It’s a general indecision that’s the problem. When he first came to the crease, his footwork was much more decisive and he looked much more assured. Played a couple of nice drives, looked confident and assertive. But as the runs started to dry up he became more and more tentative. No idea how to unlock the inner self confidence and belief, he could do with a healthy dose of “bazball not giving a ■■■■” to be honest.
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Ronny will be talking about learnings if we lose this inside 3 days.
Agree with you on Green and most things bill but I don’t think it’s an indictment on the shield that green averages so well. Just shows the gap in quality and perhaps some other mental demons he has playing with pressure.
I thought he may have been a long term #4 but he clearly isn’t.
I think realistically he should be competing with webster for 6, Inglis is probably competing for 5 from head.
We urgently need 2 openers and a first drop which like you said is fully on the selectors for not doing something sooner when it’s clearly been on the cards
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I still don’t mind him batting at 4, but to do that Smith either has to move up to 3 or we wait until Smith has retired.
I don’t think it’s #3, but really it just all depends on being able unlock his inner belief at the top level. He was averaging 60 in first class cricket when he first got picked in the test team and for anyone who has actually watched it is regarded as clearly better than anyone else in the country at that level. Any time he goes back to 1st Class level he just makes heaps of runs. He knows he’s the dominant player at that level and he just goes out and does it.
The coaches (and Captain) need to work out how to unlock that for him consistently at test level. It looked like that was happening in New Zealand, so the back injury couldn’t have come at a worse time. Clearly there’s still work to be done.
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The only other realistic alternatives you have for the opening spots are guys that have been tried and found wanting in the past in Bancroft and Harris. I’d say Renshaw too but he’s been in poor form for multiple seasons in the Shield. There aren’t too many new faces who have really been kicking down the door in terms of the top 3 batting spots. Should they have persisted with McSweeney? Perhaps. They are looking to persist with Green, which is fine given his age, but he’s not a Test #3.
4/92 at Stumps. The game rests on the bats of Head and Webster. Another 100+ from this partnership would be golden.
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Yeah sadly there’s a Will Pucovksi sized hole at the top of the order. Where to next is a big old question mark.
Unless something goes dramatically wrong in the next 2 tests, it’ll be Khawaja and Konstas for the Ashes.
The #3 spot could still be up for grabs and that could impact on the #6 spot. Green bowling again could force Webster out of the side and then all of Marnus, Patterson, Sangha, McSweeney could be in a bat off for that spot at #3.
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And they’d already changed it at 15 or thereabouts. That’s absurd. Three cricket balls in 33 overs.
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Unfortunately Green seems to be almost paralysed with anxiety. His feet and hands are atrocious. He struggles to get his innings going.
With all the hype and unmatched. output he reminds me of G Hick who was similarly over hyped. He averaged 52 in FC and 31 in tests. Very similar to Green. Some players just can’t handle test cricket but look like world beaters at FC level.
Green is a number 6 and it should be out of him and Webster for that spot. Webster is averaging 46 in tests.
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and Phil Hughes, would have been a hell of a combination.
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Green looked a bit better today, in tough conditions and a very good attack. He’s a number 4:for me.
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Seaming a lot. Grass coverage is patchy so it’s probably a bit two paced as well. That and a few bad shots here and there. It’s not impossible to bat on but the ball is doing a lot. You wouldn’t ever feel “in” on this pitch I reckon.
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Not to mention some up and down…
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It’s certainly not helping Green that he’s basically opening the batting at 3 because our openers are incapable of seeing off more than 10 overs.
Green’s not a number 3 batsman. He’s in the team for his……umm…height?
He’s a 6 not a 3 or 4
SK isn’t ready. Inglis may get a chance as WK in the future.
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He averages over 50 batting at 4. So it’s not out of the question that he could succeed there.
It’s all a bit experimental, however you set it up. If I was batting at #3 whilst Konstas was charging the opening bowler, getting dropped , playing invented shots etc , then I’d find it impossible - especially as a shoehorned #3 with little experience in the role- to settle. And as I said after the Boxing Day test, if you are going to play Konstas then for the first stages of his career you have to suck it up and accept the lunacy and potential unsettling of your own lineup, not just the opposition bowlers.
And then you have Inglis at #4, who similarly feels like a player pressed into a non ideal role. So he’s going to need time to adjust to the level.
Right now, our top order is a high risk taking kid , an almost gone 38yo who is now half a yard behind the really quick bowlers, a number #3 who isn’t really a #3 at this point , and a #4 who probably is lineball for the Test 15 squad let alone the key batting position in any order.
That’s the reality. It’s all compromise period, its gonna be all over the shop , and your asking all of them to learn on the job.
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Shamar Joseph has his man in both innings. Guess Ian Healy should STFU.
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Always.
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Devil’s avocado… better to do it in a series against the Windies than an Ashes?
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