60% eh mikeh?..a record not to be sneezed at…though no doubt the naysayers will analyze it in a way that suits their narrative.
TBH I reckon I give Ronald and a few of those current oldies in Smith, Starc, et al, this 2 yr WTC cycle before they walk away smiling like McGrath, Warner and Langer did…or shoulder tapped for sadly being old, beaten and past their sell by dates…with the naysayers joyfully saying…“we told you so”.
Funny thing is mikeh, you and I know how Ronald is going about things will no doubt come back and bite him in the arse…but besides Uzzie, Warner and to a lesser degree Marnus(who is only 30)…the bowlers pick themselves, as their records are elite, what changes should be made to a side that has won more then it has lost? You can only pick 11 come end of the day…with more often then not 4 bowlers.
After Ronald, I think either Voges or Harris may step in…though Paine is pushing hard as well…Voges recird is 2nd to none, whilst what Harris did at SA last SS season, was a bloody miracle…Harris for me, though Voges would quieten down the anti ES white noise from some folk.
Windies have bought in the big guns, Lara, Richards and Lloyd to sit on an emergency committee to try and work out where to go from here. Meanwhile the Aussies need to muse on what their batting will look like for the ashes. To be honest there is only one spot up for grabs ( an opener). They are not going to drop Uzzie unless his form falls off a cliff, Green has done enough to justify more time batting at 3, then there is Smith, Head, Webster and Carey who all did OK in the windies.
Renshaw, Weatherald, Mc Sweeney Patterson and Sangha are all doing well in the A series in the top end. Maybe Konstas could be flown to Darwin instead of going home to play in the 2nd of these games. The pitches seem a lot more batter friendly and it would give Sam a chance to get a bit of confidence back and sort out a few things in his game.
Now for the T20 series and the Aussies have an entirely new squad bar Inglis and Green. This should be a far more competitive series
Back in the day the Windies curators.Use to burn the wickets with Kerosene.Before the tests to dry the wickets out.
Nobody wants batters flat tracks..But these wickets are,nogood.
BH, I just hope whichever 2 openers are picked for the Ashes, are two in form, and scored heavily in the lead up shield games before the Perth test. Whether that be Renshaw, McSweeney, Weathereld, Jewell, Hunt, Ward, Harris, Kellaway, Bancrift, Whiteman etc…form must count, not now v Sri Lanka A, but form actually in the weeks leading up to the Ashes.
I watched the last day of the test last night on replay.
The ball was still doing plenty.Green misjudged a good ball.
Fast forwarded from there to the Windies innings. Gee the way Starc bowled, I seriously think that many better batsmen than the Windies put up would have had trouble keeping Starc out.That was a devastiting spell. NOt saying they would have been 5/6, oor 6/5. but would have been in deep trouble.He looked in complete rhythm.
He blitzed the BBL last year, especially the GF. Bitting a hundred at better than a run a ball. Much better.
But not sure what his SS year was like.
Can he come to the party with the red ball game.
I notice Fraser_Mcgirk blew his chance. Like Konstas selected on white ball rather than red ball.
How do they select the Ashes squad red or white?
the way tests are being batted now
he’ll be perfect at 6 or 7 from what I’ve already seen
and he can roll his arm over
already imagining what carnage Head & Owens could do to England
Owen has a first class average of 25 from 14 games for Tassie. Bowling average of about 48. Not going to be considered for test cricket on those stats. Maybe in a few years when he has established himself in the white ball team.
Jake Weatherald 183 today v Sri Lanka A, on a batting paradise mind you with nearly 900 runs scored in 3 days for the loss of only 9 wickets. But you can only play the conditions in front of you and Jake would have given his ashes prospects a big boost
Kudos to Owens on his recent T20 debut…exciting to see…but it is amazing Mikeh, how some learned folk are easily influenced by some T20 runs on a flat road…geez Green scratched around in the test matches, folk calling for his head…yet belts a 50…and Owen does too…and folk are calling for Owen to have a crack at Eng…geez for Green to belt that 50 in quick time…how flat was that pitch?
As for Jake…geez 9 /800 odd and suddenly Aust have found their next test opener…great effort to fill his boots on a road mind you…lets hope Jake can back it up in the early shield games with some big runs…against better bowlers on more testing pitches…but if he can, then get him in…but at 30 years of age averaging 36, one can only wait n see.
Two great knocks by the WA boys… why is Maxwell opening? Be interesting to see what sort of side Aust picks for the T20 WC…
Head, Short, Marsh, Inglis, Green, Owen, David, Starc, Ellis, Zampa, Bartlett.
Yes a good headache developing for selectors Dwarshuis showed a bit in the two games I thought. Kuenemann also did OK bowling in the powerplay although Marsh made an error giving him a 3rd over in a row. Some serious power in that batting line up when you bring Short and Head back
