SA Footy

I know many of you have gripes with the selectors. This is the one that is starting to bug me.

Admittedly I was a fan of Peter Siddle from what I had seen of him at domestic level. I thought he would take a few wickets at Test level. For the time being he has disappointed. His time is not now, clearly.

We currently have the No 1 ODI bowler in the world. But it looks like he won't be trading in his pyjamas for a chance with the baggy green any time soon. Why is this? Why are the selectors so obsessed with certain players? Why why why why...?

Nathan Bracken averages 25.98 at First Class level. Over 200 wickets. He's paid his dues, which is far more than can be said for some other mugs who've been getting a go lately.

agreed he is very unlucky not to have had more opportunities at this level. If world class batsmen struggle against him in one day cricket i am sure he would be capable of being the 3rd quick in our test side. I think if siddle is not picked in the boxing day test then either Bollinger or Bracken will get the nod.

When was the last time Bracken played a Test? and how did he go in that Test?

Three Tests against India a few years back. Struggled a bit (but didn't everyone?). Only played the two matches since but he did well looking at the figures. Very unlucky.

Hasn't played a Test in 3 years.

and just think if bracken is picked .. 2 left arm bowlers....

The Following Figures might answer a few questions..
Having said that, his average isn't going to come down if he's not given the same opportunities as others!

Bowling averages
.........Mat..Inns...Balls...Runs...Wkts...BBI....BBM...Ave.....Econ
Tests...5---10---1110---505---12----4/48--4/71--42.08--2.72
ODIs....92--92---4481---3238--148---5/47--5/47--21.87--4.33

Ambo72 wrote:The Following Figures might answer a few questions..
Having said that, his average isn't going to come down if he's not given the same opportunities as others!

Bowling averages
.........Mat..Inns...Balls...Runs...Wkts...BBI....BBM...Ave.....Econ
Tests...5---10---1110---505---12----4/48--4/71--42.08--2.72
ODIs....92--92---4481---3238--148---5/47--5/47--21.87--4.33

and the second to last time he bowled was the 4/48 he took against the west indies, including wickets of lara, chanderpaul and sarwan i do believe

This a yawn topic...
Bracken is suited to ODI as players look to take him down and he is consistent enough to usually win the battle.
Test cricket blokes will just sit on him...no major weapons, a little swing in to a right hander/away from left but if that is not going then he is very ho hum military...

If we are giving Siddle and Krejza ago in the side, we surely should give this bloke ago, he is better than Siddle and Krejza put together.

We need someone who can come in and blast the CricketBoks out with lightning fast reverse swing - Shaun Tait.

However, he is much more suited to the ODI & T20 arenas...

Push in the Back wrote:This a yawn topic...
Bracken is suited to ODI as players look to take him down and he is consistent enough to usually win the battle.
Test cricket blokes will just sit on him...no major weapons, a little swing in to a right hander/away from left but if that is not going then he is very ho hum military...

Took the words right out of my mouth. Blokes such as siddle, hilfenhaus and bollinger have more weapons and pace and are an eye to the future. "Sunshine" Bracken is a bowler who does nothing except for wait for the batsmen to take him on, which he must do in one-day cricket, and hope that he makes a mistake. Teams such as india and south africa have shown recently that if you have some patience against the current australian attack, the runs will tick over and big scores can be made without many risks. Bringing in sunshine would be a short term fix at best and that is not what is needed in the post- warne, mcgrath, dizzy era.

blink wrote:We need someone who can come in and blast the CricketBoks out with lightning fast reverse swing - Shaun Tait.

However, he is much more suited to the ODI & T20 arenas...

I would love Tait in too, but i think selectors got it right - Big Benny Hilf.

Push in the Back wrote:This a yawn topic...
Bracken is suited to ODI as players look to take him down and he is consistent enough to usually win the battle.
Test cricket blokes will just sit on him...no major weapons, a little swing in to a right hander/away from left but if that is not going then he is very ho hum military...

Who do you suggest should be our 3rd quick then?

Pigeonholing him as a ODI player when he's only played 5 Tests and consistently taken wickets at Shield level helps no-one.

If he gets some swing, he's already doing better than Lee or Siddle.

Push in the Back wrote:

blink wrote:We need someone who can come in and blast the CricketBoks out with lightning fast reverse swing - Shaun Tait.

However, he is much more suited to the ODI & T20 arenas...

I would love Tait in too, but i think selectors got it right - Big Benny Hilf.

tait is crap, cant get a wicket for the shield side, when he is fit and not whinging about some injury! tait would be around 15th in line for a test call up atm i would think

Bracks needs to come in, we have no bowlers! Whats the point of having lee bowling around 135-140 and not moving it when we can have bracken bowling low 130s and giving the ball a tweak of leg cut/off cut/ swing every now and then. What we lack in our bowling at the moment is changing of deliveries, too many balls in the same area doing nothing gives the batsman every chance to hit you for runs.

CoverKing wrote:

Push in the Back wrote:

blink wrote:We need someone who can come in and blast the CricketBoks out with lightning fast reverse swing - Shaun Tait.

However, he is much more suited to the ODI & T20 arenas...

I would love Tait in too, but i think selectors got it right - Big Benny Hilf.

tait is crap, cant get a wicket for the shield side, when he is fit and not whinging about some injury! tait would be around 15th in line for a test call up atm i would think

However he is unpredictable,something Brett Lee is not.....

LaughingKookaburra wrote:

CoverKing wrote:

Push in the Back wrote:

blink wrote:We need someone who can come in and blast the CricketBoks out with lightning fast reverse swing - Shaun Tait.

However, he is much more suited to the ODI & T20 arenas...

I would love Tait in too, but i think selectors got it right - Big Benny Hilf.

tait is crap, cant get a wicket for the shield side, when he is fit and not whinging about some injury! tait would be around 15th in line for a test call up atm i would think

However he is unpredictable,something Brett Lee is not.....

Agreed Tait is unpredictable the poor batsmen is wondering can i reach the next one or will it be a full toss at my head. Agree very unpredictable.