Bracken in Williams out - you have to be kidding

[CatManDo]

Nathan Brackens selection at the expense of Williams for the first Test is bordering on a disgrace.

Now I must give credit where it is due. So I say well done to Nathan Bracken with his efforts in the recent one dayers, and Im sure he is keen to get his 4 day game back on track following his inept efforts in the last Shield season.

But after being arguably Australia's best fast bowler in the last Test match that Australia played, then having a solid one day tournament, it is an absolute slap in the face for Williams to be dumped from the team. He's busted a gut to get where he is, he's clearly an important asset to the team, and now he gets replaced in favour of a bloke who has done little to earn his spot.

The only reason Im so bitter about this is because, for a guy on the fringe of the Test team, this would count as a big blow to Brad Williams.

Left hander or not, Bracken has seemingly jumped a decent sized queue in maintaining his presence in the international arena and, now, getting in this Test team. A queue full of blokes that have outbowled him for over a year now in the longer version of the game, and a queue that is headed by one B Williams.

A big thumbs down to the selectors efforts on this choice from me.

 

[Hit And Rum]

If I was Williams I would be very dirty.

Not a good example for the selectors to set to our cricketers:

"Try hard do everything right, play in the previous test and then get dropped".

Stick at it Brad.

 

[dodgey]

Bracken plays for NSW ....Simple


David Hookes was saying on radio the other day that Steve waugh has been having a go at him for 2 years for making those remarks .....

Hooksey just replied...."When it changes, i'll stop"

 

[My North]

Originally posted by dodgey
Bracken plays for NSW ....Simple


David Hookes was saying on radio the other day that Steve waugh has been having a go at him for 2 years for making those remarks .....

Hooksey just replied...."When it changes, i'll stop"

good on ya hookesy you victorian

 

[Hit And Rum]

I was hoping not get sucked into the old NSW therefore automatic selection argument vut you know what.......****IN DEADSET RIGHT!!. I am p1ssed off go Williams!

 

[kyza47]

ITs a joke

 

[Zeke]

It is a disgrace, it always has been a disgrace, and unless the selection commitee stops the bias towards NSW players, it always will be a disgrace.

 

[The Passenger]

Bracken has jumped a very sizable queue to get into this test team.........He can count himself very lucky.

 

[Bombers_Forever]

Originally posted by My North
good on ya hookesy you victorian

Hooksey is a champion!

Williams deserves better- then again, they dropped Love after scoring a century so form does not matter. Williams has every right to be dirty.

 

[Hit And Rum]

Williams will be back! Stronger, badder, meaner and hopefully leaner!

 

[CatManDo]

Originally posted by Bombers_Forever
Hooksey is a champion!

Unfortuntely, most of Hookes' outbursts are rendered insignificant because of his ridiculous Victorian bias. He seems to take offence at every Vic player that is not selected.

Keep working hard Brad williams your time will come! Im sure Nathan Brackens one dimensional bowling will come unstuck against some of the better Indian batsmen.

 

[Russian]

I reckon Bracken got in coz he swings it - suggests we would've bowled first. Williams should be straight back in for the 2nd test in Adelaide

 

[harry_hawka]

Oh give me a break.

Sure, Brad Williams has done everything he can to stay in the side in recent months, and he is incredibly unlucky not to be playing. But c'mon, you people can't seriously think the reasoning is because of that pro-NSW theory?? It's called variety, something Australia wouldn't have much of if Williams was playing.

The left-arm swing of Bracken will prove to be a very important part of this test match, with the Indians previously showing they struggle against this type of bowling. Bracken will be Australia's trump card in this test, and his ability to swing the ball both ways should prove crucial in troubling the dangerous batsman such as Tendulkar, Sehwag, Laxman and co.

There's no doubt Williams is unlucky not to get a go, but the team is bigger than the player, and Bracken certainly gives Australia variety and options in their attack.

 

[The Spornstar]

Originally posted by harry_hawka
Oh give me a break.

Sure, Brad Williams has done everything he can to stay in the side in recent months, and he is incredibly unlucky not to be playing. But c'mon, you people can't seriously think the reasoning is because of that pro-NSW theory?? It's called variety, something Australia wouldn't have much of if Williams was playing.

The left-arm swing of Bracken will prove to be a very important part of this test match, with the Indians previously showing they struggle against this type of bowling. Bracken will be Australia's trump card in this test, and his ability to swing the ball both ways should prove crucial in troubling the dangerous batsman such as Tendulkar, Sehwag, Laxman and co.

Inness would have given that same variety as a left armer and has a far far better record in the longer version of the game than Bracken.

Bracken's selection for the Sydney test against Zimbabwe was an absolute disgrace (I know he was only 12th man but still that's what's kept him in the team). His selection for this test is a disgrace too, but hardly surprising. Sure it may not be NSW bias, but the cards always seem to fall nicely at the selection table for the cockroaches, no doubt about that. I feel very sorry for Inness and Williams

 

[Milenko]

Terrible decision by the selectors. WIlliams got absolutely shafted.

When "variety" becomes a key selection criteria over form there's something seriously wrong with our selection policies.

The only reason Bracken got picked on the India ODI tour was because the selectors rememberd him dismissing Tendulkar a few times in the previous tour of India.

DISGRACE!!!

 

[Unwritten_Law]

Personally I don't think either of them are much chop. Bring on Noffke, Rofe or Inness.

 

[fitzmantle]

Disgraceful decision.
No doubt Bracken will get a bag of wickets to justify his position but quite frankly a monkey butler would get a bag against the Indians.

 

[DaveW]

Well there's some good news for Warriors fans.

Apparently Williams will be released to play for WA this weekend.

 

[harry_hawka]

Originally posted by Milenko
Terrible decision by the selectors. WIlliams got absolutely shafted.

When "variety" becomes a key selection criteria over form there's something seriously wrong with our selection policies.

The only reason Bracken got picked on the India ODI tour was because the selectors rememberd him dismissing Tendulkar a few times in the previous tour of India.

DISGRACE!!!

Why do you make it sound so simple and trivial? 'Oh yeah Bracken dismisses Tendulkar a few times, but it's no biggie.' Of course the selectors remember Bracken dismissing Tendulkar several times IN INDIA. Of course the selectors remember Bracken troubling both Tendulkar and Sehwag to the extent that they were so confused as to where the ball was going that they missed some balls that would usually sail towards the boundary. Of course the selectors will remember this, because hardly any other bowler in the world has been able to do this against Tendulkar on Indian pitches.

Bracken hasn't performed better than Williams for a long period of time, and if long-periods of good form is the only way a player should make a side, then Williams is very stiff. However I believe there are other means to selection, the main one being what is best for the Australian cricket team according to the circumstances of each test match. The Gabba conditions, coupled with the fact that the Indian danger players have struggled against Bracken recently, clearly points to Bracken being the right man for the job.

The Adelaide test will be re-assessed accordingly.

 

[Fraka]

I agree Harry,

Huge Williams fan...but Bracken bowled MILES better than Williams on the Indian tour,adds variety and if he can swing it half as far as he did in India he will get a few "victims" this test

 

[Freo Big Fella]

You can't use Bowling performance in India to justify bowling selection in Australia. Nearly all Australian pitches(with the exception of the SCG) are at the complete opposite end of the scale to Indian Pitches.

 

[Fraka]

You can't use Bowling performance in India to justify bowling selection in Australia. Nearly all Australian pitches(with the exception of the SCG) are at the complete opposite end of the scale to Indian Pitches.

Freo Big Fella,

Bracken was all over Sehwag and Tendulkar(to a degree) like a cheap suit,recent good form against them is as good as any.....besides "Dizzy" will probably get them all anyway

 

[Freo Big Fella]

Originally posted by Fraka
Freo Big Fella,

Bracken was all over Sehwag and Tendulkar(to a degree) like a cheap suit,recent good form against them is as good as any.....besides "Dizzy" will probably get them all anyway

Fair point on Sehwag, however you can pretty much pin Tendulkars dissmissals on him trying to slog Clarke and Symonds to raise the run rate(which was being deflated by poor efforts from Laxman and a couple of other overrated indian Batsmen[A Mr. Ganguly comes to mind in the last game before the final]) and being caught or bowled cheaply.

Too right about Dizzy as well .

 

[The Spornstar]

Originally posted by Fraka
I agree Harry,

Huge Williams fan...but Bracken bowled MILES better than Williams on the Indian tour,adds variety and if he can swing it half as far as he did in India he will get a few "victims" this test

For God's sake, are we forgetting that the Indian tour was a one day tour? Williams bowled well in his only test and has been dropped for a one day bowler who bowled well in conditions nothing like that of Australia. It's a farce - as I've said before, Ian Harvey's about as entitled to a test cap as Nathan Bracken is.

 

[ViperV10]

I can understand the selectors' reasoning in putting in Bracken because of his left arm bowling, and his recent form against the Indian's in the one day series. But what I can't understand is why they continue to select players with that sort of reasoning.

The facts are that Inness is a left arm bowler...and far better than Bracken for that matter....and has form against the Indians in the form of a 3 day match. That alone should have him in the team over Bracken he has the form, and is a lefty. Remember he got out 4 key, established Indian batsmen.

But what further hits me is the fact that Inness has taken 203 wickets in Pura Cup guise at 24.75 from 57 games. Bracken on the other hand has taken a massive 85 wickets at 29.37 in 29 games. So not only has Inness got a superior wicket tally and average...but he has played more first class games than Bracken has...giving him more experience. I'm sorry but I don't agree with the selectors in any sense of their decision.

Brad Williams deserves to be in the team, but if they wanted variety then they should not have gone for Bracken