World Cup - 2019

[flyboy77]

Well, made the semis in style, poms are the ones struggling now.  That bowling attack looked a whole heap more balanced last night, & that first wicket of Behrendorffs was an absolute ripper.

The middle order (well, basically everyone other than Finch & Warner) are still not pulling their weight.

Smith has to bat 3.

It's weird the batting - to be honest the fact that Warner and Finch are staying out there so long affects what the others do, how they play...

They should have made 330+ last night.

I the openers put on 100+, I would be going with Maxwell at 3, Smith at 4.....

And I'd be playing Marsh ahead of Stoinis.

[LP]

Smith has to bat 3.

I don't agree, I write the calls for this off to old school thinking, we've won a bunch of games without great form due in part to being flexible in our approach, and the minute we get near the pointy end the oldies want the old ways. That's Langer type thinking, while I suspect the more dynamic approach is the influence of Punter.

I think left for left and right for right is the smarter approach, and anyone not opening just has to be prepared to deal with it! It's not just about the Australian batsmen, it's about opposition bowlers.

Further to that a layer of match awareness makes sense, and complaining about Smith not batting long enough is just old NSWelshmen bitching it up. To me it's the same as complaining about Khawaja being selected off the back of some big opening stands, when it's clear if we lose an early wicket he is probably the best player on the planet to have coming in! Sooner or later we won't make a 50 or 100 run opening partnership and Khawaja will be the man! On the flipside, if we make a 100 run opening stand then perhaps Khawaja and Smith drop down the order and Maxwell and even Stoinis come in ahead of Khawaja and Smith, they are less reliable but the advantage is you still have Khawaja and Smith backing up allowing them to bat freely. We've plenty of hitting power in Carey, Cummins and Starc. Maybe Carey even has to bat ahead of Smith and Khawaja, of course it all depends on conditions and pitches.

[capcom]

There's only 3 left in it now.  NZ, India and us

[Professer E]

Starc finally looks fit, you can see it his face,  looks very lean.  Been doing a lot of bowling and funnily enough looks dangerous again with the pill.

[flyboy77]

Starc finally looks fit, you can see it his face,  looks very lean.  Been doing a lot of bowling and funnily enough looks dangerous again with the pill.

And he looks interested....well, who doesn't want to splatter the (big mouthed) Poms!?

[LP]

Starc finally looks fit, you can see it his face,  looks very lean.  Been doing a lot of bowling and funnily enough looks dangerous again with the pill.

Let's see what happens on a warm no-swing day with a flat track!

But looking further ahead, I think Starc and Behrendorff present a conundrum to the Poms, because conditions that suit the Pommie bowlers are also perfect for Starc and Behrendorff!

[ElwoodBlues1]

There's only 3 left in it now.  NZ, India and us

That makes it between us and India.....NZ's Williamson cant keep making runs and I'd back our attack to
keep him quiet. However the Indian batting is long and aggressive  and Kholi just loves playing Australia in any format
of the game. Think we can make the final but will need a bit of luck if India are the opponent..

[capcom]

If it's us versus India, I'd not like our chances EB

[flyboy77]

depends on the day. We gave them a right whooping, with a lesser team, not so long ago....

[Jack Burton]

India a big chance to be mentally fragile on the big stage