01-19-2021, 09:44 PM
I think that the bowling performance in Adelaide covered the fact that we were behind in basically every game and the chances of winning the series were actually slim. Basically because we never picked the right side.
The side never delivered on the sum of its parts, it was always making up for shortcomings, which left us chasing all the time.
We never had a successful opening pair, Burns Warner Harris failed as openers, Pucovski rode luck and natural ability to post a score. Why pick a half fit bloke off zero match play, who's ego drove that howler of a call Alfie?
The middle order was very fragile and didn't build on what Smith and Marrus contributed (normally a recovery from a poor start) . Green and Paine did OK with the bat, but scores weren't pushed out to good totals. We never had enough runs. Lower order batting was also poor.
The bowling was patchy, with bewildering plans in place and WTF lines and lengths employed. Starc, going at 4 an over and not maintaining pressure was a real problem. Needs to find the ability to swung the ball again or be replaced. Lyon tried to be too cute with??? lines, although Blocker's assessment of what constitutes a shot didn't help. Note, playing with the bat behind the pad is not a legitimate shot, it's a bluffing tactic used in the subcontinent against spinners. Green's bowling was very disappointing, reminds me of Watson. Straight, fast and meh. He's coming back from injury but I didn't see any bite. Why weren't the bowlers rotated when tired, - looks like more Langer bloodymindedness, which I believe contributed much to this poor performance.
Our fielding, normally a strong point, was exceptionally bad. Paine's keeping was messy and poor and we have too many slow fielders lacking mobility who don't turn half chances into wickets - Head, Puckovski, Harris - they all look too chunky and need to improve their mobility drastically. Head and Harris are serial droppers.
Hopefully some good will come out of the post Morten, but in reality we never put out a good enough team to be this mob. Too many passengers.
The side never delivered on the sum of its parts, it was always making up for shortcomings, which left us chasing all the time.
We never had a successful opening pair, Burns Warner Harris failed as openers, Pucovski rode luck and natural ability to post a score. Why pick a half fit bloke off zero match play, who's ego drove that howler of a call Alfie?
The middle order was very fragile and didn't build on what Smith and Marrus contributed (normally a recovery from a poor start) . Green and Paine did OK with the bat, but scores weren't pushed out to good totals. We never had enough runs. Lower order batting was also poor.
The bowling was patchy, with bewildering plans in place and WTF lines and lengths employed. Starc, going at 4 an over and not maintaining pressure was a real problem. Needs to find the ability to swung the ball again or be replaced. Lyon tried to be too cute with??? lines, although Blocker's assessment of what constitutes a shot didn't help. Note, playing with the bat behind the pad is not a legitimate shot, it's a bluffing tactic used in the subcontinent against spinners. Green's bowling was very disappointing, reminds me of Watson. Straight, fast and meh. He's coming back from injury but I didn't see any bite. Why weren't the bowlers rotated when tired, - looks like more Langer bloodymindedness, which I believe contributed much to this poor performance.
Our fielding, normally a strong point, was exceptionally bad. Paine's keeping was messy and poor and we have too many slow fielders lacking mobility who don't turn half chances into wickets - Head, Puckovski, Harris - they all look too chunky and need to improve their mobility drastically. Head and Harris are serial droppers.
Hopefully some good will come out of the post Morten, but in reality we never put out a good enough team to be this mob. Too many passengers.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?