TOPIC:

Confused why we only have 1 specialist spinner in a squad playing a one-day tournament on the sub-continent. With the number of qualifying games in the tournament a lot of wickets will get tired and dusty y the end of the tournament.

Australian cricket is really in a shit spot if we don't have a decent second spinner, there is no way Maxwell will get 4 for 40 every game. He got lucky the other night

I've got 2 hopes

1 - that Tanveer Sangha gets serious game time no matter what pastings might be dished out
2 - that Australia doesn't just fall back on part-time spin to do everything in all games

unfortunately I am going to see those hopes pissed against an Indian wall

Ashton Agar is a massive loss in these conditions Southerner. I think his bowling style would have been perfect for most of the wickets over there.

mate it looks like they've come to the stunning conclusion that Labuschane will be doing the spin work - have good look at that warm up game just gone
just mind boggling really when there are actually other real bowlers in Austalia
not that McDonald has any clue about the game besides the comic book accreditations 

Well NZ start the WC with a bang, easily putting reigning champs Eng to the sword, and gaining some redemption from the previous ODI final.

Only early days, but interesting  to see NZ batsman / part time spinner in Glenn Phillips roll his off breaks securing 2/17 off 3 overs. Good to see some creativity by another teams brains trust...element of surprise I guess. Probably won't bowl again, but job done by Phillips me thinks.

Ravindra and Conway made the England bowling attack look pretty toothless although batting looked a lot easier in the evening session.
Big hit on run rate for England which may come back to bite them later in the tournament. I thought even before the tournament that the defending champs have a bit of a dads army look about them with only a couple of them under 30. Also they have Stokes, Wood, Ali and others who are vulnerable to injury niggles. Brook could be a key man for them I reckon because he can score at the rate that could get them up to the 350- 400 mark.
I also think Morgan in 2019 was a much more inspiring captain that Buttler who looks like a bit of a sad sack when the game starts turning against them.

I think we are really going to struggle in this World Cup
looking at a really low total unless Maxwell can belt the Indian attack

there goes that theory

199 never enough, 3/2 gave Aust a pulse, only for Marsh to complete a mare of a game by getting in a tangle with Carey and missing Kohli....4/20 and who knows. 13 wickets for 201 runs then 1/199....strange ole game is cricket....especially when Aust plays.

Only positive to come out of this I guess, is if Aust keep losing, surely  means a step closer to Captain Calamity losing his crown...though I do hate seeing Aust lose in any sporting format.

I was gob smacked that Australia chose to bat given the history of the pitches in India skidding on and becoming easier to bat in the evening.  Like on so many occasions in India,  the batting was clueless against spin. You would think with so many of these guys having played IPL they would have worked something out by now. If they had bowled first, they may have been able to use Zampa and Maxwell in a more attacking mode.
Its only one game but with a rampant South Africa next on the schedule they will be probably be playing catch up cricket early in the tournament