5th Test Border Gavaskar Trophy January 3-7 1000hrs @ the SCG

[TigerCraig]

Will Starc play?
Will Marsh play?
Will it rain?

So many questions.

Not least, Will this thread crack Legendary Status?

 

[Around the Wicket]

Happy times to see Marsh dropped. He’s played some special games for us in test cricket but he’s largely been useless. Not a huge Beau Webster fan but he’s certainly earned his shot

apart from the 118 against England he hasn't really done much since, few 50's against the crap sides but not much consistency.. shows you need to play all forms to get the ABM these days.

 

[Around the Wicket]

Massive game for Australia.. they let Windies win last Test last year to make it 1-1, they let England come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.. only rain saving them from a 3-2 loss arguably.. can't let it happen again here or it'll be a failure.

 

[peternorth]

How many times will they mention Beau Webster was born in Snug?

 

[eddiesmith]

View attachment 2196478

apart from the 118 against England he hasn't really done much since, few 50's against the crap sides but not much consistency.. shows you need to play all forms to get the ABM these days.

He really is the odd one out on the list, it’s a who’s who of Cricket Australia’s most marketable players and then there’s Mitch.

 

[Gethelred]

Webster in for Marsh is huge.

 

[cats_09]

Great for Australia if true.

Pant is copping all the blame, but he still scored 30 runs in the second innings, which was more than than everyone else (excluding Jaiswal) combined.

Considering the natural game of Pant and Kohli, I think Kohli's shots to get out were just as bad. Kohli fishing at a wide one he should leave isn't much different to Pant trying to smash a long hop.

There's some replies where they aren't upset to see Pant dropped, but they want to see Kohli & Rohit dropped also

 

[sosos]

I think Pant was dropped for incessantly haranguing Sharma to review appeals, and possibly external voices like Sunny "optical illusion, stupid, stupid, stupid" Gavaskar.

I get he played some get out shots, but he's a bit like Travis Head, you have to take the good with the bad and back him in. He's done the job before, and dropping him seems really harsh.

As an Australian fan, I love it as he can dominate with the bat, though I don't really rate his keeping.

Anyone know much about the replacement guy?

 

[peternorth]

Now that he's in officially, where will Beau field?

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Had to happen.

Can't drop McSweeney for not performing and not drop Marsh

 

[Jim Prideaux]

Happy for Webster to get a gig, has earn it. Sad to see Marsh out, but he really wasn’t contributing.

 

[troybe]

Beau Webster #469 Nice

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Common sense prevails. Webster deserves a chance after being the best performed Shield cricketer for the last couple of seasons. He may not be up to test standard but

A) We'll never know if he doesn't play
B) Marsh's spot can't be justified

 

[MrAnonymous]

Bad decision re Marsh.

With Green’s return not far away, why risk ruining the confidence of another youngster when Webster is inevitably dropped to make room for Green?

As for Marsh, even if he faltered with the bat in Sydney, there are seven other people in the side who are more than capable of making up the runs. And we’ve now lost one of the better fielders too.

 

[Jim Prideaux]

I think Pant was dropped for incessantly haranguing Sharma to review appeals, and possibly external voices like Sunny "optical illusion, stupid, stupid, stupid" Gavaskar.

I get he played some get out shots, but he's a bit like Travis Head, you have to take the good with the bad and back him in. He's done the job before, and dropping him seems really harsh.

As an Australian fan, I love it as he can dominate with the bat, though I don't really rate his keeping.

Anyone know much about the replacement guy?

Played well in the tour games (Dhruv), other than that I don’t know a great deal about him

 

[Jim Prideaux]

Bad decision re Marsh.

With Green’s return not far away, why risk ruining the confidence of another youngster when Webster is inevitably dropped to make room for Green?

As for Marsh, even if he faltered with the bat in Sydney, there are seven other people in the side who are more than capable of making up the runs. And we’ve now lost one of the better fielders too.

Greene won’t be available for a while yet, and can arguably bat anywhere in the lineup. Your argument makes no sense as we have a tour of Sri Lanka straight after this, and it would mean carrying Marsh there too

 

[hawkman]

Bad decision re Marsh.

With Green’s return not far away, why risk ruining the confidence of another youngster when Webster is inevitably dropped to make room for Green?

As for Marsh, even if he faltered with the bat in Sydney, there are seven other people in the side who are more than capable of making up the runs. And we’ve now lost one of the better fielders too.

Webster is 31, he isn't a youngster. If he doesn't get this opportunity now he probably never will

 

[eltrain]

Not sure if this was mentioned as part of the discussion on the previous test thread - interesting if true

Think it’s just speculation at this point, but geez there’s a lot of crazy shi happening behind the scenes on the Indian side.

Players leaking to the media about Gambhir’s spray in the rooms after the collapse the other day (seemingly placing the blame on Pant while not directly naming names). Gambhir then arking up in the media about wanting to bring Pujara out here but then getting knocked back by the selectors. It’s Bollywood level drama.

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

Bad decision re Marsh.

With Green’s return not far away, why risk ruining the confidence of another youngster when Webster is inevitably dropped to make room for Green?

As for Marsh, even if he faltered with the bat in Sydney, there are seven other people in the side who are more than capable of making up the runs. And we’ve now lost one of the better fielders too.

Webster is 31, hardly young. Like Boland, he isn't a future long-term player but will hopefully be a more than handy back-up.

 

[Achy Blakey Heart]

Happy for Webster to get a gig, has earn it. Sad to see Marsh out, but he really wasn’t contributing.

Hmmm...I dont know a lot about him, but looking at CI, 31 yr old journeyman. 2 50's in Shield this year. 13 wickets across 4 matches 6 of which came in one match. He's hardly putting up numbers that are convincing tbh, but cant be worse than Marsh I guess, but i feels a bit like the Faulkner/Hastings/Quiney era of awarding mediocre players with a Baggy G....something i really don't like.

 

[western royboy]

Not least, Will this thread crack Legendary Status?

No - last test was unique for many reasons

 

[TigerCraig]

No - last test was unique for many reasons

Don't Stop Believing

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Bad decision re Marsh.

With Green’s return not far away, why risk ruining the confidence of another youngster when Webster is inevitably dropped to make room for Green?

As for Marsh, even if he faltered with the bat in Sydney, there are seven other people in the side who are more than capable of making up the runs. And we’ve now lost one of the better fielders too.

Next test is in SL and we need a Webster type there as he gives an extra quick/spinner. He can’t give us less runs than Marsh anyway the spud averages 30 from 35 tests for goodness sakes

 

[Jimthegreat]

India has to win to keep the trophy Pressure is on them

I would like to see us bowl first India need 20 wickets and with rain around on the last day I would like to see our destiny with he bat be in our hands

Prefer us to bat first then try to bat them out of the game. Draw is good.

Challenge with our batting line up, although we have gone 330, and a couple of mid 400s.

 

[dumb]

had to bring in beau. taking a longer term view (not too long because he's already 30+) it gives the selectors a chance to find someone for the middle order for the next 3-4-5 years.