Pakistan in Australia

[a for effort]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

The rules should be changed to allow ball biting because if it's good enough for Boom Boom then it's good enough for the glorious gentlemans game of cricket

 

[LIONS then DAYLIGHT]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Maybe Shahid Afridi should change his name to Ayuz Matif or something like that, maybe a new player for the next 12th man CD.

 

[LIONS then DAYLIGHT]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Team for the 20/20 match at the MCG on Friday night.

Australian squad Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, David Warner, Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, Travis Birt, David Hussey, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Thoughts? I like the inclusion of Birt.

Anyone want to have a crack at the 2 players to miss?

Marsh and Birt?

Where is James Hopes?

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Team for the 20/20 match at the MCG on Friday night.

Australian squad Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, David Warner, Michael Clarke (capt), Cameron White, Travis Birt, David Hussey, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Dirk Nannes, Shaun Tait.

Thoughts? I like the inclusion of Birt.

Warner, Marsh, White, Dussey, Clarke, Birt, Haddin, Johnson, Harris, Nannes, Tait

Although they will probably play Smith and Watson, who to miss out, dont know, great bowling attack and Johnson is probably the weak link. In T20 I think you can easily have Dussey and Clarke as your 2 spinners so no need for Smith but it seems a large squad for just 1 game

One thing I do believe looking at that squad is Watson and Smith will be doing the same thing, either both play or both dont

Anyone want to have a crack at the 2 players to miss?

Marsh and Birt?

Where is James Hopes?

They saw him make 40 off 20 overs and realised he sucks at T20 cricket, finally out of the frame at last

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I think CA will be fielding the strongest possible team for the World Champs just to stamp a dominance for the first time T20 cricket, I think this may be the first serious side we have seen without the random players being chucked in just for trials.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Good side, still missing Heal though who is probably the best T20 spinner we have at the moment. Very disappointing to see he wasn't given a squad berth.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I suppose when you have Haddin, Clarke, Nannes and Tait in the side you need extra batting depth so hard for any other bowler to get into the side unless they are also a good hitter

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Good side, still missing Heal though who is probably the best T20 spinner we have at the moment. Very disappointing to see he wasn't given a squad berth.

Another reason I don't like T20s are because pretty much anyone in the country could make it, there is no chance for consistency with such a wayward form and no time, too much pressure.

I think there would be about 40 players country wide that would be able to get a game with Australia and perform well.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I reckon you would struggle to get 20

Spinners are the hardest because spin is very effective in T20 cricket so alot of batsmen who bowl spin are quite good allowing teams to have an extra batsman and the speciallist spinner can be put aside at times

But with spin being very effective, Australia still has an obsession with all out pace attacks

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I suppose when you have Haddin, Clarke, Nannes and Tait in the side you need extra batting depth so hard for any other bowler to get into the side unless they are also a good hitter

No problem there, Heal has an A-grade district hundred and several 50's as well as four first-class half centuries. He averages almost 21 with the bat in Shield cricket so he is no slouch with the willow.

I imagine three quicks will be chosen with Smith to bowl some spin and then Watson and David Hussey to raffle off the other four overs.

Another reason I don't like T20s are because pretty much anyone in the country could make it, there is no chance for consistency with such a wayward form and no time, too much pressure.

I think there would be about 40 players country wide that would be able to get a game with Australia and perform well.

Not really. Not all players are suited to Twenty20 cricket and Australia only seem to be discovering that now. The T20 World Cup is less than three months away so this summer represents one of the few times that the selectors will get a chance to try out some potential players in time for the start of the tournament in late April. There would be about 25 players worthy of a spot in the side, perhaps 30 at a stretch.

My interest now turns to the initial squad that will be announced for the T20 World Cup, Heal was in the last 30-man squad and he should be in this one too. Hopefully he can make the final cut but I'm not confident of that now.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

It will come down to him and Hauritz with Steve Smith the slogging batsman/average slow rubbish 2nd spinner

A 15 man squad could be this 13, Hussey and the spinner and they would do alot better than the side has in the past

 

[a for effort]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I don't know how you can defend Cameron White's batting and then call Steve Smith a slogger. Smith is also a far superior bowler.

Cognitive dissonance ITT

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I dont see anyone defending Cameron Whites bowling anywhere...Although at the same age and same amount of first class games, Whites record was far superior...

As for their batting, come back when Steve Smith has over 12,000 runs at State level or higher or averaging over 40 for Australia in T20 cricket

Fact is Steve Smith got noticed when he was smashing sixes on the smallest and flattest state ground in Australia in a losing effort for NSW

 

[a for effort]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I am confident that Steve Smith, by the time he is Cameron White's age, will have a superior record with bat and ball at all levels of cricket.

This is beside the point, however, because nobody mentioned statistics, I was questioning your dismissal of Steve Smith as merely a 'slogger', despite you continually holding Cameron White up as the pinnacle of batsmanship.

Your rampant bias towards Victorians has made you less credible when discussing cricketers from other states.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Yet in T20 cricket thats what he is in the side as, a slogger, he wouldnt make it on bowling alone and he bats at no8 in this side, also seems to be struggling to make any runs when given a proper chance to bat with NSW atm

Maybe Steve Smith will be a better batsman in the future, now he is a slogger, just like White was back then and was for quite a few years

Next you will be trying to tell us that Shahid Afridi is not a slogger

 

[breeno]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Maybe Steve Smith will be a better batsman in the future, now he is a slogger, just like White is now and will be for quite a few years

Edited for accuracy. White is a slogger, although a very good one at that. I personally would rate Smith and White the same on the slogging style of things, although White is the superior batsman (which you would expect, given their ages).

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Up here in this part of Queensland, being a slogger means you just hit the ball hard and far, we have a seperate definition for a crazed slogger that attempts to put everything over the boundary, we call them a hacker. A hacker hits across the line and attempts to put everything over cow corner.

Haddin is an example of a slogger, hits the ball hard and far and can put it rows back consistently. Johnson is an example of a hacker, can put the ball rows back easily, but when it comes to any other part of his game it isn't the greatest. He wouldn't be able to block out a whole day for a draw.

White was a hacker, really played stupid shots to everything. Now he has transformed to a slogger, but with a touch of hack left in him. He goes on the hack at the end of his innings.

At the momeny I would call Smith 65% hack, 35% slogger. He should be playing when he swaps those percentages the other way round, or get's his bowling to a very serviceable level.

 

[breeno]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Up here in this part of Queensland, being a slogger means you just hit the ball hard and far, we have a seperate definition for a crazed slogger that attempts to put everything over the boundary, we call them a hacker. A hacker hits across the line and attempts to put everything over cow corner.

Haddin is an example of a slogger, hits the ball hard and far and can put it rows back consistently. Johnson is an example of a hacker, can put the ball rows back easily, but when it comes to any other part of his game it isn't the greatest. He wouldn't be able to block out a whole day for a draw.

White was a hacker, really played stupid shots to everything. Now he has transformed to a slogger, but with a touch of hack left in him. He goes on the hack at the end of his innings.

At the momeny I would call Smith 65% hack, 35% slogger. He should be playing when he swaps those percentages the other way round, or get's his bowling to a very serviceable level.

I'd agree with that. Although I'd say Smith isn't THAT much of a "hacker".

 

[LIONS then DAYLIGHT]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Up here in this part of Queensland, being a slogger means you just hit the ball hard and far, we have a seperate definition for a crazed slogger that attempts to put everything over the boundary, we call them a hacker. A hacker hits across the line and attempts to put everything over cow corner.

Haddin is an example of a slogger, hits the ball hard and far and can put it rows back consistently. Johnson is an example of a hacker, can put the ball rows back easily, but when it comes to any other part of his game it isn't the greatest. He wouldn't be able to block out a whole day for a draw.

White was a hacker, really played stupid shots to everything. Now he has transformed to a slogger, but with a touch of hack left in him. He goes on the hack at the end of his innings.

At the momeny I would call Smith 65% hack, 35% slogger. He should be playing when he swaps those percentages the other way round, or get's his bowling to a very serviceable level.

Haddin is not a slogger, nor a hacker.

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Haddin is not a slogger, nor a hacker.

Lately he has scored at around about 100% SR in Tests, and it shows. He plays the great cover drives, has a very good defence and has all the shots. He can then also take a couple of steps down the wicket and perfectly time a shot with no stupidity attached to it to go ten rows back.

Whereas there are players like Katich who cannot hit those big shots, he isn't a slogger. He said so himself, he isn't strong enough to hit a six (although he has hit many), but he can't do it on command.

There is nothing wrong with either, they are both respectable players.

One particular case of a hacker turned slogger is Symonds. He went from getting out to a stupid shot over mid wicket in every innings to averaging 55 with the bat for his last two years of Test cricket and really picking only the balls he knew he could hit over the fence. He still striked at a high percentage, but didn't let that overcome him.

Those are definitions of "hackers" and "sloggers" that I find helpful for assessing playing styles, rather than just "slogger" for people that can hit it over the fence.