Interesting Test XI ?

[Donny]

Allowing for an Aussie Test squad of: Ponting, Gilly, Hayden, Jaques, Rogers, Clarke, Hussey, Symmo, MacGill, Clark, Lee, Tait and Voges, I thought it would be interesting to pick another XI. Not so much an A team of 'next likely' players but picked from who's still playing first class cricket. Michael Di Venuto Justin Langer Brad Hodge Darren Lehmann David Hussey Cam White Luke Ronchi Andy Bichel Brad Hogg Jason Gillespie Ben Hilfenhaus Yes, it's a touch light in the bowling but bats way down. After the top 7, Bic, Hoggy and Dizzy have 12 first class centuries between them with Dizzy's being a Test double hundred. :wink_smile:

[Ram]

Apart from a couple of players ( whom i havent heard of till now ) , others are good enough to get into most test sides. Donny , I have a question for you. What do you attribute Australia's recent domination to ? Yes, all of us have heard of the excellent first class system , solid cricket infrastructure etc. But do you have anything extra to add ? Is the Aussie domination in the recent because of the fact that they happend to have couple of outstanding cricketers of our generation playing at the same time ? Or is it here to stay ?

[Donny]

Other than the 2 very important facets you mentioned, Australia's (since late 80s) rise to dominance in both forms of the game could well be due to these 3 names: Simpson, Marsh and Buchanan. Before Bobby Simpson, an Australian coach was the vehicle used to take the team to and from the ground for a game. At least, that was Ian Chappell's description. Simmo was and still is a wonderful cricket brain. He turned AB and the team into hard working, hungry cricketers who started winning again. He worked on their fielding, running between wickets, partnerships, goal setting etc. Geoff Marsh inherited that team and, with Mark Taylor, kept it on an upward trend. John Buchanan brought computer technology in and added philosophical and psychological elements. Some maintain Chappelli's view about coaches but I think they CAN make all the difference. If the team/squad has a good coach, they will play better, individually and as a unit, knowing the coach has their best interests at heart. Other than the coaching factor, Australia has a population of about 20 million people. I think only New Zealand, of the main cricket playing nations, has less with Sri Lanka being similar. This is a motivational factor also, especially when it come to playing England. :wink_smile: In similar fashion, The Black Caps always lift against us and being a little fish in a big pond certainly spurred SL along as well. Individual champions like Pigeon, Warney and Steve Waugh certainly have contributed to the overall successes but it's interesting to observe none were superstars when they were first selected.

[yoda]

What happened to Kasparowich? Why is Mitchell Johnson missing from your squads? Is David, Michael Hussey's brother?

[Donny]

Kaspa got injured and finds 7 or 8 bowlers ahead of him now. MJ could've been in where I have Gillespie. Needs to get plenty of overs in Pura Cup this season to improve his two innings cricket. Good prospect though. David is Mike's younger brother. Has 858 runs @ 95.33 for Notts in English County, this season.

[chanakya]

Also the famous Aussie girt i should say. Remember the World Cup Fotball?

[Lurker]

Damn! Thats a good enough squad to put atleast a formidable fight against most teams if not overcome them. And specially in LOI format they would be quite a squad. Donny I have a question. Actually I have a few questions regarding Aussie cricket, mostly about players. Would you mind answering them? And I belong to the old school where the more you write the better it feels to read hehehe..not so much into stats etc. Let me know and I shall shoot them here or would start a thread, whatever looks convinient. xx

[Predator_05]

What would an Aussie second XI look like ? I am guessing something like this ? Jacques Rogers Hussey North Voges Thornley Haddin+ White Bichel Johnson Bracken I reckon England and SA's Test XIs could beat this team.

[Donny]

Pred, that XI would get trounced by most other teams unless maybe they bowled first on a juicy track with cloud cover. Although Bracks is an excellent ODI bowler, he falls short in the longer version unless conditions suit. This also applies to Bic & Johnson. Cam White to shoulder the spinning responsibilities ? I don't think so. Voges & North are part time spinners but no more. Lurker, Either way mate. Happy to answer whatever.

[Donny]

From my 'Interesting XI', Michael Di Venuto scored 124 yesterday for Durham and Brad Hodge was 156 n.o. when Lancs declared. It just occurred to me, change Brad Hogg for Warney. Hoggy can be 12th. man. :wink_smile:

[Donny]

Apart from a couple of players ( whom i havent heard of till now )

Luke Ronchi is probably one of those. A right hand batsman/keeper. 26 years old. He is one of at least 3 - Adam Crosthwaite (Victoria) and Chris Hartley (Q'land) - who are 'next in line' after Gilly and Brad Haddin to keep for Australia. He is an aggressive opener in one dayers (strike rate of 106 with a century and 5 fifties already) and bats at #7 for WA's Pura Cup team. His one day century was the fastest ever in Oz domestic history. He also has a first class century.

[Lurker]

Donny. Here are a few questions for you. 1) You obviously have seen a lot of cricket live, based on your own personal viewing how would you rank the following Australian Captains: Benaud Ian Chappell Greg Chappell Alan Border Mark Taylor Steve Waugh Ricky Ponting. 2) Which Australian player in your opnion does not quite get the recognition he probably should? As an example one Australian player that I think somehow gets oft-forgotten is Graham Garth Mckenzie. I dont think he would rank in top 5, may not even in top 10 Australian bowlers but he was quite a decent bowler, was he not? 3) Please rank these Australian batsman on the basis of cricket they played with their backs against the wall - Ian Chappell, Alan Border & Steve Waugh. 4) Was it a good decision not to let Shane Warne captain Australia?(not that it matters as in the long run Australia has been winning anyway). 5) Amongst all Australian bowlers you have seen which was fastest, lets take away Jeff Thomspon for a second. Lot more questions in mind but thats it for now. Sorry could not help but pick on a cricket fan's brain who has seen so much. xxx

[Lurker]

^^ Bump for Donny.

[Donny]

Yes, I've followed international cricket from around 1958 but have seen very little, live. I've always lived too far away or been travelling. However, I have seen plenty on the box. 1. Captains. Sorry Lurker, I must disappoint you. I just don't like 'ranking' different players/captains. It just doesn't interest me. Unless I played under them, it would only be an impression anyway as they, apart from AB's early days, all captained very strong teams. Did Greg C just maintain what Ian C had set up ? Did Tubby, Tugga & Punter just maintain what Simmo/AB had set up ? From AB onwards, how much bearing on the successes did the Aussie coaches have ? 2. Garth was a wonderful bowler but not express. Therein lies the reason for his lowish profile. More recently. Damien Fleming (for similar reasons) and Boof Lehmann 3. AB showed fantastic courage and often played a lone hand against the might of the Windies. Chappelli & Waugh never took a backward step either but had more support than AB. 4. Warney denied himself the chance to captain Oz. Could well have got the job after Steve Waugh's retirement but his off field 'activities' put paid to that. Probably a bit too impetuous to be a great leader but certainly had the cricketing 'smarts'. 5. A young Dennis Lillee.

[Lurker]

Thanks Donny! I do see your point about not ranking players of different eras. Quite frankly it is often a useless effort, but I am also not letting you go scottfree so easily hehehe. So here is the hypothetical - Say you are selecting all-time Australian XI and you have 10 players. What you need to select is the 11th player who will also be the skipper. You can think of him as being selected as purely skipper, sort of like Mike Brearely for England. Who would be your selection amongst these - Benaud, Simpson, Border, Ian C, Greg C, Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Ponting? xxx

[Donny]

That's depends who the 10 are. For instance, I'd be unlikely to pick Benaud if Warney was in already. If you had, say, Lawry & Morris as the openers, I'd hardly pick Simmo or Tubby. Whereas England tends to pick a captain and then a team, Australia sticks to a 'pick the best team and name one of them as captain' policy. This is so ingrained that when Mark Taylor was having a very lean trot with the bat but retaining his spot in the team, it really rankled with ex players, fans and critics in the media. I'm not evading the question mate. I think you'll see my point.