How will the Test side look for the home and away series against South Africa in 2008/09?

[Fitz roos]

How about looking to the future a bit...
1. Hayden
2. Hughes
3. Ponting
4. Marsh
5. Hussey
6. Clarke
7. Symmonds
8. Haddin
9. Lee
10. Johnson
11. Clark

The bowling is just as good as it is at the moment, with some part time spinners.
Hughes and Marsh bring in some young guys, looking ot the future.
That batting line-up is just as good as it is in India so why not look to the future, this sides no worse then it is in this series

 

[BigCat2]

How about looking to the future a bit...
1. Hayden
2. Hughes
3. Ponting
4. Marsh
5. Hussey
6. Clarke
7. Symmonds
8. Haddin
9. Lee
10. Johnson
11. Clark

The bowling is just as good as it is at the moment, with some part time spinners.
Hughes and Marsh bring in some young guys, looking ot the future.
That batting line-up is just as good as it is in India so why not look to the future, this sides no worse then it is in this series

Looking to the future, then why is Hayden kept (even though he's a gun)?

Really need someone who can actually *spin* the thing to step up.

Probably worth a go, though it'll never happen:

Hayden
Katich
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Symonds
Watson
Haddin
Lee
Johnson
Clark

Pace bowling: Lee, Clark, Johnson, Watson, Symonds (with medium pace)
Spin bowling: Symonds, Clarke, Katich
And bats very deep indeed.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

How about looking to the future a bit...
1. Hayden
2. Hughes
3. Ponting
4. Marsh
5. Hussey
6. Clarke
7. Symmonds
8. Haddin
9. Lee
10. Johnson
11. Clark

How about picking our best available side?

Or are we happy to lose Test series now with a development squad?

"Looking to the future" is such a buzzword.

Ultimately, you pick sides to win on a series-by-series basis.

 

[TheVBomber]

Symonds is crap. let him earn the spot back. 2nd haddinis crap


1.Hayden
2.Katich
3.Ponting
4.Clarke
5.Hodge/D.Hussey
6.M.Hussey(WK)
7.White
8.Lee
9.Siddle
10.Clark
11.Tait

12th man - Johnson

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Symonds is crap. let him earn the spot back. 2nd haddinis crap


1.Hayden
2.Katich
3.Ponting
4.Clarke
5.Hodge/D.Hussey
6.M.Hussey(WK)
7.White
8.Lee
9.Siddle
10.Clark
11.Tait

12th man - Johnson

Shocking.

 

[Fitz roos]

How about picking our best available side?

Or are we happy to lose Test series now with a development squad?

"Looking to the future" is such a buzzword.

Ultimately, you pick sides to win on a series-by-series basis.

The side i picked is just as god as the one playing now.
So if everything went right, we could be developing young players and winning.
Look at Sharma, he wasnt dominating before being selected, and then they took a risk and now he's very good

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

The side i picked is just as god as the one playing now.

Not really - Marsh and Hughes haven't done enough to deserve selection ahead of more accomplished batsmen.

So if everything went right, we could be developing young players and winning.

Or we could pick players on merit rather than age.

Look at Sharma, he wasnt dominating before being selected, and then they took a risk and now he's very good

So what?

That doesn't mean we should throw our pendulum to picking unproven young players instead of taking the guys who perform best domestically.

Sharma's example is irrelevant.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

Hayden (barring a massive form slump or career ending injury I'd say he'll play until the 2009 ashes)
Jaques/Rogers (One of them will have cemented a place)
Ponting*
Hussey
Clarke
"All-Rounder" (They'll continue to persist with Watson and Symonds, if not they'll give it to a part time bowler like Voges, Dave Hussey, Cosgrove or North)
Gilchrist+ (Test only, will have been replaced by Haddin or Ronchi in ODI's)
Heal/Bailey/Cullen (I'm assuming one of them will cement, or will be beginning to cement, an international spot by then. If none of the young spinners are performing, Hogg will probably get the long term gig over MacGill because he's that much fitter.)
S.Clark
Hilfenhaus
Tait

These long term threads are almost always spectacularly wrong though. Just look at the "Who will be Australia's 400th Test Cricketer" thread.

Heh. Amazing how much things can change in a year.

Hayden
Katich
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Watson
Haddin
Lee
Johnson
Clark
Bollinger/Siddle/Hilfenhaus/Magoffin

I've previously been against playing four pacemen, but they'd be insane to persist with White or Krezja. Casson is probably the best of a bad bunch if a spinner is required.

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Hayden
Katich
Ponting
Hussey
Clarke
Watson
Haddin
Lee
Johnson
Clark
Bollinger/Siddle/Hilfenhaus/Magoffin

I've previously been against playing four pacemen, but they'd be insane to persist with White or Krezja. Casson is probably the best of a bad bunch if a spinner is required.

If you're against an attack skewed too much towards pace, then surely Symonds is preferable to Watson at 6.

 

[Fitz roos]

Not really - Marsh and Hughes haven't done enough to deserve selection ahead of more accomplished batsmen.

Or we could pick players on merit rather than age.

So what?

That doesn't mean we should throw our pendulum to picking unproven young players instead of taking the guys who perform best domestically.

Sharma's example is irrelevant.

It's not like the whole side i selected is young.
It's only a few players, with guys like Hussey, Ponting and Hayden helping them develop.
How will it be when these guys leave, and we have to throw guys like Hughes and Pomersbach in with not much experience around them.
Sharma has had the support of guys like Kumble and Sachin

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

How will it be when these guys leave, and we have to throw guys like Hughes and Pomersbach in with not much experience around them.

So the national side is now a development squad?

Australia needs to pick its best side every series now.

We can't carry young players while they develop.

The side will renew itself organically as players retire at different stages. Forcing young players into the side for the sake of picking young players doesn't make sense.

 

[happy_eagle]

So your saying that instead of thinking about the future, and preparing the next crop, we should focus on what the current crop have still got
I guess i kind of agree there, but then the question asks

When do we start getting new blood through ?
Immediately after retirements ?

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

So your saying that instead of thinking about the future, and preparing the next crop, we should focus on what the current crop have still got.

I guess i kind of agree there, but then the question asks

When do we start getting new blood through ?
Immediately after retirements ?

The new crop are being prepared in domestic cricket. That's what domestic cricket is for.

When established players retire, we pick the next best candidate.

There's no co-ordinated policy of "bringing new blood through".

 

[happy_eagle]

Is domestic cricket enough of a "stage" though, for them to do so

The bowlers arnt first class, the pressure often lacks, and the crowds are tiny

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Is domestic cricket enough of a "stage" though, for them to do so

What's the alternative?

Using the national side as a development squad that doesn't necessarily include the eleven best players in the country?

That's not a recipe for winning important series.

People fall into the trap of thinking about cricket as though it's AFL - as though Australia have to bottom out, focus on youth and then rebuild. It doesn't work like that. We need to keep picking the best players available for each series.

 

[i_hate_scams]

you dont need to bottom out in cricket because there is no draft system. you qualify to play for a certain country based on your nationality, thus there is no need to blood players as they are always there at your disposal. only in situations where the player involved has join citzenship does this come into question. however the problem is not huge and i dont think we have lost any decent players from this situation. this is more an issue for australian soccer.

 

[cozmoz]

lets face it, langer/martyn/gilly/warne/mcgrath are champions and if u look at their replacements, with the exception of jaques filling in for langer and symo filling in for marto, other are not the same, katich is ok but he can never be a jl

watson is a dud compared to marto's class

haddin is fine but a nobody compared to gilly, gilly my fav.

warne and cameron white comparison - yes lets not even discuss this

and johnson is understably not at all a mcgrath, sadly, the great aussie team is only an ok team after the legends retiring but they are still good to watch.

 

[TheVBomber]

im tipping holland to play first test

 

[cozmoz]

clark is good, even noffke and hilfy have done well in their limited chances in limited overs cricket

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Hard to imagine any big surprises between now and the First Test against the Proteas.

Clark will replace White and Krejza will hold his place.

Could something come from nowhere?

Could Hayden retire?

Could Lee decide to take some time off?

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

Will Hayden retire?

 

[Freo Big Fella]

Four days ago I would've said no, they'll give him the entire summer, but the form Rogers is showing will be pretty hard to ignore I'd imagine.

They aren't going to drop him for his 100th test, but if he gets another couple of poor dismissals there might be a quiet tap on the shoulder from the selectors.

 

[happy_eagle]

M.Hussey/Rogers
Katich
Ponting
D.Hussey/M.Hussey
Clarke
Symonds
Haddin/Ronchi/Paine
Lee
Krejza
Johnson
Clark

12th Man: Watson

 

[XFactor1979]

happy eagle, this is test cricket, dont expect many drastic changes

i expect the team to look similar to the one in the first 2 tests, the only variance is probably the fourth bowler position

if its a fast bouncy pitch they'll go with siddle - and usually the waca doesnt need any spinners.

shane watson has dropped out of contention for some reason the selectors dont like him playing test matches at home

 

[Gunnar Longshanks]

How will we line up on December 16?

Will Krejza come straight back in? Or might we pick four quicks and Symonds?

Any nasty surprises brewing? Like Hayden retiring?