Watson's layoff & consequences

[Nostromo]

The only reason I said that was because English batsmen in general play pace well. They handled Malinga OK; Lee for example, has never been that successful agaist England and I cannot imagine Tait doing much better. But England struggled against Clark in the Ashes and although he was not that successful in the few ODIs that he played afterwards, I think he has now learned to alter his wavelength to suit the shorter version of the game.

[acker]

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

What i'm saying is, batting is clearly where the aussie's strength lies so why would they want to weaken their most reliable component in favour of an extra bowler which may make little difference to the collective bowling effectiveness, anyway?

Hayden
Gilchrist
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey or Hodge
Symonds

I still that thats enough

unfortunately I dont think

McGrath
Bracken
Tait
Hogg

is enough, furthermore I think it is inviting unwarranted trouble. That bowling lineup looks extremely fragile.

[Nostromo]

Interestingly, Brad Hodge's chance of return to the playing field with a bat rather than a towel has been increased by the man who displaced him in the first place - Andrew Symonds. Symonds has told the Sydney Morning Herald that he should be able to bowl medium pacers as well as his spinners in the England match, thus effectively covering for the absence of the injured Watson. That would mean that batsman Hodge would take precedence over bowler Johnson to actually fill the vacant spot. IMO, that is better for the Oz team.

[Younis Khan #1]

Originally Posted by acker

Hayden
Gilchrist
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey or Hodge
Symonds

I still that thats enough

unfortunately I dont think

McGrath
Bracken
Tait
Hogg

is enough, furthermore I think it is inviting unwarranted trouble. That bowling lineup looks extremely fragile.

Mcgrath? - The greatest WC bowler of all time.
Bracken? - One of the best bowlers of 2006.
Tait? - The Fastest bowler in the world.
Hogg? - One of the best ODI spinner around.


Come on, not too bad.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Mcgrath? - The greatest WC bowler of all time.
Bracken? - One of the best bowlers of 2006.
Tait? - The Fastest bowler in the world.
Hogg? - One of the best ODI spinner around.


Come on, not too bad.

And add Symonds, probably the best 'part-time' ODI bowler in the world. Any unncecessary attempt to add Johnson instead of Hodge will weaken the batting and will amount to Oz shooting themselves in both feet.

[acker]

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Mcgrath? - The greatest WC bowler of all time..

Well since you dont consider age to be a factor Younis why did'nt Pakistan select Imran Kahn, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Abdul Qadir for this World Cup they might of still been in it.

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Bracken? - One of the best bowlers of 2006.

One good year does'nt make a career

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Tait? - The Fastest bowler in the world..

When did he acheive that status ? Mr Malinga may have something to say about as also the temporarily sidelined Mr Lee & Ahktah

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Hogg? - One of the best ODI spinner around.

A bloke playing for Bangladesh called Razzak might have something to say about that as might Daniel Vettori.
Hoggy himself realises he's lucky another Australian bowler retired at the end of the Ashes series rather than sticking his hand up for the tour. If the selectors were faced with the descion Hogg or Warne for the World Cup squad provided Warne played the VB series Warne would have been selected.


Come on, not too bad

[Younis Khan #1]

Mcgrath is joint leading wicket taker so age not making too much of a difference

Bracken has been consistently inexpensive as well as maintaining his good average.

Tait recorded a near 100 MPH delivery earlier in the yr. Only akhtar could beat that and he is not the player he once was. Malinga is quick, but not as fast as tait.
Hogg is undeniably one of the best ODI spinner in the world. Maybe not of the same class as Vettori or Murali, but certainly great.

[Nostromo]

Despite the Bell-Pietersen hiccup yesterday, I still very strongly say that Ponting made the correct decision to go in with Hodge & not Johnson for the England match, though the services of the extra batsman were not required in the end. Tait, Bracken and Hogg all bowled very well. McGrath got his wickets, but went for a few runs when Bell found his range; Symonds is still a bit rusty, but will get better. Keep out Johnson!

I think Ponting should seriously look at juggling the powerplays a bit more. One way would be to open with Tait & Bracken and do the forst 10 overs between them. Then bring on McGrath (or Stuart Clark) and Symonds bowling his medium pacers for 4 overs with a non-PP filed and let the bolwers settle-in. Then have another 5-over PP session followed by introduction of spin and some more overs of non-PP. The final 5-over PP can be introduced around 25th to 29th over by bringing back Tait & Bracken for a brief stint, still leaving those two enough overs 'at the death'.

One advantage with juggling PPs is that it unsettles the batsmen's rhythm and might make them play the wrong shot with some fielders in an enforced but attacking position within the circle. That is why the last PP often seems to bring a crop of almost unexpected wickets

[acker]

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Mcgrath is joint leading wicket taker so age not making too much of a difference.

Yep got me thier Younis he has really got some prized Dutch and Canadian scalps this tournament.

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Bracken has been consistently inexpensive as well as maintaining his good average..

Got me again Younis his recent tour of New Zealand was just so economical and he also bowled well against the dangerous Dutch and Canadian run machines

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Tait recorded a near 100 MPH delivery earlier in the yr. Only akhtar could beat that and he is not the player he once was. Malinga is quick, but not as fast as tait. ..

I thought Akhtah was twice the player he once was with those special vitamins he took. Anyway I'll leave the verdict out on Tait v Malinga until one cracks 161.6 kph

Originally Posted by Younis Khan #1

Hogg is undeniably one of the best ODI spinner in the world. Maybe not of the same class as Vettori or Murali, but certainly great.

I dont think Hoggy is hiring security to beat off the fans at the moment, nor a manager to handle his sponsors

[Nostromo]

It does not matter how many times you say otherwise acker, but replacing Watson with Johnson will be an embarassing disaster for Australia. He should never have been in the Caribbean in the first place, let alone in the final XI of any game. Irrespective of how Bracken did or did not bowl elsewhere, the fact remains that he is bowling extremely well in this World Cup, as are Hogg and (admittedly, to my pleasant surprise) Tait. But I admit that the great McGrath seems to be past his best and should make way for Stuart Clark; then with Bracken, Tait, Clark & Hogg in the team, Symonds should more than be able to fill the 5th bowler's position. He and Michael Clarke were a bit unfortunate to be caught out on a really good batting pitch yesterday. For all you know, Johnson, had he been chosen, might have gone for 7 runs an over.