Need of grafters.

[Warne]

A very disturbing sign for Australia is that they are not playing a lot of overs. If Australia is missing anything the most, it's not the bowlers, it's the presence of disciplined batters. A Langer or a Stephen Waugh or a Damien Martyn is being missed. Scoring at 4 per over & pushing for a win is fine & bowlers usually don't disapppoint, but when the moment calls for grafting, Australia is falling short. 8 out of 10 times Australia are pushing for a win & getting it, but when they are on the backfoot, thise grafters are sorely missed. Any upcoming batsman who can do it? From the current side, only Clarke seems to be capable.

[acker]

Dont know about grafters.

But batters comfortable playing with in their own personal abilities.

Clarke does it, Hussey mostly does it and Symonds surprisingly does it more often than not.

Gilly seldom does it, Ponting is having problems keeping control on it, Hayden speculates but it usually pays off.

Jaques is getting there definitely on the right track, Rogers thanks but no thanks.

Haddin and Ronchi (Gilly's suitor's) interesting battle ahead. Both attacking but Haddin seems very complete at the moment.

[Warne]

Playing within your abilities is fine, but when the abilities of most of the players are similar, it becomes a bit too one-dimensional. There was a Langer to mix caution with Hayde's aggression, Steve Waugh & Damien Martyn to lend stability among stroke players like Ponting, Mark Waugh & Gilchrist. As I've said Clarke seems to be able to do it & probably Jacques will develop into one. The team is rebuilding & it'll take some time.

[Rachael]

Is the problem really one of discipline and willingness to graft? I don't see that as a major issue: Hayden, whatever his faults, ended his 2005 Ashes campaign with an ugly but effective innings... Ponting's ill-discipline is restricted mostly to his mouth and manners... and whilst I don't think he should be let near the side... I'd be the first to acknowledge the way Symonds plays for the team - rather like Flintoff, he'd bat whatever way he was told to bat! Even Gilchrist has occasionally played a mature innings...

As I see it the problem is more one of technique: Martyn was the last Aussie batsman to be truly comfortable lingering on the back foot and playing the ball late (using the pace on the ball). Hayden's too flat footed and his response to swing is to try getting ever further forward to avoid LBW... and Symonds is worse. Is Hussey a significant improvement in terms of deft touch?

I don't think it's that they can't graft... it's just plain lack of ability that's always going to be found out against the swinging ball.

Australian selectors have long gone for batsmen who can destroy opponents when the runs are there for the taking ahead of more sophisticated batsmen with the talent to cope when it counts.... and I think it says a lot about Australian outlooks that folk would rather have a Steve Waugh type batsman to battle against swing despite similar limitations to the above than to have a Mark Waugh type batsman whose game is sophisticated enough to cope with swing.

I may be misreading the situation... but right now I suspect most Aussie fans would go for Sangakkara ahead of Jayawardene as a batsman, and there's hardly a player of the modern era better at countering swing than Jayawardene.

Adding Sangakkara to the current Aussie team would just re-inforce already strong areas.... as adding Jaques has done (which is why that was a mistake). I'm not sure who is the answer though...

[Warne]

It's not that Langer or Steve Waugh didn't have any flaws in thier technique, almost every batsman has... it comes down to the attitude to a large extent. In the current team only Clarke seems to have this in abundance, maybe Hussey to some extent. Ponting has been the best batsman in the world for the last 4-5 years & apart from his weakness against late swing, I don't see any follies in his game & he's capable of almost anything. Hayden makes up a lot of his technical shortcoming with his physical attributes & his record shows his capability to play long innings consistently. Hayden is very unlikely to edge a ball going to the backfoot, because his body covers a lot of width & usaually only has a chance of edging it when he attempts a drive off the frontfoot. Symonds & Gilly at no.s 6 & 7 are suited for their jobs perfectly.

Probably Australia are sometimes missing the stabilty & calming influence of Damien Martyn, who also scored a lot of runs.