Who should open with Gilchrist?

[Milo]

Symonds should open for Australia. The first fifteen overs with Gilchrist and Symonds (especially on these Indian 300 pitches) would have unbelievable.

[Biddon-Toora]

Hussey for sure, the guys is in form.... let the little C bat!!!!

[Quagmire]

Ok I’m sick of a lot of the English supporters on this thread looking for the littlest things to bag about Australia.

Here are the facts.
Since the Ashes this is Australians results in tests 11 wins, 3 draws, 0 losses, In ODI 24 wins, 1 NR, 8 losses
England since the Ashes in tests 5 wins, 4 draws, 4 losses. (If Pakistan had not walked off the field it would look different) In ODI's 6 wins, 2 NR, 15 losses.

LG ICC TEST & ODI CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Australia 37 mat, 4793 pts, 130 Rating
2. England 41 mat, 4864 pts, 119 Rating
3. Pakistan 30 mat, 3362 pts, 112 Rating
4. India 34 mat, 3780 pts, 111 Rating

5. Sri Lanka 33 mat, 3410 pts, 103 Rating

6. South Africa 34 mat, 3182 pts, 94 Rating
7. New Zealand 25 mat, 2293 pts, 92 Rating
8. West Indies 29 mat, 2080 pts, 72 Rating
9. Zimbabwe 15 mat, 415 pts, 28 Rating
10. Bangladesh 22 mat, 48 pts, 2 Rating

LG ICC ODI CHAMPIONSHIPS
1. Australia 28 mat, 3655 pts, 131 Rating
2. South Africa 24 mat, 2978 pts, 124 Rating
3. Pakistan 23 mat, 2561 pts, 111 Rating
4. New Zealand 18 mat, 2003 pts, 111 Rating

5. India 34 mat, 3780 pts, 111 Rating

6. Sri Lanka 33 mat, 3560 pts, 108 Rating
7. West Indies 24 mat, 2466 pts, 103 Rating
8. England 23 mat, 2278 pts, 99 Rating
9. Zimbabwe 24 mat, 775 pts, 32 Rating
10. Bangladesh 24 mat, 773 pts, 32 Rating
11. Kenya 9 Mat, 0 pts, 0 Rating



Player wise look at apparently the old & weak Australian players

Test Batting rankings

1. Ponting (931) Aus
6. Hayden (808) Aus
8. Hussey (780) Aus
11. Pietersen (760) Eng
12. Strauss (734) Eng
15. Martyn (680) Aus
17. Langer (663) Aus
18. Gilchrist (655) Aus
19. Trescothick (653) Eng
25. Bell (605) Eng
26. Cook (601) Eng
33. Flintoff (580) Eng

Test Bowling

3. Warne (813) Aus
4. McGrath (811) Aus
5. Flintoff (737) Eng
7. Hoggard (723) Eng
11. Harmison (691) Eng
16. MacGill (624) Aus
18. Gillespie (619) Aus
20. Lee (614) Aus
32. Kasprowicz (483) Aus
33. Clark (463) Aus
36. Giles (462) Eng
37. Panesar (452) Eng

ODI's batting rankings

1. Hussey (805) Aus
2. Gilchrist (789) Aus
4. Ponting (758) Aus
5. Symonds (752) Aus
6. Pietersen (749) Eng
11. Clarke (718) Aus
21. Trescothick (662) Eng
29. Flintoff (632) Eng
31. Martyn (622) Aus
33. Katich (618) Aus
35. Hayden (605) Aus
39. Collingwood (576) Eng

ODI Bowling rankings

2. Lee (784) Aus
4. Bracken (760) Aus
5. McGrath (757) Aus
16. Harmison (645) Eng
18. Hogg (626) Aus
22. Flintoff (613) Eng
26. Anderson (581) Eng
31. Gough (541) Eng
39. Watson (511) Aus


One question since the Ashes some people seem to think that England is a far better side than Australia because they beat Australia in England 2-1. When Steve Waugh's Australian team lost to India in India was India going around thinking they were the best team in the world after winning a series at home?

[greg]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

When Steve Waugh's Australian team lost to India in India was India going around thinking they were the best team in the world after winning a series at home?

Well having worked with a load of Indians at the time of that series i can safely say yes they were claiming they were the best side in the world.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Quagmire

Player wise look at apparently the old & weak Australian players

Quagmire,

Sorry if I upset you, all I said was that this Team are old (I never said weak) and that if you don't start introducing guys like Jaques, Johnson, Watson and Cullen soon, then if the older players do retire at similar times (which happened when Lillie and Marsh etc went) then you will take time to recover while these new guys get the experience.

I think a few Aussies have also expressed that they would like to see some of these younger players in the side. The fact is that the BEST time to do it is while you are still strong, when the experienced players are still around and performing.

The worst time to do it will be if Langer, Hayden, McGrath, Gilchrist and Warne all decided to call it a day after the same series.

If I was an Aussie selector I would have tried to find a way of getting Hussey into the team 5 years ago, and not when he was already past 30. The problem is that if you keep introducing guys as late as that then you will never be getting the most out of players.

[Milo]

I think you are dead right FF. You only need to look at the West Indies when Greenidge, Richards, Marshall and Dujon all retired on the same day. Gomes, Holding and Garner all retired at the same time.

What Gillespie and Martyn were doing back in the side last season was a real missed opportunity. Or are Australia saying that the youngesters are simply not good enough. This is probably the real truth. You simply cannot replace the generation of players that Australia have had.

[Mr Hutt]

woooah quagmire.. thats a lot of good research man.. today Team australia is the best team in the world... there are no doubts about that.. they are No 1 in the rankings for a reason people!! However i do agree that in the future... a lot of the aussie greats will retire at the same time and they will have the same problem that the windies has in their rebuilding phase.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Milo

What Gillespie and Martyn were doing back in the side last season was a real missed opportunity. Or are Australia saying that the youngesters are simply not good enough. This is probably the real truth.

My point entirely Milo. I would never say that the current side is weak, the facts prove that they are not. But after the Ashes last year they had a chance to look at some of the younger players and ditch some of the older players. After that series Hayden was dropped from the One Day team, but a year later this thread is asking who should open with Gilchrist, and the fact remains that one of the leading candidates is Hayden.

What does this say about the side in the future, why are there so few candidates that Australia have had to go back to Gillespie, Martyn (Tests) and Hayden (ODI's)?

[greg]

You wonder what might happen after the World Cup as Gilchrist has previously mentioned that as a possible time to go and Langer is already talking about going after the ashes.How many more will see the World Cup just after a home ashes series as the time to step aside?

[Seamer]

I say that the Aus selectors shopuld pull the rug out from under them and sack them before they retire. It's an Aussie tradition and that should be maintained