Only eighteen days before the much awaited Ashes begins.
These being really, the only Ashes.
Plenty of banter to come I believe with both sides looking for an edge.
A lot of posturing to come from past players praising their country and team.
A lot will be very much tongue in cheek, but will be sure to get plenty of runs in the media.
Both, CH 7 and Foxtel will be looking for the first real shot to fire.
I am a Fox sports follower. Use it for all of my sport.
I have no idea who the CH7 mob are wheeling out this summer.But as per last year, Fox has a bundle of stars from all over to call and comment on all tests.
The Aussie team are far from settled , with all sorts of chatter going on about who is in and who is out. The openers are the real concern, well the media pundits tell us that. Does Marnus, who is full of runs, get the opening gig along side Uzzie!!
Cummins will be a loss, at least for the first test at Perth Stadium.Is Boland the logical replacement for Cummins?
But, if one of the other quicks go down, who fills the vacancy! Will the selectors look at maybe a new raw quick!
There is very little being said about Nathan Lyon and his spot in the team. Is he a suplus to carry around with the squad with the piches expected to be a bit spicey for the quicks of both teams.Will the Aussies rely on part time spinners.Head and Marnus!!
The Poms are very much confident of their ability, and maybe rightly so.
A batting line up that is fully into BazBall. Score quick and take the bowlers on.They have some real talent to boot. But batting in Australia is different to anywhere else in world cricket.Can Joe Root score his long awaited ton in Australia!
They have good quicks in Wood and Archer, very quick as well.Can their quicks stand up to the pressure and the heat of Australia?
The first test at Perth Stadium will set the scene for the remaining four tests.Five pressurised test to follow for all cricket lovers world wide.
I am sure there will be plenty of talk and comments made here in this site.
I look forward to it.
Mate Eng struggled to bat 40 overs v NZ 2nd string attack…and they had full license to go Bazball, with it being whiteball format…obviously could be a ploy to look technically inept and brain dead…but surely they would of liked to have had a few more runs on the board, then what they achieved v NZ…time will tell I guess…
I’m starting to warm to the idea of Mitch Marsh opening the batting. None of the regular openers in the shield have knocked the door down and Marsh would be a good foil for Ussie and if he stays in for long will score quickly and put some momentum into the innings.
In that case Marnus would bat at 3 and Green at 6
@Freezin Just thought I would open up and maybe stir some comments here.
Should be a great series.
I am sure there are plenty of cricket fans that will make comment.
Maybe even some NEW comers will take part.
When was the last time Mitch even played red ball cricket mikeh…Hopefully Weatherald scores big in the last shield game before the 1st test…Marsh would only be a temporary solution…Uzzie will retire I reckon…hard enough replacing one opener let alone 2…
@mikeh Could throw the cat among the pigeons if he opened up in Perth and smashed the quicks early.
Marnus certainly has started the season on fire. Maybe a different level of bowlers, but he certainly will go in with confidence.
I liked what I saw of Weatherald when he opened recently.
Why is Khawaja considered an automatic selection???
I think George Bailey locked him in about 2 months ago
I am a bit confused by Englands preparation for the first test. Whilst all of the Australian test squad will be playing in tough Sheffield Shield matches, the England team will be playing a nice leisurely game against their 2nd XI team at Lilac Hill. Surely the ECB could have organised a game with an Australia A team like India did last year, any Australia v England game is going to be more competitive than an “intraclub” fixture and it would benefit the Poms to get up towards the intensity they would face in the first test as well as giving some fringe Aussie players a chance to push their case
Australia squad for first Test against England
: Steven Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster
Weatherald has been picked to open but there are a lot of moving parts to this, mainly revolving around whether Cam Green can play as an all rounder or just a batsman. Doggett, Abbott and Inglis are probably just there as injury reserves so it comes down to 12 players. If Green is fit to bowl, he will probably drop down to 6, Weatherald will open and Marnus at 3. If he is not right to bowl, Marnus will move up to open with Green at 3 and Webster at 6
Green won’t be bowling bulk overs
not fit enough for that
personally Green hasn’t got the form to play at all but this that’s Bailey for you
Weatherald won’t play in this one
Not sure how Inglis is in the squad, not going to play as a stand alone batsman, and rather Abbott sit on the pine, instead of some younger quick, who would miss playing some form of cricket. Can’t see how Weatherald misses out, good cutter and puller, and not afraid to play his shots…which will be needed to put some pressure back on to the English quicks, who will no doubt bowl too short, due to the expected extra bounce
Weatherald has been named in the squad, but some pundits are saying he wont get a gig in Perth. Saying Marnus will open.
I am now convinced Sean Abbott has comprising photos of Bailey & McDonald.
Seriously what has he done in red ball cricket to deserve a spot in the squad?
Neser must be shaking his head in disbelief!
BH one can only hope Abbott takes over from Neser and Morris as the resident test squad pine sitter. Can see Neser playing at the GABBA…Doggett will play if one of the bowlers goes down in the warmup…and Inglis or Abbott will be the concussion sub depending on the dynamics of the game…can’t see Abbott starting in any of the tests TBH…lot of angst over nothing mate.
Yes would have preferred Fergus O’Neill in the squad as a back up and to soak up the atmosphere. Abbott is not the future
Can’t believe all this bullshit that the so called " West Australian Newspaper" is coming up with to bag the English team. I thought Woodcock was supposed to be a credible sports journalist but maybe not…If it was funny or satirical it might be OK but its just a load of horse shit