The main issue appears to be middle order batting and potential replacements for Smith, Labuschagne and Head due to retirement or injury. Renshaw could play in the middle order and Jewell did OK in the first innings of the Australia A match. Henry Hunt has been opening but he looks like he could bat 3 or 4. If Pucovski could get on the park he would be a good chance as well.
Some good white ball cricket being played in South Africa so far by the Aussies. The pleasing thing is how the charge has been led by some of the newbies, Sangha, Spencer Johnson, Short and Ellis have all been prominent. They will be pushing the established players for spots in the World Cup squad. I’ve never seen Mitch Marsh in such good form and he is obviously enjoying captaining the white ball team.
Marnus has given the Australian selectors a huge headache with his performances in the ODI series so far. 80no as a concussion sub followed up by 124 last night. There is a place in the team for a batsmen like Labusagne but the question is can both he and Smith play in the same unit, given their similarities as players and the apparent strategy of the Australian side to play ODI cricket like T20s. Mind you, Marnus was going at a fair clip as well but he would be a good player to have in the side to cover collapses as per what happened in game 1.
remarkable early onslaught from Head in particular - looks like a plan is in place
never seen Rabada get thrashed that much
good to see Zampa getting wickets
Definitely no place for 2 keepers in the side…Carey has lost his mojo with the gloves and bat since Lord’s. Give Inglis the gloves and play another specialist bat I reckon. Doesn’t make sense playing both TBH.
well it turns out the end of Warner might come to be because of the new Neckguard rule that come into effect next month
he has given evidence in court that he will not conform
see Stokes went to town on NZ last night - highest ever England score
looks to be a huge factor in the cup
The ODI squad just got a South African street mugging last night - an incredible last 15 over onslaught that not too much would have stopped
Must have been an absolute freeway of a wicket
Sadly the freeway ended at 250 odd for Aust. Difficult what to take out of these ODI WC warm ups for Aust. I guess the Aust v India warm ups will be more like for like WC wise. On face value looks like Aust are vulnerable depth wise with bat n ball.
Not sure the logic behind Aust only using 5 bowlers during that 400 + onslaught the other night…Zampa carving out a maiden 100 off ten overs…obviously, or should I say hopefully, a one off for the Aussie front line spinner. Carey comes to the party with a well made 99, I guess the law averages will always result in a decent knock eventually. Pity Inglis doesn’t get the same life lines…
Head is a likely out, big loss for Aust if the case…more so out of pure scoreboard pressure…as I reckon this WC ODI, may see a few more Klaessen/ Stokes like innings occurring…geez who wants to be an ODI bowler these days…so set up for the batsman these days.
Not sure if Australia will have much impact at this World Cup. I think that the sub continent teams will boss it with England being the only team from outside the region to mount a challenge.
Marsh will probably replace Head at the top of the order with Marnus slotting into the middle order. The bowling is a concern although the return of Starc and Cummins will strengthen the pace bowling. Head will be missed not just for his batting but also his spinners that can fill in 4-5 overs in the middle of the innings.
the spin will be incredibly important in the real stuff - it will be opening the bowling in almost all matches over there
no way anyone will get SA or Australian-like wickets where it really comes onto batsmen so it’s just been a practice net for Aust
I know that these are only warm up games but the margin of defeat in the last 3 ODIS in South Africa would have to be a huge red flag for the Australian team. The bowling has had no control and leaked runs at the back end of innings and the batsmen (marnus aside) have played as if the matches are 20/20 encounters. They have lost wickets in clumps in every game. Marsh had the bowling at his mercy in the game last night and threw his wicket away needlessly which then sparked a collapse.
Now they have lost their most in form batter and they leave South Africa no closer to working out what is their best XI for the first WC game. Smith, Starc and Cummins will come into the team but I think there are a lot of issues with the Style of cricket the team is playing at the moment and I doubt if it will be successful on Sub continent wickets
reckon there’s been a bit of fox going on
those last 3 have seen lots different
I see the Peanut selected Matthew Short to debut - top order batsman who can hit it hard
then plays him at number 9
fucking retard
Never mind lads, we helped the yarpies out on the money front with the tour. It is true though, that the Aussies would not know their best team. We are also going to a world cup in India with the worst spinner in the competition.
Agree Short is a better option higher up the order then coming in at 8…but I guess his power would be better in the last 10, then the power of accumulators such as Smith and Labuschagne batting at 8…though I can imagine a few toys getting thrown out of the pram on here, if Peanut picked Vic boy in Short, to bat above WA boys in Marsh, Green and Stoinis in the order. Good to see Inglis get a few though.
Agree Ark, Aust batting order is neither here no there, due to the logic, Aust test batsmen are Aust best options in the white ball format…
Pity Green’s ton was with the ball and not the bat…folk are saying not to read too much into these consecutive 100+ run defeats…all I can see is an early exit like the Wallabies in the rugby…lot of talk but not much walk.
The selection of these teams is mystifying. One game to go and they are still playing guys who are not in the squad and yet some of those who are (Maxwell, Starc and Agar) have not had a run yet. The bowling has conceded 400 runs twice in the last 5 games and most of the batsmen are horribly out of form. Ironically Warner has become the mainstay in these games. Green threw away an opportunity to impress with a piece of lazy running between the wickets. Heads absence has been sorely felt
I would be amazed if the team got to the semi finals. They need to put their best team out on the park for the last game against India just to try and build up some momentum
someone needs to starve Green , take away this large comfort bubble that seems to be way too present in his game
he got smashed absolutely belted all over the park and out of it too
not sure he’s got the form to play a big enough part - hope Marsh’s body stands up
serious concerns for the World Cup
These pathetic results are not surprising to many of us who follow Australian Cricket closely!
Expect it to continue whilst no one in management puts any heat on the current playing squad, many of whom are far too comfortable both financially and with their place in the team!
BH, I have absolutely no idea what team management are trying to do in these warm up games. With only 2 weeks to go till the first game in the world cup against India most supporters would not have a clue as to what is the best XI to take into the game. India, on the other hand are settled, playing a consistent brand of cricket on their home deck. Even our established bowlers like Zampa and Hazlewood are going for 7+ RPO and oppositions must be licking their lips at the prospect of filling their boots against Australia. The batting has been very patchy, getting out in the 30s and 40s seems to be the norm. You can’t just magically switch on form at the start of the tournament and with so many underdone players in the squad there is a danger that the team will be out of the running very early in the tournament similar to the Wallabies in the rugby WC