God help me - the Test Cricket thread

[ElwoodBlues1]

How on god's green earth does Henrique's make a test squad. Really!?!  FMD,  play for NSW get a baggy green in a brown paper bag...  Was finished five years ago.

Probably on the back of his BBL work Prof, I wonder if BBL form is more important than Shield form sometimes, makes no sense.Digressing to Purple circles and elitist matey groups, Maxwell has been rumoured not to be popular in the dressing room at test level and I wonder if this has halted his career
more than form.

[Professer E]

BBL form is not test form,  but our dumbass selectors just don't get it. No wonder we're sh1t at test level.  Why don't we just  pick Phillippe  and Darcy Short to open...and Maxwell!  Now there's some BBL form. I'm not bagging you EB,  but the eye stinging hypocrisy emanating from the selectors is just bewildering.  Moises Hen....I can't even type it,  it makes me nauseous.  It's devaluing the baggy green to a new low.

[spf]

Test squad:
Tim Paine ©, Pat Cummins (VC), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

[spf]

Given Pucovski's issues with the short ball, he will get plenty of practice in South Africa. I like the look of Green and he should improve on the tour, but I wonder about our top order against that attack. They will go after Smith and Labuschagne with a lot of short pitch stuff and leg slip fields as it has been successful before. Who makes the runs?

EDIT: I just checked the run-scorers list for 2020/21 season at shield level, Shaun Marsh is the real standout there not presently in the squad. I would like to see him added as reserve opener/top order filler. He can play the short ball and has the game to make runs in South Africa. Marsh has three hundreds and a fifty from four games whereas many others scored the bulk from one innings. It is a sad state we don't have more real competition outside of this group.

[ElwoodBlues1]

BBL form is not test form,  but our dumbass selectors just don't get it. No wonder we're sh1t at test level.  Why don't we just  pick Phillippe  and Darcy Short to open...and Maxwell!  Now there's some BBL form. I'm not bagging you EB,  but the eye stinging hypocrisy emanating from the selectors is just bewildering.  Moises Hen....I can't even type it,  it makes me nauseous.  It's devaluing the baggy green to a new low.

That was the point I was making Prof, BBL skills don't translate to Test skills and we end up with players with poor techniques vs the moving ball etc who play wild short format shots at the wrong time. Don't see Henriques playing much cricket as a test tourist and is probably just backup for the injury prone Green.

[ElwoodBlues1]

Given Pucovski's issues with the short ball, he will get plenty of practice in South Africa. I like the look of Green and he should improve on the tour, but I wonder about our top order against that attack. They will go after Smith and Labuschagne with a lot of short pitch stuff and leg slip fields as it has been successful before. Who makes the runs?

EDIT: I just checked the run-scorers list for 2020/21 season at shield level, Shaun Marsh is the real standout there not presently in the squad. I would like to see him added as reserve opener/top order filler. He can play the short ball and has the game to make runs in South Africa. Marsh has three hundreds and a fifty from four games whereas many others scored the bulk from one innings. It is a sad state we don't have more real competition outside of this group.

Agree on the short pitched stuff vs Smith, Pucovski and Marnus, though that wicket the Saffies and Pakis were playing on was lifeless and the ball was keeping low on day 2.
If Shaun Marsh is our saviour then we have real problems, can't see him playing for Aus again. Not sure how Head got in the squad either...

[Baggers]

For the first time in decades I've watched precious little cricket this summer. Not sure whether it's poor selection or poor leadership or whatever, but it just seems that CA has lost direction and too many of our selection choices are not the best available. I hope it changes, and soon. I used to love the cricket.

[capcom]

Much of the game has descended into a dumbed down circus ...

[Milhanna13]

Test squad:
Tim Paine ©, Pat Cummins (VC), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mark Steketee, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.

No Jhye Richardson is just wrong.  Just takes wickets (including at test level).  GIves a bit of difference to HWood and Cummins (pitches it up a bit more)

[LP]

No Jhye Richardson is just wrong.  Just takes wickets (including at test level).  GIves a bit of difference to HWood and Cummins (pitches it up a bit more)

On form you'd take Richardson over Starc without even blinking, on consistency you'd take Richardson over Starc without blinking, but Starc can bat even if he didn't deliver against India, and while we got such a soft batting line up I suspect Starc is welded into the line-up regardless of poor bowling form. Plus Starc moved the NSW which always means double the opportunity.