Mark Chilton – LiveCricket.in
Chill discusses cricket
Posts Tagged ‘Shane Warne’
2nd
So Australia get beaten on their own soil since 1993 and there is suddenly a crisis and every man and his dog voices their opinion. The fact is they just haven’t been used to getting beaten that often and to be so convincingly turned over means questions get asked. I have read many articles over the last few days about where they go from here and I thought I would offer another opinion.
It is no secret that they are a different team without Glenn Mcgrath and Shane Warne, especially the latter, and their deficiency in the spin departement has proved to be a real problem. I reckon they have two options.
Firstly, they could pick their four best bowlers (regardless of action), six best batters and Brad Haddin to keep wicket. The possible batters in my view would be Brad Hodge or David Hussey.
Secondly, they find an allrounder to allow them to play the spinner. I would play Jason Krejza who is a more attacking spin option then pick a bloke who can do a holding job as a fourth seamer to allow some control when the three quicks are tired or the spinner fetches it. Andrew Macdonald is a consistent performer having a great season with Victoria and has an opportunity to show is potential. A fully fit Andrew Symonds would still make my starting eleven but he has to able to bowl the overs.
Althought the results were ultimately pretty convincing the Aussies had South Africa on the ropes at times and failed to convert their strong positions. They are still a quality side and if they can keep confidence will still be a tough team to beat in Sydney and provide a stern test for England in the Ashes next year.
5th
What a finale….both captains, Ricky Ponting of Australia and Indias golden boy Mahendra Dhoni, have both publicly stated the importance of the final test at Nagpur. After having been comprehensively outplayed in the first three tests, Australia still has a chance to come away from India holding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
They will be under no illusions though, it will be an incredible result if they pull it off. The pitch will be a huge hurdle for them, all reports suggest a slow, low pitch suited to the spinners….no surprise there then. Australia are still faced with the problem of no Shane Warne, it is time to give Jason Krejza his opportunity. Krejza is relatively unknown but must be there for a reason, he has been selected as the Aussies number one spinner and they have to put some faith in him. Australia have performed well to stay in the series, to follow a huge Indian total of over 600 is never easy no matter how flat the surface and they batted admirably.
Great to see Lancashire new recruit, VVS Laxman, in the runs. He was fabulous in his short stint in 2007 and i am sure we are all looking forward to his arrival. A quick congratulations to him, this will be his 100th match for India….quite an achievement.
My tip….a step to far for Australia. Indian win