*Official* Second Test at Lord's

[Justo]

Sensible question from me (for once) - how much of the current state of Australian cricket is down to the fact that there seemed to be a resistance to introduce many new players into (probably) the greatest team of all time until they had all grown old together? Then one retires, they all retire?

This to me is where the problem really is and not with younger bats not performing since even great bats often struggle when they are young. Clarke's not only our best batsmen but the only reliable batsmen (average 40+) in this age group. Australia really needed Jaques, Watson, Voges, North etc to form the core of our batting lineup and if you go back to 2007 and look forward you would think Australia would be looking quite good batting wise (not as good as the previous generation ofc) because of them but it just hasn't happened. Part of the reason for that could be that these guys weren't given a run when they were young (except Clarke) and then dropped and given a chance after their failures to rebuild themselves. Now we have young batsmen being thrown in under pressure situations and not really being given the time to prove themselves or if dropped not being given the time to adapt their games.

Of course these guys have also seemed to have had more injury problems (as a whole) then you would expect from batsmen (pretty much ended Jaques international career, Watson missed so much game time in his career, Voges always seemed to be injured or coming back from injury when a Test spot was available, Clarke's back issues and Sean Marsh's issues) so perhaps this is what has hurt this generation more than anything.

 

[Riggins]

Cricket David Warner Shane Watson Twitter abuse

people seem to have no problems with hacking the warners's twitter accounts. i wonder if their passwords are password.

 

[superkingdave]

Man this lunch programme makes me wish we had a Lara innings to look forward to this afternoon.

 

[pup11]

Jimmy didn't bowl spin at TB.

Atm in Australian domestic cricket the ball either seams like crazy on green tops or the wickets are totally placid, so whenever the ball swings or spins in the international circuit the Aussie bats are all at sea against that sort of bowling. There is little emphasis on skill development, the fast bowlers in Australia are mostly happy hitting the deck whereas the batters negate that ploy with a predominant back-foot style of batting.
Nothing is going to change in this regard until the coaches and state teams wake up from their slumber and start thinking about Aus cricket rather than just mindlessly competing for the Shield against each other at the cost of diluting the standard of domestic cricket in Australia.

 

[superkingdave]

people seem to have no problems with hacking the warners's twitter accounts. i wonder if their passwords are password.

Dave and Steve would be my guess

 

[Garson007]

I'm sure someone like Katich would, but really what's the point? He'd have like one more year in him. It's just like staving off the inevitable for the sake of it.

But it does give the youngsters more Shield cricket experience. I dunno. I'm just seeing that older teams generally do better.

 

[Cabinet96]

Cricket David Warner Shane Watson Twitter abuse

I bet they'll use him as an escape goat.

 

[Ruckus]

Given the standard of the shield atm and the lack of better options, I honestly think the best way forward for the team is just to retain the younger "high-potential" players. Were gonna lose plenty of games, but at least they will be able to learn and improve in tough, match conditions. It's not ideal, and not how a good system should work, but I can't see any other way around it at this stage.

 

[Maximas]

that'll do

 

[Prince EWS]

They should try and prepare Lords like this every year. Much better wicket.

 

[NUFAN]

But it does give the youngsters more Shield cricket experience. I dunno. I'm just seeing that older teams generally do better.

The issue is that Hughes is terrific at Shield Cricket and quite woeful at Test Cricket. He goes back to Shield and plunders attacks. Perhaps next time, don't recall him so quickly and he will come back a mature and intelligent bat when he is 28 or so.

 

[Spikey]

Given the standard of the shield atm and the lack of better options, I honestly think the best way forward for the team is just to retain the younger "high-potential" players.

At the same time you can't just hand them spots They'd need to have displayed some talent, some good attitude traits, a willingness to work hard and improve, maybe leadership etc. All of a sudden that throws out a lot of options

 

[Jono]

Have been away all weekend, but my God there is some serious Swann tasting going on for some Aussie posters.

 

[Spikey]

swann gone down like a soccer player

 

[Jamee999]

Aussie players are going to start punching the English bowlers.

 

[Prince EWS]

At the same time you can't just hand them spots They'd need to have displayed some talent, some good attitude traits, a willingness to work hard and improve, maybe leadership etc. All of a sudden that throws out a lot of options

Sums up why the People's Champ is the People's Champ though. Ticks all those boxes.

 

[91Jmay]

**** move from Khawaja. Swann should punish the little bellend now.

 

[Cabinet96]

Khawaja with the best tactic against Swann.

 

[Maximas]

I really hate the angle Ussie's bat comes down on the ball when he defends Swann

 

[Ruckus]

At the same time you can't just hand them spots They'd need to have displayed some talent, some good attitude traits, a willingness to work hard and improve, maybe leadership etc. All of a sudden that throws out a lot of options

Yeah but who are the better alternatives? Cowen and Marsh (and Quiney if you wanna be a bit harsh) were one's from that higher age group and they failed just as bad. At least the younger guys have potential and age on their side.