Australia's Ashes squad named.

[Chorazin Reto]

Well lets wind back to 2001 Aus lineup for a comparison- Slater Hayden Ponting M Waugh S Waugh Martyn Gilchrist Warne Lee Gillespie Mcgrath and now the 2009 lineup(hypothetical)- Katich Hughes Ponting Clarke Hussey Haddin Watson Johnson Lee(if 100% fit) Clark Siddle/Hilfenhaus/Horrid The Australian side is much more inexperienced but on overall ability it is arguable that the batting has slipped by a large margin, Ponting is still there(now as the seasoned campaigner, and like him or not he will probably go down as 1 of Australia's greatest batsmen ever on ability), Katich and Hughes have been in great form(Hughes county stint has been phenomenal), Clarke has been doing well, the question mark surprisingly atm is over Hussey's form and of course Haddin is no Gilchrist(another great that has moved on). The big fall is in the bowling ranks, I dont think it needs to be said that Hauritz is no Warne so we lack a quality wicket taking spin option, i do think Hauritz will be able to bowl tight and restrict run rates but cannot pup or Katich also fill this role? Im guessing he has been selected in case they get a heavy English track and want to bowl spin for long durations at both ends. Hell if i was England i would be preparing some spin wickets and picking Panesar knowing that Aus has very limited options. In the pace department Lee is the elder statesman now and im sure they will be monitoring his fitness as i cant see Siddle or Hilfy getting a run in front of Lee if he is 100% fit and firing on all cylinders. S.Clark ~ 22.96avg ~ 54.0SR ~ 2.54econ G.Mcgrath ~ 21.64avg ~ 51.09SR ~ 2.49econ The big difference is experience with Mcgrath playing in 124 Tests and Clark 22 Tests, and for me experience speaks louder than stats. But Clark has always been touted as a Mcgrathesque bowler, and when in rhythm, has immaculate line and length. Johnson is the workhorse but again 21 Tests, Hilfenhaus 3 Tests, Siddle 7 Tests. Lee by himself has more experience than all of them put together at 76 Tests. The side is weaker, noticeably in the bowling department, as for the weakest ..... hard to judge but it certainly is up there for the last decade, rebuilding takes time, especially if you look at some of the names that have departed the Australian side over the last decade. Win or lose i want to watch the contest, im eagerly awaiting the English teams announcement, the Ashes is still 50 days away and im starting to get excited :yay:

[Guest gaurav_indian]

y no shaun marsh :banghead:

becoz he is a quota player B->

[Chorazin Reto]

Shaun Marsh has had injury issues and is not really in contention for a Test spot, like Phil Jaques whos last outing was a century mind you, then was out with injury for months.

[Cricketics]

I like the squad. However, it doesn't look like the squad which will look very lethal when 11 from them would turn up to play first test. Nowhere i can see any 3-0 or something. I am sure England would definately be able to play some tuff cricket with this side and would give a good fight against this squad. Symonds should have been picked and given a chance..

[The Outsider]

England would be feeling all the more better after seeing this squad - perhaps not in the quality of players being sent, for there is still a fair bit of quality but in the kind of muddled thinking that has gone behind the selection. But I have full faith in the English selectors to neutralize the advantage by picking a more muddled squad. As I see it, there is no batting back up in the squad. Given the ordinary form of Hussey and Ponting, dubious ailities of Clarke in swinging conditions, and the novice presence of North, it is a very shaky top 6. Katich and Hughes will be constantly under pressure to deliver at the top of the order. And though the series is being played in the latter half of the summer, there are bound to be a few sessions over the series where we will see typical English conditions in which 5-6 wickets can go down in a session if there is no one solid to hold fort. I really doubt Watson is going to make the starting XI, but Ponting might be forced to play McDonald at 8 to add artificial depth to the line up after Haddin, specially if the top order does not strike form early in the tour. I expect Lee, Johnson, and Clark to start the bowling honors completing the XI with North and Clarke being the spin fillers. A touch unfair on Siddle, but Clark with his experience will likely get the nod specially if he does well in the warm up encounters. For me, it will boil down to how well Ponting, Hussey, and Clarke can bat through the series. Given that there is no back up to them, an ordinary series for them will give England more than a chance. The two teams have their strengths and weaknesses at contrasting ends. Whereas England will fancy themselves in conditions aiding swing or spin bowling, Australia will be clear favorites in true batting conditions assisting stroke play and quick scoring.

[Chorazin Reto]

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[Chorazin Reto]

The selection list is bizarre, why do we have 2 backup all rounders in Marcus North and Ronald Mcdonald? 2 backup bowlers, 1 specifically for spinning tracks and a paceman if 1 of the other pacemen get injured, i can see the logic in this, but 2 backup all rounders .... wtf Lets say the main all rounder does get injured(Watson, high probability)having Marcus North would be fine to move into the main all rounder position, then you can have a backup batsman if 1 of the mainline batsmen get injured/have horrible form, Hussey being the likely target looking at recent previous Tests. Looking over the past couple of Tests for Ponting(lets face it the captain isnt going anywhere), M Clarke, and M Hussey we can see Hussey is in a little form slump, hardly anything to be dropping him over but certainly having a backup batsman would not hurt. Looking at Clarke 1st over Tests from oct 2008 to now Aus vs India in India 11, 6, 23, 69, 112, DNB, 8, 22 ~ 35.85avg Aus vs NZ in Aus 98, 9, 110, - ~ 72.33avg Aus vs SA in Aus 62, 25, 88*, 29, 138, 41 ~ 63.83avg Aus vs SA in SA 68, 0, 3, 23*, 0, 47 ~ 23.50avg Looking over this he has hardly performed badly, his SA series in SA wasnt great but hardly a reason to crucify him. Hussey is next over same time period Aus vs India in India 146, 31, 54, 1, 53, DNB, 90, 19 ~ 56.28avg Aus vs NZ in Aus 35, 0, 70, - ~ 35.00avg Aus vs SA in Aus 0, 8, 0, 2, 30, 45* ~ 14.16avg Aus vs SA in SA 4, 0, 50, 19, 20, 39 ~ 22.00avg His India series was really good, since then he has had a few bad Tests, i would definitely give him the Ashes tho to prove himself but would take a backup batsman rather than a backup all rounder. lastly Ponting Aus vs Ind in India 123, 17, 5, 2, 87, DNB, 24, 8 ~ 38.00avg Aus vs NZ in Aus 4, 17, 79, - ~ 33.33avg Aus vs SA in Aus 0, 32, 101, 99, 0, 53 ~ 47.50avg Aus vs SA in SA 83, 25, 9, 81, 0, 12 ~ 35.00avg

[Shane]

I really doubt Watson is going to make the starting XI, but Ponting might be forced to play McDonald at 8 to add artificial depth to the line up after Haddin, specially if the top order does not strike form early in the tour.

Any specific reason as to why would they would prefer Andrew McDonald over Shane Watson (who btw had a good outing the last time he played in the Test Arena) ? Is Shane still carrying a niggle ?

[cowboysfan]

Any specific reason as to why would they would prefer Andrew McDonald over Shane Watson (who btw had a good outing the last time he played in the Test Arena) ? Is Shane still carrying a niggle ?

Watson's scores in the last 5 innings 36 2 9 1 5 he has just one 50 in 8 games. Watson is an illusion and the aussies will find out in the ashes.I also doubt whether he will make it through the world cup without an injury.

[The Outsider]

Any specific reason as to why would they would prefer Andrew McDonald over Shane Watson (who btw had a good outing the last time he played in the Test Arena) ? Is Shane still carrying a niggle ?

From what I read, he won't be fit enough to bowl - at least at full throttle - for the first half of the series.

[Shane]

Watson's scores in the last 5 innings 36 2 9 1 5 he has just one 50 in 8 games. Watson is an illusion and the aussies will find out in the ashes.I also doubt whether he will make it through the world cup without an injury.

Here are McDonald's stats http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/6553.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;view=innings Can't see a case in him being up the pecking order.

[The Outsider]

Chorazin, from your posts it seems that you are assuming a place for Watson in the starting line up. Personally, I don't see it happening at the off set. North did well in South Africa and is unlikely to be dropped at least for the first couple of tests. Moreover the fact that there is a question mark over Watson contributing with the ball over the first half of the series, it is unlikely he will start the series.

[cowboysfan]

Here are McDonald's stats http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/6553.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;view=innings Can't see a case in him being up the pecking order.

ronald mcdonald is a clown-i was hoping they will include Roy in the squad,atleast he is a proven matchwinner.

[The Outsider]

Here are McDonald's stats http://stats.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/player/6553.html?class=1;template=results;type=batting;view=innings Can't see a case in him being up the pecking order.

I don't think Watson and McDonald are in direct competition. Watson and North are. Permutation 1 : North plays at 6. With Watson not contributing with the ball, Australia will either play 4 bowlers at 8-11 or McDonald at 8 and bowlers at 9-11. Permutation 2 : Watson plays at 6. Again it will be either McDonald + 3 bowlers or 4 bowlers. Playing both North and Watson will leave them with effectively 3 bowlers.

[Shane]

I don't think Watson and McDonald are in direct competition. Watson and North are. Permutation 1 : North plays at 6. With Watson not contributing with the ball, Australia will either play 4 bowlers at 8-11 or McDonald at 8 and bowlers at 9-11. Permutation 2 : Watson plays at 6. Again it will be either McDonald + 3 bowlers or 4 bowlers. Playing both North and Watson will leave them with effectively 3 bowlers.

Yup, If Watson cant contribute with the ball, i don't think he can make it to the side as a specialist Batsman, which may mean North gets in at No.6 and they may require him along with the likes of Clarke and Katich to roll their over.

[diegovegaz]

shaun marsh has a hamstring injury i am looking forward to see philip hughes

[karteekmvs]

No Hodge and Symonds. At least Jaques as a backup would have been better. The selectors are literally saying that no matter what happens, we are going to have Katich, Hughes, Punter, Huss and Pup as our top 5. Of course, they could get someone like Watson to open the innings if the performance is really poor. I would really love to see the Australian batting failing in the first Test and thereby losing the game. That would call for an interesting series. Oh wait, England is the opposition and they have their own problems with Freddie and KP. Aussies might just get lucky. They should have come to India again. Dhoni would have improved his number in 'matches won' column.

[hassan_113]

I was lucky enough to be at Edgbaston for the 4th and final day of the 2nd Ashes test in 2005...this year will not match the quality but may produce some drama. What we definitely know this time is that it is not no.1 v no.2 like last time. 12 months ago I would have said Australia, 6 months ago England and 2 months ago Australia...but with the confused pick of Watson and McDonald over Symonds and England back in form and Anderson looki ng excellent and Broad looking good, it will be close. Although England are not world beaters, I think Ponting, Hussey and Clarke will not score as heavily as some think. That said, Hughes will do well. Australia's bowling attack should consist of Johnson, Siddle, Clark and Hilfenhaus. That's 2x 90mph (one left-arm, one right-arm), one line-length seamer and one quick outswing bowler. That plus North/Clarke/Katich can see off a weak England batting line-up- well, weak against good attacks. The series will not be heavy scoring unless the pitches are total pancakes. But if I was both teams, I would choose the following:- England Strauss Cook Bopara Pietersen Collingwood Flintoff Prior Broad Swann Anderson Sidebottom Australia Hughes Katich Ponting Hussey Clarke North Haddin Johnson Siddle Clark Hilfenhaus

[Mr. Wicket]

The Sun made their thoughts on the selection very clear:

[graphic23]

Wow, thats amazing. :hysterical: