If I am not mistaken, this could be the first time Australia is picking a Test squad post McGrath and Warnes retirement.
Unfortunately, my only source of inside information on Australian cricket ,Uncle J rod, has turned into a soothsayer. So I am forced to depend on news reports to keep track.
The names of Jacques,Hodge and McGill are being bandied about. Others like Hussey are either injured or recovering. Clarity still in the offing.
Another thing I noticed was that none of these players are spring chicken.Their median age is 30. Reminds me of quiet a few debutants of England. Hopefully, Australian cricket will not go the English way.
This change of guard is interesting in another way. The performance of the new inductees will be a good indicator of how cricket in Australia has grown under the giant shadows of Warne and McGrath.
Will these guys pass muster?
5 comments:
This is indeed the first test without both Warne and McGrath (the ODI team has won the past two World Cups without Warne). Langer is also gone, leaving a gap as opener.
As you point out, Jaques is favourite to replace Langer, but the Australian selectors have made some really dumb decisions over the years. There is some rumours going round that they would prefer to move Mike Hussey up to open, so that they can play both Watson and Symonds in the middle order. This is a great way to ensure that world cricket becomes more competitive.
In terms of the bowling, both Johnson and Tait are in line to replace McGrath. Both are still young, but at this time, Johnson certainly would appear to have the front-running. There is more rumour, however, that the selectors are considering not playing a spinner at all, and putting 4 front-line quicks on the park. Big mistake in my opinion.
Stuart,
Will spinners succeed?
Particularly, when playing against India and Pakistan.
Warne excepting for occassional success was never at his penetrative best against India.
No finger spinners ever succeed in Australia (well, not quite true. Jim Laker had a good series back in 1958/59). Leggies do much better - Shane Warne's record against India and Pakistan is much better at home than away. Remember, Warne didn't play the last series in 2003/04.
Stuart,
On Warne:
What I was driving at in my hare-brained way was that he was not as phenomenally successful (His strike rate) against India.
BTW, How about Abdul Qadir? Was he successful?
I heard Hogg was to be inducted into tests.
By the way, some good gent somewhere heard my complaing about the lack of Ozzie domestic cricket telecast and there it is!...on Star Cricket. Saw a bit of SA and Victoria the other day. This will help us know the domestic players better and follow the potentials.
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