3rd Test Border Gavaskar Trophy December 14-18 1050hrs @ The Gabba

[The hands of stone]

I wouldn't actually be too surprised if beyond this series Konstas and Mcsweeney are opening together .

I just hope they back Konstas in for a stretch now.
Will be learning on the job and despite talent and ability he does have some decent chinks in the armour for teams to target .

If he survives the early most teams will go spin at him . Like most natural openers he doesn't look anywhere near as comfortable there .

 

[Pure_Ownage]

To add to that. What credentials does someone like Bailey have for being an international selector in the first place?

Two things you’d want ideally would be some sort of success at the highest level and a certain degree of separation from the current playing group. Neither of which Bailey seems to have. Same with McDonald. They aren’t far enough removed from the current playing group to make objective decisions.

I think that's a valid point. And while Bailey is a problem and should resign its why he's a symptom of the problem other than the entire problem himself.

Cricket is definitely suffering from having too many people in leadership that not only don't have the acumen but are too close to the players to make objective decisions. Obviously at junior level it's useful to have people teaching kids who have played the game but honestly at the elite level you don't (or shouldnt) need that.

What you need is people to come in who are accountable, process driven, smart and who have no connection to the players and who are completely objective. Which is what you would get if you brought leaders in from the business world or another external area of expertise.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

So if you think Bailey made the wrong decision a month ago, but he's since rectified it, you're still sacking him? So you're sacking him because his most recent decision was the correct one?

We won't know for a few months if the decision was right. But the point is he has the same information now that he had then and the u turn is clearly an admission that he stuffed up. There has to be accountability for that. If I continually u turned at work after a month I wouldn't have a job. He shouldn't have one either.

 

[Westend]

So you're just assuming that picking Konstas is the correct decision and he will be a raging success when McSweeney wasn't.

You know what they say when you assume, it makes an ass out of you and George Bailey, no guarantee Konstas will succeed.

He just got out for a duck in the Big Bash and got outscored by 70 runs by the much maligned Bancroft who finished not out.

Boy wonder made a 0 and Bangers got 70...f**k me amazed Warner allowed him to play..the nsw mob must be hating it

I wonder if Warner was giving tips analysing bangers technique during overs ....

 

[hawkman]

Boy wonder made a 0 and Bangers got 70...f**k me amazed Warner allowed him to play..the nsw mob must be hating it

I wonder if Warner was giving tips analysing bangers technique during overs ....

Tips on how to use sandpaper?

 

[toml]

We had Virat Kohli berating a journalist when his ire should have been towards the cameramen.

Did you actually watch the footage of this or did you just read the bullshit manufactured drama the media tried to spin it in to? He didn't berate anyone, it was a polite exchange asking them to not film his children

 

[PhatBoy]

Yes excellent lets drop the only prospect under 30 and shatter all his confidence after what i thought he came in at ridiculous difficult circumstances and i thought his 39 against the Pink Ball was impressive.

Cant Drop Khawaja who has averaged 12 for god knows how long for political reasons and i guess they will keep backing Lab to turn it around like Smith but its BARREN in the top 5.

Head is not going to save us every bloody time

What political reasons are those, exactly

 

[samFFC]

Bullshit decision to drop McSweeny.

Somehow khawaja survives.. ok then

Could’ve easily had him at 3, Marnus out.

 

[samFFC]

The frustration with Marnus and Usman is understandable but the reality is they are both more likely to make a contribution next match than McSweeney.

Based on?

And what about the 20 tests after that?

 

[samFFC]

Trust your eyes.

McSweeney looked out of depth all along. The mistake here isn't dropping him, it was picking him out of position.

I still think he might resurface in the middle order in the next year or 2.

If Rohit can drop to 6, we can do the same for McSweeney now. No need to drop him to play BBL.

 

[samFFC]

A lot can happen between now and then but I’d like to see:

1. Konstas
2. Hunt
3. Labuschagne
4. Smith
5. Head
6. Green
7. Carey
Cummins, Hazlewood, Lyon and Starc Id expect to still be there.

Labuschagne needs to come good. Could be McSweeney or someone else in at 3 if he doesnt find some runs. Possibly a very brittle and inexperienced top order.

Bit of an exodus after the Ashes. Smith and possibly a bowler or 2.

Good call. Bowlers won’t last long sadly, Hazy may not be back. But we have some others coming through.

I would have McSweeney 3, Green 6, or Green 3 Webster 6.

 

[Golumless]

Bit of a harsh axing after gambling McSweeney would make it as an opener and hasn't performed worse than Khawaja.

That said, he wasted his opportunity in Adelaide after getting through the night session which left the door open for this. At least he's decently young and can go back to shield/county with an idea of what needs to be improved on.

 

[sosos]

I think we have to also plan for Smith's retirement at some stage, maybe even after the Ashes.

Where does McSweeney bat in Shield cricket?

 

[Burtonsgottago]

India's behaviour towards the media has been floggish in the last few days. We had Virat Kohli berating a journalist when his ire should have been towards the cameramen. Now we have a situation where Australian journalists were invited to Jadeja's press conference with Jadeja refusing to speak to the local media, only answering questions from Indian journalists in Hindi.

Be careful of what you say. You have no authority to criticise Team India.

 

[Iceman!]

Yes excellent lets drop the only prospect under 30 and shatter all his confidence after what i thought he came in at ridiculous difficult circumstances and i thought his 39 against the Pink Ball was impressive.

Cant Drop Khawaja who has averaged 12 for god knows how long for political reasons and i guess they will keep backing Lab to turn it around like Smith but its BARREN in the top 5.

Head is not going to save us every bloody time

Yes they are keeping Usman for political reasons and not because he was our best batsmen for probably a 2 year period...

 

[Iceman!]

Based on?

And what about the 20 tests after that?

Worry about them after this series, you don't worry about the future of an AFL side when playing a GF. This is our GF.