Road to the 2019 Ashes

[FBU]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/c...-run-Dukes-balls-used-unsettle-Australia.html

England's plans to regain the Ashes later this year using a batch of last summer's lively Dukes balls have been scuppered because the ECB's supply has all but run out.

 

[Starfighter]

Well looking at the county highlights there's been ****-all movement in the air compared to normal, which combined with generally dry pitches has lead to things like Northants being on 0/234 overnight. In mid April. I don't understand why the ECB needed to ruin the ball when better pitch preparation would have been adequate, but they do have a habit of messing up everything except for the administrator's paycheques.

 

[FBU]

Well looking at the county highlights there's been ****-all movement in the air compared to normal, which combined with generally dry pitches has lead to things like Northants being on 0/234 overnight. In mid April. I don't understand why the ECB needed to ruin the ball when better pitch preparation would have been adequate, but they do have a habit of messing up everything except for the administrator's paycheques.

Don't know why the ECB can't phone up Dukes and ask for a normal seam on the Dukes for the Tests. Over three months to go.

 

[howardj]

Don't like how we're announcing our squad just a week before the 1st Test

Looks like too much emphasis will be placed on the lead up games at the expense of incumbency and proven ability at Test level

Pattinson and Burns - centurions in the most recent Test - should be locks for the squad...but will likely miss out if they perform poorly in the couple of Australia A games, and a rival scores a couple of tons

Absolute injustice, and total madness if that occurs

 

[mr_mister]

Knowing Langer hel base it on WC performances

 

[howardj]

haha gold

 

[Test_Fan_Only]

Don't like how we're announcing our squad just a week before the 1st Test

Looks like too much emphasis will be placed on the lead up games at the expense of incumbency and proven ability at Test level

Pattinson and Burns - centurions in the most recent Test - should be locks for the squad...but will likely miss out if they perform poorly in the couple of Australia A games, and a rival scores a couple of tons

Absolute injustice, and total madness if that occurs

Pattinson did not score a century in the most recent test.

 

[aussie tragic]

Australia-A Ashes warm up squad announced.

Australia A four-day squad:
Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

No Burns? So who opens with Harris

 

[morgieb]

Australia-A Ashes warm up squad announced.

Australia A four-day squad:
Tim Paine (c), Marcus Harris, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Travis Head (vc), Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Mitch Marsh, Michael Neser, Jon Holland, James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Chris Tremain

No Burns? So who opens with Harris

My guess is that Burns was omitted as he's already playing county cricket. Same with Bancroft and Renshaw - so maybe the other opening slot will be one of those 3?

 

[howardj]

Pattinson did not score a century in the most recent test.

Patterson

 

[howardj]

My guess is that Burns was omitted as he's already playing county cricket. Same with Bancroft and Renshaw - so maybe the other opening slot will be one of those 3?

That's ****ed. This, and the not naming the squad until a week before. There's no security or sense of team...it's just a big posse of cricketers. Massive overkill.

 

[aussie tragic]

My guess is that Burns was omitted as he's already playing county cricket. Same with Bancroft and Renshaw - so maybe the other opening slot will be one of those 3?

I thought the same as all county players were left out except Pattinson and I'm guessing that's so they can control his workload.

The opening slot can't be one of the 3 you mention as they are not in the A squad, so someone that doesnt open for their State will now have to open in England.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Don't like how we're announcing our squad just a week before the 1st Test

Looks like too much emphasis will be placed on the lead up games at the expense of incumbency and proven ability at Test level

Pattinson and Burns - centurions in the most recent Test - should be locks for the squad...but will likely miss out if they perform poorly in the couple of Australia A games, and a rival scores a couple of tons

Absolute injustice, and total madness if that occurs

I couldn't disagree more. I would be very glad if performances in lead up games were given plenty of weight rather than incumbency, assuming Aus want to win the series. It would be total madness to select the likes of Joe Burns if he is in poor form (especially in England) just because he made a big ton on a road against a minnow in Aus' last Test match, rather than a much better player (eg. Harris, Warner, Bancroft, Khawaja, whoever else)

Patterson shouldn't have a problem and it would surprise me if he doesn't make big scores in the lead up games regardless to cement his spot. He's a class act.

 

[howardj]

Cricket is a hard game

It's very easy to snick off and get a couple of low scores without necessarily being in poor form

Doesn't mean you should lose your Test spot though

Creates insecurity

 

[TheJediBrah]

Cricket is a hard game

It's very easy to snick off and get a couple of low scores without necessarily being in poor form

Doesn't mean you should lose your Test spot though

Creates insecurity

If you're talking about 1 or 2 innings, sure. But as far is I know there will be more to the warm ups.

Picking a player out of form, ahead of better players, because he happened to make a hundred in the last Test in completely different conditions against completely different opposition, would be much worse than just "creating insecurity"

Sticking with Burns as an example, if he manages to perform relatively well in the warm ups then he will have earned and deserves his spot. If he doesn't then it's unlikely that picking him is best for the team. Pretty simple equation.

 

[aussie tragic]

So by my count Australia will have 40 cricketers in England vying for Ashes selection.

15 WC players, 19 between the 2 A teams and 6 playing county cricket who Hohns said were excluded from A teams (Burns, Bancroft, Renshaw, Labuschagne, Siddle and Worrel)

 

[stephen]

It's madness if Burns is dropped. He's officially the new Damien Martyn except without the losses to scapegoat him for.

Think about this. You do decently well in the test side, have a bad series in foreign conditions that nobody does well in. You get dropped. You force your way back into the side. You get dropped two tests later because your side collapses to the ****ing South African pace battery in Hobart. You fight your way back into the side again and are dropped after top scoring in the second innings after literally being flown around the world a day or two before the test. Then you force your way back into the side for a third time and make 180, scoring the first hundred of the entire summer for the test side. You're then dropped again because you top scored a few times in very low scoring shield games on green tops with dukes balls but failed to pass 50 in the process.

If any player deserves a decent run in the test side it's Joe ****ing Burns. Drop Harris the useless bloody Victorian instead.

 

[Spark]

It's madness if Burns is dropped. He's officially the new Damien Martyn except without the losses to scapegoat him for.

Think about this. You do decently well in the test side, have a bad series in foreign conditions that nobody does well in. You get dropped. You force your way back into the side. You get dropped two tests later because your side collapses to the ****ing South African pace battery in Hobart. You fight your way back into the side again and are dropped after top scoring in the second innings after literally being flown around the world a day or two before the test. Then you force your way back into the side for a third time and make 180, scoring the first hundred of the entire summer for the test side. You're then dropped again because you top scored a few times in very low scoring shield games on green tops with dukes balls but failed to pass 50 in the process.

If any player deserves a decent run in the test side it's Joe ****ing Burns. Drop Harris the useless bloody Victorian instead.

Are we giving out Test places for performances, or sob stories?

 

[TheJediBrah]

It's madness if Burns is dropped. He's officially the new Damien Martyn except without the losses to scapegoat him for.

Think about this. You do decently well in the test side, have a bad series in foreign conditions that nobody does well in. You get dropped. You force your way back into the side. You get dropped two tests later because your side collapses to the ****ing South African pace battery in Hobart. You fight your way back into the side again and are dropped after top scoring in the second innings after literally being flown around the world a day or two before the test. Then you force your way back into the side for a third time and make 180, scoring the first hundred of the entire summer for the test side. You're then dropped again because you top scored a few times in very low scoring shield games on green tops with dukes balls but failed to pass 50 in the process.

If any player deserves a decent run in the test side it's Joe ****ing Burns. Drop Harris the useless bloody Victorian instead.

Dunno I'd prefer the best team be picked so that we could win the series but maybe that's just me

 

[stephen]

Are we giving out Test places for performances, or sob stories?

Test match performances.

When in history has an incumbent been dropped from the Australian side after forcing their way into the side after years of solid performances and then scoring a big hundred?

I know some question his technique but he looks so much more at home at test level than Harris.

If we're going to drop Burns it should be for both Bancroft and Warner. Because he absolutely should be there ahead of Harris, who seems to have massive flaws in his game.