CRICKET Australia v India Summer

[Big Del]

He's a FAR better pure bat option than Marsh and a lot younger. He has averaged 50 the last 12 months compared to the next best Aussie bat - Carey - at 33. He's plenty good enough compared to every other bat in the side.

I think you are optomistic .
He is very inconsistent . Highest score of 42 vs England . His recent average is boosted by one big not out score in NZ . Most of his runs other wise are starts but not going on with it . That could be OK at #6 when he bowls . At #4 he needs good runs more often .

Travis Head averaged under 40 for the longest time in FC as well before being picked in the Test side. It then took him time to find his feet and a style that worked for him.

McSweeney has come in on the back of two good Shield seasons, something similar to Head (probably did it a couple of seasons longer). McSweeney was a good choice but opening is not the same as batting in the middle order, this needs to be taken in to consideration. Not every batsman can do a Khawaja AND Khawaja was much more experienced when he took on test opening full time.

Head was stifled by the old school hard man coach .
Now he is free to play his game he has won World test champs , world cup and a test in Oz .
So there is that angle too .

 

[Sproj]

I think you are optomistic .
He is very inconsistent . Highest score of 42 vs England . His recent average is boosted by one big not out score in NZ . Most of his runs other wise are starts but not going on with it . That could be OK at #6 when he bowls . At #4 he needs good runs more often .


Head was stifled by the old school hard man coach .
Now he is free to play his game he has won World test champs , world cup and a test in Oz .
So there is that angle too .

Yeah that's fair, he has certainly improved under the softly, softly approach, considerably in fact. So that is credit to McDonald. Carey also seems to have benefitted.

At the same time, Smith and Labushagne have gone considerably backwards. How much do we attribute all of this to respective coaches is a good question.

 

[1910]

Now do Marnus .
He had similar figures in Shield but was in the top few in ICC test rankings at one time .
Shame to see him back to his Shield tactics of waving the bat outside off and nicking . He shelved that early on in his test career .

What's happening to Marnus' average now? He averaged 56 in in 22, 34 in 24 and 26 in 24.

If you are relying on players doubling their Shield average, you're going to be disappointed nearly every time.

 

[Big Del]

What's happening to Marnus' average now? He averaged 56 in in 22, 34 in 24 and 26 in 24.

If you are relying on players doubling their Shield average, you're going to be disappointed nearly every time.

It was good while it lasted .
He had plenty of good fortune in his early days .

Then again Green has a great shield average . But has looked lost at times in tests . The power of the mind is a fascinating thing .
I think the way Marnus got his start coming in for his hero may have helped him go to a higher level early that couldn`t be sustained .

 

[Sproj]

Ollie Pope averaged well over 50 before playing tests - he is struggling to average 35.

Gill averaged over 60 before playing tests - he is struggling to average 35.

Labushagne averaged 32 I think and for the first 40 tests of his career - he averaged 60.

Green averaged around 50 in Shield but 35ish in tests.

Rahul averaged about 50 in FC, averages 35 in tests.

Harry Brook averaged around 40 in FC, he averages 60 at almost a run a ball in tests.

Although early, Bethell averaged around 28 in FC and currently averages 52 in tests.

Kamindu Mendis averaged about 60 in FC and until the last test, averaged 90 in tests.

The point is, there is no sure fire way to pick who is going to be a gun in tests and who isn't.

 

[Big Del]

I found it interesting listening to Alan Border describe the differences in a shield game pitch and a test pitch .
He said the shield pitch would be more damp and slower on the 1st morning .

 

[Bucking Beads]

I found it interesting listening to Alan Border describe the differences in a shield game pitch and a test pitch .
He said the shield pitch would be more damp and slower on the 1st morning .

They’ve torqued up the pitches and made changes to the balls as well.

 

[1910]

Ollie Pope averaged well over 50 before playing tests - he is struggling to average 35.

Gill averaged over 60 before playing tests - he is struggling to average 35.

Labushagne averaged 32 I think and for the first 40 tests of his career - he averaged 60.

Green averaged around 50 in Shield but 35ish in tests.

Rahul averaged about 50 in FC, averages 35 in tests.

Harry Brook averaged around 40 in FC, he averages 60 at almost a run a ball in tests.

Although early, Bethell averaged around 28 in FC and currently averages 52 in tests.

Kamindu Mendis averaged about 60 in FC and until the last test, averaged 90 in tests.

The point is, there is no sure fire way to pick who is going to be a fun in tests and who isn't.

You can certainly take some of the guess work out and rely on the level below.

Most Shield runs before Test debut for Australia.

Lehmann 7985
Hodge 7537
Hussey 7282
Voges 6881

When all those guys got to play Tests, they knew, and you knew what they could and couldn't do and you can look at it that they didn't get to play as many, but they might not even have got that 27 if they had been picked 10 years earlier.

Does Hussey play 79 Tests and score three hundreds in his first five Tests if he's picked in 1995?

 

[Sproj]

You can certainly take some of the guess work out and rely on the level below.

Most Shield runs before Test debut for Australia.

Lehmann 7985
Hodge 7537
Hussey 7282
Voges 6881

When all those guys got to play Tests, they knew, and you knew what they could and couldn't do and you can look at it that they didn't get to play as many, but they might not even have got that 27 if they had been picked 10 years earlier.

Does Hussey play 79 Tests and score three hundreds in his first five Tests if he's picked in 1995?

Sure but that was a different era, the Australia A side was better than any other test side in the world.

David Hussey averaged over 50 at a time though when Australia could have used a guy averaging 50, he couldn't get a look in.

Marcus Harris has one of the best averages in FC (for present day Australian players) and you wouldn't trust him to score against Bangladesh. McSweeney looks good and scored well against India A, full of very decent bowlers. I would really like to see how he goes against a team without a Bumrah in it. He might well not be good enough but he has played well for 2 years, that has to be worth something in the current generation.

Selection has never been an exact science and an era like Australia had that you like to refer to will likely either never come again or not for another generation or two, you can't use that as your yardstick for the current generation.