Summer of Cricket thread

[Richie]

No significant score in 2 years other than the 174

Disappointing given his brilliant debut ton in India in '23. Guessing even some of our best have not tonned up over there. His 118 with 18 fours was as good as Pup Clarkes debut century almost two decades earlier imho.

 

[Richie]

Carse

Their poorest bowler as he was unable to maintain any pressure. Tongue was the pick as he was the only one that bowled to the conditions.

 

[Hounddog]

Who was your player of the series?

Starc
Head
Carey

Why?

IMO all 3 stood up when the ashes were in play and needed to be won.

But Starc set the tone in the first test after the Pom bowlers started the series well. So Starc, but Head was a close second, with Carey a wisker behind Head.

 

[Hounddog]

Ussie haa been great in the past, but this was the right time to retire.

Recent performances don't diminish his past performaces, but there is no question that his form has dropped off,

He still made a valuable contribution to the series, so retiring at the right time and he deserves respect.

Green also deserves respect, even if some of that respect is based on potential. Starting a test career us just as hard as ending a test career.

 

[Decentric]

Come on man. You're being completely unfair. he has some decent contributions in that time. We just saw one in Adelaide. Don't recall Green doing anything significant this series.

The same argument can be made against Cam Green. No significant score in 2 years other than the 174. He averages 23 in 2025 (Didn't play Sri Lanka), and his average in 2024 is helped by the fact he only played 4 matches, and didn't bat in 1 of the innings. So he didn't play against India or Pakistan. So, 1 big score in 2 years.

A similar case could be made for Marnus who last scored a century in 2023.

Instead, you are only attacking Ussie, and lauding Green as the messiah, despite him having been just as poor. No recognition at all for Ussie, which is completely unfair. Ends his test career with a batting average of 43. I think he deserves all the plaudits he gets. He is retiring. Thank you for the service!

I think you are fixated, Zimbos.

Age: Green 26, Labu 31, Usman 39.

Averages : all lower than par for batters.

Median : Usman low.

Qualities other than batting : Green, very good catcher and express bowler,

Labu : part time time spin, pace; plus good catcher and very good ground fielder.

Usman : bit sluggish as ground fielder, not a bad slipper.

I’ve just lauded Usman’s superb batting when he returned to the team aged 34-37, whilst struggling with declining hand eye aged 38-9. He was one of the highest rated batters in the world in this 34-37 period.

I think Labu and Warner should have been dropped/shoulder tapped before they were. Their figures were poor too.

 

[Decentric]

IMO all 3 stood up when the ashes were in play and needed to be won.

But Starc set the tone in the first test after the Pom bowlers started the series well. So Starc, but Head was a close second, with Carey a wisker behind Head.

I would have given all three joint player of the series.

All three were remarkable.

 

[Decentric]

Their poorest bowler as he was unable to maintain any pressure. Tongue was the pick as he was the only one that bowled to the conditions.

Carse took second highest wickets - 22.

His average was about 29 per wicket - I think?

Starc’s and Barrel’s averages were much lower. They took 31 and 20 wickets respectively.

 

[Richie]

Had the Poms won Stokes was my MOS. Best I have seen from this guy, used to be maligned but he has won our respect due to the way he plays his cricket. In a word the guy is a warrior.

 

[Decentric]

Had the Poms won Stokes was my MOS. Best I have seen from this guy, used to be maligned but he has won our respect due to the way he plays his cricket. In a word the guy is a warrior.

Terrific all rounder is Stokes. Good with bat and ball!

Bethell - phenomenal batting and his left arm finger spin was decent too.

Smith - not a bad keeper and decent batter.

Tongue - good late series fast bowling.

I know their averages might not have been that good, but Root, Brook and Crawley made Aus chase a lot of leather in the time they were at the crease.

 

[Richie]

20 respectively.

Neser took more but lacked the accuracy of Barrell. I think we have to put out to pasture these mid 30s guys as reserve bowlers as for mine it is time to invest in younger well established quicks to give them a crack at replacing Haze, Starc and Lyon when they decide to leave. These blokes need to be vying for coveted spots in our future attack with the best of our younger next gens. So we have healthy competition.

 

[Richie]

Bethell - phenomenal batting

In Sydney with his maiden ton in better batting conditions than Melbourne where he never got going, like many others. But question is would he have been a Test centurian had he faced Cummins and Hazlewood. Nevertheless, I believe he has a promising future as he looks good technically and that is a major part of being a Test batsman. Tho Travis Head is the exception to that rule.

 

[Hounddog]

Neser took more but lacked the accuracy of Barrell. I think we have to put out to pasture these mid 30s guys as reserve bowlers as for mine it is time to invest in younger well established quicks to give them a crack at replacing Haze, Starc and Lyon when they decide to leave. These blokes need to be vying for these coveted spots in our future attack with the best of our younger next gens. So we have healthy competition.

I would like to see 2 expericed quicks partnering 1 young quick and Green for most tests.

Experinced quicks include Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood, Boland and Neser. More rest and roation will prolong careers.

Young guys can be eased into test cricket and i want them to be the next generation of young talent under 30 and ideally under 25.

Spin bowling wise Lyon will be out for a while, that is an opportunity to give 1-2 young guys a run. Some tours create more opportunities for spinners.

 

[Hounddog]

Talent wise, the Pom team matched up well.

Fitness, preparation, training, selection and strategy is where they lost the series.

By the end of the series, these areas started to improve, and they learned some valuable lessons.

For tne next ashes series in the UK, accurate pace and spin bowling will probably be the key.

While many of the Pom bowlers had pace, only Tongue and Stokes were consistently accurate. Loose bowling and dropped catches were additional reasons why they lost.

We might get one more ashes series out of Starc, Cummins, Boland and Neser.

We need an accurate spinner for the next series and I would like to see both Green and Webster stay in the squad.

Pom batsmen sometimes scored quickly, but attacking accurate bowling is higher risk.

Test cricket will never be like short form games, because sometimes accurate bowling in the right areas builds pressure and does plenty, attacking it is high risk.

In addition to the bowling issues we need to find a solid reliable opening partner for Head. Preferably a tall right hander with a solid defence, good at leaving the ball, and a calm unflustered personality.

 

[Richie]

I would like to see 2 expericed quicks partnering 1 young quick and Green for most tests.

Next cabs off the rank could be either Richardson, Bartlett or Morris along with either Anderson, Thompson, Beardman or Vidler as the youngster with Green to make a future attack.

 

[zimbos05]

I think you are fixated, Zimbos.

Age: Green 26, Labu 31, Usman 39.

Averages : all lower than par for batters.

Median : Usman low.

Qualities other than batting : Green, very good catcher and express bowler,

Labu : part time time spin, pace; plus good catcher and very good ground fielder.

Usman : bit sluggish as ground fielder, not a bad slipper.

I’ve just lauded Usman’s superb batting when he returned to the team aged 34-37, whilst struggling with declining hand eye aged 38-9. He was one of the highest rated batters in the world in this 34-37 period.

I think Labu and Warner should have been dropped/shoulder tapped before they were. Their figures were poor too.

If anyones fixated, it's you.

You are the one continuing like Green is the messiah. I've already said that I thought Ussie should have retired earlier, but that was his decision. I've already said he didn't have the best series, but did have glimpses of his quality. I simply said, the argument that he should have been replaced by Green is a not a fair one. Ussie was chosen as an opener, that changed during the series, but he was purely a batter. Did he drop any major catches? No. Did he make any major mistakes? No. In all my time in the game (Qualified umpire and coach) I've very rarely seen someone selected only for fielding. Marnus bats at 3, can't afford to not make runs.

Once again, no one is doubting Greens talent and no one is saying he should be dropped completely. It's quite simple. He is not at 100%, so no harm in dropping him for a bit whilst he recovers, maybe plays a couple shield games to find some form, and then bringing him back. He added nothing to the Ashes series, so it would not have been like we were dropping an inform player. We stood to lose nothing in that last test. So Webster could have covered for Green. Ussie gets his send off. Everyone is happy.

Once he is at 100 and back in form, no doubt he'll be a regular.

Read my words to understand, not to just respond.

All this complaining about Ussie now makes everyone who is doing it seem very bitter, and is proving everything he said in his press conference right.

 

[Richie]

We might get one more ashes series out of Starc, Cummins, Boland and Neser.

Not Boland or Neser, like I say we need to be transitioning the next established first class next gen quicks to play the Barrell/Ness role when the biggies are either injured or rotated. These guys need to be cherry ripe for when the big three eventually leave the game which needs to be not too far off.

 

[Richie]

I'd like the best of our young crop, as named in my earlier post, to play in the winter Bangla series as no better time to introduce or audition them into big time cricket.

 

[Richie]

We stood to lose nothing in that last test. So Webster could have covered for Green. Ussie gets his send off. Everyone is happy.

As it turned out all three played. But you are spot on , Green did not contribute a great deal, leaving his best knock to our last innings. Tho I do recall he hit a decent 45 in a vital partnership with Carey in an earlier game.

 

[Decentric]

Next cabs off the rank could be either Richardson, Bartlett or Morris along with either Anderson, Thompson, Beardman or Vidler as the youngster with Green to make a future attack.

Don’t know Thompson and Anderson, but have seen both Beardman and Vidler who have genuine pace.

Just wish Richardson’s body could hold together.

 

[Decentric]

If anyones fixated, it's you.

You are the one continuing like Green is the messiah. I've already said that I thought Ussie should have retired earlier, but that was his decision. I've already said he didn't have the best series, but did have glimpses of his quality. I simply said, the argument that he should have been replaced by Green is a not a fair one. Ussie was chosen as an opener, that changed during the series, but he was purely a batter. Did he drop any major catches? No. Did he make any major mistakes? No. In all my time in the game (Qualified umpire and coach) I've very rarely seen someone selected only for fielding. Marnus bats at 3, can't afford to not make runs.

Once again, no one is doubting Greens talent and no one is saying he should be dropped completely. It's quite simple. He is not at 100%, so no harm in dropping him for a bit whilst he recovers, maybe plays a couple shield games to find some form, and then bringing him back. He added nothing to the Ashes series, so it would not have been like we were dropping an inform player. We stood to lose nothing in that last test. So Webster could have covered for Green. Ussie gets his send off. Everyone is happy.

Once he is at 100 and back in form, no doubt he'll be a regular.

Read my words to understand, not to just respond.

All this complaining about Ussie now makes everyone who is doing it seem very bitter, and is proving everything he said in his press conference right.

A forum is just a place to express opinions.

We can agree to disagree about Usman. I’ve acknowledged he has been a very good batter aged 34-37.

He has also been a thorn in Tas’s side in the Shield. Probably, when he should have been playing Test cricket.

Green’s young age and relative inexperience works well for him.

Just move on.