Boxing Day Test : discussing the Australian attack and Final XI

[Old guy]

yep paatinson looks impressive but on these tracks any one will look gr8 tbh this time attitude of yadav ,ishant ,zaheer is good they are taking it series .. they are already talking abt adjusting lengths (which is the only prov yadav will have) so im not worried.. worry begins when there are 2 injuries and mithun comes in LOL

[deathmonger]

yep paatinson looks impressive but on these tracks any one will look gr8 tbh this time attitude of yadav ,ishant ,zaheer is good they are taking it series .. they are already talking abt adjusting lengths (which is the only prov yadav will have) so im not worried.. worry begins when there are 2 injuries and mithun comes in LOL

lost his bite once it flattened out.

[Old guy]

lost his bite once it flattened out.

thats why i wrote this ;)

[deathmonger]

Boxing Day Test: Ponting, Hussey in. Shaun Marsh unlikely to be fit. http://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/cricket/shaun-marsh-unlikely-to-be-fit-for-boxing-day-test/story-e6frg26c-1226221096739 http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/marsh-unlikely-for-boxing-day-test-20111213-1ospx.html harris and watson are injured

[Cricket Tragic]

I think that Watson will be back but he might not bowl.

[99.94]

Harris said he should be okay for the first test. "I'm aiming for Boxing Day and if it keeps going up like today (fitness levels) I will be available for it, but first of all I've got to be picked," he said. He also said that if he gets injured again he'll probably have to quit test cricket :( "One more (injury) and I'm probably done," admitted Harris, who in eight Tests in the baggy green has taken 35 wickets at an average of just 21.37. "I haven't been told that officially, but in my mind, at 32 ... Test cricket is something I love, but you have to be playing two, three, four Tests in a row. Not just one and then missing two or three. "I'm sort of a bit scared about that to be honest. I don't want to give up playing Test cricket but I don't know why my body is going like it is."

[J P K]

Harris said he should be okay for the first test. "I'm aiming for Boxing Day and if it keeps going up like today (fitness levels) I will be available for it, but first of all I've got to be picked," he said. He also said that if he gets injured again he'll probably have to quit test cricket :( "One more (injury) and I'm probably done," admitted Harris, who in eight Tests in the baggy green has taken 35 wickets at an average of just 21.37. "I haven't been told that officially, but in my mind, at 32 ... Test cricket is something I love, but you have to be playing two, three, four Tests in a row. Not just one and then missing two or three. "I'm sort of a bit scared about that to be honest. I don't want to give up playing Test cricket but I don't know why my body is going like it is."

he should quit ipl not test cricket

[SachDan]

Fading champions Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey are guaranteed selection for the Boxing Day Test against India - and beyond - after Australian coach Mickey Arthur revealed an exit plan for the veterans had not even been discussed. Calls for their heads grew louder after both failed again in a remarkable collapse of 8-74 in Hobart yesterday as New Zealand snatched its first Test win in Australia in 26 years. Ponting extended his Test ton drought to 31 innings in the second trans-Tasman clash in Hobart. And Hussey's second golden duck in a month capped a second straight horror series with the bat. Out-of-form opener Phil Hughes will be axed. Arthur believed selectors would engage in "healthy debate" over the rest of the batting order with Shane Watson expected to return and Tasmanian opener Ed Cowan a chance of being handed a first Test cap. But Shaun Marsh is almost certain to be unavailable, as his back problem has not improved sufficiently to allow him to play in next week's clash between the Chairman's XI and India in Canberra. Arthur - one of five national selectors - said there were no plans to dump 36-year-olds Ponting and Hussey any time soon. He is a man who can make tough calls. His sacking of underperforming fast bowler Makhaya Ntini in politically sensitive South Africa during his stellar stint as Proteas coach shows that. But Arthur said preparing for life after Ponting and Hussey had not been discussed. "We haven't even come to any thought of how we manage any exit for any of those players," he said. "In my opinion they still have big roles to play because we do need some experience in our middle order, there's no doubt about it. "The key for us is to get them up firing for Australia on Boxing Day because they are the key." Watson (hamstring) will be summoned to Melbourne in the coming days to assess his fitness. His likely return, the consideration of Cowan's credentials and Ponting and Hussey's retention may spell trouble for Usman Khawaja, who has notched just one half-century in six Tests, averaging 29.22. "It's a bit early to speculate on a top seven," Arthur said. Veteran wicketkeeper Brad Haddin was another feeling the heat after Australia's first Test loss to New Zealand since 1993. Condemned for his rash dismissals in the Cape Town debacle against South Africa, Haddin was at it again in Hobart with two reckless shots in Australia's time of need. A fit Tim Paine (finger) would apply enormous pressure on the 34-year-old. But in the meantime it seems Australia are content to "take the good with the bad" with Haddin. "I think in between that (Cape Town and Hobart) there was a matchwinning innings in Johannesburg - you do take the good with the bad," Arthur said. "I still think he is a hell of a player with a huge amount to offer." But Arthur added: "One of the key words I used was resilient (after the Hobart defeat). "I was a little bit disappointed how we folded." Fast bowler Ryan Harris (hip) is also expected to be fit for Boxing Day. http://m.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/ponting-hussey-in-for-boxing-day-test-20111213-1ost6.html

[Magneto]

Hughes says that he is fit and raring to go.

[cowboysfan]

anyone else worried about mini sehwag(Warner)? he really goes after bad balls and we have a great bad ball bowler in Ishant who is guaranteed to be targetted by warner,even ashwin is not immune to giving away 4 balls.

[Magneto]

anyone else worried about mini sehwag(Warner)? he really goes after bad balls and we have a great bad ball bowler in Ishant who is guaranteed to be targetted by warner' date='even ashwin is not immune to giving away 4 balls.[/quote'] Sehwag is Warner's guru. He'll keep him under control.

[Feed]

Shaun Marsh gone, Shane Watson in race for Boxing Day More.. Shaun Marsh gone, Shane Watson in race for Boxing Day BY: WAYNE SMITH From: The Australian December 14, 2011 SHAUN Marsh will almost certainly not be ready for the Boxing Day Test while Shane Watson is to be brought to Melbourne early to assess what he is capable of so that Australia's team to play India can effectively be selected around him. Hopes that Marsh, who is averaging 56.80 after just three Tests, would return at the MCG from the lower back injury he sustained last month in Cape Town all but evaporated yesterday when he was ruled out of the second Chairman's XI match against India at Canberra's Manuka Oval starting on Monday. Cricket Australia's general manager team performance, Pat Howard, conceded the left-hander basically had run out of time. "While we are hopeful, Shaun's chances of recovering sufficiently in order to be considered for the first Vodafone Test against India are considered unlikely at this stage," Howard said in a CA statement. Marsh's scratching from the second Chairman's XI fixture at least straightens out one curly problem for Cricket Australia. It creates an opening in the side for Tasmanian Test aspirant Ed Cowan, who has now been switched over from the first trial match against India starting tomorrow in Canberra, thereby freeing him up to play for the Sydney Sixers in the inaugural Big Bash game at the SCG on Friday night. A solid performance as opener against India certainly would do Cowan's Test prospects no harm but just how seriously he is considered by the selectors will depend on an assessment over the coming days of Watson's fitness. Watson's recovery from his hamstring problems was complicated last week when he developed a minor calf muscle strain and while neither injury threatens to keep him out of the Boxing Day Test, it's still unclear how much bowling, if any, he can take on. "We're going to assess Shane a bit earlier in Melbourne," said Australia's head coach Mickey Arthur. "We've got to balance out how many overs we can get out of him, because that's going to determine the balance of the team." Arthur conceded that if Watson demonstrated he was capable of playing a full all-rounder's role in the Melbourne Test, then the moment might have arrived to lighten his batting load by moving him back to the middle order. "It could do," Arthur acknowledged. "It's been speculated a huge amount. I think we've got to come to a point now where we make a decision on where Shane is going to bat in the batting order and how many overs we expect of Shane so there can be no more debate around the issue. We probably need to give him role definition before the Boxing Day Test match." Some certainty is the least that Watson deserves. Equally, there is no way the selectors can sensibly name a team until it has been established just what he can and can't do. If it is determined he is still not fully fit or can operate only as an opener, then there is a strong case for bringing the Hobart Test 12th man Dan Christian into the middle-order as a seam bowling all-rounder. Certainly that was the solution put forward yesterday by former Australia opening batsman Matthew Hayden. "If I was picking the team now I would bring in Christian as an all-rounder and get Michael Hussey to open," Hayden told The Australian. "That way you keep your interior decorators or middle order intact." Another variable in the selection conundrum is the indifferent recent form of current No 3 Usman Khawaja but Hayden believes John Inverarity and his co-selectors should persist with him. "I am taking a bet on Khawaja being a very fine player for Australia for a long time and whilst he's not producing hundreds yet, he is Test worthy," Hayden said. "In my ideal world I would select Marsh as opener and Watto (Watson) but they are both injured. I have got to get an all-rounder in the side. I can't stand watching Ricky (Ponting) and Huss (Hussey) bowling overs. That is just ridiculous." The quicker the selection jigsaw puzzle is assembled the better because Arthur realises Australia's Test batsmen need to get into the swing of the coming Indian summer quickly to counter the looming threat of Ishant Sharma. "The swinging ball was one thing that again probably exposed us a little bit," Arthur said following the seven-run loss to New Zealand. "That's going to be top of the agenda to work on before Boxing Day because I know (India coach) Duncan Fletcher really well and I know he'll try and expose us with the swinging ball. We need to put a hell of a lot of work into that, especially with our top seven batters."

[MCcricket]

Irfan for Mithun as backup simple, Ashwin, Zak, Umesh Ishant look good, if everyone stays fit, we will win or draw series.

[1983-2011]

i dont think ishant will be good in aus this time round.

[MCcricket]

Shaun Marsh , Warner are biggest threats to India in terms of form , also their IPL experiences and aggressive game, both are talented, not sure about Ponting, Clarke will be average, Watson a threat if he is fit.

[Trundler27]

Hughes says that he is fit and raring to go.

That is similar to our very own V Ko-maar saying that he is raring to lead the indian attack :hysterical::hysterical:

[MCcricket]

I have no doubt if our bowlers are fit , they will outbowl Aussies,Ishant not only brings it in now, also moves the odd one away,has learnt to bowl fuller, bowls at pace, Zak is charged up, Umesh is a natural, Ashwin can play anywhere with his game also a good bat, six batsmen, one allrounder, 4 wicket taking bowlers no passengers like before except for the reserve bowlers , bad choices, especially Mithun.

[deathmonger]

Boxing Day Test : discussing the Australian attack and Final XI

I have no doubt if our bowlers are fit ' date=' they will outbowl Aussies,Ishant not only brings it in now, also moves the odd one away,has learnt to bowl fuller, bowls at pace, Zak is charged up, Umesh is a natural, Ashwin can play anywhere with his game also a good bat, six batsmen, one allrounder, 4 wicket taking bowlers no passengers like before except for the reserve bowlers , bad choices, especially Mithun.[/quote'] lots of ppl undermining our fast bowling. umesh and ishant will rock it in oz.

[Old guy]

about bowling u can just feel it or imagine it these guys doing well in england u just couldn't umesh yadav if he performs is a big big plus hope htis eries is really good for him cos we need strike bowler once zaheer retires

[ViruRulez]

I would like Kohli to occupy the UV berth. Rest we should go with our full strength test batting team. I bowling, it should be Zak, Umesh, Ashwin and Ishant.