Australia doesnt have any fighters left

[ykickamoocow]

After watching Australia last night i began longing for Steve Waugh. Australia lost serveral quick wickets and the rest of the side crumbled. What Australia needs is a young Steve Waugh, a player who will stay at the crease and slowly build up runs and stage a comeback. In 94 against the west indies S. Waugh was the only reliable batter in the Australian side and often Australia lost quick wickets and Steve saved the day with amazing centuries.

The problems with Australiasn batting now is that their is no one who knows how to play under pressure, think about it, everyone of our batters started playing when Australia was already dominent and do not know how to play a differnt sort of cricket when they are loosing. When a team is loosing the batters have to make sure they dont get out, play the safe shots and dont do anything silly, but from what i saw last night the batters dont know how to do this.

I just hope that they will learn to play sensiable and not to throw away their wicket. Times like these require a differnt sort of batting and i hope for Australias sake that they learn it quickly.

[The Phantom Ram]

Shane Warne is a fighter but of course his batting doesn't quite allow him to do what you are longing for.

[TPL288]

Totally agree, since Stevie Waugh retired, they looked towards Katich as the fighter to bat with the bowlers. I think Katich has the temperment but is lacking in the application department (particularly against fast bowlers). He plays spin bowling well.

Damien Martyn should be dropped, as one of the more experienced batsman in Australia, he has not performed well under pressure let alone shown some leadership. He is so short of class compared to Mark Waugh who can take the initiative away from the opposition when they are on top.

[ykickamoocow]

I wonder, if the selectors called Steve Waugh on the phone tomorrow and said "We want you for the forth test, do you want to play" what would Steve do. It doesnt sound as stupid as it would have a year ago and even if he hasnt played cricket in a year and a half im sure he would do better than half the current Australian batsman, aka Damien Martyn and Mathew Hayden.

[greg]

Langer has shown true grit and determination in the series up to now and i have been impressed with Clarke also.As for the rest they are playing too many shots and Katich who is trying to do the Waugh sticking plaster roll is not in the same class and is being found out.

[Lemming]

They do have some fighters, as Greg pointed out Langer looks like he's got grit, Clarke looks a very good batsman but I get the feeling that he needs to play shots and score steadily to be comfortable, even though he may not be being rash.

Ponting, Hayden, Gilchrist and to a lesser extent Martyn only seem to have one way of batting, and that is to counter-attack a large total. It's worked in the past, but I feel mainly because teams have let them get started, bowling on legs or too short etc. These guys seem to exhibit all or nothing batsmanship and it would do a few of them good to play a proper innings.

Katich obviously is a nurdley player, with obvious grit and the capability to stay around, but he's yet to really get stuck in in this series.

Australia can be proud of the grit which comes from their bowlers. McGrath and Warne are both highly competitive with the ball as well as being gritty. Lee also is a fighter and constantly shows grit. With the bat both Warne and Lee showed grit at Edgbaston, aswell as Warne in this test match too.

[Beny]

Ohh Damian Martyn is as big a fighter as they come, anybody who watched him in the sub continent can attest to that. Langer is a rock. Katich is the same... Now about England...? How many Fighters do they have?

[Lemming]

Originally Posted by Beny

Ohh Damian Martyn is as big a fighter as they come...

Yes, that is a good point. I was pretty wrong to call him an all or nothing batsman. He does seem very calm and determined at the crease and I expect his temperament was a major contribution to his excellent record of 2004.

Sorry, that was an err on my part.

[Seamer]

Don't agree. Coming back from behind to win tests have been a feature of this team for the last couple of years. Almost did it again last test at Edgebaston. Wait and see what happens this test. Then see if they can come back against the odds and win the series. They might not have form but i reckon they have plenty of fight in them yet. The chips might be down right now but cricket is a funny game.

[Occasional Fan]

I must say that I am surprised that the bookies already have England as favourites to win the series. It may change at the end of today, of course, but it still struck me as premature. I guess there must have been a load of money stacked on England yesterday to swing the market.