Matthew Hayden

[breeno]

Originally Posted by a for effort

The Cricket Show guys all want Hayden to go to England. Jerks

EDIT: They want Klinger in for the one-dayers. Legends

EDIT2: Healy wants Steve Smith in the squad for the South African tour. Idiot

Thread bump.

A little man called Phil Hughes proved them wrong.

[Boris]

i would love to be proved wrong, but my prediction on this opening predicament is that sometime soon katich will lose all form and will have to be dropped. hughes may or may not succeed, but he should become a great opener if he understands that his form will drop at some time, and he has to also understand that he has to work out a way of lessening the consequences. jaques should come into the side after one of the others first form slump, not very nice i know but you cant kick out people that are succeeding.

this is all speculation on my part, just what i think will happen. i dont really want that to happen but i think jaques has to be in the team somewhere in the near future, if he proves himself first.

[distributer of pain]

langer never found he"s feet at test level until he became an opener so maybe katich will be the same, i think katich will remain our opener for a long to to come, as for hughes im not sure yet, i havnt seen enough of him but he"s doing a good job so far.

[Boris]

Originally Posted by distributer of pain

langer never found he"s feet at test level until he became an opener so maybe katich will be the same, i think katich will remain our opener for a long to to come, as for hughes im not sure yet, i havnt seen enough of him but he"s doing a good job so far.

i'm not to sure about hughes either. he might just be a one hit wonder, but theres only one way to find out. i think langer really found his feet because of hayden, such a wonderful man and friend he was and still is. they both batted in union to one another and worked together as their own mini-team. the selectors ended up with the philosophy that if they drop one they have to drop the other, which is why the both stayed in the team together for so long. as opener you really have to forge that sort of relationship with the other opener and the no 3, as well as work together. katich doesnt seem the forceful type, like hayden was, and more lets the bowler dictate to him (even though he still wins) whereas hayden did what he wanted when he wanted. i think ponting has tried to take haydens role, he seems to come out and walk a little at the bowler and smash a few, but then settles back. i dont think hughes and katich compliment each other as a pair of opening batsmen with their styles, as katich and hayden didnt as well.

katich IMO is a player much more suited to state level, he will always succeed there, and be remembered just as much without having the failed test player haunting him. jimmy maher did this very well, sitting back after successfully playing a few games as substitute for an injured player, then was content with coming back and playing for qld, and did this with success and pride. what i'm trying to get at is i think katich will lose form like he did last time and then go back and play for nsw for the rest of his career, coming back to the australian side a couple of times when openers are injured or whatever, but putting on a pile of runs. i hope this doesnt happens and he keeps surmounting runs for australia, but i think its inevitable.

[Biggie]

Hughes is the real deal.

I think he will have a Clarke type dropping (ie to regain his feet and work harder if his currnet style becomes risky and thoughtless) but he will be an Australian opener for quite some time.

[Boris]

i think that will be the case as well. i hope that is the case. all batsmen should be dropped from the side during their career, it is a good (or bad) experience for them to go through, to teach them that they are in a side to do what they do best, not just to have fun.