Watson's layoff & consequences

[Nostromo]

With the latest of a long line of injury spurred absences, Shane watson in unlikely to be available to play again in this World Cup before the semi-finals. IMO that's a pity because he was beginning to show some promise as an all-rounder; yes, I know about his limited bowling so far, but that can only improve with match practice. The trouble is, Oz do not have a readymade replacement all-rounder in the Caribbean on a similar mould because they dropped Cameron White. Sure, they are doing so well that they may not actually need watson's services until the semis, but it is always useful to have a well rounded team available to choose from. So unless the Oz management are planning to send Watson home and replace him with White, they may have to rethink their line-up.

One option is to replace Watson with Hodge, in which case Symonds will have to bowl all his 10 overs as will Hogg unless Clarke gives a hand. The alternative is to bring in Stuart Clark, but that will leave a long and weak batting tail after Hogg at No:7.

Of course, Oz have all these options and can still afford to leave out Mitchell Johnson. Anyone remember him? I still cannot fathom why he was chosed ahead of White. For all the use he has been at this World Cup, he might have done better watching it on TV from Oz.

[Moss]

Clark should be playing anyway, ahead of Tait.

[Younis Khan #1]

Originally Posted by Moss

Clark should be playing anyway, ahead of Tait.

Disagree completely. That express pace is so important in any attack, and clarke is not a good ODI player anyway.

In time i think Tait can be a great ODI force.

[Quagmire]

Defiantly Tait in the side if you have a quickest bowler in the world why not use him, if he can worry top class batsman with his pace it is a big plus for any line up. Watson is a loss but Hodge will come into the side and Hodge can bowl quite good off spin in a Clarke or Symonds mould plus his batting strengthens the side hugely. This is how is see the bowling line up.


Bracken (10 overs) - no 1 quick
Tait (10 overs)
McGrath (10 overs)
Hogg (10 overs)
Symonds (5 overs)
Clarke (5 overs)
If needed Hodge can role his arm over for 2 or 3 overs.

[Mozza3]

The loss of Shane Watson is a major blow. Whoever they replace him with will strenghten one component(batting or bowling) but weaken the other. I'd say Hodge will be given the nod, which would give their batting order an almost frightning menace but their bowling in which many teams fancy their chances would be seriously under threat. Sure Bracken, McGrath and Hogg have been great but if one of these guys is having a bad day along with an erratic Tait and the rest of the overs coming from Symonds and Clarke their could be teams fancying a 350+ total. I think if Tait doesn't perform against England on Sunday they'll drop him for Clark just to make the bowling a bit more stable.

[Nostromo]

Originally Posted by Mozza3

The loss of Shane Watson is a major blow. Whoever they replace him with will strenghten one component(batting or bowling) but weaken the other.

Precisely. That is why I felt that Cameron White and not Mitchell Johnson should have been chosen. White would have been a natural replacement for Watson, while Johnson thus far has been a complete fish out of the water. With Stuat Clark and Shaun Tait ahead of him to fill that flexible bowling spot, Johnson has no place at all in the team.

[Quagmire]

What do you mean that Johnson has been a fish out of water just look at his ODI career so far. The young Australian bowlers have actually been quite good in there short careers. Johnson has actually been better than Tait, Johnson just struggled in New Zealand. They just need to work on getting there economy rates down, but they are very capable of playing a lot of ODI cricket at the top level.

Comparing Johnson to the rest of the newer bowlers who are fighting to get into the side.
Johnson - 18 matches, 26 wickets at 27.88, bb 4/11, Econ 5.33, Sr 31.38, 2x4w
Tait - 9 matches, 13 wickets at 32.61, bb 2/43, Econ 5.61, Sr 34.84
Watson - 62 matches, 59 wickets at 33.84, bb 4/39, Econ 4.85, Sr 41.83, 2x4w
Clark - 24 matches, 35 wickets at 31.82, bb 4/54, Econ 5.48, Sr 34.80, 2x4w

Watson has an advantage because he is a better batsman than he is a bowler, Tait has enormous potential, Clark is not an ODI bowler. Its hard on Johnson because he has been up to scratch but just lost he spot in the side because of his poor tour of New Zealand where. Tait played two games in New Zealand where he was wicketless in his first game then took 3/81 which was very expensive when New Zealand chased down 300+.

Johnson good performances.
4/11 against India - wickets of : Dravid, Tendulkar, Pathan & Yuvraj Singh.
3/40 against England - wickets of: Pietersen, Dalrymple & Harmison
2/34 against England - wickets of: Bell & Nixon
2/27 against New Zealand - wickets of: Fleming & Taylor
4/45 against England - wickets of: Strauss, Flintoff, Dalrymple & Plunkett
2/24 against Bangladesh - wickets of: Nafees & Rafique

To say that he is like a fish out of water is a bit over the top he has been successful against some good batsman.

[Nostromo]

OK, maybe I was being a bit harsh on Johnson, but the point remains that he cannot be an effective replacement for Watson because he (Johnson) cannot bat. Johnson can fight for his place with Clark & Tait, but if Watson cannot play (as now), you need a player who can do bit of both to replace him. Cameron White may not be in the best of form, but at least he can bat & bowl on paper and deserves a chance. One cannot be assessed if he is not allowed to play.

[Quagmire]

I rate Hodge as a better bowler than White, White is still a youngster he is 23 years old I like his batting but his bowling is not potent enough. White should get footage of Kumble and work his game at trying to be a similar bowler they are both very tall bowlers who do not spin the ball like a Warne or MacGill but subtle variation and a very good wrong-un is that White has going for him and it is very similar style to Kumble.

[acker]

I reckon Watson is carrying to much weight, and its contributing to the soft tissue injuries. I'd like to see his latest skinfold tests.