Australia V Pakistan tests in Dubai

[Bucking Beads]

spin bowling wasn't my forte but I'm certain he doesn't get high enough in his action and bowl 'over the top' like the vast majority of good finger spinners do.

His action is terrible. Left arm custard.

 

[Bull Shark]

peter siddle is allergic to pitching the ball up..

 

[Mister Wright]

Peter Siddle has to be one of the most luckiest guys to play as many tests as he has. I know a lot of people rate him, but he's just above pedestrian IMO.

 

[Bull Shark]

Peter Siddle has to be one of the most luckiest guys to play as many tests as he has. I know a lot of people rate him, but he's just above pedestrian IMO.

He's only there by default at the moment ... Harris is out and unfortunately our best young quicks are permanently injured.

 

[Ari Gold]

Peter Siddle has to be one of the most luckiest guys to play as many tests as he has. I know a lot of people rate him, but he's just above pedestrian IMO.

Not as lucky as Ed Cowan!

 

[Bull Shark]

weak as piss, Australia... I'd take Kazakhstan's top six over ours

 

[Bucking Beads]

Terrible batting from Australia. Clarke is very rusty and Doolan is just no good. Hopefully Smith and Rogers can show some fight

 

[Ari Gold]

Liking the changes so far. O'Keefe was nothing but fodder and Starc is a good inclusion. Doolan has also been ordinary in his career so far and whilst Maxwell has too, I really like his ability to change a game. Could become another Andrew Symonds. Or just some shit test player who we'll never see again. Either way I think we should find out.

 

[Bull Shark]

Wow, this deck is so slow and dead it's ridiculous ...

 

[Ari Gold]

Yep, if the Ashes and SAF tour are showcases of what makes test cricket great, this is a great example of why the sub continent have a much higher appetite for the one day formats.

 

[Bull Shark]

yeah, but it also puts firmly into perspective where this Australian test team is truly at ... Despite what the rankings might suggest, we're a fair distance behind south africa in terms of having players who can adapt to conditions and grind out results ... eg South Africa found a way to get out of jail in this desert wasteland through their hard heads like Steyn, Smith & DeVillers ... Whereas we still need a lot of things to be in our favour to be successful.

 

[Ari Gold]

We're missing Ryan Harris in a big way. The fact we're playing all 3 of Maxwell, Marsh and Starc says a lot too. I think all 3 have a lot of potential but none can be relied on.

And as happy as I am Maxwell is playing, the omission of Phil Hughes is pretty harsh.

 

[Bull Shark]

Yeah perhaps, but Hughes is just a proven under-performer at test level though ... its a vicious cycle with him - he gets recalled, fails, gets dropped, sits on the periphery for a while until the public / media falls in love with him again for some reason and the calls start up again for him to be recalled ... He's a bunny in conditions like this against spin.. and for that matter with his 'homespun' open-chested, feet off the ground, slicing technique, doesn't really handle good pace bowling either ...

Starc is disappointing bowler ... has shown glimpses of some really good stuff but in limited periods and mainly in limited overs stuff ..

Geez I'm going to stop this negative blurb now and flick over to Seinfeld !

 

[Broncoman]

We are getting plenty of chances to take wickets but we aren't taking any of them. Australia just always struggle whenever they go to the subcontinent or Arabia. Even in the golden age we got hammered in India in 1998 and 2001 and lost to Sri Lanka in 1999.

 

[Ari Gold]

Yeah perhaps, but Hughes is just a proven under-performer at test level though ... its a vicious cycle with him - he gets recalled, fails, gets dropped, sits on the periphery for a while until the public / media falls in love with him again for some reason and the calls start up again for him to be recalled ... He's a bunny in conditions like this against spin.. and for that matter with his 'homespun' open-chested, feet off the ground, slicing technique, doesn't really handle good pace bowling either ...

Starc is disappointing bowler ... has shown glimpses of some really good stuff but in limited periods and mainly in limited overs stuff ..

Geez I'm going to stop this negative blurb now and flick over to Seinfeld !

Virtually all our batsmen are underperformers at test level though. I mean, Doolan looks no less inept at spin than Hughes, but at least Hughes looks hungry at state level. Doolan has a horrible FC record for a supposed test #3.

Will be interesting to see if Khawaja can re-enter the equation. He looked comfortable to me against spin and pace, just lacking some intensity.

 

[Socnorb]

I've got a problem when the toss dictates the match. Best for batting first morning , best for bowling last day. Subcontinent test cricket is dead.

 

[Bucking Beads]

We lose our minds in these conditions. Team selections are ordinary and we miss chances we wouldn't in other countries.

 

[Ari Gold]

Unbelievably ordinary shot from Maxwell to get out after getting himself set.

The rest haven't been much better.