140 x 2 for Travis

[Donny]

Slow news day so I thought I'd introduce you to Travis Birt. A 25 y.o. left hander who bats in Tasmania's middle order. He's playing for Derbyshire in England. In the current County match, he's 140 n.o. after scoring 140 in the first innings. Those twin centuries are just his 8th. & 9th. in first class cricket.

[Donny]

Derby has 3 Aussies in their top 4. First innings: Birt 140. Michael Dighton (also a Tasmanian) 40 and Simon Katich 41. Second innings: Birt 151 n.o. Dighton 42 and Katich 100 n.o.

[Donny]

The Katich ton took him over the 1000 mark for the County season. 1083 @ 83.3 The other two to pass 1000 are Mark Ramprakash and David Hussey.

[Donny]

Birt out for 162. A fine double. 302 for the match. Kat is 121 n.o.

[varun]

Are the Aussie players that come and play in England, usually one of the better ones in the Aussie league ? Or is it just a means for up-and-coming players to gain some experience ? I'm asking because it seems as if the whole county scene is dominated by Aussies.

[Donny]

It's a mixture, Varun. This season, we see ex internationals like Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Simon Katich, Michael Di Venuto, Jimmy Maher, Stuart Law (although he's now an English citizen), Matt Elliott, Andy Bichel, Matt Nicholson and Murray Goodwin all playing. Of those, only Simon Katich has any chance of playing for Oz again and that's fairly unlikely. Then we have the younger players honing their skills for possible national selection - Cameron White, Marcus North, David Hussey and Travis Birt. Those 4 are all stars for their respective states with White, captain of the Victorian Bushrangers, probably closest to the big time. He's already played in 16 ODIs and a T20. You'll notice, other than Stuart Clark, none of the top Aussies amongst those named. I'm not aware they've been told or asked not to play but it's possible as the programme, starting with the T20 World Cup, is hectic for this summer and 2008 and includes 23 Tests and numerous ODIs.

[Ram]

Donny . Why is it that the majority of the Aussies who do well in county cricket turn out to be batsman ? Is there any specific reason for that ?

[Cricketics]

nice.. Travis Birt hmmm simon katich, o hez playin county now.. poor guy.. good player but may be not good enough for final aussie 11..

[Donny]

Katto has had his chance, tics. :regular_smile: mm. it's crossed my mind as well. Of all our bowlers, only Warney, Dizzy and Nicholson are full time. Stuart Clark, Bic, Doug Bollinger and Ashley Noffke have taken up limited contrats. Of our other top bowlers, McGrath, Tait, Johnson, MacGill, Hilfenhaus, Lee and Bracken have either played none, or very little County cricket.

[Chandan]

What happened to Chris Rogers? He was playing in Panesar's county last year and is supposed to fill the void left by Langer in the coming season in Australia?

[Donny]

Chris has had a run of outs for Northants, this season. Just 274 runs @ 27.4 Fortunately for Rogers, Phil Jaques hasn't been setting the world on fire either - 467 runs @ 36. I prefer the moving of Huss up to open with Hayden and Brad Hodge to return, at #5.

[Chandan]

But your selectors won't agree with your idea, Donny.

[Ram]

The second string Aussie players have lot to look forward to. I was seriously surprised Hayden and Gilchrist didnt retire from ODIs after the world cup. Its only a matter of time before a big void is created in the Aussie team ,with many stars retiring. Many places will be up for grabs. Its for these guys to be ready to capitalize.

[Donny]

The point is more there WOULD have been a big void if Gilly and/or Hayden retired along with Pigeon, Warney, Langer & Martyn. I believe Gilly and MH were talked out of joining them for this reason. To have to replace both openers, 2 of the country's best ever bowlers and a keeper such as Gilly could have been too much. As it stands, Stuart Clark has already stepped in for McGrath, two exciting talents, Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Tait, are vying for the third seamer's spot, Michael Clarke has taken over the #4 spot from Marto without much drama, Hussey solidifies the middle order and batsmen are lining up to replace Langer. Of course, it will be big a challenge to cover for Warne.

[observer1]

does tait bowl a good beamer?

[Ram]

It will be a MASSIVE challenge for Australia to cover for the retirement of such greats like Glenn and Shane. Batsman can be replaced without ado , but not champion bowlers. It will be interesting to track the progress of Australia over the next 5-6 years in cricket. They might dominate the world for another 15-20 months maybe , after that i expect their domination to wane. I am also eagerly looking forward to their next tour to India. That will give a VERY good indication as to where they stand. I have always believed that great teams are made of once-in-a-generation players. Australia was gifted with 3 even 4 such players till recently. However , good the cricket system place is there , it will be almost impossible to produce players of such calibre.

[Donny]

You could say that about Oz teams from the start of their domination - round about the '87 World Cup. Are all these once in a generation players ? Allan Border, Dean Jones, Mark Taylor, Michael Slater, David Boon, Mark & Steve Waugh, Ian Healy. All have been successfully replaced. Even the great Glenn McGrath has almost reincarnated in Stuart Clark. First 9 Tests: 47 wickets @ 17.8 Impossible ? No. It's happening.

[Ram]

Donny.. The real test of Clarke's pedigree will come when he plays in the sub-continent. His style of bowling thrives on even some small help from the pitch and conditions. When that help ceases to exist , you will begin to see figures like 1-90 , 2-130 start coming. And Australia was a GOOD Team from 87 to say 96. It was after that , when they started dominating world cricket. Is it no co-incidence that , this was the time when Mcgrath, Warne , Martyn , Langer all came into their own as outstanding performers ? Shaun Tait is an outstanding prospect , but he has had a mixed career so far. As much as Michael Clarke is a good batsman , he has shown he can get inconsistent too.

[Donny]

It's Clark, mm. He can only do what he has done. I simply pointed out what he's done so far. Very impressive and consistent, especially when you consider there's only 1 5fa in his 9 Tests but still averaging better than 5 wickets per Test. Could you please point out the bowler friendly wickets he's played on so far and why Ntini, Pollock, Steyn, Lee. Kasprowicz, Flintoff, Hoggard and Harmison didn't do nearly as well in those same Tests ?

[Ram]

Sorry for that spelling error Donny. I always get confused between Michael and Stuart's surname. 5 of Clark's test matches were in Australia. The other three of them were in South Africa if i recall correctly , where he did brilliantly. He is a good bowler no doubt, but i think we must see him perform in subcontinental conditions too , before labeling him as Mcgrath's successor. One more factor that could go against him -- His Age.