aussiecricketer
Silly mid on....
I'm still bitter about Dean Jones' axing...
I wasn't trying to be knee jerk and slay em all BUT there are a couple of people in that team who are at their end. Ponting was lambasted and derided by Jim Maxwell on ABC Radio and I respect his comments. I love Punter but sadly, his day has come.
Hussey did score runs in Sri Lanka, so there's a reprieve there. But Haddin? He has been shaky for the last 2 years anyway and I don't rate him as a keeper either. Johnson...the Barmy Army have got it right...he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right, Dear Mitchell...you're bowling is s#ite. We can't carry two toilers in Siddle and Harris with Johnson as some X-Factor if he only delivers 1 in 5 tests. We need a pace attack that people fear.
Hughes...I loved the guy when he first came around but whatever CA or he did to change his game since 2009 Ashes has ruined him. He was unconventional and fun to watch. Now...I dunno. May be I am being extremely rough on the guy. Watson should be at 6.
I believe we have the genesis of a good side that can build. Cummins, both Marsh brothers, Khawaja, Wade/Paine, Warner...they all offer something. Hell, bite the bullet and can Ponting and shift Watson down the order and build the opening order around these guys. Keep Clarke as captain too.
Australian cricket was always ruthless and dropped players when their time was up (sometimes before the player and/or the public thought so) ... Dean Jones, Geoff Marsh, Mark Waugh... or tapped 'em on the shoulder. We need that ruthlessness back. The sad thing is, we knew this was coming. We had Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn, Hussey, Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Lee, MacGill who were all of the same generation, hitting their mid-30's. CA told us the Academy was churning out talent, that the future's league was the ant-pants and that Shield cricket was the bee's knees. Somewhere, CA dropped the ball, thought we were impervious and didn't cull a star a year and blood young guns with the older stars to continue the streak. Now, we have to build a new winning culture. Hopefully being absolutely disgraced in that 2nd innings will galvanise Clarke and some of the players but even so, I'd still be pruning Johnson, Haddin and Ponting for the 1st Test on Aussie soil.
I am happy to chat these things. I know its unpalatable as everyone has a fave player and I don't mean to crap on you. These are my opinions (shared by the missus and within my circle of cricket mates). This site is cool because we can talk it through. If you think I am a d!ck, say it, but please back it up with something to reinforce that. Hell...convince me otherwise and I might change my opinion.
Hello friends, mafia members and cricket enthusiasts.
Firstly, it is FANTASTIC too see you all giving your points and views on our fantastic game. Test cricket is for the purist... end of point... cannot be argued ! so it is refreshing too see you all talking about it. Chris ( the mad hatter) arguably pointed out the truest comment out of all of this.. 20-20 cricket has seen the decline in test standards.
I love my cricket, to me, its not sport, its my RELIGION ! I have breathed it, loved it, sweated on it, played it, cursed it, followed it, hated it, collected it, just generally lived it all my life. I hate playing abroad like we are at the moment for one reason, you dont sleep..... I was one of very few fools that sat through every playing hour of the first test.... I saw the collapse, I felt the pain, the humiliation but at 6/18 ( haddin playing a shot that should have never been played ), ran up the hallway, woke up my wife, the kids ( 5 and 8 ) and bought them to the tv to watch what I was hoping would be test match cricket history ( lowest innings total - held by NZ v England 1955) The wickets kept tumbling and then at 9/21 I was on the phone, waking people up all across Australia, to tell them that we were on the verge of something unbelievable....... well as you all know, the tail got us past, but I was so hoping for a new record... why ? Because its cricket, its has you all talking again, whether loving or hating, you are all showing some form of passion for this great game.
I so want Australian cricket to hurt from this, because I do. It hurts even more when you have cricket friends in South Africa, UK, Netherlands and further abroad who have all rang or emailed me to give it to me.... lol, all because I proudly wear the Australian crest !!
Cockiness crept into our game soon after the turn of the century and we have struggled with it ever since. Sure we have been dominant in all forms, but we have forgotten one big thing, respect your opposition ! With this disrespect, we have started to crumble, internaly as well. Its not good to see, and something I do hope we can fix with urgency.
So too finish, I could type all day, giving my 2 cents worth on who should go, stay, come in, captain ( ok, I will here, Clarke is captain and should stay that way, he is leading from the front, decisions may be questionable but hey, you learn from those mistakes) but I will not... because its so bloody fantastic to see you all enjoying/loving/hating our great game and talking about it !
Long live the baggy green and long live test cricket !!
Preparing with sleep now for the second test.......
All the best
Damian:v:
