Lords and its honours boards

booth70

Its staggering to think that both Ponting and Tendulkar with their 85 or whatever Test hundreds between the two of them have both never scored a fifty let alone a hundred at the home of cricket:(

Ponting goes for a duck today and with it goes his last chance of ever having his name put up in the 'prestigious' honours board at Lords

djimi

I wouldnt put it past Ponting to be back in England for the next Ashes tbh.

Cremated

He even said recently he would have a good chance of coming back for another Ashes in the UK...

booth70

Cremated wrote: »

He even said recently he would have a good chance of coming back for another Ashes in the UK...

If Australia dont win the Ashes this winter he will lose the captaincy and his place in the team....thats the way Australia usually disposes of its captains....lose the captaincy = lose your place in the team

TBH I cant see him playing another test at Lords:(

Cremated

I do hope he can, only time will tell.

Though I'd like to see Lee bowl in the Ashes again more than Ponting batting ...

djimi

I agree with you about Lee. The Aussie bowling attack is decent at the moment, but apart from maybe Johnson there isnt really anyone that has a real spark that makes them look menacing to watch. A bowling attack of Lee, Johnson, Tait is more appealing from a spectator perspective than Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Watson, at least I think it is anyway.

Cremated

Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Watson are alll good bowlers, and can do a job, but give me Lee, Johnson, Tait anyday. So I agree with you, but then also throw North in there getting 6/55 again who needs any of them ,

career best for Northy ...

Rjd2

djimi wrote: »

I agree with you about Lee. The Aussie bowling attack is decent at the moment, but apart from maybe Johnson there isnt really anyone that has a real spark that makes them look menacing to watch. A bowling attack of Lee, Johnson, Tait is more appealing from a spectator perspective than Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Watson, at least I think it is anyway.

You forgot Siddle, the boy has a real snarl about his bowling.

I mean that in a nice way as well.

Moist Bread

The Aussie bowling attack is very average. It says a lot that lately Watson has been the stand out bowler, a opening batsman who bowls medium pace with a hint of swing. They are sorely missing Siddle's aggression as well.

Johnson - Often bowls absolute gash and goes missing. Frustrating, cause when he gets it right he is devastating.

Haus - Decent when the conditions suit him, but nothing special. Will need to do something with the ball today if the Aussies are to have any chance.

Bollinger - Really only in the team because of injuries, nothing special but has his moments. Mostly when trying to make the batsman play (funny that).

Watto - Medium pace stump to stump line. Seems to work quite well when he can extract a bit of swing.

Smith - Doesn't look that great so far, but he's young and it's good to blood him early to see if he can develop.

I'm not saying it's a terrible bowling attack, but it's not that great either. England will fancy themselves against it in the winter.

djimi

I think throw Lee, Siddle (who I forgot about!) and Hauritz into that attack in place of Smith, Bollinger and Watson (who will still be there as a batsman/5th bowler) and I think it looks stronger, but tbh while its a good bowling attack its not one which I think many countries will fear as they would have done with Aussie bowling attacks in recent years.

On the topic of Smith, from what Ive seen of him he has a long way to go to even displace Hauritz. He bowls too fast and is too rushed. His line and length is too varied; if you watched Warne is was the subtle changes that got batsmen, whereas Smith pitches them all over the place. He needs to learn to take his time, give the ball some more air and get consistency in his line and length. Considering how good he is with the bat tho if he does step his bowling up then he is going to be an exciting prospect.

Cremated

Will they ever let Nannes have a go at Test Cricket?, he has to be worth a go...

Rjd2

Cremated wrote: »

Will they ever let Nannes have a go at Test Cricket?, he has to be worth a go...

He jacked in the longer format ages ago, I think he only wants to play 20/20 these days.

Totally unrelated, why did Bracken play so little test cricket? The lad was quality.

Moist Bread

Rjd2 wrote: »

He jacked in the longer format ages ago, I think he only wants to play 20/20 these days.

Totally unrelated, why did Bracken play so little test cricket? The lad was quality.

I don't get this either. He lost his contract with the Australian cricket board and it looks like he is done with international cricket. He was their best ODI bowler and a lot of Aussie fans wanted him in the test side. His control is something that is missing in their attack atm.

http://www.cricinfo.com/australia/content/story/455150.html

djimi

I never understood not playing Bracken more in the test side. I always felt that he could have been a kind of Hoggard type bowler for them; not express pace but excellent control and will tie down and frustrate a batting line up. For a guy who excelled at one day cricket for so long it seems strange that he was never given more of a chance in the test side.

Corsendonk

Bracken was just one of those unlucky players and the knee injuries didnt really help. The last I had read he had retired himself from test cricket as like Lee he felt his body wouldn't stand up to pressure of a test match.

Aussies seem to have found a few bowlers to cover the loss of McGrath. Lee and Warne but does anyone feel they might have an issue with there batting in a couple of years time when Ponting, Katich and Hussey start to creak? In past years they had players of quality such as Langer and Martyn to come in and strengten the team.