Are Australia any good when they step outside of Aus/SA?

[Guest PrancingHorse]

I think Clarke is massively overrated as a good player of spin, largely because of his debut against India I think but really he has not shown any mind blowing performances against spin. But still he is Australia's best player of spin in the 5 day game.

[BeautifulGame]

I think Clarke is massively overrated as a good player of spin' date=' largely because of his debut against India I think but really he has not shown any mind blowing performances against spin. But still he is Australia's best player of spin in the 5 day game.[/quote'] Smith is their best player in all forms vs spin Clarke even in the debut series scored 100 in a flat 1st day Banglore wkt and then twice got lucky latter in the series due to the inept Karthick keeping

[rkt.india]

Where are the results then? this is his 4th consecutive loss as captain in Asia, and none of them have shown him to be attacking sort of a captain. He's gifted with better bowlers but can't use them properly? Did you watch how badly he used Lyon in this match? Was terrible to see him reduced to a darter on middle and leg when he was a different beast altogether in the ODIs under Bailey. The Clarke love, gosh, I'll never understand.

Gifted with bowlers. No, you need good spinners in Asia, which he does not have. Another thing, Asians generally play spin well in their own conditions, like Australians play pace well in their own conditions.

[Spiderguy252]

Wow, they're getting tossed around like a ragdoll.

[SLICKR392]

Clarke. Aussies. :hehe: Saffers drew in in UAE. Prolly the only team who does well away. SL doing well too, but yet to play a full fledged series away under Mathoos.

[Pagalpanti]

Aus have always struggled vs India away and now add Pak/UAE to that list. Otherwise they've pretty much won everywhere else.

[Precambrian]

Aus have always struggled vs India away and now add Pak/UAE to that list. Otherwise they've pretty much won everywhere else.

England?

[BeautifulGame]

England?

Until the 2005 ashes the practically owned england for nearly 2 decades

[-Robin-]

England?

they won every single ashes between 1989-2005

[bowl_out]

Aus batting line up is pathetic. I really doubt this team will do well in Australia, forget overseas... Johnson, Siddle and Starc can notch up good pace and trouble the batsmen in pacy Aus conditions, but they don;t seem to have the batting to back it up

[nevada]

No, they are FTBs - fast track bullies.

[Switchblade]

"Michael Clarke’s unorthodox captaincy unsettled his own players" : Ian Chappell http://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/...-1227109662101 IT was as though losing the toss in the second Test unnerved Michael Clarke; he was flummoxed for the first time since he took over the Australian captaincy. His rash of bowling changes and constant unorthodox moves in the field, suggested Australia’s constant failure on dry dusty pitches had finally got to him. At the end of his tether, it was as if he decided; “Let’s try something — anything — to try and manufacture a different result.” In the end, the constant changes in approach unsettled his own team more the Pakistan team. If there’s only one judge in cricket — the scoreboard — then there’s no doubt his panicky approach suited Pakistan. A bowler — pace or spin — needs to settle into a rhythm and work on a plan for a period of time. When fieldsmen are constantly being changed, the bowler feels the pressure to come up with a quick result and consequently he doesn’t settle into a rhythm of thought or deed. If ever a pitch cried out for the metronomic relentlessness of Glenn McGrath, it was the bald, brown and lifeless strip in Abu Dhabi. When Clarke eventually produced a unique fielder placed behind the bowler’s arm, it was the last roll of the dice before the white flag was hoisted. As an opposing batsman I would’ve been torn between the desire to annoy in return by asking the umpire to make Clarke provide a reason why it wasn’t purely a ploy to distract the striker and the need to remain silent as Australia needlessly wasted a fielder. The only time the Australian fast bowlers looked like succeeding was when they delivered a ball on a length that brought the batsman forward and on a line where he had to play. McGrath made a substantial living out of repeatedly producing such testing deliveries. A major concern in this Test series (apart from the result) is the effort expended by Mitchell Johnson, which may mentally deflate as well physically drain him for the summer that follows. I suspect the sight of the ball flying from a bouncy Australian pitch will be the ideal remedy for Johnson, as long as the back breaking effort in the UAE doesn’t hasten an injury. In the case of premier spinner Nathan Lyon his problem was simple; not enough deliveries tempting the right-handers to drive through the covers and far too many that allowed easy runs on the on-side from the relative safety of the back foot. The cover drive is the hardest shot for a right-hander to execute against an off-spinner who curves and dips his deliveries. It opens up so many avenues for an ambush; bowled through the gap, caught behind the wicket or at bat pad, lbw, or stumped. The Australian batsmen will now face many similar challenges on a testing surface where they have little else to play for but pride. If it hadn’t been for the typical sub-continent approach of Pakistan, where individual statistical accumulation overrides the only true reason to play Test cricket — for a team victory — then Australia could have been in even deeper trouble earlier. Australia’s batting woes are partly due to some players having a method predicated purely on survival. This allows the bowler to immediately assume authority, whereas a mental approach that combines both survival and prospering keeps the balance between bat and ball even. Then there are others whose back foot swivels in defence. The latter defect causes the bat to travel across (rather than down), the line of the delivery and hence the number of players being dismissed by deliveries that go straight on. The adjustment a batsman has to make from low to high bouncing pitches is far greater than the other way round. Australia’s batsmen have failed to negotiate the easier transition. It was also evident from the occasional spells from part-timer Steve Smith that Australia has paid a high price for neglecting what used to be one of it’s greatest assets in Test cricket; the development of high class leg-spinners. Even though Smith is erratic, his good deliveries created far more concern than any other Australian bowler. It’s pointless yearning for another Shane Warne every time these situations arise, as his class is rarely repeated. However, it’s not asking too much to expect a Stuart MacGill type should always be available and one good leg-spinner could’ve made a huge difference in this series. As it is, Australia will return home empty-handed but this will soon be forgotten when they prosper on pitches that favour their methods. However, for those players who love the challenge of succeeding under all conditions, there’ll be a slightly hollow feeling as they experience the joy of triumphantly lifting the Border — Gavaskar trophy.

[India-KXIP fan]

When was the last time South Africa lost a series in the subcontinent and UAE? :hmmm: Can't remember. I know they drew vs India and Pak, beat SL. Gernerally very strong at home bar the excellent Aus side that beat them. True number 1 but still not a great team due to how they allowed Aus to beat them convincingly. No excuses. Kallis/Steyn whtever, thrashing is thrashing.

[Old guy]

When was the last time South Africa lost a series in the subcontinent and UAE? :hmmm: Can't remember. I know they drew vs India and Pak, beat SL. Gernerally very strong at home bar the excellent Aus side that beat them. True number 1 but still not a great team due to how they allowed Aus to beat them convincingly. No excuses. Kallis/Steyn whtever, thrashing is thrashing.

They lost vs Sri Lanka and before that in India I think

[Lord]

They lost vs Sri Lanka and before that in India I think

They beat SL and drew vs us

[Old guy]

They beat SL and drew vs us

Not this time but one before that He is asking which team beat them last in sub continent and I think it was Sri Lanka they dominated them but this time south Africa won with epic draw in 2nd test match

[Lord]

Not this time but one before that He is asking which team beat them last in sub continent and I think it was Sri Lanka they dominated them but this time south Africa won with epic draw in 2nd test match

yeah they beat SA when Murali was there

[BeautifulGame]

I think SA hasn't lost an away series for nearly 7-8 years I think..Since they lost the 2006 series in Srl Amazing record their problem they draw way too many tests

[Spiderguy252]

This Pak vs NZ series has showed how hopeless Australia are compared to the competition.

[adi B]

It does but the fact is that this nzl side has played a good amount of test match es in SC.they got schooled by india and bdesh in 2011,2012 but they did get experienced and got used to the conditions in the subsequent tours.drew a series in lanka and now against pak,definitely playing in India and bang helped them learn more and grow as players