Australian Cricket - Crisis, What Crisis ??

[crazyjoedevolamk11]

Poms got rolled by the Windies in the 2nd test with some new gun batsman making centuries in both innings so I dont feel so bad losing to the Bangers...
Probably hard to get motivated when you are playing lesser teams and you have to expect the odd loss especially on the sub-continent where the pitches and umpiring can be a bit fickle....

Surely they are motivated by the Coin they are on EB? Or they just taking the pi55?

[sydneybluesfan]

I just reckon the majority of them aren't any good when the ball is turning. Every nation knows that we are home/flat track bullies, so prepare tracks accordingly.

Have we ever fielded a worse keeper than Wade?? In this match alone he let through 30 byes, dropped a few catches and scored 9 runs.  In a match lost by 20 runs that's the game right there.

Since coming back into the team he averages 18, and has gone over 20 only 5 times in 18 innings - he is going to fail with the bat 2 out of 3 times and we keep picking him!

I would give Handscombe the gloves in the next test and play Cartwright. You can then play another spinner in place of Hazlewood. I thought we bowled pretty well except for the first morning, but Smith is still clueless about mixing up his slow bowlers.

[Professer E]

We have only ever chased down 200 once in Asia, so it was a fair effort given that we are three out all out.

The gun Bangla all rounder is clearly in a world best 11 ATM.

Had a gutful of made to order home pitches.  Another sub-standard dust bowl.

Khawaja should never play a test outside Australia again.

Wade should never play a test again, period.

[crazyjoedevolamk11]

I just reckon the majority of them aren't any good when the ball is turning. Every nation knows that we are home/flat track bullies, so prepare tracks accordingly.

Have we ever fielded a worse keeper than Wade?? In this match alone he let through 30 byes, dropped a few catches and scored 9 runs.  In a match lost by 20 runs that's the game right there.

Since coming back into the team he averages 18, and has gone over 20 only 5 times in 18 innings - he is going to fail with the bat 2 out of 3 times and we keep picking him!

I would give Handscombe the gloves in the next test and play Cartwright. You can then play another spinner in place of Hazlewood. I thought we bowled pretty well except for the first morning, but Smith is still clueless about mixing up his slow bowlers.

No way Handscombe as the keeper, I'm not sacrificing his batting just to get a half decent keeper into the side...next option!

[ElwoodBlues1]

No way Handscombe as the keeper, I'm not sacrificing his batting just to get a half decent keeper into the side...next option!

I like the Yorkshireman who plays for WA...Sam Whiteman.....solid keeper and very handy with the willow....

[laj]

I just reckon the majority of them aren't any good when the ball is turning. Every nation knows that we are home/flat track bullies, so prepare tracks accordingly.

Have we ever fielded a worse keeper than Wade?? In this match alone he let through 30 byes, dropped a few catches and scored 9 runs.  In a match lost by 20 runs that's the game right there.

Since coming back into the team he averages 18, and has gone over 20 only 5 times in 18 innings - he is going to fail with the bat 2 out of 3 times and we keep picking him!

I would give Handscombe the gloves in the next test and play Cartwright. You can then play another spinner in place of Hazlewood. I thought we bowled pretty well except for the first morning, but Smith is still clueless about mixing up his slow bowlers.

Just about every nation are good at home and crap away. Comes when there's no dominate team in world cricket.

[flyboy77]

agree x4 EB1. He's a keeper. pun intended!

[sydneybluesfan]

I'm not suggesting Handscombe as a long term option - I'm talking about next week for the 2nd test and we don't have a backup keeper on tour other than Handscombe! He is no worse as a keeper, and allows you to play another all rounder to bolster the batting, because we don't have a spare batsman in the touring squad.

Carey, Whiteman and Nevill are all vastly superior as batsmen and keepers than Wade - I would be happy with any of them right now. I cannot understand why Wade was bought back in the first place, and he has averaged 18 since his return which was purely based on his batting being superior to Nevill. We will almost certainly have a debut wicket keeper for the the first Ashes test, which is not ideal.

[crashlander]

The Keeper that CA was looking to fill the gap was Tim Paine. He is a superior gloveman, to pace anyway, and a potential top order batsman. Unfortunately he has been ruined by some less than stunning form and a lot of injuries. At this point in his career, I don't think he is ever going to be the player that CA expected him to be.

With Paine out of the picture, CA had to look elsewhere. They went for Wade because his betting was better AT STATE LEVEL than his competition. His batting for Victoria has been excellent. But he has NEVER been able to bring that level of batting to his international career. Seriously, his batting numbers are worse than the man he replaced.

At this point, I think CA is waiting for one of the younger keepers to come up and demand a spot. It hasn't quite happened yet, but with Wade moving back to Tassie and a number of new keepers appearing, CA might get what they are looking for.
The question is what to do in the meantime?
I am not sure I would want to sacrifice Handscomb by having him keep on such surfaces as they provide in Bangladesh. The ball is never going to come through. The ball will spin in the first over. He has probably never kept under these conditions.
However, we may have no choice as long as Wade continues to struggle.

[LP]

They should make Wade, Khawaja or Handscomb captain, they are miles ahead of Smith tactically. Wade's game lifts considerably when he has the responsibility.

As a captain, Smith is a great batsmen.

Get a tactically decent captain and the whole team will lift. At the moment our bowling rotations look like U12 stuff. It's not that we are failing to score, we are letting the opposition score too much. Our bowling or fielding fix comes too late, the decisions come too slowly after the horse has bolted!

Our problem was letting Bangladesh score 250+, on a mystery pitch that was barely prepared, not our failure to score 250 ourselves.

I can't help but worry that Boof has the captain that keeps in comfortable in his coaches job, but ironically it could bite Boof on the ar5e!