Test XI Selection Thread

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raze said:
I am glad to see Cummins, D. Hussey and Khawaja with contracts, but I'd be finding room for Copeland and Peter George. I'm impressed with both of them (from what little I've seen), and see them both as becoming our front-line quicks pretty soon.
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Agree, just don't understand why they didn't give Copeland a contract and drop Lee. Cam White luck to get a contract and will be playing for his career this season as will be Bollinger.Krejza and Harris lucky to get contracts, with the latter and his terrible knee injuries. What ever happened to the review that CA was doing.By the time they release it they will have to another one about the Indian series this year.
 
Or every series thereafter just about. The review never really happened I don't think, not in the public eye anyway. The same rubbish will keep going until Hilditch eventually quits and takes the remaining selectors with him.
 
I'd like to see khwaja come and bat at 6 similar to what they did with Ponting when he came into the test team. This would allow him to grow confidence at test level without the pressure of facing the new ball, he'd also have the experienced hussey and haddin batting around him.
 
The problem is that Hughes (if he's opening) Ponting and Clarke all seem to go pretty quick, so he'd end up facing a pretty new ball anyway.
 
the_panther said:
I'd like to see khwaja come and bat at 6 similar to what they did with Ponting when he came into the test team. This would allow him to grow confidence at test level without the pressure of facing the new ball, he'd also have the experienced hussey and haddin batting around him.
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Correct Panther, that was the way it was always done when we were strong, blood the new guy at 5 or 6 allow him to find his feet even if he is born to bat at 3. Ponting, M.Waugh, Yallop, G.Chappell, Border, all entered test team this way. Marsh has not really earned a spot but at least has a semblance of an opening batsmans technique.
 
CLOCKER said:
Agree, just don't understand why they didn't give Copeland a contract and drop Lee. Cam White luck to get a contract and will be playing for his career this season as will be Bollinger.Krejza and Harris lucky to get contracts, with the latter and his terrible knee injuries. What ever happened to the review that CA was doing.By the time they release it they will have to another one about the Indian series this year.
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2nd only to ICC in their efforts as reactionary regurgitators Clocker, they will be hoping for a few cheap wins against rubbish so they can do their usual "sweep it under the carpet". Interested in your thoughts on the disgrace that was Katich's demise?
 
Kram81 said:
Squad for tour of Sri Lanka.

Michael Clarke (capt)
Shane Watson (v. capt)
Michael Beer
Trent Copeland
Brad Haddin
Ryan Harris
Phillip Hughes
Michael Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Usman Khawaja
Nathan Lyon
Shaun Marsh
James Pattinson
Ricky Ponting
Peter Siddle

Good to see Shaun Marsh get an opportunity and the selectors actually dropping Smith. Lyon is an interesting selection but I think Hauritz is still injured, anyway anyone has to be better than the dud Jason Krezja.
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Here's the squad.
 
yeah sorry, I've seen that, my bad. I was wondering about the XI for the first test, and when that will be named.
 
It will be fascinating to see if they go with a youth team that has future, with India struggling it could be time to do the change and aim for the next ashs.
 
yeah, england is certainly the best in the world at the moment. It'll be quite a few years before Australia is in a position with a team good enough to knock them off.
Maybe the next time the ashes are in Aus we will have a chance, assuming that the selectors pick their game up and actually select the best possible XI (looks impossible ATM).
I'm just happy to enjoy the good cricket the poms are playing at the moment. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from them
 
Our next Test side to play Sri Lanka should be:

Watson
Hughes
Marsh
Kuwaja
Clarke
Ponting
McDonald
Wade
Johnson
Siddle
Pattinson

Out: Hussey (Katich was too old?), Harris (injury prone), and the spinners (who are not yet up to it).
 
raze said:
yeah, england is certainly the best in the world at the moment. It'll be quite a few years before Australia is in a position with a team good enough to knock them off.
Maybe the next time the ashes are in Aus we will have a chance, assuming that the selectors pick their game up and actually select the best possible XI (looks impossible ATM).
I'm just happy to enjoy the good cricket the poms are playing at the moment. Maybe we can learn a thing or two from them
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England finally figured out that you needed to give the guys some time together for them to get better. How many wicketkeepers and spinners did they go through before they found their current ones? A lot, before they were willing to give whoever they tried some time to build some form and stay in the team. The team now is much the same as the one from 2 years ago and more. They learnt that players need time to develop, to gel and also to play well together. Dropping a player as soon as they fail (within say two or three games) doesn't get the side nor the powers that be anywhere as they don't learn enough about that individual. If they gave a player say 10 games and they still struggled then you could make the call and send them back to the next level below to get them to work on their game.

Australia are stuck in the same way that England were in the 90's and 2000's. A long list of players have been tried but have been discarded fairly quickly if they didn't perform. It's got to the point where the selectors will try anyone who can do anything in the range of what they want them to do which is why Michael Beer is in the test line-up when he really isn't test quality. Since Warne retired, Nathan Hauritz has been our best spinner yet can't get a game for whatever reason or didn't do well enough when put back in the team and when the current crop of spinning talent are nothing short as pretty ordinary, the decision doesn't make sense.
 
English cricket rains supreme, well for now anyway. I do not have much confidence in england to maintain this for too long, they have such a long record of stuffing it up when it is good. They will hold on to players too long and not react to changes in the game. History tells us that it won't last.
 
What our first test team will be is as good a guess as anyone can have but you can be sure that with the announcements made Clarke will have a free hand. It will tell us much about how he will do things. Though i am not a supporter of his i do wish him luck and hope he makes me eat my words. Go Aussie.
 
Might be him making the calls along with Neilsen for the whole tour. Chappell may go home early from Sri Lanka which would leave the squad without a selector on duty.
 
Anybody else find is bizarre that suddenly Clarke is calling ALL the shots for now anyway?? I kind of like it somehow. One tyrant is better than a 'selection by process' panel of five anyday where sports is concerned, I reckon.
 
Copeland just took a 5-for and Khawaja made 101 (retired) so both are looking good chances for the first test. Marsh was dismissed on 12, not so good for him.
Khawaja at 6, Hughes to open with Watto and Copeland into the bowling lineup. Thoughts?
 
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