Test Allrounder

[Ponga01]

Okay, we all know Australia’s problem with all rounders at test level. We have tried so many but none seem to work. Vote below for who you think Australia’s test allrounder should be:

 

[Ponga01]

I also added a option of having a extra batsman if you think that would be better than having a allrounder but by the look of the bowlers in the last test it was pretty obvious that they were overworked, especially Cummins so I still think we need a allrounder in times like that. And even though Marsh bowled well in the first innings I still don’t think his bowling is up to test stranded and hasn’t had a good innings with the bat in 2 years, if you are going to pick him on his bowling you might as well pick Neser.

 

[Fernando]

Well if he wasn’t one of the three quicks already selected I’d probably go with James Pattinson. Maxwell and Stoinis would do better batting wise but I don’t/wouldn’t rate their bowling at test level, and I think JP would do about as well as the others with the bat. And he’s the pick of the lot bowling wise.

 

[Fernando]

Shouldn’t be too hard a slog for the bowlers over summer, there’s enough skill there to roll Pakistan and NZ. Plus Adelaide is a day night test and the WA pitch looks good and bouncy. It’s really just the MCG wicket which is a total disgrace. So can probably go with an extra batsmen other than Melbourne

 

[Sproj]

Shouldn’t be too hard a slog for the bowlers over summer, there’s enough skill there to roll Pakistan and NZ. Plus Adelaide is a day night test and the WA pitch looks good and bouncy. It’s really just the MCG wicket which is a total disgrace. So can probably go with an extra batsmen other than Melbourne

Don’t under-estimate the Kiwis, they have three and a half genuinely good bats in Williamson, Latham, Taylor and Nicolls, plus Watling is probably the best keeper bat in the world, he’d walk into the Aussie batting line up.

Luckily, Australia pad stats on roads. Warner and Head will look like world beaters again and Australi have two genuinely gun batsmen in Steve Smith and Steven Smith. Labumblebee and Wade may chip in a little too.

 

[Ponga01]

Watling is probably the best keeper bat in the world, he’d walk into the Aussie batting line up.

Quinton de Kock has left the chat

 

[Sproj]

Quinton de Kock has left the chat

I did say probably. And I was referring to tests but yeah, de Kock is great.

 

[Broncapz]

Anyone but Marsh. With him you get a no-rounder, not an all-rounder.

 

[BroncsFan]

Where's Marnus??
Bats in the top 4 and has handy leggies

In this current bowling lineup the all rounder bowls about 10-15 overs a match... not an innings... and even then they're usually bowled near the 80 over mark when they want to give the top liners a break before the new ball.

Unless we find a legit all rounder like Stokes who bowls 20 overs an innings and is a top 6 batsmen in the country... then it's a wasted spot.

Our batting lineup is too brittle (outside of Smith) to be wasting a spot so Marsh can bowl 8 overs an innings.

 

[Kooly87]

Where's Marnus??
Bats in the top 4 and has handy leggies

In this current bowling lineup the all rounder bowls about 10-15 overs a match... not an innings... and even then they're usually bowled near the 80 over mark when they want to give the top liners a break before the new ball.

Unless we find a legit all rounder like Stokes who bowls 20 overs an innings and is a top 6 batsmen in the country... then it's a wasted spot.

Our batting lineup is too brittle (outside of Smith) to be wasting a spot so Marsh can bowl 8 overs an innings.

Genuine All-Rounders are an integral part of the batting and bowling line ups in every innings. So a bit of part time leg spin from Labuschagne doesn't really qualify in my opinion.

In fact I'm not really sure that Leg Spin is something that can really be done effectively part time. Well executed Leg Spin is perhaps the hardest thing to nail in Cricket, and may in fact be one of the hardest niche skills to master in just about any sport.

 

[mitch222]

It seems these days all they are looking for in an all rounder is they must bowl pace. Id rather another batsmen with Labuschagne and Smithy bowling a few if necessary

 

[Allo]

NESER

Still pissed Langer didn’t pick him.

 

[Kooly87]

It seems these days all they are looking for in an all rounder is they must bowl pace. Id rather another batsmen with Labuschagne and Smithy bowling a few if necessary

To be fair, Lyon can get through such a volume of work and has been effective enough that it really doesn't leave a huge need for a spinning all rounder outside of countries where the wickets produce a lot of turn. Given we play half our series at home and around half the other countries we go to also aren't traditionally spin friendly surfaces, it definitely lends weight to looking for a seam bowling all rounder. The fact Labuschagne and Smith can both bowl part time spin as well, as you said, has really kind of killed off the chances of a spin bowling all rounder for now.

I agree though, until one of the seam bowling all rounders is beating down the door with their form, I'd prefer to see us just picking our strongest batting option in that number 6 spot, especially given how dire our batting has been in recent seasons and with us not producing a huge amount of runs out of our Keeper either, we really need to bolster our batting stocks wherever possible.