No Mr B, I was NOT crying into my beer, I was asleep when all this was happening....
What can I say? I'm devastated...and feeling a bit humiliated of course. Really NOT a good weekend for Australian sporting teams as I mentioned above. There's a lot I'm gonna talk about, so forgive me for the Sydney morning diatribe....
eric generic wrote:
It would be nice if the ECB used this victory to start the rebuilding process for the future, rather than let the same old rubbish keep their places.
EG.
I have to agree with you, except change the cricket boards around to Cricket Australia. We're starting to do it, however, there's still a lot that can be learnt from this and should be learnt from this.
Let's start with the
positives:1. Peter Siddle & Ben HilfenhausOur 2 highest wicket takers during the Ashes should stay in the team for the upcoming summer series. Don't see why they should lose their spots to make way for Brett Lee or Nathan Hauritz to return cos both have been pretty darn good throughout the Ashes series. Think these 2 deserve a permanent spot in the team line-up.
2. Nathan HauritzMaybe, just maybe, Australia have found the answer to the spin bowling issue??? Still a bit of a question mark there, but maybe if he'd been in the line-up for the Oval, we might've won. Then again, you never know. His efforts haven't been too bad for someone who was criticised far and wide (not just in this country) for being in the side.
3. Kato (Simon Katich)Handy with the bat and in the field. Ok, so at times he wasn't THAT brilliant, but he was better than some other people in the side in the batting ranks! Must admit, I have a soft spot for the guy, he's been wonderful at the top of the order and I do believe he's a bit underrated.
4. Marcus NorthI'm damn sure he's nailed down the all-rounder position gap left by the wayward Andrew Symonds now. Definitely good with the bat and when tossed the ball, he wasn't too shabby either in this test.
5. Finding a decent back up wicketkeeper in Graham ManouAfter Gilly retired, we knew we had Brad Haddin as a back-up. Post Brad Haddin, it wasn't looking too good for a back-up in case he was injured or he made an early retirement. I think Graham Manou filled his shoes pretty well in Edgbaston and did a good job, since Haddin was criticised early on in the series, especially at Lords. Haddin is safe though, I don't think we tend to drop wicketkeepers that much.
Negatives1. The Australian selectors and their selectionsMy biggest gripe about this whole series is with those people. Why they didn't include Stuart Clark for at least the first 3 Tests is beyond me. They could've thrown Mitchell Johnson out (especially when his bowling was atrocious) and put Clark in instead. Not to mention not including Nathan Hauritz in this last Test....although I guess they *may* have got it right by omitting Phil Hughes and putting Shane Watson in at the top of the order, but I don't think that should be a permanent thing since he's not a specialist top order batsman, he's an all-rounder.
2. Our at times wayward bowlingI'm talking to you Mitchell Johnson. Bowled like a drunk most of the time and paid the price for it. The golden boy of the 08/09 summer series looked like a chump in England and definitely didn't play up to the hype that (I guess) the English media was saying beforehand. Didn't even play up to our expectations either. I'm hoping his position isn't all that safe in the side, but I doubt it when you have pea-brained selectors like we have.
3. Mike Hussey(EDIT: Ok, so he scored a century, but....) Struggled for form all series, just like he has for about the last year. His problem is thinking too much....which isn't going to do us any favours when he gets out cheaply. Once the golden man who could get us out of any sort of trouble, we needed the circa 2006 Mike Hussey in the side throughout this series, not the over-analytical guy he is now. I do think that dropping him might do wonders for us and his game, however, at the age that he is (about 33-34 methinks), he might not make it back into the side and may as well kiss his international career goodbye, which is a shame cos I do know he is an excellent cricketer when he gets it right.
4. Not being able to seal the dealMcGrath & Warne never seemed to have this issue, which is why we're STILL going on about how much we miss them, despite the fact that they've been retired for 2 years now. The current lot of Australian bowlers just can't seem to get the opposing tailenders out cheaply and quickly and thus we see them piling on the runs (and the pain). We should've done it at Cardiff, but as usual, Ricky Ponting wasn't exactly tactical. I know our tailenders can do it too, so maybe its an issue of every team nowadays, that the tailenders have been getting in some batting practice and can score more than your usual duck or single figures.
5. The weight of expectationThis is more about Phil Hughes than the team as a whole. Golden in South Africa, troubled in England by Steve Harmison exposing his weakness with the short ball in the tour match prior to Cardiff (?). Having seen that, England knew they had a weapon up their sleeve and they definitely knew how to use it. Shame that he got dropped after the first couple of Tests cos I do believe he is talented, however, that weakness is dangerous for a guy who's meant to set the tone for our batting and it does need work. I don't think high expectations from Australia helped either....happens all the time though. Happened with David Warner last summer in the 20/20's and one-dayers, expected him to go out and do what he did in his first international 20/20 game all the time (he got picked for one-dayers before he'd done it in first class cricket!) and didn't live up to his initial over-zealous hype. Happens all the time with any young dazzling cricketer here.
I think that's it. Ricky Ponting definitely won't be around in 2013, although if he is, I think it'll be out of desperation to right the wrongs of Ashes past more than anything. Michael Clarke should lead us in the 2013 series methinks. Will be interesting to read in the media in the next couple of days and weeks about who's gonna take the blame for this series loss. My guess is the media will make Ponting a scapegoat rather than the selectors and umpires. Always happens.
Speaking on the umpiring issue, I can see what the ICC is doing in regards to not allowing umpires from competing sides to umpire matches (so as not to show bias to one team or another in decisions) however, after this series I think that rule does need to be looked at as EG. Dunno about Aleem Dar so much, but I know at least Rudi Koertzen & Billy Bowden have had several shockers and should be put out to umpiring pasture. Or at least refresh their skills elsewhere.
All I can say is I hope we redeem ourselves during the one-day series. I'm sure there'll be several fresh men for our side, although I'm not sure who will be coming in and going out. I know Simon Katich is cos he doesn't play one-day cricket for us (and he's going to some Don Bradman tribute function on Thursday, found that out in the paper), so my guess is Shaun Marsh is coming in there if he's fit. Maybe Brad Haddin will get rested for a few games and Graham Manou will debut in the one-day arena...that'll depend on if we've won the one-day series already, we tend to take the foot off the pedal a bit then. I guess Michael Clarke might captain a match or 2 as well.
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