Australian Cricket - Crisis, What Crisis ??

[ElwoodBlues1]

I'd be panicking as well with Mitchell Marsh batting 6 !  Number 6 seems to be given very little respect lately as a critical batting position.....when in fact it can often be the most critical.  Greats of the past who made batting 6 & rebuilding shattered innings with tailenders an art form include:  Doug Walters, Allan Border, Steve Waugh......each of whom averaged high 40s to 50 batting at 6.

And we've currently got Mitchell Marsh.....

Tail starts at 6.

Rod Marsh is very big on Peter Nevill to bat at 6 and there is talk he will exceed Adam Gilchrist as a batsman/wicketkeeper..........not for me, Gilchrist is a class above Nevill and while the latter is handy I dont rate him No 6 material either. The shorter formats of the game have destroyed the techniques of batsman however Nevill does play straight and isnt prone to park cricket slogs like M Marsh so he might have more success at No 6 leaving Marsh to try and hit quick 50's at No 7 .....
The Marsh bros should enjoy the Windies attack...they only bowl two lengths....short and shorter....

[cimm1979]

WE could pick the weakest 2 members from each Sheffield Shield side and still win the series.

Most NSW Grade teams would beat them.

[malo]

Rod Marsh is very big on Peter Nevill to bat at 6 and there is talk he will exceed Adam Gilchrist as a batsman/wicketkeeper..........not for me, Gilchrist is a class above Nevill and while the latter is handy I dont rate him No 6 material either. The shorter formats of the game have destroyed the techniques of batsman however Nevill does play straight and isnt prone to park cricket slogs like M Marsh so he might have more success at No 6 leaving Marsh to try and hit quick 50's at No 7 .....
The Marsh bros should enjoy the Windies attack...they only bowl two lengths....short and shorter....

Yep, and that will be the problem, They'll make a couple of scores against rubbish bowling & the selectors will all pat themselves on the back & say "see, we told you" & we'll be stuck with them for another year !

[crashlander]

I hear all the doom-saying about West Indies Cricket, but we disrespect these guys at our peril. How many times have sides made assumptions that have come back to bite them on the posterior? Far too many for me!
At the moment the Windies do not look strong, but neither were the Kiwis in the 1st test.
Even if they are as weak as is reported, we must still not disrespect them. Instead we should use the serious to fix OUR holes. God knows we have them. Our fearsome pace attack has been crippled. Again. (Sounds like Carlton - the important guys can't stay out on the field.) Our batting is questionable. Where are the young tyros, the next generation of superstars? I don't see many.

Our Batting:
[1] Openers: We have a world class opener (Warner), but he is injured and we aren't treating him to get the best out of him long term. He was unimpressive last test while recovering.
The other opener had a good period, but has now failed 4 times in a row. Is he good enough? Good question, but he doesn't appear to appreciate the moving ball (but few batsmen do).
On the horizon is a young lad from WA that was highly touted. He hasn't made a single run yet at Sheffield Shield level this season.

We had a very good and stable opening partnership, but Rogers retired and Warner got injured. There are now questions.

[2] Khawaja: I hope his early good form is a sign that he has matured. We need a gritty guy at #3. His hamstring injury did not help, but he should be back soon. Hopefully he can regain that form, but he is still no certainty.

[3] Smith: Unlike last year, Smith seems to be getting himself out at the moment. I would prefer to see him bat at #4. He is a world class player.

[4] Middle order: Do we really have one?
Voges is doing OK, but he is not a long term option. Nor is he batting that way. He hasn't been able to stay around under pressure. I hope he can last a little longer, but I worry about how he will handle a world class attack, especially a spin attack. he tends to fall when we collapse, not stop the rot.
Mitch Marsh really needs to work on his batting. He doesn't seem to concentrate enough. We cannot afford him at #6 or #7 if he is going to give his wicket away. When he is on, there isn't a ground big enough in the world to contain him. But he hasn't come off yet. He needs to CONCENTRATE.
So does Shaun Marsh. Not for the first time he has done the hard yards to drop all confidence and not make the milestone. He also gives his wicket away too easily in his normal play. I am not sure what we can do for this guy, but he really does have talent. But we cannot afford a guy who fails under pressure.
Nevill I quite like. He may not be a crash and bash man, but he does have a bit of fight in him. We really need that. I'd like him to bat at #7, but that assumes we have a reasonable top 6. We may have to have him batting at #6, as Marsh has shown nothing there.

Our bowling: This wouldn't be s bad if we could keep guys on the field. How did the West Indies do it for so long? They never seemed to have injuries. Our young quicks can barely go a week without getting injured. The fact that our attack is still decent goes to show we do have some depth in our pace bowling. Not that things could not be better, but I am not going to complain.
Coulter-Nile was very lucky, but he has a chance to show something. I hope he does. I liked what Bird did not long back.

[cimm1979]

I hear all the doom-saying about West Indies Cricket, but we disrespect these guys at our peril. How many times have sides made assumptions that have come back to bite them on the posterior? Far too many for me!
At the moment the Windies do not look strong, but neither were the Kiwis in the 1st test.
Even if they are as weak as is reported, we must still not disrespect them. Instead we should use the serious to fix OUR holes. God knows we have them. Our fearsome pace attack has been crippled. Again. (Sounds like Carlton - the important guys can't stay out on the field.) Our batting is questionable. Where are the young tyros, the next generation of superstars? I don't see many.

Our Batting:
[1] Openers: We have a world class opener (Warner), but he is injured and we aren't treating him to get the best out of him long term. He was unimpressive last test while recovering.
The other opener had a good period, but has now failed 4 times in a row. Is he good enough? Good question, but he doesn't appear to appreciate the moving ball (but few batsmen do).
On the horizon is a young lad from WA that was highly touted. He hasn't made a single run yet at Sheffield Shield level this season.

We had a very good and stable opening partnership, but Rogers retired and Warner got injured. There are now questions.

[2] Khawaja: I hope his early good form is a sign that he has matured. We need a gritty guy at #3. His hamstring injury did not help, but he should be back soon. Hopefully he can regain that form, but he is still no certainty.

[3] Smith: Unlike last year, Smith seems to be getting himself out at the moment. I would prefer to see him bat at #4. He is a world class player.

[4] Middle order: Do we really have one?
Voges is doing OK, but he is not a long term option. Nor is he batting that way. He hasn't been able to stay around under pressure. I hope he can last a little longer, but I worry about how he will handle a world class attack, especially a spin attack. he tends to fall when we collapse, not stop the rot.
Mitch Marsh really needs to work on his batting. He doesn't seem to concentrate enough. We cannot afford him at #6 or #7 if he is going to give his wicket away. When he is on, there isn't a ground big enough in the world to contain him. But he hasn't come off yet. He needs to CONCENTRATE.
So does Shaun Marsh. Not for the first time he has done the hard yards to drop all confidence and not make the milestone. He also gives his wicket away too easily in his normal play. I am not sure what we can do for this guy, but he really does have talent. But we cannot afford a guy who fails under pressure.
Nevill I quite like. He may not be a crash and bash man, but he does have a bit of fight in him. We really need that. I'd like him to bat at #7, but that assumes we have a reasonable top 6. We may have to have him batting at #6, as Marsh has shown nothing there.

Our bowling: This wouldn't be s bad if we could keep guys on the field. How did the West Indies do it for so long? They never seemed to have injuries. Our young quicks can barely go a week without getting injured. The fact that our attack is still decent goes to show we do have some depth in our pace bowling. Not that things could not be better, but I am not going to complain.
Coulter-Nile was very lucky, but he has a chance to show something. I hope he does. I liked what Bird did not long back.

Crash,

Unless they've uncovered a new Viv, Clive, Desmond and Gordon they are NOOOOOOOOOOOOO chance.

[crashlander]

Oh, I agree they are not looking good. But we really cannot afford to treat them like faeces.

To be honest, cricket in the West Indies needs a lot of work. They are losing talent to games like basketball and there is so much infighting that it is difficult to see any decision not in that context. The players are not getting the money they once did, so many are becoming specialists at the shorter forms of the game as cricket mercenaries. I can understand all of that.
But if we take them lightly, they may well do a Zimbabwe and shock us out of games. We are not strong enough ourselves to be disrespecting opponents, even ones going as poorly as the Windies at the moment. It is not necessary, nor is it helpful. We need to get our own act together, first and foremost.

[Jack Burton]

Barring weather, 3-0, who's next

[ElwoodBlues1]

Aus 3/538.......the tourists are just that...tourists, they couldnt give a rats ar$e about test cricket....Boxing Day test should be free on the 3rd day as thats how long the game will go for....wonder if the Mont Albert  2nd eleven could be persuaded to play that test as they would provide more opposition.
Ian Chappell has been scathing of the Windies.....dont reckon they will exist in 5 years time, their islands are more interested in their own Premier league games and T20 cricket and of course their decent players only want to play IPL....

ICC need to find another test playing nation....

[cimm1979]

Aus 3/538.......the tourists are just that...tourists, they couldnt give a rats ar$e about test cricket....Boxing Day test should be free on the 3rd day as thats how long the game will go for....wonder if the Mont Albert  2nd eleven could be persuaded to play that test as they would provide more opposition.
Ian Chappell has been scathing of the Windies.....dont reckon they will exist in 5 years time, their islands are more interested in their own Premier league games and T20 cricket and of course their decent players only want to play IPL....

ICC need to find another test playing nation....

This might sound like a crazy idea, but I think CA should consider buying or setting up a cricket academy in the Windies.

They have a rich history and the Oz public has always gone to watch them in droves.

The revenue lost in crowds and TV audiences dropping off would be costing a lot more.

[Amers]

Yep, records falling left right and center, by 2 batsmen who don't have that great a record says more about how poor the West Indies are than how good these batsmen are.