***Official*** Australia/South Africa/Zimbabwe Triangular ODI Series 2014

[Top_Cat]

Boof loves a chancer. Hughes may not be in WC plans at all, tbh. Pushing Marsh up was a good test because he could have just slogged his way to 50 and given it away but this was a relatively mature knock so you'd imagine he's pushed himself right to the front of the queue for the back-up number 3 in case Watson pulls a string.

Warner and Watson back in with Marsh as the gun on the way up leaves little room for Hughes in the squad, let alone the XI.

 

[TimAngas]

Boot loves a chancer. Hughes may not be in WC plans at all, tbh. Pushing Marah up was a good test because he could have just slogged his way to 50 and given it away but this was a relatively mature knock so you'd imagine he's pushed himself right to the front of the queue for the back-up number 3 in case Watson pulls a string.

Warner and Watson back in with Marsh as the gun on the way up leaves little room for Hughes in the squad, let alone the XI.

I really don't think Marsh has justified his place as a top order batsman considering his FC and LA performances for WA over the last few years. Even in the Australia A series other than his huge knock against India, wasn't in sparkling form. Hughes' last OD scores are 51, 58 and 202* yet seem to be completely futile while Mitch Marsh gets in on a whim.

 

[Top_Cat]

Getting picked is about so much more than mere form, though. Form makes you tougher to ignore but you still could be ignored and the selectors and captain are making very clear noises that this is exactly what's happening with Hughes.

 

[TimAngas]

The only thing I really hope the selectors don't do now is put too much weight on that innings in a match when really the oppositions bowling attack was falling apart. I do agree he showed some poise and solidity early on in the innings, but it wasn't exactly as if he was under the pressure he would be in a World Cup semi, facing Junaid from one end and Ajmal from the other. Hughes is a proven (albeit terribly inconsistent) batsmen at international level. Clearly he can do it, it's just a matter of letting him find the space in which he is the Hughes we so badly want. I would have thought a match against Zimbabwe would have been the absolute perfect opportunity for him to continue the roll he is already on up into the highest level of the game.

 

[Spikey]

Surely we won't be silly enough to go in unchanged against South Africa.

Finch
Hughes
Smith
Bailey
Maxwell
Marsh
Haddin
Faulkner
Johnson
Starc
Lyon

I don't understand the logic behind the team we played against Zim:
What's the point of batting a destructive finisher like Maxwell ahead of someone who clearly is a innings builder? i.e. Steve Smith.
Why are we batting a bowling all-rounder who 99% won't be in the top order for us at the World Cup at no. 3, when we have the best young batting talent in Australia having shown he can bat well in that position in OD games in the Ryobi Cup for NSW last year?
Why are we batting a 36 yr. old wicketkeeper who 99% won't be opening for us in the World Cup as an opener, when there is clearly a guy who is still in the running and shown extraordinary form in the past weeks left out?
Why do we need 8 bowlers in a 50 over match? If Johnson, Starc, Faulkner, Lyon are getting smashed about then so will Smith, Marsh and Maxwell.
If we really want to have a good look at different players, don't have such a swathe of bowlers that none of them get much of the ball, and even if they do, their rhythm is being broken up by constantly being brought in and out of the attack. Being one of only five proper bowlers in a match puts the guys we want to have a look at (Richardson, Cutting, Marsh) under pressure to bowl good areas since they don't have the safety net of seven other guys. From that match we're yet to see how Richardson will cope with bowling more than a handful of overs. Him being in the side was really worth nothing at that stage.

While I don't want to be a part of the reactionary outrage that usually comes up after this sort of debacle, this just strengthens my opinion of the total pointlessness of this series. Silly decisions in a lopsided match against a mediocre team, and supporting through television money, a government who have clearly done nothing to help the sport.

gun post


except for faulkner playing obviously

 

[dermo]

i think its clear that provided everyone is fit for the world cup the top 3 will be Warner, Finch and Watson, therefore Marsh being the replacement for Watson slots in at 3

it doesn't make a lot of sense in the context of this game and series, the team TimAngas posted on the last page is the one i would be going with, but i guess in the context of preparing for the WC it makes a little more sense

and boof has a big thing about going hard in the powerplay, so he wants big ball strikers in the top 3 to try get off to a flyer

 

[Spikey]

ok but lehmann is wrong and fat and dumb

 

[Top_Cat]

The only thing I really hope the selectors don't do now is put too much weight on that innings in a match when really the oppositions bowling attack was falling apart. I do agree he showed some poise and solidity early on in the innings, but it wasn't exactly as if he was under the pressure he would be in a World Cup semi, facing Junaid from one end and Ajmal from the other. Hughes is a proven (albeit terribly inconsistent) batsmen at international level. Clearly he can do it, it's just a matter of letting him find the space in which he is the Hughes we so badly want. I would have thought a match against Zimbabwe would have been the absolute perfect opportunity for him to continue the roll he is already on up into the highest level of the game.

Hughes gets picked, belts a ton or bags a globe tells you nothing about him as a player you didn't already know whereas we now know a bit more about Marsh's ability to bat 3 in an international match (yes, yes, it's Zimbabwe but it counts and knowing that is pressure in and of itself). In a nothing match/series, these are the gains you look for. It doesn't mean throw him to the wolves against SA but it does mean he's taken at least a few steps toward being able to do so one day.

 

[Burgey]

i think its clear that provided everyone is fit for the world cup the top 3 will be Warner, Finch and Watson, therefore Marsh being the replacement for Watson slots in at 3

it doesn't make a lot of sense in the context of this game and series, the team TimAngas posted on the last page is the one i would be going with, but i guess in the context of preparing for the WC it makes a little more sense

and boof has a big thing about going hard in the powerplay, so he wants big ball strikers in the top 3 to try get off to a flyer

I had a client named Barry B...... who got a blood infection in his balls one time after a motor bike accident. They swelled up terribly until one night he was sitting on the lounge at home with his wife when his scrotum exploded. It's a story he liked to retell, and he also enjoyed the name we gave him in the office, which was "Big Balls Barry B..."

 

[Spikey]

also if watson gets injured or something there's no law that requires his replacement to bat at 3. like, i'm pretty sure in that case you just avoid being a dumb idiot by restoring clarke to the number 3 spot

 

[Burgey]

Why don't you stop banging on about it, ****, and just send Lehmann a tweet saying he's ****?

 

[Spikey]

dont want ajdude finding me

 

[brockley]

I am going to make a prediction Jake Lehman for the Green and Gold.

 

[Spark]

So Clarke's gonna miss the next game too?

Really can't make a case for him continuing in ODIs beyond the WC given he barely seems to play them these days.

 

[Spikey]

heres a case: clarkeh can do whatever he wants (until he becomes a dumb fat idiot)

 

[Top_Cat]

*especially if he becomes

Tbh

 

[GotSpin]

Why is this series even happening

 

[hendrix]

and boof has a big thing about going hard in the powerplay, so he wants big ball strikers in the top 3 to try get off to a flyer

This could fail spectacularly against sides with good new ball bowlers.

 

[Spikey]

that was just dermo trolling benchmark00 imo

 

[Spikey]

cricket.com.au ‏@CricketAus 18m
Phil Hughes comes into the Australia XI to open, Brad Haddin to bat at No.7. Nathan Lyon out of the side #SAvAUS

stop trying to make me mad