Nathan Bracken?

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Boris

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Nathan Bracken?

Is Nathan Bracken of any consideration for the test team? I did a little bit of research on him lately because I was wondering where he went in the unlimited overs form of the game. His records at state level are really good, and he has played a few tests as well. I was wondering if anyone new where he went and why you never hear of him in contention for selection into the test team? Does he actually want to? I really like his bowling, and although I don't think theres room left for him now, I would have definitely and without a doubt picked him ahead of Siddle in the first place, and now others are being considered without him being mentioned.

Am I missing some news about him, or is he really just not good enough.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

In the right situations, such as a juicy Gabba pitch, where the ball is swinging, he'd be one of my first picks if I were a selector. However, if it were a flat pitch with no life, then I wouldn't.

The reason I've heard why the selectors don't pick him, is that when there is no swing, bowling straight at 120ish km/h doesn't trouble the batsmen or enables them to choose their shot selections, whereas if Mitchell Johnson was bowling and it wasn't swinging, his sheer pace can cause trouble and cause bad decisions.

Its a reason why I don't think Douggie Bollinger won't get many test matches either- as the pace isn't there to make up for if the conditions arent right.

I'm not sure if I agree, but that's their criteria! ;)
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Using that criteria then, why was McGrath ever selected? He never swung the ball and bowled around the same pace as Bracken. He was just extremely accurate, and used a lot of variation, just like Bracks. I'm not trying to compare him with McGrath, as I know who is definitely better, but I don't think bowlers should be selected for pace alone.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Using that criteria then, why was McGrath ever selected? He never swung the ball and bowled around the same pace as Bracken. He was just extremely accurate, and used a lot of variation, just like Bracks. I'm not trying to compare him with McGrath, as I know who is definitely better, but I don't think bowlers should be selected for pace alone.

How is it that Bracken was so good in the ODIs then? That is much more a batsman's game than tests and he was dominating. I would have to say he is close, if not the best ODI bowler in the world. So he mustn't be too bad at test level then should he?
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

I agree with you- especially since Bracks is a NSW lad! ;)

What can you do?

Maybe its the hair- the selectors are jealous of the locks?! :D
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

I can't say I agree with the NSW comment. maybe he would be selected if he came and played for the bulls! But then again we wouldn't want any cockroaches playing in the team, now would we!

hahaha
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

he could be used to pitch hit in certain test matches, i wouldnt want some of the better test batsman getting to much of a look at him with a red ball, he"d be cannon fodder. hes such a good ODI bowler because of his variations and batsman mistime strokes looking to get after him, in a test the batsman dont have to get after him anyway near as much. IMO, he does have a very good 4 day average of 26 though so he may get another chance.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

I remember when he was playing tests he was more or less having a bowl-off with Stuart Clark, and Clark won and kept the spot, opening the door for Johnson. I think that was the order of things, it seems like so long ago. but he wasn't bowling at all bad, just that Clark was better suited to tests and Bracken ODIs so they kept the respective spots. Other than being beaten by Clark their is no reason why he shouldn't be in the side IMO. He's a lot better than Siddle is anyway.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Boris;341288 said:
I remember when he was playing tests he was more or less having a bowl-off with Stuart Clark, and Clark won and kept the spot, opening the door for Johnson. I think that was the order of things, it seems like so long ago. but he wasn't bowling at all bad, just that Clark was better suited to tests and Bracken ODIs so they kept the respective spots. Other than being beaten by Clark their is no reason why he shouldn't be in the side IMO. He's a lot better than Siddle is anyway.
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Jumping off the Siddle bandwagon very quickly. have a look at the figures from the 3rd test. bowled almost 2 RPO for 30 something overs. that's real pressure, that gets you wickets (if you dont have a bloke leaking at the other end) :cool:
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Boris;341187 said:
Using that criteria then, why was McGrath ever selected? He never swung the ball and bowled around the same pace as Bracken. He was just extremely accurate, and used a lot of variation, just like Bracks. I'm not trying to compare him with McGrath, as I know who is definitely better, but I don't think bowlers should be selected for pace alone.
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McGrath did swing/seam/cut the ball but it was rarely a huge amount. The secret to his success was accuracy combined with moving the ball just enough to get the nick.

I'm sure I read somewhere that on average he got the ball to move about the width of half a bat, (either way) which is just about perfect. This movement made him deadly but at the same time if it wasn't for his accuracy it wouldn't have come to much.

As for Bracken, the reason has probably already been mentioned, he just doesn't do enough with the ball and is a little bit too slow. At test level if you can't move it, then you'd better be able to hit 90mph on a regular basis. Look at how Lee struggles when his pace drops - his main weapon is speed, when he loses that he becomes very ordinary.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Agreed,also Mcgrath wasnt slow,sure he slowed down to 120/125 in the latter part of his career, but in his prime he was normally 130/135 and he had an effort ball close to 140, bowling at 130/135 with the upright action he had would have been very hard to handle, if you wanted to drive him most times you had to do it on the up, and he could bowl to 7/2 fields all day, just a wonderfull bowler, and as willey and cunning as a shit house rat.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

dont get me wrong, i am a huge fan of McGrath, but from what i have heard from both him and teammates and commentators around him, that he never swung the ball, and never tried to. he went with straight accuracy, plus his large range of variations, including cutters and the like.

bracken does have some swing, both ways in fact. just not consistently, the captain might not be able to tell him to swing the ball, it seems to more or less happens when the conditions are right. i just cant believe some of his figures in the four day game though, and very consistently, going at around 1 RPO for 30 overs straight and getting a couple of wickets along the way. maybe it is because he doesnt get as many wickets as some other bowlers. i dont think that should be the case. i would love to see him in the team while clark and lee arent in there, not siddle. i think siddle is very inconsistent, he has great spells every now and then but eases off for two out of three of them and never looks like taking a wicket. great bowler but not my choice as the best.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Boris;341558 said:
dont get me wrong, i am a huge fan of McGrath, but from what i have heard from both him and teammates and commentators around him, that he never swung the ball, and never tried to. he went with straight accuracy, plus his large range of variations, including cutters and the like.

bracken does have some swing, both ways in fact. just not consistently, the captain might not be able to tell him to swing the ball, it seems to more or less happens when the conditions are right. i just cant believe some of his figures in the four day game though, and very consistently, going at around 1 RPO for 30 overs straight and getting a couple of wickets along the way. maybe it is because he doesnt get as many wickets as some other bowlers. i dont think that should be the case. i would love to see him in the team while clark and lee arent in there, not siddle. i think siddle is very inconsistent, he has great spells every now and then but eases off for two out of three of them and never looks like taking a wicket. great bowler but not my choice as the best.
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i dont disagree with you, but it just goes to show what the selectors think of his test bowling with so many of our senior bowlers out injured and he still cant get a game. i think he can bowl close to 135kmh, but not for any lengh of time, he bowls well within himself in the ODIs.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

I would like to see him get a go at least, just to see what happens. it just seems to me that pace bowling revolves around speed, it should be based on how they get their wickets. Its great if you can bowl fast but not essential, but that doesnt seem to be the way the game works anymore, everything is for the money.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Boris;341558 said:
dont get me wrong, i am a huge fan of McGrath, but from what i have heard from both him and teammates and commentators around him, that he never swung the ball, and never tried to. he went with straight accuracy, plus his large range of variations, including cutters and the like.

bracken does have some swing, both ways in fact. just not consistently, the captain might not be able to tell him to swing the ball, it seems to more or less happens when the conditions are right. i just cant believe some of his figures in the four day game though, and very consistently, going at around 1 RPO for 30 overs straight and getting a couple of wickets along the way. maybe it is because he doesnt get as many wickets as some other bowlers. i dont think that should be the case. i would love to see him in the team while clark and lee arent in there, not siddle. i think siddle is very inconsistent, he has great spells every now and then but eases off for two out of three of them and never looks like taking a wicket. great bowler but not my choice as the best.
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As MC said, McGrath moved it just enough.

On a dead pitch Bracken would be rendered useless. Siddle on the other hand, can make dead pitches seem alive, His fiery spells are needed in the Australian team, and the hilf swings it one way just as much as Bracks, but has the benefit of age on his side. McDonald is accurate and can swing it a bit, and he bowls tight spells.

Siddle, Hilf and Johnson will be the mainstays of the bowling attack, And if the selectors want accuracy, Stuart Clark is the man to come in. Test cricket is about wickets, and don't get me wrong, Bracken is a great bowler and I think he'd do well at Test Level, I think Siddle has far more wicket taking abilities, and can bowl tight spells.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

breeno;341582 said:
As MC said, McGrath moved it just enough.

On a dead pitch Bracken would be rendered useless. Siddle on the other hand, can make dead pitches seem alive, His fiery spells are needed in the Australian team, and the hilf swings it one way just as much as Bracks, but has the benefit of age on his side. McDonald is accurate and can swing it a bit, and he bowls tight spells.

Siddle, Hilf and Johnson will be the mainstays of the bowling attack, And if the selectors want accuracy, Stuart Clark is the man to come in. Test cricket is about wickets, and don't get me wrong, Bracken is a great bowler and I think he'd do well at Test Level, I think Siddle has far more wicket taking abilities, and can bowl tight spells.
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i would have bracken as a specialist bowler before mcdonald.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

Boris;341288 said:
I remember when he was playing tests he was more or less having a bowl-off with Stuart Clark, and Clark won and kept the spot, opening the door for Johnson. I think that was the order of things, it seems like so long ago. but he wasn't bowling at all bad, just that Clark was better suited to tests and Bracken ODIs so they kept the respective spots. Other than being beaten by Clark their is no reason why he shouldn't be in the side IMO. He's a lot better than Siddle is anyway.
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i think siddle is a much better test bowler than bracken, not saying that bracken cant ever play a test match again, he has worked on his one day bowling alot and has payed off for him, now he is well known around australia if not around the world as one of the best one day bowlers.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

DY13;341584 said:
i think siddle is a much better test bowler than bracken, not saying that bracken cant ever play a test match again, he has worked on his one day bowling alot and has payed off for him, now he is well known around australia if not around the world as one of the best one day bowlers.
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yeah siddle easily over bracken for mine.
 
Re: Nathan Bracken?

oh well i dont think Siddle and Hilf should be there for much longer as they should bring back Lee and Clark straight away and leave them in the wings, they are both young anyway. when we are talking about all these fast bowlers i just cant stop thinking of Dizzy Gillespie, i really want him to come back to cricket, hes only 35. still another couple of years and we need him.
 
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