Test Squad for South African Tour - predictions & discussion

[David Brent]

Which 2 players will SA have to pick to cover Jaques Kallis !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, is there an adequate replacement for Jaques ?

I reckon they will go the young kepper De Kock & move AB up to number 4 & take the gloves away from him.

[Aerie]

Pat Cummins will go to South Africa if he makes it through the BBL from next week. Been very carefully managed currently and Langer on the radio said there are plans from Cricket Australia otherwise he'd be playing already....

I thought the plan was for Cummings to only bowl in the shorter form of the game over the next 12-24 months until he is around 23 and ready to be unleashed in the real stuff.

Same XI with Faulkner, Doolan, Pattinson and Starc on standby. If Starc not available then Bird.

[whufc]

How many four day games has Faulkner played in the last 12 months?

Would there be a temptation to leave him home, let him play the shield year out and if Watto gets injured fly him over.

Realistically he will only get a game if Watto goes down (which could happen)

[daysofourlives]

Our record is outstanding in SA and I think we can win 2 or 3 nil based purely on that.
The agressive nature of our side is something SA has never been able to deal with, much like the Poms this series. Granted the South Africans won't roll over like the Poms did but they just arnt agressive enough especially with bat in hand to bother us.

[Jim05]

Our record is outstanding in SA and I think we can win 2 or 3 nil based purely on that.
The agressive nature of our side is something SA has never been able to deal with, much like the Poms this series. Granted the South Africans won't roll over like the Poms did but they just arnt agressive enough especially with bat in hand to bother us.

Agree, think they still think that untimed tests are played. Their batters will bat for 3 days to make 400. Reckon Lyon will play a key role over there, they are clueless against spin

[Squids]

http://www.espncricinfo.com/rankings/co ... 11271.html

[LaughingKookaburra]

The Saffers have never responded well to sides who can back them in to a corner and they will fold like a deck of cards if we can get in to their heads just like all their great sides in history. Need a bit of luck to go our way too and early in the series as we don't have the cattle but if we take that luck when it presents and and make the most of it these blokes will fold.

[the joker]

The squad will be the 13 from Sydney plus pattinson

[Killa]

Pat Cummins will go to South Africa if he makes it through the BBL from next week. Been very carefully managed currently and Langer on the radio said there are plans from Cricket Australia otherwise he'd be playing already....

Can we give up rushing this bloke straight back into tests. Let him play a full domestic season first!

The Australian doctor has basically ruled him out playing red ball cricket until he turn 24. Plan is to keep him playing 50 over cricket and T20 until his body develop. Apparently backs don't fully develop until the age of 24. Every time he has been injured it's due red ball cricket.

[bennymacca]

Okay with the South African Tour on the Horizon I thought I would have a crack at trying to name the Squad:

I will pick 15 as this is how many I believe they will take on the tour.

First 10 pick themselves after the Ashes whitewash

Warner
Rogers
Watson
Clarke
Smith
Haddin
Johnson
Harris
Siddle
Lyon

Faulker - 12th man for Ashes, seen as Watsons back up
Pattinson - Returning from Injury rate him as future leader of the attack
Bird - Also returning from Injury will be picked as a back up bowler who can keep it tight
Doolan - Brought into squad for SCG test so clearly selectors think he is next in line.
Bailey - I think the selectors will stick with him and give him 1 more series to prove himself.

Have not picked backup keeper as I think if Haddin went down they will just fly someone over and no backup spinner as conditions in South Africa are more seam friendly.

I think OP had it pretty correct.

i did hear boof on the big bash last night, and they asked him about where he sees watson's best position in the batting lineup, and boof's words were

"well obviously 3 at the moment isnt it.... 3 or 6...."

i thought it was quite an interesting comment. he was certainly leaving the door open for watson to move down to 6

i can actually see that happening too. would get him away from the swinging ball a bit more, which he has always had trouble with, and with south africa not having a world class spinner, he wont have to worry about that as much if he came in at six.

i could see them dropping bailey and bringing hughes or doolan in at 3, dropping watson to six.

[Rik E Boy]

On current form I'm with Siddle. Our bowlers are the best unit around. But you've got to give SA huge credit for the length of time they've been very good and that's mostly Steyn.

Maybe, but I don't like hearing Glen McGrath statements until we have the track record of a Glen McGrath. Let's skittle them first hey?

Terrible call re Broad and Stokes. It's the bounce with Broad while Stokes got a lot of charity wickets. Far too little evidence (ie, none) to simply say it's down to pace.

It's not all bounce with Broad but yeah Stokes did get a lot of charity wickets in Sydney. The faster bowlers did well so hardly no evidence there. Broad was their fastest over the five tests and got the most wickets. Hardly no evidence. Saffer conditions are similar to Australian conditions so you would expect us to have some trouble with Steyn, Morkel and Philander.

Clarke made runs when it mattered.

Every test matters. I'm not conviced about his form, but form is temporary and class is permanent. Just would have liked to see a good score towards the end of the series as I said.

Warner got into form playing one dayers.

And he got out of form playing teeball.

Long bow to draw that Clarke's declarations are an issue. Clarke's declarations are a huge asset to Aus. The timing has earned many an extra wicket IMHO.

We've been bowling out England in a day, sometimes even less. I don't think it's a long bow to draw at all to suggest that Pup could become overconfident and set a too generous declaration. I agree his attacking bent is an asset to Australia but I think it's a very fine line between agression and overconfidence. Perhaps not an issue, but something I can see happening, particularly early. Poms aren't Test standard at the moment, especially in that last test.

No doubt SA are a different kettle to England. They have better batsmen and the combination of Steyn/Philander craps all over Broad and Anderson. But our bowlers can't be going any better and made even Bell look second rate despite starting the series in top notch form. And right now even Steyn can't match what Johnson is doing. Left arm pace, movement and control hasn't been seen like he dished up since a young Akram.

Agreed. Pretty awesome. This is what us former Mitch haters knew he was capable of but thought we would never see. Full credit to Johnson and the coaching staff.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Pat Cummins will go to South Africa if he makes it through the BBL from next week. Been very carefully managed currently and Langer on the radio said there are plans from Cricket Australia otherwise he'd be playing already....

He can bowl four overs. Clearly he is ready for Test Cricket. Stupid move to send him over there IMO.

regards,

REB

[Rik E Boy]

Which 2 players will SA have to pick to cover Jaques Kallis !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, is there an adequate replacement for Jaques ?

What are you on about mal? They'll replace Kallis as easily as we replaced Warne.

regards,

REB

[Brodlach]

ABC have announced that the tests will be on the radio

[Jim05]

Bailey dumped from tour.
Bird, Pattinson, Doolan and Marsh come into the 15 man squad

[bennymacca]

Bailey dumped from tour.
Bird, Pattinson, Doolan and Marsh come into the 15 man squad

seems about right. Bailey had 5 consecutive tests, and didnt make the place his.

it will be interesting what they do now though, given both marsh and doolan are top order batsmen. i can see them moving watto down to number 6. i rekcon marsh might come in before doolan.

gonna be hard for faulkner to get a game if watson is playing, but he is playing some gun cricket, and im sure if watto doesnt continue to make runs (or if he cant bowl) then he is making a good case for inclusion into the test team too.

will be good for both watto and australia that he is not an auto-selection when fit

[rod_rooster]

So they've picked Shaun Marsh again Will they ever learn? He's averaged 25 in first class cricket since they last dropped him from the Test side yet they give him another go. It's absolutely mind boggling that they keep mentioning his name let alone actually pick him. The guy is a massive dud in first class cricket and no amount of runs in one day games can deny that fact. Some interesting figures:

Sheffield Shield runs this season:

Selected: Marsh 248 @ 31, Doolan 391 @ 39.
Not selected: North 593 @ 99, Hughes 549 @ 61, White 556 @ 51

Dementia has well and truly taken over John Inverarity. Let's look at a couple of recent selections. Rogers with an excellent first class record gets picked based on that and succeeds. Bailey with a very average first class record gets picked based on success in the one day format and fails. Gee, didn't see that coming. Why would the selectors think that all of a sudden a bloke who has played 85 first class games for just the 8 hundreds with an average of just 35 is all of a sudden going to come good up against the best bowling attack in the world? The ones who this will benefit most are the West Australians as now they won't have to pick the walking wicket in their Shield side for the rest of the season.

[Jim05]

Bailey dumped from tour.
Bird, Pattinson, Doolan and Marsh come into the 15 man squad

seems about right. Bailey had 5 consecutive tests, and didnt make the place his.

it will be interesting what they do now though, given both marsh and doolan are top order batsmen. i can see them moving watto down to number 6. i rekcon marsh might come in before doolan.

gonna be hard for faulkner to get a game if watson is playing, but he is playing some gun cricket, and im sure if watto doesnt continue to make runs (or if he cant bowl) then he is making a good case for inclusion into the test team too.

will be good for both watto and australia that he is not an auto-selection when fit

Ive got a feeling Marsh will come in for Bailey and Watto to drop down the order. Doolan to be there as backup, also cant see Faulkner getting a gig or any changes to the bowling barring injury. Think its 3 tests in 3 weeks with only a couple of days between first and second so Harris may not get through series

[rod_rooster]

Some more stats:

Marsh since Test axing in Jan 2012: 675 first-class runs at 25.
Hughes since Test axing in Jul 2013: 671 first-class runs at 61.

[arcadefire]

I think marsh will do well on those wickets