Australia's Test Squad for England and West Indies

[Tangles]

I don't get the Forkers love. Slower balls and mid wicket slogging doest make a test cricketer.

 

[NUFAN]

I don't get the Forkers love. Slower balls and mid wicket slogging doest make a test cricketer.

I don't get the Forkers hate. You know he can change his game a bit depending on conditions, right?

Overall, I feel as though his red ball batting is being underrated. I really do hope Faulkner gets a county cricket gig. He should bat at 4 or 5 and then in his limited matches for Tasmania do the exact same thing. I think he has improved as a Cricketer since the last Ashes in England and he made the squad then.

 

[social]

I don't get the Forkers love. Slower balls and mid wicket slogging doest make a test cricketer.

Agreed but if it is so easy then why cant the vast majority of the cricketers in the world do it

Anyway, I am not advocating for the selection of Faulkner in the test team despite the fact that his OVERALL contribution is likely to be better than Watto's

However, non-selection in these 2 squads is pretty farcical unless CA has lined him up with a red-ball county gig

 

[Tangles]

I don't get the Forkers hate. You know he can change his game a bit depending on conditions, right?

Overall, I feel as though his red ball batting is being underrated. I really do hope Faulkner gets a county cricket gig. He should bat at 4 or 5 and then in his limited matches for Tasmania do the exact same thing. I think he has improved as a Cricketer since the last Ashes in England and he made the squad then.

He is a Tasmanian. If he can improve his batting too 6 ish territory then he has a solid chance at Watsons spot. Marsh is ahead atm with the selectors but Forkers could slide in front.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I don't get the Forkers love. Slower balls and mid wicket slogging doest make a test cricketer.

Not sure if serious.

Yeah Steve Waugh would have been a terrible test cricketer. In ODIs he just bowled slower balls and slog-swept spinners over mid-wicket.

 

[Tangles]

You're comparing Steve with Forkers. NSIS

 

[TheJediBrah]

You're comparing Steve with Forkers. NSIS

lol wut

The point should be pretty obvious

 

[NUFAN]

He is a Tasmanian.

If he can improve his batting too 6 ish territory then he has a solid chance at Watsons spot.

Marsh is ahead atm with the selectors

but Forkers could slide in front.

4 correct and obvious statements.

 

[Tangles]

lol wut

The point should be pretty obvious

Not really. Both handy cricketers but young Steve was a batting all rounder who batted top 6 and got test selection at a time when the team wasn't doing well. You seem to feel Forkers should be in the team. Who gets dropped?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Not really. Both handy cricketers but young Steve was a batting all rounder who batted top 6 and got test selection at a time when the team wasn't doing well. You seem to feel Forkers should be in the team. Who gets dropped?

Any similarity between Steve Waugh and James Faulkner as players is completely irrelevant to the point I was making. The point was that players can play differently in different forms of the game, and thinking Faulkner couldn't play Tests because you've seen him apply Limited-overs skills really well is just ridiculous.

And I actually directly said earlier in the thread that there is simply no place for Faulkner in the 11 at the moment, but that there is no way he should have been left out of a squad of 17 IMO.

 

[dermo]

i dont think faulkner can play tests because i'm yet to see him apply test skills really well

 

[NZTailender]

Batting aside, atm Faulkner strikes me as being a bit like Nathan Bracken, but has the tools to offer more wicket taking opportunities than Bracken if developed correctly and used in the right role.

 

[NUFAN]

Batting aside, atm Faulkner strikes me as being a bit like Nathan Bracken, but has the tools to offer more wicket taking opportunities than Bracken if developed correctly and used in the right role.

So weird that in the past week Starc and Faulkner have been compared to Bracken.

 

[Gob]

well they compare likes of starc and forkers to bracken cos bracken was a very talented bowler unlike peter siddle.

 

[vic_orthdox]

well they compare likes of starc and forkers to bracken cos bracken was a very talented bowler unlike peter siddle.

Gah, Bracken. Cost Inness the Test matches he deserved #never4get

Nathan Bracken | Australia Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo
Mathew Inness | Australia Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[BigBrother]

Looking at the Australian domestic season stats for the year, is there a particular reason Australia doesn't look more favorably towards Steven O'Keefe? Not complaining about the Fawad selection, hard not to pick him after that season, but he is 33 years old already.

I honestly doubt Nathan Lyon is ever going to be anything more than a mediocre bowler for Australia, if even that, and O'Keefe seems like the way forward for their spin option given he averages 25 overall in FC cricket in the Australian pitches, a place that has hardly been friendly for spinners. Surely one bad game in the UAE doesn't mean his test career his sealed shut (where he outbowled Lyon btw).

It's not like he is an up and coming bowler getting prepped for the right moment either given he is 30 as well. He is also pretty decent with the bat too it seems.

 

[Niall]

Looking at the Australian domestic season stats for the year, is there a particular reason Australia doesn't look more favorably towards Steven O'Keefe? Not complaining about the Fawad selection, hard not to pick him after that season, but he is 33 years old already.

I honestly doubt Nathan Lyon is ever going to be anything more than a mediocre bowler for Australia, if even that, and O'Keefe seems like the way forward for their spin option given he averages 25 overall in FC cricket in the Australian pitches, a place that has hardly been friendly for spinners. Surely one bad game in the UAE doesn't mean his test career his sealed shut (where he outbowled Lyon btw).

It's not like he is an up and coming bowler getting prepped for the right moment either given he is 30 as well. He is also pretty decent with the bat too it seems.

The domestic stats back O Keefe up, and yeah worst debuts and all that, but does he actually spin the ball? It didn't look like he did against Pakistan, maybe his stats are more to do with domestic Aussie batsmen not been much cop playing spin?

I like Lyon myself, never going to be Warne, but he has done pretty well, heck he won Australia the first test against india last year, I'd persist with him for now.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Lyon's probably got a fair argument for being the best non-subcontinental spinner in the world. Depends on whether you think that's a good achievement, or damning with faint praise.

 

[NUFAN]

well they compare likes of starc and forkers to bracken cos bracken was a very talented bowler unlike peter siddle.

Oh. I thought they'd compare and conclude they were similar because they thought Starc bowled like Bracken and that Faulkner bowled like Bracken. But maybe I'm just a little crazy.

Or my second post

Shut your Gob.

 

[BigBrother]

The domestic stats back O Keefe up, and yeah worst debuts and all that, but does he actually spin the ball? It didn't look like he did against Pakistan, maybe his stats are more to do with domestic Aussie batsmen not been much cop playing spin?

I like Lyon myself, never going to be Warne, but he has done pretty well, heck he won Australia the first test against india last year, I'd persist with him for now.

Australia is Australia are the best players of spin actually, even better than India in India. So unless the domestic games turn into like a Mumbai or Dubai, I honestly doubt that. The last time you saw a oversees spinner rip through sides in Australia was back in....

I think that's really where the biggest weakness lies for Australia, the fact that someone like Lyon with a career average of about 36 is almost a guaranteed pick over a only a handful of performances at best. How do ever expect to be a good side all over the world if you set your standards that low? You need a bowler that can give you performances in more than just Adelaide.