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(12-16-2017, 11:48 PM)Bear link Wrote:Going back to that other discussion about unlucky/stiff Australian players... it’s all about timing (eg. when you get selected, and who you play against).
Handscomb last test had to bat under lights with ball hooping, gets dropped, Marsh comes in on his home track and bats on an autobahn and destroys them.
The assertion I make is that if a spud like me sees this coming weeks before it happens then there is no doubt the selectors knew exactly what was going to happen. The perfect opportunity to return Handscomb to form was Perth!
I suspect the dropping of Handscomb has more to do with the 1st and 2nd test criticism of Smith's captaincy than the requirement for an All-Rounder who barely bowls. We'd be all over England, even more than we are now, if we had a dynamic and effective captain. The only issue is would Smith bat as well without the captaincy?
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Pitch is a nightmare now. Those cracks have widened and they are playing absolute havoc. Poms will have fun batting on it.
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Balls are very low, bouncing, cutting miles off the cracks. Hard work batting on it.
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(12-17-2017, 12:21 AM)LP link Wrote:The assertion I make is that if a spud like me sees this coming weeks before it happens then there is no doubt the selectors knew exactly what was going to happen. The perfect opportunity to return Handscomb to form was Perth!
I suspect the dropping of Handscomb has more to do with the 1st and 2nd test criticism of Smith's captaincy than the requirement for an All-Rounder who barely bowls. We'd be all over England, even more than we are now, if we had a dynamic and effective captain. The only issue is would Smith bat as well without the captaincy?
Like Michael Clarke, Smith's batting average as captain is higher than it was before he became captain.
I think Smith's captaincy in this test has been more spontaneous and less formulaic.
As for Handscomb, I think you're right about him batting back into form at the WACA. Now he has no opportunity to spend time in the middle.
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or he may have failed again....
Finals, then 4 in a row!
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(12-17-2017, 05:34 AM)flyboy77 link Wrote:or he may have failed again....
We'll never know
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Poor Vince! You're unlikely to see a ball, like Starc bowled him with, like that again ever. No man could play that.
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12-17-2017, 09:07 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-17-2017, 10:24 PM by LP.)
Handsome is every but as back foot dominant as Smith was and is, but Handscomb can't hide down the list as a bowler like Smith did! Smith had the luxury of staying in the side even when his batting form didn't warrant it.
In his first 3 years Smith averaged 34.64 from 16 innings, 2 centuries and 5 fifties, and wasn't dropped.
Over Handscomb's first 2 years he has averaged 47.35 from 12 innings, 2 centuries and 4 fifties, and got the kibosh!
Now the sycophants are claiming Smith is the greatest batsmen since Bradman, well I'll call that rubbish as well because in my opinion the quality of the opposition matters, and at the moment global Test Cricket and Test Bowling has never been weaker. It's being severely damaged by the growth of the IPL and 20/20 and blokes earning big money for 1 over spells!
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(12-17-2017, 07:15 AM)laj link Wrote:Handscomb's technique is an issue getting him into trouble. He needs time in the nets. Poms had worked him out.
Not according to Steve Waugh. He reckons that Handscomb's technique is fine and he was dropped because of lack of form.
What he needs is time in the middle and he's not going to get that now.
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