They do, my main concern with it is that it cheapens the series a little bit.
Yeah, I agree with a commentator I heard this morning, it's just acknowledging what is already happeningTiered Test Cricket...
Feels like All Star weekend. Those games tend to not mean anything.
www.foxsports.com.au
Over a 2 year period...
Inglis is injured - not sure if he'll be available for the tour. Looks like they're taking Handscomb instead.
Apparently he MIGHT go for the 2nd Test. Can't see a point to that mind you
No issue with that.
Sounded very unlikely & given already qualified for championship, best to rest him.
www.cricket.com.au
Maybe now he is captain he can have a long hard chat with himself about diving for speccies in slipsWA youngster Connolly bolts into Test squad for Sri Lanka tour | cricket.com.au
McSweeney and Kuhnemann also recalled in 16-man squad to be led by Steve Smith
Happy to See McSweeney back
Smith Captain as we expected ?
Given they’ve been told they need to start regenerating you can’t be that upset with the squad they’ve chosen the only real contradictory actions is they’ve not selected Maxwell & Handscomb as they’re looking to the future yet have found a way to take Sean Abbott a long for the trip who’s an absolute dud at International level & averages near 40 with the ball in ODI’s & over 30 at first-class level & who’s 128-132 km/h dibbley-drobblers are totally unsuited to conditions. (Apparently he’s been taken as a specialist fielderWA youngster Connolly bolts into Test squad for Sri Lanka tour | cricket.com.au
McSweeney and Kuhnemann also recalled in 16-man squad to be led by Steve Smith
Happy to See McSweeney back
Smith Captain as we expected ?
)
Why? Mightn’t be able to coach at BBL level but nothing he’s says here is too outrageous, you can challenge him on is his thoughts on Maxwell but if they needed to win this series to make the WTC final Maxwell & Handscomb would’ve definitely been in the squad.Tim Paine
WHY SAM’S GOT TO COP THE DROP
TIM PAINE - FORMER TEST CAPTAIN
There’s no greater fan of Sam Konstas than me but I’m not sure where hefits into Australia’s side for the first Test in Sri Lanka. I’m a big believer in Travis Head opening the batting in Asian conditions, just as he did successfully in India two years ago.I also still feel Usman Khawaja is better placed than Konstas to open on slow, low-turning wickets, the type we are likely to be confronted with in Galle. More to the point, I wouldn’t be surprised if the same pitch was used for both Tests given they are at the same venue and the second starts four days after the first. A similar situation played out in Pakistan last year when the hosts employed the same wicket – one that had been worn by a full Test – for the second of two Tests in Multan against England. Predictably, it was a spinner’s paradise as Noman Ali and Sajid Khan wreaked havoc. Konstas has ascended so quickly that such conditions will be unfamiliar to him, albeit Australia has a training camp in the UAE to acclimatize for this tour. I would still pick him, at the very least to expose him to these sorts of decks, even if only in the nets.It is such a short series that there will be plenty of time for him to head back to Australia and play in the Sheffield Shield. While Marnus Labuschagne has his critics, he also made a Test hundred in Sri Lanka at his last start. Like the rest of the Aussie top order, he will be relieved to escape the clutches of Jasprit Bumrah. Labuschagne didn’t dominate but in a series in which two Tests finished on day three because of the way ball was tormenting bat, he did OK overall. Steve Smith, who will likely be back as captain, is a lock, while Peter Handscomb makes sense to me at No.5 as a subcontinent specialist. I appreciate the argument that given Australia has already qualified for the World Test Championship final, maybe it is worthwhile to prefer a youngster to a veteran such as Handscomb. I don’t subscribe to it. Every Test is important and the best XI should be picked. Australia has emphasised that the side holds every available bilateral Test trophy, so the Warne-Muralitharan Trophy should not be jeopardized at any cost. On that basis, I would pick Glenn Maxwell ahead of young gun Cooper Connolly.I don’t care that Maxwell has barely played any first-class cricket. His array of shots means he is almost a left-hander and right-hander tied into one, not to mention a very effective extra spin option and brilliant fielder, as we recently saw at the Gabba in the Big Bash. I would keep Beau Webster in the XI on the back of his stunning Sydney debut, along with Alex Carey as keeper. With Maxwell and Webster, I think only three specialist bowlers are needed. Mitchell Starc’s ball speed and reverse swing make him un droppable in those conditions given Pat Cummins will be missing. Matt Kuhnemann should play alongside Nathan Lyon, while Webster is a capable second seam option. Scott Boland is unlucky but what a luxury to leave a player like him on the bench.If conditions were slightly more seam friendly, he would probably playa ahead of Kuhnemann or Maxwell.Konstas, Todd Murphy, Josh Inglis (if fit) and one of Josh Hazlewood (also fitness pending) or Jhye Richardson would be my other squad members. Cameron Green’s possible mid-year return will make things more interesting and at this stage I would expect him to push out Webster. I still have Hazlewood ahead of Boland in the pecking order for the WTCfinal but there are so many moving parts. On that note, while Boland was magnificent in Sydney, that Test pitch was embarrassing. Batting relied more on luck than skill and, although the ICC gave it satisfactory racing, I would be placing the SCG on notice: dish up something like that again and you will be suspended from hosting international cricket.It isn’t a new phenomenon in Sydney. The Sheffield Shield pitch dished up when Tasmania played at the SCG last season was disgraceful
Surely a different pitch on the same square
