season (as well as another 5-8 bowlers including Bird, Butterworth etc) but was shown up to be ineffective in Perth against a test quality batting attack on a slightly more reasonable batting pitch than what is seen in Shield cricket.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Spikey

Feldman actually made his List A debut for Australia A. Whether that was a case of injury striking and him being the closest player, I don't know. but that was itstl when I saw it the other day. His current Mo def. gives him something the others don't have



well it's a different but compared to butterworth etc, but I don't think it's too out-of-line to place him in with the rest of the people in the group. I would have put Herrick in there too, ftr

That Australia A game was weird; Brendan Drew also played. I don't even remember it clearly but the lineup contains some players I don't think would've been Shield regulars in 2010 so maybe the game coincided with a SS round or something and they were looking not to dilute the Shield too much. He'd definitely be a surprise pick anyway IMO, but I can see where you're coming from. I don't mind him for what he is.

I think I'd call Cutting a PONI, tbh. He nearly made his Test debut last summer and in the Shield at least he's continued to perform. When Hazelwood was selected there was a bit in the media about how it should have been Cutting so I think he's probably closer to the side than we think, but then again that Australia A game that I didn't think we should be taking too seriously (the one this summer, not the Feldman one) has been followed through on by the selectors. Quiney got selected based on hitting 80 odd in it despite not really being mentioned as an option before that, Bailey wasn't selected in it despite the fact that I thought he was the reserve batsman and he's been looked over for Quiney and Hughes since.. and Hastings opened the bowling in that game which we all thought was odd, but then he made his Test debut and opened the bowling in that too. Cutting didn't play that either. So it's hard to place him. Maybe I'm selectorially Gambhiring here because I don't rate Cutting at all but I think he's rated pretty highly by CA.

The more I think about it though, the more I think NCN is probably next in line. Mickey Arthur being coach really helps him for a few reasons I think - the first is obvious (NCN was basically a Mickey Arthur project player at WA) but even beyond that I think it helps him because of how Mickey would actually go about selecting a fast bowler. When Arthur was WA coach he famously ripped into the Sheffield Shield pitches and suggested they were making some bowlers look far better than they were. I can't find the original article but he touches on it here as well. Many believe it's the reason Copeland was suddenly axed when Arthur took over as coach. On this front, NCN has two things really going for him:
1. He's a genuine 140 clicks bowler, meaning he won't be seen as another medium pacer filling his boots on green tops
2. He performs well in OD cricket and T20 cricket on the flatter pitches. Butterworth, Bird and Cutting let themselves down here, and I think that's why Hastings was preferred to them in Perth too.

Beyond the fact that I'm sure Arthur would be keen, he Can Bat, is a good field for a fast bowler and has been the mainstay of the bowling attack in all the Aus A games lately - including the one I didn't think meant anything but seems to have.

[Spikey]

Ah yes, but we 'kept Bird up our sleeves' for that tour game. And, from memory, NCN (& Al McD) only got onto the off-season Aus A tour because of injury (inc. to Cutting), as opposed to Bird. NCN's average for the season (35. plus 0/66 in the aus a game) might go against him. obv they don't mind picking high 20's (Hilf, MJ), but that might be a bridge too far. t20 form and all. still, easy enough to argue for any of bird/cutting/ncn

Originally Posted by Crazy Sam

It wouldn't surprise me if they persist with Hauritz at 7 followed by those bowlers when Shield resumes.

Harris is (hoping) to resume when the shield resumes...

[Spikey]

also from memory, when we picked cutting last summer, we didn't have as many options. bird and ncn weren't being considered yet, for example. we have a bit more now

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Spikey

Ah yes, but we 'kept Bird up our sleeves' for that tour game. And, from memory, NCN (& Al McD) only got onto the off-season Aus A tour because of injury (inc. to Cutting), as opposed to Bird. NCN's average for the season (35. plus 0/66 in the aus a game) might go against him. obv they don't mind picking high 20's (Hilf, MJ), but that might be a bridge too far. t20 form and all. still, easy enough to argue for any of bird/cutting/ncn






Harris is (hoping) to resume when the shield resumes...

Yeah wouldn't surprise me that much if it was Bird either I guess, but I do think not being a very good limited overs bowler will count against him; it probably means more for Tasmanians because of what their pitch is like for Shield games too.

[Tangles]

I know Gilly revolutionized keeping but I really hate watching crap keepers. I grew up watching Healy and that set my expectations pretty high. I even remember an awesome leg side stumping by Russell in an Ashes series of a medium pacer. Haddin was bad at times and then I saw Wade keep. Those 50s will lose value when he costs us a game. We don't create enough chances to grass them against good teams.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by rvd619323

Luke Feldman a possible bolter as well, IMO.

Called it.

I've been championing the selection of Bird for a while now, probably to the edge of self parody, but I legitimately think he is a good option vs. Sri Lanka.

I reckon a guy moving it half a bat width either way could do some serious damage against them. Bird does that with alarming accuracy and regularity, and he's pushing it through quicker than last season (for those questioning the speed guns, I watched him at the first Shield game of the season; easily quicker through the air than Butterworth and Faulkner.)

And TBF, his List A and T20 records, whilst stricken with sample size issues, aren't what I'd call 'poor'. Definitely better than Ben Cutting's.

Has to be NCN or Bird for Melbourne IMO. Or both, and get rid of Johnson.

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by rvd619323

Called it.

I've been championing the selection of Bird for a while now, probably to the edge of self parody, but I legitimately think he is a good option vs. Sri Lanka.

I reckon a guy moving it half a bat width either way could do some serious damage against them. Bird does that with alarming accuracy and regularity, and he's pushing it through quicker than last season (for those questioning the speed guns, I watched him at the first Shield game of the season; easily quicker through the air than Butterworth and Faulkner.)

And TBF, his List A and T20 records, whilst stricken with sample size issues, aren't what I'd call 'poor'. Definitely better than Ben Cutting's.

Has to be NCN or Bird for Melbourne IMO. Or both, and get rid of Johnson.

Be happy with either of those blokes. NCN offers something a bit different with the bounce he gets.

Bit of a blessing for Starc with Hilf getting injured. Gives him a chance to establish himself.

[Burgey]

Is it an early start today?

[Dan]

Apparently so.

[TumTum]

That is a lot of cracks

Hopefully the sun is out today and tomorrow it might get interesting.

[Burgey]

Decent start here.

[Lostman]

Can't believe I am going to say this...

But after watching these 120 kph pie chuckers, I miss Dilhara Fernando.