Your XI for the Gabba

[Heisenberg_]

Easily. Potential plays a big role in these selections. You pick the best players coupled with potential to improve, Ferguson at age of 23 (or whatever) is better than White at age 27 (28).

White at best is average as his career stats are overstated due to the ridiculous County runs he scored in Division 2!

ferguson just looks a lot more classy, and has just as good a record as wen Clarke was picked!

Cameron White is a whole 9 months older then Ferguson

 

[sammy 2]

Doesn't get wickets as simple as that. it is fine if the otehrs are taking wickets but we are already struggling to get wickets. 120km pies are not going to get wickets on a 1st day pitch.

we already have enough bowlers who bowl slow and fast pies

 

[Dr Awkward]

Mc Donald isn't good enough imo. His bowling is only a part-time option and he can only bat at about number 7. He is not quite there. Neither is Smith imo.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

we already have enough bowlers who bowl slow and fast pies

Well we don't need another one in McDonald. Would rather take a punt on the attack as it is right now than take McDonald!

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Cameron White is a whole 9 months older then Ferguson

Yep, and Ferguson looks much more assured at the crease. White's stats are inflated by his County stats.

 

[Heisenberg_]

Good joke, judge on performance not hype.
Take out the county runs and White is still on top.
Ferguson needs to do a lot more to make the Test side, technique is far too loose to play Test cricket ATM, White probably doesnt either but I would back him over Ferguson to get us out of a tight spot, unlike you I am basing this on past performances and not hype over somebody who has done SFA in the Sheffield Shield.

 

[legend166]

I just don't see any reason to pick White when Khawaja and Hughes are available as other options.

Similarly with McDonald. He's not good enough to play in the top 6, so he'd have to go in as a bowler. And if we're going to have him as a bowler, why not Harris or Siddle?

 

[Bingle_21]

Notice Hughes didnt play in the opening SS game. How much longer will he be out?

Lot calling for him to come in but cant see them picking him with no games behind him and not much form (I think he didnt make too many in the UK summer, but I am probably wrong).

But of course the selectors have been known to call up players from the 2nds in Sydney grade cricket (ala Gavin Robinson) so who knows.

 

[Heisenberg_]

I just don't see any reason to pick White when Khawaja and Hughes are available as other options.

Similarly with McDonald. He's not good enough to play in the top 6, so he'd have to go in as a bowler. And if we're going to have him as a bowler, why not Harris or Siddle?

I'm not saying I would pick him, but I would take him over Ferguson, Khawaja, S Smith and Hughes are better bats, Smith did more last season then Ferguson has managed in his entire career.

 

[LukeParkerno1]

Notice Hughes didnt play in the opening SS game. How much longer will he be out?

Lot calling for him to come in but cant see them picking him with no games behind him and not much form (I think he didnt make too many in the UK summer, but I am probably wrong).

But of course the selectors have been known to call up players from the 2nds in Sydney grade cricket (ala Gavin Robinson) so who knows.

He was over in India as the spare batsman.

 

[Dr Awkward]

I just don't see any reason to pick White when Khawaja and Hughes are available as other options.

Similarly with McDonald. He's not good enough to play in the top 6, so he'd have to go in as a bowler. And if we're going to have him as a bowler, why not Harris or Siddle?

You speak sense mate. We need specialists not all-rounders like McDonald and White who aren't up to it in either discipline.

Notice Hughes didnt play in the opening SS game. How much longer will he be out?

Lot calling for him to come in but cant see them picking him with no games behind him and not much form (I think he didnt make too many in the UK summer, but I am probably wrong).

But of course the selectors have been known to call up players from the 2nds in Sydney grade cricket (ala Gavin Robinson) so who knows.

Hughes was in India for the opening SS game. He will get his chance over the next month to build some form, let's hope he knocks up some massive scores.

Hughes is much more likely to make the team than Khawaja imo. The selectors clearly have a little club going on with a pecking order. Hughes has played test cricket and has been touring with the team. Plus Ponting likes him. It's very hard to just break straight in from the state cricket, you need to hang around the inner circles and be mates with everybody...etc.

I just hope the selectors havn't pigeonholed Hughes as an opener only. That would be stupid.

 

[tomemy]

I would look at playing five bowlers at the Gabba, the fifth being Steve Smith or Andrew McDonald. Plus i would open up with Phil Hughes thus allowing Watson to bat at 4, which is where we need our best RHander to bat to combat Graham Swann.
So my XI would be:

S.Katich
P.Hughes
R.Ponting
S.Watson
M.Clarke
B.Haddin
S.Smith/A.McDonald
M.Johnson
N.Hauritz
B.Hilfenhause
D.Bollinger

 

[Kyptastic]

It seems to me that there's a fair few people in this thread forgetting that Shane Watson is our fifth bowler, and a pretty damn good one at that. He is our fourth seamer, and if your three best seam bowlers plus a Shane Watson won't get the job done then adding a fourth won't make much of a difference (as we saw against India in the 08 Perth test and England in the 09 Oval match). Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Johnson should be our line up for Brisbane (I'm a huge Siddle fan personally, but he needs to show something for the Bushrangers before being considered for a return).

For my mind, Haury gets first crack at the English - he's bowled well against them before (he had slightly better figures than Swann before he was dropped in the 09 Ashes IIRC). He's clearly not a great spinner, but someone's going to need to show in state cricket that they're capable of doing a superior job before they drop him.

In regards to batsmen, top four are set, regardless of Clarke's performances in India. Hussey and North are obviously the ones in danger, but it's highly unlikely that both would be dropped before the first test. The only player I can currently see replacing either of them is Khawaja - if he bats as well against Victoria (who have close to the best attack in Australia, although they're probably just behind a full strength NSW) as he did against South Australia it would be an outrage if they ignored him. The selectors need to make a call similar to the ones made on Healy and Mark Waugh, a hard decision based on their contributions to Australian cricket but overall to the betterment of the team, on Hussey before the first test.

My side:

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Khawaja
North
Haddin
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger

I would look at playing five bowlers at the Gabba, the fifth being Steve Smith or Andrew McDonald. Plus i would open up with Phil Hughes thus allowing Watson to bat at 4, which is where we need our best RHander to bat to combat Graham Swann.

So my XI would be:



S.Katich

P.Hughes

R.Ponting

S.Watson

M.Clarke

B.Haddin

S.Smith/A.McDonald

M.Johnson

N.Hauritz

B.Hilfenhause

D.Bollinger

Playing a 'bits and pieces' allrounder was one of the reasons why England was terrible for so many years - they kept picking the Ealhams, Whites and Irani's of the world. You can get away with these guys in one day cricket, but a true allrounder needs to command their place in the side as a batsman and a bowler in Test cricket, otherwise you're basically playing with 5 and a half batsmen instead of 6.

 

[apollo_creed]

I really like McDonald as a one day bowler but as has been mentioned his batting isn't anywhere near enough to command a batting position and his bowling is stump to stump (not actually much different from Watson's) and not of the quality required to succeed at test level. Stump to stump bowling is still difficult to negotiate at test level but at his speed it really doesn't come close to commanding a spot on its own.

As a package he's nowhere near good enough.

As for the White v Ferguson debate - I really like White as a cricketer but to be honest, I wouldn't pick either of them although if I had to choose I would probably opt for White.... depending on what his season was like with the bat last season in shield cricket? (someone?)

 

[shinboner magic]

White has to play before the like of fergie, hughes and the rest.

We need an aggressive batsman that can turn matches in a session like Gilly and Symo did in the past

 

[djrossie16]

It seems to me that there's a fair few people in this thread forgetting that Shane Watson is our fifth bowler, and a pretty damn good one at that. He is our fourth seamer, and if your three best seam bowlers plus a Shane Watson won't get the job done then adding a fourth won't make much of a difference (as we saw against India in the 08 Perth test and England in the 09 Oval match). Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Johnson should be our line up for Brisbane (I'm a huge Siddle fan personally, but he needs to show something for the Bushrangers before being considered for a return).

For my mind, Haury gets first crack at the English - he's bowled well against them before (he had slightly better figures than Swann before he was dropped in the 09 Ashes IIRC). He's clearly not a great spinner, but someone's going to need to show in state cricket that they're capable of doing a superior job before they drop him.

In regards to batsmen, top four are set, regardless of Clarke's performances in India. Hussey and North are obviously the ones in danger, but it's highly unlikely that both would be dropped before the first test. The only player I can currently see replacing either of them is Khawaja - if he bats as well against Victoria (who have close to the best attack in Australia, although they're probably just behind a full strength NSW) as he did against South Australia it would be an outrage if they ignored him. The selectors need to make a call similar to the ones made on Healy and Mark Waugh, a hard decision based on their contributions to Australian cricket but overall to the betterment of the team, on Hussey before the first test.

My side:

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Khawaja
North
Haddin
Johnson
Hauritz
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger




Playing a 'bits and pieces' allrounder was one of the reasons why England was terrible for so many years - they kept picking the Ealhams, Whites and Irani's of the world. You can get away with these guys in one day cricket, but a true allrounder needs to command their place in the side as a batsman and a bowler in Test cricket, otherwise you're basically playing with 5 and a half batsmen instead of 6.

Nup they were just terrible

 

[tomemy]

Playing a 'bits and pieces' allrounder was one of the reasons why England was terrible for so many years - they kept picking the Ealhams, Whites and Irani's of the world. You can get away with these guys in one day cricket, but a true allrounder needs to command their place in the side as a batsman and a bowler in Test cricket, otherwise you're basically playing with 5 and a half batsmen instead of 6.[/quote]


I would like to think that McDonald is twice as good as the English duds that you have mentioned. He already has a First class Batting average around 39 and a bowling ave. near 29, and is only improving with every season. Four tests is hardly enough to actually prove yourself as a test match cricketer, He needs perservering with.

 

[BarneyBent]

White has to play before the like of fergie, hughes and the rest.

We need an aggressive batsman that can turn matches in a session like Gilly and Symo did in the past

What, Hughes and Smith aren't aggressive batsmen? They can't turn matches in a session? What are you ON?!

Hughes and Smith are both fantastic aggressive batsmen, they can both blast 4s and 6s, and they both have much better FC records than White. Smith is a better bowler too.

Personally, I think Ferguson is overrated. By all means, have him in the ODI side, but both he and White need to improve their FC record before they come into the Test side.

 

[eddiesmith]

I really like McDonald as a one day bowler but as has been mentioned his batting isn't anywhere near enough to command a batting position and his bowling is stump to stump (not actually much different from Watson's) and not of the quality required to succeed at test level. Stump to stump bowling is still difficult to negotiate at test level but at his speed it really doesn't come close to commanding a spot on its own.

As a package he's nowhere near good enough.

As for the White v Ferguson debate - I really like White as a cricketer but to be honest, I wouldn't pick either of them although if I had to choose I would probably opt for White.... depending on what his season was like with the bat last season in shield cricket? (someone?)

Averaged 50 last season following on from 56 the year before

 

[apollo_creed]

Averaged 50 last season following on from 56 the year before

Good enough for me - he's matured alot as a batsman in recent seasons (from what I've seen) and would be a better test cricketer than Ferguson.

 

[shinboner magic]

What, Hughes and Smith aren't aggressive batsmen? They can't turn matches in a session? What are you ON?!

Hughes and Smith are both fantastic aggressive batsmen, they can both blast 4s and 6s, and they both have much better FC records than White. Smith is a better bowler too.

Personally, I think Ferguson is overrated. By all means, have him in the ODI side, but both he and White need to improve their FC record before they come into the Test side.

I love smith as he reminds me of Warnie with his confidence and would play him before Hauriz.
Hughes should play as long as we tell the poms not to bowl short at him

 

[SBI]

Are we starting to pick guys on Twenty20 performances now? Smith is a good prospect for the future but shouldn't be near test cricket now. If we want to throw a young guy in, maybe try O'Keefe.

Hauritz will and probably should stay. He's been pretty good bar the series against India, and that wasn't really unexpected.

 

[Speck]

1. Hughes: He is the future, and needs to be able to play at test level. His last innings was an 87 not out too.

2. Katich: Possibly our most consistent, rarely throws his wicket away.

3. Watson: Keep him up the top, would like to open him however I think Katich needs to stay. Maybe Hughes can bat at 3.

4. Ponting: Been looking good. Only at 4 because Watson needs to be before him.

5. Clarke: Poor series in India but still very solid.

6. Khawaja: Would be a massive punt. He surely would do better than North or Hussey for sure.

7. Paine: A few good knocks, better keeper and more consistent than Haddin.

8. Johnson: Bit inconsistent but has to play.

9. Hilfenhaus: One of our best bowlers.

10. Bollinger: Bowling well.

+ 1 more pace bowler. Not sure who yet.

 

[The Governor]

1. Hughes: He is the future, and needs to be able to play at test level. His last innings was an 87 not out too.

2. Katich: Possibly our most consistent, rarely throws his wicket away.

3. Watson: Keep him up the top, would like to open him however I think Katich needs to stay. Maybe Hughes can bat at 3.

4. Ponting: Been looking good. Only at 4 because Watson needs to be before him.

5. Clarke: Poor series in India but still very solid.

6. Khawaja: Would be a massive punt. He surely would do better than North or Hussey for sure.

7. Paine: A few good knocks, better keeper and more consistent than Haddin.

8. Johnson: Bit inconsistent but has to play.

9. Hilfenhaus: One of our best bowlers.

10. Bollinger: Bowling well.

+ 1 more pace bowler. Not sure who yet.

Having Watson at 3? Gee, why change something when the formula of using Shane Watson as an opener has been successful? Since he was promoted to open the batting, he has developed in the same way as Matthew Hayden when he got his chance in India in 2001.

I would leave Watson in the opening position.

Hussey, NOrth, Katich and Hauritz will have to go.

Here is my side

SHANE WATSON
PHIL HUGHES
RICKY PONTING (CAPTAIN)
USMAN KHAWAJA
MICHAEL CLARKE
STEPHEN SMITH
TIM PAINE
MITCHELL JOHNSON
PETER SIDDLE
BEN HILFENHAUSS
DOUG BOLLINGER

There is no point in playing an off spinner at the Gabba anyway. I would just use the four pace bowlers and Watson and Smith as the relief bowlers.

People forget that the selectors gave SK Warne a chance in 1991 and he got belted around the park by Tendulkar and Shastri. He spent the off season under CHappelli, ROd Marsh, Terry Jenner and Kerry O'Keefe and he was picked for the 1992 Sri Lankan tour. People have forgotten that Ranatunga and De Silva were smashing Warnie around the park in the 1st innings of the 1st test match in Kandy until GRJ Matthews and Allan Border gave him the ball and told him to relax and go for it! And, he took 3-35 and he bowled Australia to victory against Sri Lanka in the 1st test at Kandy in September-October 1992.

There is only one way for Smith to gain experience. Ponting and the selectors have to give him the ball and give him the confidence to bowl.

THE GOVERNOR

 

[themidlandmaster]

Watson
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Khawaja
Ferguson
Paine
Smith
Johnson
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger