TOPIC:

Today is the day the squad is picked....15 from memory I think are to be picked....
Warner Renshaw Usman Smith Hanscomb Head Nevill, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon, O'keefe, Ahmed, Bird, Maxwell and Allan Border(still bats and bowls better than Mitch Marsh TBH)

Who knows what the selectors will come up with.....need a leggie and Grassy's ongoing rant about Ahmed is definitely warming to me....he has bowled beautifully in the BBL....only BBL, but best I have seen him bowl ever....reckon spinning allrounders are gonna do more damage than a medium pace allrounder.....batsmen pick themselves I guess as do the fast bowlers....dont trust Wade's technique over there....Lyon is a given....Agar or Okeefe(not both)...and a leggie for variety...

Freezin: agree with most of what you wrote. Three things I would do differentlly,

1 make handscombe keep and bat at six
2 play an all rounder at seven -- I think Marsh could hold up an end as a bowller -- when Lyon and O'Keefe need a rest.
3 I would not take a leg spinner for the sake of it

The squad is 16 actually Freeze still short of the "support staff" numbers going over tho!-

Smith (C)
Warner (VC)
Renshaw
Khawaja
Handscomb
S.Marsh
M.Marsh
Wade
Maxwell
Agar
O'Keefe
Starc
Hazlewood
Lyon
Bird
Swepson

ArkRoyal wrote: Freezin: agree with most of what you wrote. Three things I would do differentlly,

1 make handscombe keep and bat at six
2 play an all rounder at seven -- I think Marsh could hold up an end as a bowller -- when Lyon and O'Keefe need a rest.
3 I would not take a leg spinner for the sake of it

AR if you think Wade is ordinary with the gloves then take a look at Handscomb ...putting it nicely it's best he continues to concentrate on his batting!

BH: I had heard people talk about him as a keeper and assumed he would be up to the job; your right, it is a bloody big assumption with keepers in this country in our age. I feel sorry for Neville and Swepson. I would rather see the latter debut in Australian conditions, O'keefe and Lyon are the senior spinners in the country -- they need to do their jobs.

We would be setting Sewepson up to fail, something which has happened to too many of our leg spinners in the last decade. Warne should remember that no one made him go to India first-off, and even then, he still had trouble bowlling against Shastri in Australia.

When will this love affair with the Marsh brothers end?....Good to see Swepson get a gig.....definitely for variety a leggie will come in handy.....AR...picking a medium pace all rounder for the sake of it, is what I think you meant mate... Bird will score as many runs at Mitch Marsh and take more wickets too if a 3rd pace bowler is needed one would think....why farking pick him?

.....disappointed someone like Head didnt get a chance.....at least he bowls a bit,something Shaun Marsh cant do and if Marsh misses out with the bat he adds nothing else to the game.....surprised Wade got the nod considering only a while back he wasnt trusted to keep in the T20 world cup which was played in India....yet now he is good enough to keep for 100 overs in India instead of 20?....FMD.....

Really hope I am made to eat my words with those picks above....gutted Border missed out too!

Freezin: England had plenty of variety in their spin attack, including a leg spinner, in India, they disappearred to the boundary in various different ways as well. I agree with you on Mitchell Marsh, but as you said, they are obsessed with all rounders -- particularlly with his surname -- and on ballance, I think the team will get more out of Marsh than Maxwell.

What happened to the Rhodesian bloke from WA?

I cannot understand the selection of Sean Marsh a 33 year old with dodgy hamstrings ahead of a young batsman like Head who can also bowl 5 or 6 overs in a test match to give the front liners a rest. Marsh is not being picked on form that's for sure. Think its also a bit of an overkill with the spinners. Would have been better to pick a front line fast bowler as if one of Starc, Bird or Hazlewood gets injured they will be rather deficient in that area.

As you said Ark Royal, where does Cartwright stand now and why the hell did the selectors pick him for the Sydney test when they probably knew he wouldn't be going to India??

anchorman wrote: They did the same thing with Cameron Bancroft.They selected him for a test, then dropped him, never to be seen in an Australian squad again.

Bancroft was selected to tour Bangladesh but the tour never went ahead due to safety concerns. He has never been selected for a Test ..a very big difference!

mikeh wrote: I cannot understand the selection of Sean Marsh a 33 year old with dodgy hamstrings ahead of a young batsman like Head who can also bowl 5 or 6 overs in a test match to give the front liners a rest. Marsh is not being picked on form that's for sure. Think its also a bit of an overkill with the spinners. Would have been better to pick a front line fast bowler as if one of Starc, Bird or Hazlewood gets injured they will be rather deficient in that area.

As you said Ark Royal, where does Cartwright stand now and why the hell did the selectors pick him for the Sydney test when they probably knew he wouldn't be going to India??

M.Marsh is almost front line FB mate so he is the back up. Cartwrights bowling looked bowling machine stuff compared to Marsh, but still he can always say he played a test for Aus.
Hope they look after Swepson over there and he doesn't get any permanent mental scars