Did the selectors make the "call" to early?

[Booney]

This should get you thinking,do you believe the Australian selectors made the decision on the futures of the likes of Lehmann,Martyn,Kasprowicz and MacGill(to a lesser extent) too early?

The first call they made was some months ago when they decided to leave Lehmann out of the touring party for the Ashes,some say this hurt our chances over there in England,I for one agree,and when that decision was made that was the end for Lehmann at international level.

The second call they made,after a knee-jerk reaction to losing the Ashes was to go for a couple of older blokes and bring in the fresh faces,Martyn and Kasprowicz being the losers in it all.Katich,Tait,Bracken and Hodge the winners.

Now here we have Katich being dropped with not a run,Clarke(who I think we must stick with now for the future of our team)struggling in the key batting position,MacGill (possibly) still not playing,and a bloke called Hodge who clearly thinks a bloke called Hodge is pretty bloody good,(if any of you have seen the TV interviews with him,you will know what I mean.)

I think the likes of McGrath,Walsh,Lara have shown guys can play on now longer than previously thought,(form permitting),the selectors now appear to have a pencil mark next to any one who is getting to 35+,luckily for the likes of Hayden and Langer,there is not alot of pressure coming from Shield level.

[Jimmy]

gorilla should play more...martyn is so up and down its not funny and boof is still good but we need to look beyond him...he can plunder runs at state level all he lieks

[Rik E Boy]

On recent form you would have to say yes. Martyn is hardly 'up and down'.....he had a shit season against the Poms but wasn't too bad just before that. Boof and Martyn would have to be a better bet than the Katich and Clarke combination. Katich is an out and out nicker and Clarke's footwork and shot selection are horrendous..but it's easy to be clever with the benifit of hindsight.

regards,

REB

[stan]

and a bloke called Hodge who clearly thinks a bloke called Hodge is pretty bloody good,(if any of you have seen the TV interviews with him,you will know what I mean.)

"No one deserves to play for Australia more than me"

This is my favourite from Brad Hodge. Booney is very right, he does rate himself. It will be interesting to see how things go for him if he gets a shot. But yeah he has a pretty high opinion of himself at the moment.

[JK]

Whilst I've never been a massive fan of his, I reakon Martyn was VERY harshly treated by the selectors, more so even than Boof ... He had 1 poor series, with several woeful decisions (not complaining ubout the umpiring, just more suggesting this should be part of the evaluation process), and his average still suggests he should be there!

Boof I'm in two minds about, there's no doubting that the entire makeup of the Australian side (players, coaches AND selectors) didn't give the Poms the respect they deserved and were justifiably found wanting as a result ... So he should have been closer to selection than they appeared to think, whilst I think at the highest level he's struggled at times against fast and short pitched bowling, he's a proven run machine in England (hell, around the world for that matter)!

[stan]

But its all to late now. He's 35 and we really need to be looking to the future at the moment. Blood some young batsmen.........

[Rik E Boy]

Like Hodge and Katich who are both 30.....

regards,

REB

[stan]

But REB Hodge is awsome, havent you heard. If you havent well just ask him im pretty sure he'll be happy to tell you.

[TigerBoss]

I think the selectors have been good to remove the players out of form, Lehmann, Martyn, Gillespie and so on.

As much of a Lehmann fan as I am, his form in the Australian side was NOT great...nor was Martyn's in England and even prior to that.

Problem is, the calibre of players we're replacing these champions with just don't cut the mustard...

I honestly believe if you stick with a Martyn and a Lehmann, more times out of 10 you'll get a big score as opposed to a Clarke or a Katich...

But then you have to consider the ageing nature of the playing group and ensuring a regular crop of youth are brought into the side to continue to foster development and keep the side at the top of World Cricket, without us suffering a lapse due to several oldies leaving around the same time (similar to Chappell, Marsh, Lillee).

I think Clarke MUST be dropped ASAP to regain some form for NSW...the Katich decision was the right one.

Phil Jacques, Jimmy Maher (until he met the full force of Dizzy Gillespie last week), Boof, M. North and David Hussey are in sterling form in the domestic comp...these blokes MUST be coming under serious consideration for the Australian side, along with the regular missers in Hodge, M. Hussey, etc. Problem is, of that lot, only Jacques and North are under 30.

[spell_check]

Remembering that Martyn was used as a scapegoat after the South Africa test at Sydney in 1994 - he didn't play another test until 2000. I reakon he has been harshly treated, along with Lehmann. But do we want to see Boof back playing for Australia when he more often or not carries our side?

[Rik E Boy]

JACQUES!! TOP CALL TIGGERBRUCE!!

Get rid of that Hayden Bloke More Blues for the test team YEAH.

regards,

REB

[stan]

Perhaps North maybe in line for a chance soon. Jacques as well would probably have to be looked at. But other than that, there dosent seem to be much around.

[The_Bay_Boy]

Good points made by all on this topic,

But what i would like to know is what has happened to the Australia A team. I know they were only a micky mouse team that only played a handful of games every summer, but it was a good base for players to take a step up from domestic cricket, but still not yet into the full national team.

i think the australia A concept gave selectors a good chance to see players at international level before their national selection. it was also a team that could teach young talent a great deal of things.

Am i wrong? Was the australia A concept a waste of time?

Plus, The mention of tait by booney, got me thinking, Where is tait? He's not in the aussie team, and i didn't see him in the pura cup game against WA.

Anyone know?

[stan]

Bay boy.......do you live underwater????

Tait is injured and may miss most of the summer with his shoulder injury.

[The_Bay_Boy]

Bay boy.......do you live underwater????

Tait is injured and may miss most of the summer with his shoulder injury.

gezz man.... god forbid i ask a simple question. i had not heard he is injured.

[Rik E Boy]

Yab Yob. There was an Australia A tour to Pakistan during the winter but it happened during the football season so the Carptiser might not have covered it. Not too sure how they went over there but the good news is that JACQUES JACQUES JACQUES got a gig. I reckon he is a gun who will one day play for Australia.

regards,

REB