Australia vs New Zealand Test Series

Good start to the game and good come back from Clarke scoring his ton after what has been a horror week for him and Northy!!!!

Your thoughts?

I can see our boys monstering NZ (hopefully )

New Zealand have got no-one with the mental strength to match us over 5 days. They can have their slogs and ramp shots and blah blah blah in T20 and the occasional 50-over match on their postage stamp grounds, but they can't hack the demands of test cricket.

Too many show-ponies in that NZ team, I hope we bring 'em down a peg in these 2 tests.

GO AUSSIES!

I am a big North fan, I hope he gets to 3 figures and has another 50 Tests in him. I like watching him bat.

Kiwis let a golden opportunity slip here, they would have been hopeful of rolling the Aussies for well under 300 when they had them 4-176....now they look like chasing 500+ when they change innings.

Interesting stat I heard yesterday after Katich ran out Ponting - in Test cricket Katich has been involved in 9 run outs.....and not once has he been the man out!! Ponting looked set yesterday for a big score and was understandably filthy when he was dudded by Katich.

Clarke has a massive ticker to bury the last 2 weeks with a score like this...good on him.

Matty76 said:

I can see our boys monstering NZ (hopefully )

New Zealand have got no-one with the mental strength to match us over 5 days. They can have their slogs and ramp shots and blah blah blah in T20 and the occasional 50-over match on their postage stamp grounds, but they can't hack the demands of test cricket.

Too many show-ponies in that NZ team, I hope we bring 'em down a peg in these 2 tests.

GO AUSSIES!

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WHAT?? Did you seriously say that?? Too many show ponies in the NEW ZEALAND team?? They need to be bought down a peg???

We have just had an unbeaten series of cricket this summer, against, as Mark Taylor put it, the two weakest sides to visit Australian shores, the Australian Media builds up the aussie team as INVINCIBLE, Healy and Slater creaming themselves with glee every commentary session about how fantatsic this side is, then they go to NZ and square the T20 games and narrowly win the one day series. All they did this summer was beat up, and rightfully so, on weak weak B grade sides.

Shane Watson - Could not love himself more if he tried to
Philip Hughes - Greatest since Bradman this time last year?? Got the earring, got the sportscar, got the sponsorship deals...................now if only I could get a regular spot in the team.....
Brad Haddin - VOTED by all other state teams the most annoying player at Shield level, does not shut up in any games, never seen his mouth closed when on the TV screen. Publicly derides opposition in the media.
Mitchell Johnson - See Shane Watson
Michael Clarke - "Posh and Becks" I like him a helluva lot more now that he's got rid of Posh, but to thank her after the century yesterday was CRINGEWORTHY, freak me
Marcus North - Did nothing this summer against rubbish rubbish teams, then in every media interview sprouts on about how good he is and how he is the right man for the Ashes later this year (Stay in punters pocket Northy, you ll never get dropped )
Doug Bollinger - Took every media opportunity this summer to talk down and degrade the opposition. Then goes to NZ, against a higher quality team and spanked around the park like a five year old in K-Mart

Show ponies in the NZ team?? Really?? McCullum, Shane Bond has hadd a bit to say in the one dayers (who isnt playing the tests) ummmmmmmm, maybe Styris??

Come on man, Im all for the aussies beating the kiwis in anything. I agree with you, their test side is below par and they should get smashed in these two tests up pretty comfortably, but to say NZ need to be bought down a peg is a bit over the top. They are six or seventh peg at the moment, drop them down any lower and theyll be below Windies and Pakistan!!!!

BUT, if we DONT comfortably beat NZ in these two tests, which we DAMN WELL should, questions need to be asked. And maybe, WE will be bought down a peg. Which I think, leading into the ashes later this year, as far as Im concerned is MUST MUST MUST MUST win, it would probably not be a bad thing. Might wake up a few players and might wake up the selectors to try and blood young guys instead of continually picking punters mates.

Lets face it, the most important series AUS now play are against, England, South Africa and India. And if we can all take the "I LOVE AUSTRALIAN CRICKET" blinkers off, I think all three of those sides beat us, SA and India definately, they would murder this current Aussie team. England would be touch and go. Graeme Smith was interviewed around three weeks ago and he said, after Australias unbeaten summer mind you, it was as vulnerable as he had ever seen an Australian team.

For guys like Bollinger, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz and Shane Watson who had their big break out season, it would have been as competitive as plying your trade against a full strength shield side from Western Australia or QLD. I know they can only beat the sides put in front of them, and Kudos for them having a good time of it, but NZ will provide more of a test for them, and there are much MUCH more difficult teams out there att he moment, three of whom sit above us on the world rankings.

Interesting year of cricket ahead folks!!!

what a knock from Clarke and North!!!!! Anyone see Johnson's run out, good footwork!

It was better footwork than we'll see in the A-League grand final.

Warney said:

what a knock from Clarke and North!!!!! Anyone see Johnson's run out, good footwork!

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Yeah that was Brilliant!

I warned a player for kicking the ball (after a wicket) today and he mentioned Johnson's run-out but i quickly pointed out he was going for a run-out compared to blatently kicking the ball after someone had been bowled........he wasn't impressed but soon shut up once I showed him the damage his spike had done!

anyways fellas on to something far more important:

VICTORIA winning the Sheffield Shield, Back to Back!!!!!!

Yep, congrats to the Vics.

Nice to see them get the silverware they deserve. They seem to be a tight-knit bunch of blokes, and I love how they play the game.

Anyone else feel as though Cameron White has the goods as a captain to trouble Clarke's incumbent promotion? He's young enough to get more years out of the captaincy, whilst being a far more potent batsman, and superb in the field.

Clarke has the captaincy in the bag. White would not be in the next 3 batsmen picked for the Test Team let alone be skipper...

Neither would Clarke be. Both are as inconsistent as the other in the middle order with the bat, however White has experience in directing a team (many, many times) to victory in all 3 forms of the game, not just the T20 slogfest that is largely dependant on pot luck as distinct from calculated strategy.

To clarify - I'm pro-Clarke and pro-White - we won't be disadvantaged by either. My questioning is posed at the bigger picture.

But White can't make the Test team - doesn't matter how good a captain he is at State level, if he can't make the team he doesn't have much chance of captaining it!

And you think Clarke is inconsistent?? Read his batting stats below - he has averaged over 50 since 2006 - and in 3 of the 5 years he has averaged over 70!! He is an absolute monty to be the next skipper - and after his last 100 in NZ his odds have shrunk from $1.02 to $1.01!!


Batting
Year M Inns NO 50s 100s HS Runs Avg
2004 8 13 1 2 2 151 596 49.67
2005 12 18 1 2 0 91 476 28.00
2006 6 9 3 1 2 *135 429 71.50
2007 4 5 1 2 1 *145 320 80.00
2008 13 23 2 5 4 118 1063 50.62
2009 13 23 4 5 3 138 1042 54.84
2010 3 4 0 0 2 168 358 89.50
Overall (7) 59 95 12 17 14 168 4284 51.61

Wow, you've got far more knowledge/spare time than I accounted for! The line up is a can of sardines at the moment - for the first time in a while we're fortunate to have depth, especially on the bowling front. I won't accept that our batting line up is ideal - North has done a great job in silencing his (many) critics to come good with his 112*, but he's still got some proving to do. I fancy that if he falls cheaply over the coming weeks, and if the selectors have any foresight, they will recognise that Clarke, who is expected to see captaincy at around 30 years of age, has about 5 years as top dog before he would inevitably have to hand it over. That means, hypothetically, that Clarke will need a captaincy 'understudy' of sorts - enter White. 2 years younger, less patient but more interesting with the bat, also a part-time spinner, and a proven winner and leader in all 3 forms of the game. If Clarke gets the job and rules it until his 35, White will be 33 and would probably resign himself to 4-day state cricket and ODI/T20 - not to worry if Clarke gets it right, but who's next?

In other news, Vettori's all-rounder status is on a steep incline. Nice to watch!

nickelarse said:

and if the selectors have any foresight, they will recognise that Clarke, who is expected to see captaincy at around 30 years of age, has about 5 years as top dog before he would inevitably have to hand it over. That means, hypothetically, that Clarke will need a captaincy 'understudy' of sorts - enter White. 2 years younger, less patient but more interesting with the bat, also a part-time spinner, and a proven winner and leader in all 3 forms of the game. If Clarke gets the job and rules it until his 35, White will be 33 and would probably resign himself to 4-day state cricket and ODI/T20 - not to worry if Clarke gets it right, but who's next?

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You are saying that Clarke will get the job in around 2 years time. That will make Punter 38. So why can't Clarke carry on until around 38 also instead of 35 like you said? he seems to be in great shape. If Clarkey goes on until around 38 like Punter is expected too, enter Phil Hughes who will be 30....

Well how the tides have turned, Australia rolled for 231. I am off to the game tomorrow hope to see NZ post 400 plus this innings. Tim Southee and Dan Vettori ripped your middle order to threads.

Shall we wait and see if you can get 400 on the board? Good luck have a great day!

wallbank said:

Well how the tides have turned, Australia rolled for 231. I am off to the game tomorrow hope to see NZ post 400 plus this innings. Tim Southee and Dan Vettori ripped your middle order to threads.

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One good innings of Bowling and suddenly your batsman are going to make 400!? Dreaming much!? Expect to be bowled out for around the 200 mark if you get a bit of luck and a couple dig in you could produce around 300. The lineup just isn't there against our bowlers to produce 400+!

I love the optimism!

Oh bro! Dont talk the NZ cricket team up too much, they have the worst bowling attack in NZ history (apart from Vettori) and the inconsistincy is a joke with the bat....Vettori and Tuffey rescueing the innings in the last couple of weeks! If we didnt have vettori we would be cellar dwellers!!! As for your 400 prediction 'LOL' i cant remember the last time if ever we posted that against a top line team!!! Especially the green n golds!

Dont get me wrong i love the blackcaps most of the time, but id never get into a war of words cos 99.9% of the time you'll lose haha...

Hopefully Kane Williamson gets a go in the 3rd!!

ejt85 said:

Oh bro! Dont talk the NZ cricket team up too much, they have the worst bowling attack in NZ history (apart from Vettori) and the inconsistincy is a joke with the bat....Vettori and Tuffey rescueing the innings in the last couple of weeks! If we didnt have vettori we would be cellar dwellers!!! As for your 400 prediction 'LOL' i cant remember the last time if ever we posted that against a top line team!!! Especially the green n golds!
Dont get me wrong i love the blackcaps most of the time, but id never get into a war of words cos 99.9% of the time you'll lose haha...

Hopefully Kane Williamson gets a go in the 3rd!!

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Yeh but this isnt a top line team. If NZ were ever going to post 400 against Australia, its against this line up. Youve got one world class bowler in Johnson, two good shield cricketers yet to be tested at international level in Bollinger and Harris and possibly the weakest finger spinner in world cricket in Hauritz, who, lets face it only gets wickets because people see him bowl and think, "MAN, I could CART every ball for SIX!!!" then they get caught.

Now is their time to step up, its there if they want it.