TOPIC:

A fit C Lynn would be fantastic for the current Aussie line-up, Freezin, but some fit first-choice bowlers would be even better.
At 1-225 after 39 overs with A Finch and S Marsh in great touch, 10 runs an over for the last 11 would've given us a score of 335 at the Durham venue.
Even that would not have been enough against this powerful England batting line-up.
J Bairstow, J Buttler, A Hales and J Roy have made mincemeat of our inexperienced and undermanned bowling attack - to the extent that E Morgan and J Root have been allowed to take a backseat.

Better batting effort in ODI 4.....but Finch really needed to go on and turned that 100 into a 130-150....Marsh did well to get his 100 in the end....really don't understand playing two keepers if both aren't boundary hitters like Bairstow and Buttler are for Eng.....JL needs to take a leaf out of Eng batting blue print.....Finch, Head, Marsh, Short, Maxwell, Carey and Stoinis surely could provide that explosiveness needed in the shorter format....though any decent score being made is undermined by a leaky inexperienced bowling attack.....

How important is the skipper in a 50 over match?....esp one who bats low in their order and isn't even a power hitter.....is Paine's keeping and mere presence that important?....understand in the longer format......just don't see Aust logic here......

Yes I think they need to bite the bullet and make Finch ODI captain and bring Carey in as WK. This tour has a definite air of remorse and repentance about it for Austraia though and Paine is the public face of that. England don't care though, they must be enjoying grinding the Aussies into the dust and will get to do it one more time.

All the good sides have a boundary hitting keeper....De Kock for SA.....Buttler/Bairstow Eng and Dhoni for India....Haddin and Gilchrist during Aust WC triumphs.....more so in today's cricket with power plays, big bats, tighter bowling restrictions, smaller boundaries etc.....

TBH mikeh, if Mitch Marsh does well in India as Aust A skipper, than JL will look at him long term as ODI skipper...esp since he made Mitch WA skipper last year.....and Mitch is being looked as a future test skipper.....last ODI would be nice to see JL drop Paine and play Carey as the keeper.....won't happen because JL is a stubborn sort and very loyal and more so as you say Paine is the "face" of the new Australia....at 33 not so sure the wisdom of that....appears JL is happy to have a 5-0 whitewash on his international coaching CV .....LOL.....

Our full side played against England in ODI on our own shores last season and also got snotted.

England are a good side as people have posted. In respect of the debate about England being top of the tree in the sport, I would note Strauss's and Illingworth's sides.

I cannot fathom how some of those players from WA are in that side.

We need, at least, two proper top order batsmen; make Paine open and give the gloves to Carey, as I think "Freezin' has already suggested.

Finch
Paine
S Marsh
C Ferguson -- averages 41 for SA in OD domestic cricket
T Bird
Carey
Maxwell/Stonis
Agar

This is a top 8 -- it is top 8 bassed as far as possible on the performances of the cricketers themselves, not on wishful thinking.

ArkRoyal wrote: Finch
Paine
S Marsh
C Ferguson -- averages 41 for SA in OD domestic cricket
T Bird
Carey
Maxwell/Stonis
Agar

This is a top 8 -- it is top 8 bassed as far as possible on the performances of the cricketers themselves, not on wishful thinking.

I assume you mean Travis Head AR?

mikeh: yep, sorry about that, I did indeed mean Travis Head. I dont know why Langer has given young Short such a hard task: he has got to play in unfamilar conditions against a good side, open the batting and bowl part-time left-handed leg spin. The place to play him would have been at number 7.

TBH Ark, Wood and Willey aren't world beaters....esp if you want to be a successful ODI opener....the Eng conditions can't be that bad if Eng can post scores of 400 in a ODI.....Short just needs to be persisted for an extended period.......he is such a clean striker....though the problem for JL is that Head and Finch only seem to make runs when they open...bat them in the middle order and they make fark all.......if Paine HAS to play his only worth is opening....he does fark all batting lower down.....can't believe how technically inept Aust batsmen are these days against spin...it's embarrassing and not an over night occurrence.....

But Freeze cmon mate we have a centre of excellence (based at Allan Border Field Brisbane) in this era where the supposed cream of the crop get all year round training and coaching and yet you are saying our batsmen currently are totally inept???

Gee and to think the WAFC (via the Vics) have adopted a similar type set up and system for our better young footballers that many here believe will be a panacea?!