1st Test Border Gavaskar Trophy November 22-26 1350hrs @ Perth Stadium

[RookiePick]

Exactly so there should have been no way any side doesn’t WIN the series outright a draw is almost losing it from there. Very average series

An Ashes series goes for 5 matches. We went ahead early and losing Lyon in the second test was the decisive factor in not closing the series out easily.

Should we have eked out a series win? I think so, we were the better side but cricket doesn't always play to script and England did enough to square the ledger.

 

[Cainozz]

Only hope for tomorrow is to see if we can get some runs into Ussie, Smith and Head to get them running for Adelaide.

 

[Grumpyshades]

It’s not the issue now, people always bring it up when we aren’t going well.

The side from 95 to 08 or so was great because it contained so many great cricketers, not because they sledged people.

making batsmen feel uncomfortable at the crease (without crossing the line) is a part of cricket like it or not. Being overly friendly to the opposition is counter productive

watching the ashes in england last year it was so obvious how friendly we were with the poms..In turn their arrogance and looking down their noses at us was also very evident. Why were we trying to be their friends when they were showing us zero respect..it was pathetic

 

[Lunchtime]

Gone are the days where we had an Opener like Mark Taylor who would grind it out and also he was a very good leaver of the ball too - knew where his off-stump was. A true Test cricketer, he faced some of the all time great fast bowlers.

 

[sabso]

making batsmen feel uncomfortable at the crease (without crossing the line) is a part of cricket like it or not. Being overly friendly to the opposition is counter productive

watching the ashes in england last year it was so obvious how friendly we were with the poms..In turn their arrogance and looking down their noses at us was also very evident. Why were we trying to be their friends when they were showing us zero respect..it was pathetic

Steve Smith wasn't trying to be friendly when he turfed a chance from Joe Root and claimed a catch

 

[Grumpyshades]

Steve Smith wasn't trying to be friendly when he turfed a chance from Joe Root and claimed a catch

you mean the catch he clearly caught and was given out ? sound logic

 

[eltrain]

This performance shows the Aus public care about test cricket. Silver linings lol.

Funny how the Aus public only seems to care when we get smacked

 

[MJG14]

Cupboard is clearly bare if Konstas keeps getting brought up on here for Test selection.

 

[MadMundy]

Why isn't Green in the team? And is this McSweeney guy actually any good?

 

[sabso]

you mean the catch he clearly caught and was given out ? sound logic

Didn't want to have to do this to you mate but here we go

 

[philreich]

NZ managed to win 3-0. You wouldn’t even know the last two days

Full credit to the Kiwis for what they did in India - they fully deserved the results they got. But I can't help thinking that the Indians had one eye on the tour of Australia: they're a completely different unit suddenly.

How we fight back from this, I have no idea. If Bumrah gets to bowl with the pink ball under lights in Adelaide, anything is possible.

 

[imagifED]

You didn't like them when they won us both the One Day and T20 World Cup, Test Championship and retain the Ashes in England which hasn't been done for decades????

ODI WC is a great achievement.
T20 WC nothing special. Happens every 2 years and England, India have also won it. We didn't even make it out of the group stages for two of them.
WTC nothing special. Uneven fixtures, points deductions and a one off final at a fixed venue.
Retaining the Ashes against an average England??? Win the Ashes not retain.

And then we let India pull down our pants at home thrice and can't even beat Sri Lanka away and West Indies at home.

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

The sooner Steve Smith retires the better.

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Cupboard is clearly bare if Konstas keeps getting brought up on here for Test selection.

Only a couple years younger than Jaiswal. If he can start now hopefully he’s peaking at 22

 

[Ephemeral Hope]

Why isn't Green in the team? And is this McSweeney guy actually any good?

We shall see on McSweeney. Green back surgery

 

[FreoRicci]

You know there’s a solution to the openers. Head is it.
McSweeney can play at 3. Good bye Labs. Smith at 4. Simple. Not that hard

 

[revo333]

Has a way to go before he passes James Anderson? Your having a laugh.

I have Broad ahead of Anderson but that's another debate for another time..

 

[Lunchtime]

You know there’s a solution to the openers. Head is it.
McSweeney can play at 3. Good bye Labs. Smith at 4. Simple. Not that hard

I'm not sure Travis Head has the temperament and technique to be a Test Opening batsman especially when the ball and/or deck is doing a bit. Moving him to open would disrupt the batting order. Leave him where he is.

 

[revo333]

Great pity he’s only very average at best and he’s even worse than Khawaja in the field

Should have been stamped 'Never to play again' after dropping Stokes in the third test and then carrying on like a pork chop after the 4th test like he actually made a contribution.

 

[Marshland]

Full credit to the Kiwis for what they did in India - they fully deserved the results they got. But I can't help thinking that the Indians had one eye on the tour of Australia: they're a completely different unit suddenly.

How we fight back from this, I have no idea. If Bumrah gets to bowl with the pink ball under lights in Adelaide, anything is possible.

I dare say we have a better shot of beating India in India than in Australia. Would need Lyon to be MoS though.

 

[Topkent]

Sucked in couldn't have happened to a bigger pack of w***ers

 

[Aristotle Pickett]

Steve Smith wasn't trying to be friendly when he turfed a chance from Joe Root and claimed a catch

Smith is a cheat and a downhill skier.

 

[to1994]

I'm more disappointed in the state of Australian Cricket then I am in the players honestly.

This team has had a good run but there have been signs the peak of our Test team has been over for a while now and I'm struggling to see how things don't descend pretty sharply from here.

This is all about the batting. We no longer have a single batsmen in or out of the team who is currently great and we haven't been in this situation in a long long time.

While our batting weakened in the late 2000s, we had Ricky Ponting. When he declined, we had Clarke, when his back gave out Smith emerged... now? No one.

Our entire top 4 is people who're very likely past their best (We can give Khawaja the benefit of the doubt but he's at an age where it could be over at any moment). The scary thing is, I'm not sure if anyone outside the team can actually do any better.

It took some time, but we've finally reached the moment where the consequences of going all in on T20 and destroying our grass roots / FC systems has entered what feels like a point of no return.

In the past, we've overcome this by focusing all our attention on a handful of supremely gifted players and using that as a substitute for genuine systems and pathways but that bit us on the backside in the most direct way possible. Pucovski was seen as that next star and problems outside anyone's control have meant he's gone and the next best is multiple tiers below in quality.

Our aging stars will likely continue playing and we might see some token deck chair shuffling, but once they're gone we'll have to opt into the same strategy as the weaker Test nations. This means basically picking on potential and having these people learn on the job, hoping they'll come good after a couple of dozen Tests and develop into solid enough players.

I don't even want to get into the bowling. Our main 4 are still great and very little about this loss will be there fault, but they are also all reaching the end and replacing them won't be pretty.

Ignoring all this, I think we need to bring Cameron Green back as a pure batsmen when he returns. His bowling isn't worth losing our most promising young bat & fielder to injury as sad as it is to say. You cannot drop or move McSweeney, you need to commit to at least the series and consider moving him to the middle order for a spell if the opener experiment fails.

Labuschagne is the most droppable, but no one else in the Shield will come close to matching his early career record. If someone has to go it'll be him but I could see him back as early as next series given we're going to lose both Smith & Khawaja soon. Travis Head will never be more than a 40 average feast or famine bat, he's fine where he is, talk of making him opener is laughable unless we commit to pure flat decks at home like England have now done.

 

[Around the Wicket]

If you play watch carefully Cummins was abit annoyed when he seen Labs walking out, he wanted another night watchmen.

 

[sabso]

Using nightwatchmen is weak, it's feeble