*Official* Second Test at the Adelaide Oval

[Spikey]

Vale.

Like MJ, she's being replaced by someone better:

 

[superkingdave]

I wasn't referring to to any of the posts in here, just mentions of it in various articles etc. E.g. on Michael Vaughan's twitter:

"Johnson Axed by the Aussies... Expected.. Tail starts at 8 now.. Doug and Harris look like playing".

Michael Vaughan is pretty much an idiot these days.

 

[Redbacks]

Dougeh!!!

 

[Redbacks]

Yeah he is better overall (and probably has more potential to increase his average). Johnson, though, is clearly in a trough in his career at the moment, which could explain why his magnificient shield form suddenly disappears when he is playing tests. There is no reason to believe Harris will perform so poorly when he makes the transition to tests again - he is in excellent shield form, like Johnson, however he doesn't have any of the mental issues going on.

I'm a bit more emotionaly tied to the comparison as Harris obviously had plenty of chances to show his alround ability whilst playing for SA when we were s***.

Johnson should have 2 test hundreds, and just knocked one down at shield level, it has occured frequently enough to suggest it is no fluke to me. Should be dropped due to poor bowling form though.

 

[vcs]

Johnson doesn't struggle against spin so much as hit out against it. He's wrecked Paul Harris, Adil Rashid and briefly Swann before now. He's really just a glorified slogger with some good shots, not unlike Swanny himself.

When has he gone after Swann? He did play one good innings in India TBF and might have hit Ojha around a bit. It's just that his technique makes him look really vulnerable against spin.

 

[zaremba]

Harris in amazing form

Hussey suddenly in dreadful form

 

[Ruckus]

Apparently England have settled with the same 11...which imo is good news for Aus.

 

[Prince EWS]

Apparently England have settled with the same 11...which imo is good news for Aus.

Well they were hardly going to change it, were they?

 

[pup11]

Apparently England have settled with the same 11...which imo is good news for Aus.

How's that good news for Australia!? One can debate that Tremlett is a better bowler than Finn, but other than that there is hardly anyone on the sidelines who deserves to be selected ahead of the blokes who are in the XI.

 

[Ruckus]

How's that good news for Australia!? One can debate that Tremlett is a better bowler than Finn, but other than that there is hardly anyone on the sidelines who deserves to be selected ahead of the blokes who are in the XI.

Finn's position is really all I was talking about. I think Tremlett and Shahzad look better, and there were rumours at one stage of the latter making an appearance instead of Finn.

 

[marc71178]

Only from one journalist.

Fact remains that he's not even in the squad, so won't be making an appearance tonight.

 

[sledger]

Finn's position is really all I was talking about. I think Tremlett and Shahzad look better, and there were rumours at one stage of the latter making an appearance instead of Finn.

Haha, was clearly never going to happen.

 

[Furball]

Finn's position is really all I was talking about. I think Tremlett and Shahzad look better, and there were rumours at one stage of the latter making an appearance instead of Finn.

Finn's done nothing that merits him being replaced though.

 

[pup11]

Johnson's axing is a much welcome change, its something that should have been done long ago so that he could have gone back to the drawing board to work on his shortcomings. In the end the selectors probably have done him more harm than any good by treating him like a protected specie, hope he takes this in a positive way and comes back a better bowler.
Also reading reports that they are gonna be dropping Hilfenhaus for Harris which is quite ridiculous, I don't have any problems with Rhyno getting picked but it shouldn't be at Hilfy's expense. We should just drop Doherty to accommodate Harris in the XI.
Personally I rate Doherty pretty highly as a one day bowler but test cricket is just not his thing and they are just wasting a slot by having him in the test side, might take a 5-for now since I have said this but still it doesn't change the fact that his bowling isn't cut out for red ball cricket.
So my XI for the test would be :
Katich
Watson
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Hilditch's boyfriend
Haddin
Harris
Siddle
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger

 

[Ruckus]

Haha, was clearly never going to happen.

Yeah probably not, and I'm grateful for that.

Finn's done nothing that merits him being replaced though.

Would indeed be harsh to drop someone after a 6-for, but doesn't change my opinion of who I think looks more dangerous out of Finn, Shahzad and Tremlett. Finn was alright, but the scorecard flatters him imo. Was very impressed with both of the others in the Aus A game.

Anyway, adios muchachos...

 

[Son Of Coco]

Miles wide of the mark.

Runs are important whoever scores them, and runs from numbers 7-11 can frequently have an enormous impact on the course of a match.

If you have a crap tail (if you're talking about England in the 90s, think Caddick, Malcolm, Tufnell, Mullally) then when you lose your 6th wicket you're basically sunk. That becomes a big point of weakness for your team.

Still have to choose your best bowlers though. A fine example of this is Ashley Giles over Monty. Bowlers are there to bowl, of course it's nice if they can bat and benefit the team. If they're not bowling well however, then the batsmen aren't going to step in and do their bit with the ball (for the most part). You'd hope both would do their job and the others won't have to try to make up for it.

 

[pup11]

Finn's position is really all I was talking about. I think Tremlett and Shahzad look better, and there were rumours at one stage of the latter making an appearance instead of Finn.

Finn and Siddle's 6-fers at the Gabba are gonna ensure that they play through atleast till the 4th test regardless of how badly they perform from now onwards, and guess that's something that's likely to hurt both teams during the course of this series.
Btw... read somewhere that the curator at the Adeliade oval has changed, so can we now expect a slightly more sporting pitch there!?

 

[social]

Backing North to score plenty in this test

 

[pup11]

Still have to choose your best bowlers though. A fine example of this is Ashley Giles over Monty. Bowlers are there to bowl, of course it's nice if they can bat and benefit the team. If they're not bowling well however, then the batsmen aren't going to step in and do their bit with the ball (for the most part). You'd hope both would do their job and the others won't have to try to make up for it.

True... couldn't agree more with this, when as a team you are struggling to take 20 wkts then all you should be doing is picking bowlers who can together form a decent enough bowling attack to take those required wickets, their batting credentials should hardly be a concern.
Also its not as if Johnson's batting efforts in recent times were any better than a tailender's.

 

[pup11]

Backing North to score plenty in this test

Yeah... he's due for a 100, isn't he..!?