TOPIC:

In regards to Bailey, it is true that he failled against England, but on the whole I think he has been treatted harshlly by the selectors. Remember, we have a dearth of talent in this country; what is worse, when they dropped him, they replaced him with a certain all rounder.

Here is what I reckon we go with as our 12 for the next game

Dave Warner
Cam Bancroft
Kurt Patterson
Steve Smith
Nick Maddisnon
Jake Lehmann
Phil Nevill (he is the best keeper in Australia, I cant pick Wade he is just a backstop)
Mitch Starc
Mitchell Swepson (The leggie is decent that's why you need a proper keeper)
Josh Haselwood
Chadd Sawyer

Id probably have Marcus Harris as 12th man, and i'd be inclined to look at Marcus Stoinus (I'm not sure if his bowling is up to test standard)

on another note I see Rod Marsh has resigned from selection panel effective immediately

PH.....cant see Usman being dropped TBH.....do like the pairing of Bancroft and Warner.....complete opposites like Rogers and Warner were.....tho Bancroft hasnt done much so far run wise this 2016/17 season.....technically far tighter than most and can bat for long periods. Heazlett from Qld looks to have a good technique and temperament too.....for me the top 6 should be Warner - Bancroft- Usman - Smith - Handscomb and Head. Though would love to see Heazlett introduced now and initially bat 6 before heading up the order to 3 in a few years.

Would love to see Klinger get a go, but he like Voges and Bailey wouldnt be around for the Ashes series due to their age....

Love ya pick of Swepson too mate.....definitely need to go left field, though can see OKeefe getting the nod.....

Freezin, fair point you make about Usman, however he isn't the best fielder in the country and his run in with the selectors in Sri Lanka for me was the last straw. rather than taking his medicine he blamed everyone else, to me that's half the problem with this current group, to many hangers on and assistants which means players don't take their own responsibility properly. Based on that I tool the approach that if you put a broom through you must pick up all the problems

Heazlett is he the one from QLD coming back from a knee injury, agree he can bat and he could be a good long term option. Handscome I could not fit in though I agree he should be considered.

Did you want Rod Marsh's job? id take it no worries imaging getting paid 300K a year to watch cricket around the world and pick the best players, surely its not that hard

Unfortunately the selectors won't have much to go on according to stats so it seems a few punts might have to be taken

Freezin wrote: PH.....cant see Usman being dropped TBH.....do like the pairing of Bancroft and Warner.....complete opposites like Rogers and Warner were.....tho Bancroft hasnt done much so far run wise this 2016/17 season.....technically far tighter than most and can bat for long periods. Heazlett from Qld looks to have a good technique and temperament too.....for me the top 6 should be Warner - Bancroft- Usman - Smith - Handscomb and Head. Though would love to see Heazlett introduced now and initially bat 6 before heading up the order to 3 in a few years.

Would love to see Klinger get a go, but he like Voges and Bailey wouldnt be around for the Ashes series due to their age....

Love ya pick of Swepson too mate.....definitely need to go left field, though can see OKeefe getting the nod.....

Agree on Swepson, get him in and leave him in, shows the most potential out of all the leggies imo

Inside Cricket was interesting viewing tonight with regular panellist and current selector Mark Waugh admitting it is very thin playing stocks across the country at the moment with him saying the batting in Shield cricket has been poor.
Virtually assured any young batsman who makes a big hundred in the Shield this week a baggy green cap for Adelaide.

we have been and are in total decline as a cricket country. Growing up, it was rare for Australia to lose a home series, unless an exceptionally strong England or WI --- and even then, not until 1980 -- team visited our shores. NZ did beat us in the mid 1980s, but in special circumstances. In the last decade or so, we have lost the following series:

SA three times -- they have had nothing to fear
Ashes one time

the trend will be obvious even to the ACB if Pakistan win here this season.

BH interesting to hear Mark Waugh say that.........pretty sure I read an article mid July this year on cricinfo stating 10 out the top 12 runscorers for the 2015/16 Sheffield season were U/23...first time since the heady days of the mid 90s......the 10 mentioned were Patterson, Dean, Renshaw, Handscomb, Bancroft, Heazlett, Head, Ross, Stoinis and Lehmann....

......surely that is positive sign for the future?...as SD and PH have stated,punts need to be taken......some one like Head at 22 is captaining his state and his output since being captain run wise has increased.....surely that is a positive sign of his character and temperament under pressure....pretty sure SA made the final too under his leadership......the selectors need to think out of box here......look at players ability to regularly bat long periods and score big or score well under pressure eg in a final or difficult conditions....ditto for the bowlers.....

Swepson after 10 odd FC games has a bowling average of 33.....now generally most leggies at a similar stage usually go around the mid to high 40 mark and if any good, get better stats as they develop their craft.....little indicators like this should be used to highlight players who could be taken a punt on.

ArkRoyal wrote: we have been and are in total decline as a cricket country. Growing up, it was rare for Australia to lose a home series, unless an exceptionally strong England or WI --- and even then, not until 1980 -- team visited our shores. NZ did beat us in the mid 1980s, but in special circumstances. In the last decade or so, we have lost the following series:

SA three times -- they have had nothing to fear
Ashes one time

the trend will be obvious even to the ACB if Pakistan win here this season.

What were the special circumstances re NZ winning in 85/86? In Aus and in NZ ?