Team to watch out for

[Cricketics]

Australia look at their bench strength Hayden, Marsh, Ronchi, Haddin, Watson - 5 openers they got, they can switch between them 2 players from the above list are wicket keeper - Ronchi and Haddin then you have symonds and punter and Clarke in bowling - the very best LEE, along with Bracken, johnson and Clark. aussie odi cricket dominance is here to stay..

[Fontaine]

Yes the West Indies will make most teams look unbeatable. But credit to Australia, they find ways to win and their tough, intense domestic competition breeds hard nosed players.

[amits]

apart from marsh, the other upcoming aussie players dont seem to be that great. after hayden, ponting & co retire, lot of dependence will come on clarke & marsh. aus will lose their no.1 position within 1 year

[flamy]

It's awesome.

apart from marsh' date=' the other upcoming aussie players dont seem to be that great. after hayden, ponting & co retire, lot of dependence will come on clarke & marsh. aus will lose their no.1 position within 1 year[/quote'] And one should depend on the opposition weakening to beat them. We still beat them recently. At least there will be the Ind-Aus rivalry to look forward. It is the premier contest of cricket.

[Holysmoke]

Dont underestimate Ronchi.

[Guest Hiten.]

Dont underestimate Ronchi.

...that guy did jacksh*t for Mumbai Indians :mad:

[Holysmoke]

...that guy did jacksh*t for Mumbai Indians :mad:

He didnt get a chance.. we had our international players filled... Surya, Pollock, Bravo, and then we needed a bowler..(fernando/nel/thornley)

[Mr. Wicket]

Ah yes, classify a player based on how well he performs playing for a Twenty20 team. By that logic, Sohail Tanvir can be judged a world class bowler while Jacques Kallis and Ishant Sharma canm be considered rubbish, n'est ce pas?

[Guest Hiten.]

Ah yes, classify a player based on how well he performs playing for a Twenty20 team. By that logic, Sohail Tanvir can be judged a world class bowler while Jacques Kallis and Ishant Sharma canm be considered rubbish, n'est ce pas?

Why not ? After all, it was T20 that 're-launched' Gambhir. IPL highlighted players like Gony, Marsh, Ojha, Tanvir, GG (again!!) to name a few. People who are demeaning T20 format are demeaning cricket itself. Sure, the format is being 'overused' but by no means it is an 'useless' format. About my post on Ronchi, that was just me having fun. I was annoyed how he flopped for MI and didn't help us win any game.

[Chandan]

Australia look at their bench strength Hayden, Marsh, Ronchi, Haddin, Watson - 5 openers they got, they can switch between them 2 players from the above list are wicket keeper - Ronchi and Haddin then you have symonds and punter and Clarke in bowling - the very best LEE, along with Bracken, johnson and Clark. aussie odi cricket dominance is here to stay..

I don't think anyone is bothered about their ODI dominence. It is their test dominence since last 10 years which was haunting everyone except the Australians. Very soon they might lose that number one tag in ODIs to SA. And they had already lost it last year before the WC. There was an interesting analysis by an Australian cricket fan today:

Mark Taylor

Career 110 inns 3514 runs @ 32.23, SR 59.46 Last 12 inns 185 runs @ 15.41, SR 41.76 29 off 67 v West Indies W 17 off 35 v West Indies W 28 off 55 v Pakistan L 11 off 16 v Pakistan L 26 off 52 v West Indies L 6 off 23 v Pakistan L 18 off 55 v West Indies L 8 off 22 v Pakistan W 7 off 24 v South Africa L 17 off 44 v South Africa W Dropped himself for Australia's next 5 ODI matches 7 off 15 v England L 11 off 35 v England L 4 wins, 8 losses, Didn't make ODI tri-series finals.

Steve Waugh

Career 288 inns 7568 runs @ 32.90, SR 75.91 Last 12 inns 404 runs @ 44.88, SR 72.27 17 off 30 v India W 54* off 64 v Pakistan W 26* off 22 v England W 64 off 83 v England W 56 off 89 v Pakistan L DNB v England W DNB v Pakistan W 15 off 28 v New Zealand L 62 off 86 v South Africa L 9 off 17 v New Zealand L 22* off 19 v South Africa W DNB v South Africa W 30 off 58 v New Zealand L 7 off 11 v New Zealand W 42 off 52 v South Africa W 10 Wins, 5 losses, Didn't make ODI tri-series finals.

Ricky Ponting

Career 291 inns 11044 runs @ 43.14, SR 80.41 Last 12 inns 209 runs @ 17.41, SR 68.52 0 off 2 v India NR 9 off 22 v Sri Lanka W 9 off 15 v India L 25 off 25 v Sri Lanka W 10 off 14 v India W 11 off 34 v Sri Lanka W 124 off 133 v India W 1 off 11 v Sri Lanka L 1 off 5 v India L 1 off 7 v India L 5 off 20 v West Indies W 13 off 17 v West Indies W 7 wins, 4 losses, 1 NR, Lost ODI tri-series finals. Is it time to start thinking about the ODI captaincy post-Ponting? He's been in the team for 13 years, and turns 34 during the next home summer? Taylor played his last ODI at 32, Waugh at 36.

So what do any of you have to say regarding this point? Will Ponting be removed from ODI captaincy? Will he retire from ODIs or or is just a dry run?

[theguyinallblue]

i think Ponting is just going through a lean patch..he had his purple patch for 3 long years..when he scored runs and centuries for fun.. and Ponting is an attacking batsman..and i don't see ponting blocking at genuine talent in playing XI at least in batting department... and the rebuilding phase australia is going though..i don't think CA will take the risk of side lining Ponting from ODIs... Hayden is sure to retire in 2009...from all type of games may be...so CA will need the experience of Ponting to get the balance right. CA might ask ponting to hand over ODI captaincy to clark..as Clark is now ready to lead Australia in ODIs at least..and IMO Clark should get captaincy while Hayden..Ponting..Hussey are around.. But if some one ask me...i will be happy to see Ponting retire from ODIs altogether... and from Tests in 2 years..:winky:

[SachDan]

i think Ponting is just going through a lean patch[/b

And with Punter most people thought there's no lean patch as such...