The Association Football Cricket thread

[glenferry23]

Head has smoked match winning centuries against India in both the Test and ODI finals. From India’s point of view they would very happily prefer to not play against him. Compared to Smith and Labuchagne who in contrast I’d imagine they wouldn’t mind bowling to for the series.

 

[UnitedWarrior93]

Smith being 35 you can understand him nearing the end, but Marnus is 30, should be in his batting prime.

 

[Planet14]

Jatz is spot on, who do you replace them with? If McSweeney is the next best, Australia has a massive issue.

 

[99 Problems]

Yeah the issue is McSweeney came in as basically the one who failed the least on the way into the test. Makes it near impossible to drop everyone who looks out of form. I’d give Usman the summer or until the series is gone and Smith as well because if he does find some touch his upside is so much better than the others.

Marnus it’s hard to see turning it around. He’s unlucky but Marsh is in a tough spot as well because he’s not the style of number 6 this team needs. He did bowl well the first day and some runs now should be enough for him.

Getting through this series will be tough enough but the team for the ashes next year could be unrecognisable. Head the only player in the top 6 you’d be confident in being there.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

The chickens have come home to roost here.

12 months ago we were saying Smith and (in particular) Marnus were in trouble. Nothing has been done about it and here we are.

The bowling was shit in that second innings but after rolling them for 150, they should've had a decent lead to bowl with.

That batting line up is horrendous and sadly, there's not much else coming through.

Because 12 months ago it was most certainly not the right call.

Jan 1 2022 - Today: Smith 2035 @ 44; Labuschagne 2005 @ 40.
But 12 months ago that was ave 50 and 46.5 respectively.

The last 12 months is where the capitulation has occured. With SPD Smith going at 29 and Labuschagne at 23.5

Last summer we should have ripped the bandaid off and not given Warner a farewell series.
but to say we should have acted on Smith and Marnus 12 months ago is revisionism IMO.

 

[Magma]

it feels as well like ca hasnt been active enough in identifying replacements. if we are having this much trouble with warner, what happens when khawaja pulls the pin soon? forget form and the like, he's turning 38 in a few weeks. then what happens if we have say khawaja, smith and lyon retire at the same time? carey, hazlewood, marsh, starc are all around the same age too. at least im less concerned about the bowling side than the batting, i think we've got some good bowlers waiting in the wings.

 

[Zidane98]

it feels as well like ca hasnt been active enough in identifying replacements. if we are having this much trouble with warner, what happens when khawaja pulls the pin soon? forget form and the like, he's turning 38 in a few weeks. then what happens if we have say khawaja, smith and lyon retire at the same time? carey, hazlewood, marsh, starc are all around the same age too. at least im less concerned about the bowling side than the batting, i think we've got some good bowlers waiting in the wings.

Starting to look like when Langer, McGrath, Warnie, Hayden etc all retired in a relatively short time frame.

 

[glenferry23]

MOTM to Bumrah, fair enough too. A class above. It could’ve been awarded to Jaiswal or King Kohli and any of them would’ve been deserving.

Quite a long break now to the 2nd Test, a ten day break I believe. The fallout and spotlight from this battering is going to be interesting.

 

[Bradesmaen]

They should bring in an opener and put McSweeney down to 3. Get rid of Starc for Morris.

 

[Jatz]

Because 12 months ago it was most certainly not the right call.

Jan 1 2022 - Today: Smith 2035 @ 44; Labuschagne 2005 @ 40.
But 12 months ago that was ave 50 and 46.5 respectively.

The last 12 months is where the capitulation has occured. With SPD Smith going at 29 and Labuschagne at 23.5

Last summer we should have ripped the bandaid off and not given Warner a farewell series.
but to say we should have acted on Smith and Marnus 12 months ago is revisionism IMO.

The writing was absolutely on the wall last summer - anyone that’s surprised those numbers have deteriorated for both doesn’t have a fundamental understanding of batting.

You can find posts from me last year saying this by the way.

Marnus more than Smith but Smith is just about done. The amazing hand eye coordination is no longer there and traipsing across his stumps is going to get him undone a lot.

 

[Jatz]

Smith not a problem.
Marnus however is in droppable form. As Hayden suggests he's failing the 2nd pillar of batting.

See ball.
Move to ball.
Hit ball.

Because 12 months ago it was most certainly not the right call.

Jan 1 2022 - Today: Smith 2035 @ 44; Labuschagne 2005 @ 40.
But 12 months ago that was ave 50 and 46.5 respectively.

The last 12 months is where the capitulation has occured. With SPD Smith going at 29 and Labuschagne at 23.5

Last summer we should have ripped the bandaid off and not given Warner a farewell series.
but to say we should have acted on Smith and Marnus 12 months ago is revisionism IMO.

The first quote was you back in March. You were clearly concerned with Marnus almost 12 months ago.

He looks even worse now than he did when you mentioned it.

By the way, Marnus was dropped 14 times in his first 20 tests. That is the most ever in someone’s first 20 tests. The only reason his average was so high in the first place was a huge slice of luck.

There was a stat (I haven’t been able to confirm so I’m taking it with a grain of salt) I read that if he had been caught on the first opportunity he gave the opposition in each innings, his career average would currently read 16.

He’s had a poor technique throughout, he’s just been saved by the opposition on so many occasions.

 

[Bradesmaen]

it feels as well like ca hasnt been active enough in identifying replacements. if we are having this much trouble with warner, what happens when khawaja pulls the pin soon? forget form and the like, he's turning 38 in a few weeks. then what happens if we have say khawaja, smith and lyon retire at the same time? carey, hazlewood, marsh, starc are all around the same age too. at least im less concerned about the bowling side than the batting, i think we've got some good bowlers waiting in the wings.

Here's the issue, all the players in bold below are over 30. Why are we playing an Aus A team with all these old farts in it? That's now how you identify talent. They also pick players who are yet to do anything but played U19s too often.

Australia A squad: Nathan McSweeney (c), Cameron Bancroft, Scott Boland, Jordan Buckingham, Cooper Connolly, Ollie Davies, Marcus Harris, Sam Konstas, Nathan McAndrew, Michael Neser, Todd Murphy, Fergus O'Neill, Jimmy Peirson, Josh Philippe, Corey Rocchiccioli, Mark Steketee, Beau Webster

 

[Art Vandelay_]

You're better than that. Poor effort.
12 months was Nov '23 before our summer.

March was after, and is in the last 12 months that's concerning.

 

[Jatz]

For the record, I’d be bringing Patterson in for him. Already hit 91, 66 and 71 in 3 innings in the shield this season.

 

[Jatz]

You're better than that. Poor effort.
12 months was Nov '23 before our summer.

March was after, and is in the last 12 months that's concerning.

I’ll find them later, I have posts from then.

To be fair to Smith (although it was his fault as well), his looks worse for letting him open. Should never have happened.

 

[Bradesmaen]

For the record, I’d be bringing Patterson in for him. Already hit 91, 66 and 71 in 3 innings in the shield this season.

Henry Hunt has 2 centuries in the shield this season. But for the sake of the SACAs please don't pick him, we'll be out for 27 every innings.

 

[Magma]

Henry Hunt has 2 centuries in the shield this season. But for the sake of the SACAs please don't pick him, we'll be out for 27 every innings.

if there was ever 4 redbacks in the test team at once (presuming he wouldnt just replace mcsweeney) i think we truly have reached end of days.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

I’ll find them later, I have posts from then.

To be fair to Smith (although it was his fault as well), his looks worse for letting him open. Should never have happened.

A year ago we were winning a world cup. Then battered Pakistan.
The whole premise was that a year ago it was unreasonable to suggest dropping Smith and Labuschagne - who as of Nov '23 their last test outings were winning the WTC in England and then returning as part of a squad that retained the Ashes.

Reading it back you were advocating Smith not open, which is a reasonable stance on its own... While arguing Bancroft got the gig. Which wasn't a reasonable take.

He wasn't good enough then, and can't hit it off the square this season.

Whereas I, in my defence of Smith spending a summer opening noted that Bancroft, Harris, Renshaw, Handscomb etc etc. weren't good enough for test selection. Looking prophetically accurate right now tbh.

First test of the summer and George Bailey overlooks all of them and selects McSweeney - who has never opened at FC level.

Smith out of position at opener last summer (WI) scored his runs at 60 over the two matches. I'd rip your arm off for any of the alternatives reaching that this summer.

 

[glenferry23]

Marnus should be dropped for the continual over the top “no runnnn!!” crap. Unless of course he’s calling out his score before the fact.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

Tough ranking. Alysa has a fair point on Williamson carrying NZ.

The other 3 are all World Cup winners, albeit the 2019 WC result is laughable. Could have just as easily been an NZ win if a different tie-breaker was chosen and KW would have that in the cabinet.

Smith.
Kohli


Root
Williamson

IMO.

 

[Jatz]

This always feels like it's constantly changing but for me, there's a clear standout recently. Only one of them has still consistently hit runs lately and it's Ellen Degeneres.

Over their whole careers, including all formats.

Kohli
Smith
Root
Williamson

But I can easily appreciate the order being moved by anyone. They've been incredible.

 

[Jatz]

For the record, I’d be bringing Patterson in for him. Already hit 91, 66 and 71 in 3 innings in the shield this season.

Hit 99 as well yesterday.

Bumrah is a whole other challenge but we'd still be stupid to go with Marnus.

 

[Art Vandelay_]

 

[Jatz]

Hard to believe that's been 10 years. Remember exactly where I was when I first saw it reported.

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

Greg Chappell made some good points re problem with our batting as others have touched on. He also reminded that India still have Jadeja and Ashwin to come back in (850 test wickets between them) for Adelaide as well as batsmen Rohit Sharma and Gill.

This disparity is more pronounced at the junior level. India’s cricketers are steeped in competitive cricket from a young age, with tournaments like the Vijay Merchant Trophy and Cooch Behar Trophy providing exposure to high-pressure situations. By the time they reach the Under-19 World Cup, Indian players have honed their skills against the best of their peers, mastering strategies like setting and chasing targets, field placements, and countering quality spin. It often feels like men playing against boys to watch them.
India’s system prioritised long-form cricket at the youth level under Rahul Dravid’s leadership. This focus ensures that players are well-versed in the nuances of the game. In contrast, Australia’s system limits opportunities for young cricketers, prioritising school commitments over competition during much of the year.

The lack of competitive matches at a young age leaves Australian players less prepared to handle the demands of international cricket. No amount of net practice can replicate the experience gained from playing meaningful games. Without significant changes to our development pathways, we risk falling further behind.