Does Sayers get a gig for SA atm? Haven’t heard much about him in recent times.
Been injured
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Warner is a rare talent though TBF. I doubt that Maxwell would of reached anywhere near those heights as his technique is still pretty ordinary. He could have had a decent career as a test number 6 ala Andrew Symonnds.
It doesn’t help when you don’t get on with the players who wield power either
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FMD!
Hohns said the “door is not closed” on Shaun Marsh returning to the Test squad, with the Ashes series in England coming up later in the year.
“Shaun certainly hasn’t done what we would like him to have done over the last period,” Hohns said.
“I’m sure he would say the same thing. As far as the Ashes goes that’s a little way off. He now has an opportunity in one-day cricket to get some form back.”
I’d put money in him going to England. He is a class above most at SS level and I’d bank on him scoring a mountain of runs in the remainder of the Shield season.
Not saying it’s right but if he makes a couple of hundreds in the SS he will be on the plane to England
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Sounds about right on S.Marsh. But how many players have been dropped at age 35 and recalled at age 36, which he will be by the time the Ashes rolls around in the middle of the year? Normally that would be curtains…
What do you mean by top order batsman though? Pretty much everyone who batted in the top 6 in tests in the 90’s and 00’s batted top 4 in the shield. I think if you’re not batting top 4 in shield you’re not getting enough of a challenge
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So at what point do you say “you have failed far too often at international level and it’s time someone else had a chance”
Because to me this bloke has had far too many chances already. There are other players out there that don’t even get the opportunity to show how they would go, let alone develop a career, because Mr Perpetual Failure keeps getting chance after chance after chance.
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I totally agree. Smarsh should never be near the test team ever again. I don’t care if he scores 2000 runs each shield season for the next 5 years.
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As I said, I didn’t say it’s right but it’s what I see the selectors doing.
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Sadly, you’re probably right.
If the selectors even think about picking him again, they should be deported immediately and never allowed back in the country
Does Bancroft usually keep?
I wouldn’t call him a specialist keeper. But like Handscomb you pick him as someone who can do a job behind the stumps so you can play an extra bat/bowler/all-rounder rather than a specialist keeper who might not be good with the bat…
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Top order is usually considered top 3, fundamental difference is that they are used to or prefer facing the new ball.
4, 5, and 6 (and 7) are traditionally considered middle order they usually have a more well rounded technique capable of facing spinners and quicks, most importantly they have the temperament required to rebuild an innings should the top order fail. Michael Hussey is the best modern example imo.
You can, and most teams usually have 1 player in the middle order who is considered a counter attacker, who like hitting the team out of trouble, Gilchrist a good example.
I reckon there has been a trend lately, post Sachin, where the best batsman has batted at 4, instead of the traditional spot of 3.
90s and 00s were an aberration as far as batting depth went, there are only two batsmen in Australia that would have been considered for the aussie team and both of them are banned.
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Was a specialist keeper at underage level and plenty thought of his as one of the most talented amongst the ones coming through. He has kept at SS level and is a far better glovesman than Wade. He only stopped keeping for WA because Whitman was rated as slightly better with the gloves
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And now Inglis looks settled as the WA keeper…and makes quality runs.
We certainly do seem to have a lot of wicket keeper batsmen in the shield competition. Tassie have 4 or 5 in their XI from memory
Yep, it was crazy in that era:
Steve Waugh, Ponting, Hayden all ended up averaging 50+
Lehmann, Martyn, Mark Waugh, Langer all ~45.
Backed up by two of the greatest bowlers of all time.
In most of our golden eras there has been atleast 2 NSW players batting in the top 4-5.
The lack of talented NSW batters coming through the underage ranks is very concerning
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M Waugh 41.8
G Matthews 41.1
D Jones 46.5
Just while we’re keeping score.