***Official** Malaysia Tri-Series

[honestbharani]

wats the forecast like?

 

[alternative]

Its way to early to predict.

I was there last weekend, and weather was the usual one sunny and humid. I would expect the same thing during september..

 

[Jono]

May possibly fly up to watch a match or two, considering I may be visiting my dad in Singapore at the same time.

 

[silentstriker]

Actually, I think it should be pretty interesting. We get to see the in-form Dravid, returning Tendulkar and Dhoni (for the first time) against McGrath and Lee.

I love watching Dhoni, but he will be completely outclassed (unless the pitches are as flat as Keira Knightley).

But this will be a great test for Tendulkar. Lets see how he copes. He has played McGrath well in the past, so we will see if that continues. Dravid on the other hand can't buy a run vs. McGrath, and this might be a good chance to get that problem squared away. He might be helped by the fact that McGrath is also returning from a long layoff and thus may be rusty.

But knowing McGrath, I wouldn't bet on that!

 

[Jungle Jumbo]

Didn't they have problems with bumpy outfields in the 97 ICC Trophy?

 

[marc71178]

We should have been playing Jaques for the last 12 months but noooooo let's persist with a bloke that is clearly not good enough for the Australian top six and scores his runs at a s/r that is only effective when you are chasing 200.

I'm fairly sure that Aus have chased down a lot more than 200 with Katich in the side and anchoring the innings.

With the number of fast scorers available, a bit of consistency and solidity is not a bad thing.

This all reminds me of the time a couple of years back when Martyn was constantly slagged off for "scoring slowly" to be honest...

EDIT: Katich opening averages 50.09 when chasing in 13 games.

10 of those have been wins, 9 of wihich have been chasing 200 or more, and in the 10th he scored 18, his second lowest in the 10 games.

 

[marc71178]

Come on, thats way harsh of Katich, yea he isn't as aggressive as the other memebers of Australia's superb top 7, but is that really such a bad thing?. If you have one guy like him batting around shotguns like Gilly, Ponting, Martyn, Symo, Pup, Hussey & Lee who can play as the achor role that wont be a great problem, because even though i would rather Jaques more so than Hayden at the top in his own way Katich has done fairly well for Australia at the top of the order.

Erm, way to over-rate a tail end biffer.

 

[aussie]

Erm, way to over-rate a tail end biffer.

Lee's form with the bat in both test & ODI's since the ashes definately makes him a bit more than a tail end biffer.

 

[TT Boy]

Erm, way to over-rate a tail end biffer.

His a bit better than that. Batted extremely well over the past twelve months and was nigh (or nearly) faultless in defence against us at Edgbaston.

 

[aussie]

Martyn ~ 26 @ 80 (ignore him for now).

You may say ignore Marto but of all the batsmen in the side over the last season his form in ODI's has been the least impressive but yet Katich is getting all the stick.

 

[adharcric]

You may say ignore Marto but of all the batsmen in the side over the last season his form in ODI's has been the least impressive but yet Katich is getting all the stick.

I said ignore Martyn because his position is unrelated to Katich's. Katich opens and Martyn plays in the middle-order. Katich has Jacques and Hayden for competition ... Martyn has an all-rounder in Watson (who was injured for a while) and Hodge for competition.

 

[adharcric]

I love watching Dhoni, but he will be completely outclassed (unless the pitches are as flat as Keira Knightley).

But this will be a great test for Tendulkar. Lets see how he copes. He has played McGrath well in the past, so we will see if that continues. Dravid on the other hand can't buy a run vs. McGrath, and this might be a good chance to get that problem squared away. He might be helped by the fact that McGrath is also returning from a long layoff and thus may be rusty.

But knowing McGrath, I wouldn't bet on that!

I'm keeping my expectations low for Dhoni, but I have hope that he'll get a taste of success. Now I can't mention that he's an intelligent batsman who will try to adjust his game because I know you can slap me in the face by bringing up a certain incident from Mumbai. Whatever happens with Dhoni, it'll surely reveal something about him.

 

[R_D]

IT'll be interesting to see how Dhoni goes against the like of Lee, McGrath and co.
Looking forward to finally seeing Sachin in action again and hopefully he won't dissapoint.
It should be an interesting series.

 

[marc71178]

His a bit better than that. Batted extremely well over the past twelve months and was nigh (or nearly) faultless in defence against us at Edgbaston.

He might be a bit better than that, but to call him a "shotgun batsman" is a little overstating the player isn't it?

 

[adharcric]

He might be a bit better than that, but to call him a "shotgun batsman" is a little overstating the player isn't it?

Uhh yeah. You aren't the only person to be a little surprised seeing Lee's name come up alongside Gilly, Ponting, Symonds and Hussey as the star shotgun batsmen of Australia. He's not a tailender but he does not belong in that list, period.

 

[aussie]

Uhh yeah. You aren't the only person to be a little surprised seeing Lee's name come up alongside Gilly, Ponting, Symonds and Hussey as the star shotgun batsmen of Australia. He's not a tailender but he does not belong in that list, period.

Didn't mean it that way, when i mentioned the shot gun 7 i should have separated Lee at the end, but when Lee does come in its normally is in the closing overs & based on his form last season he is as capable as all of those blokes of smoking it at the end.

 

[aussie]

I said ignore Martyn because his position is unrelated to Katich's. Katich opens and Martyn plays in the middle-order. Katich has Jacques and Hayden for competition ... Martyn has an all-rounder in Watson (who was injured for a while) and Hodge for competition.

Not really, you really can't ignore him because over the last season out of all the top 7 batsmen he has been the least productive & yet people are giving Katich all the stick just because he isn't as aggressive as the rest.

Australia's batting is very versatile, Katich does have Jaques and Hayden as his main candidates for his spot but there are other options in Clarke whose record as an opener is very good & Cosgrove another one who has opened at lot in OD cricket for South Australia & Glamorgan this year, are other possibilities in that role as well. Martyn's challengers for the #4 spot would be Watson, Jaques because Jaques can bat in the middle order he did for Yorkshire for most of the county championship last leason & Cosgrove again who can bat in that #4 spot. I wont consider Hodge because he is a bit old & hasn't really dont that great in the ODI's he played, he is more of a test match candidate for Martyn's #4 spot.

 

[TT Boy]

He might be a bit better than that, but to call him a "shotgun batsman" is a little overstating the player isn't it?

Well if someone used the word "shotgun batsman" then yes it is a bit OTT. Though I would not be surprised if Brett Lee tons up in a test match, something Symonds will never achieve.

 

[pug]

Does anybody know where all the matches will be held?

 

[adharcric]

Not really, you really can't ignore him because over the last season out of all the top 7 batsmen he has been the least productive & yet people are giving Katich all the stick just because he isn't as aggressive as the rest.

Australia's batting is very versatile, Katich does have Jaques and Hayden as his main candidates for his spot but there are other options in Clarke whose record as an opener is very good & Cosgrove another one who has opened at lot in OD cricket for South Australia & Glamorgan this year, are other possibilities in that role as well. Martyn's challengers for the #4 spot would be Watson, Jaques because Jaques can bat in the middle order he did for Yorkshire for most of the county championship last leason & Cosgrove again who can bat in that #4 spot. I wont consider Hodge because he is a bit old & hasn't really dont that great in the ODI's he played, he is more of a test match candidate for Martyn's #4 spot.

Agree for the most part. My main point in showing those statistics was to highlight Katich's strike rate and the fact that Jacques or Hayden could contribute more at that spot. Just my opinion.