Australia: Who Is To Blame For This Farce

[jeesh]

Lol. Also a big difference between 288 and 79 wickets ;-)

Good that you brought up the example of Glen McGrath. Because he is perfect proof of the point i am trying to make. McGrath isnt just about accuracy. Most of his dismissals are forced. He bowls such a length you dont know where to go on the front or backfoot. His technique is the best ever i have seen-goes close to the stumps, high arm action, and also hits the deck to generate extra bounce or any lateral movement. Many of the dismissals will be caught behind or at the slips. He beats the batsmen with his bounce and movement. A captain is always assured McGrath will give a wicket or two in his first spell. And on top of this technique and skill add his fiery, competitive character. How many times have we seen him knock a batsman down with a sharp bouncer. He ll put fear in any batsman.

Now compare with McKay you ll know what i mean. No ones scared of McKay, he has a basic technique. All he tries to do is just bowl stump to stump. The type of bowler he is, he will wait for a batsman to play a bad slog, or loose shot and then dismiss. Australia can do far better than this.

Last nights match again showed you how easily the Sri Lankans milked him. Anyway no issues buddy, i was just expressing what Australia is missing out on. I respect your views.

Just for fun. Leaving some clips from the good old days. Thats what Australia could do with now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyQ1mjcwKFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48KTNSKBuos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtyKFHvVLG0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJmgK3W5Eco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF9eGp_bGe0

[jeesh]

Was Mickey Arthur one of the reasons behind spineless Australia? We are about to find out

[Jadukor]

Well the drama continues... Mickey Arthur got sacked!
I think it's a good decision to replace him with Lehman but have to question the timing though. Too close to the Ashes to do this kind of change imo

[BengaliPagol]

Originally Posted by jeesh
Was Mickey Arthur one of the reasons behind spineless Australia? We are about to find out

Your dreams are coming true jeesh bhai !

Lehmann is a very good replacement as coach. He is very suited to the role.

[jeesh]

I just hope the Aussies climb back to number 1. Getting fedup of "India Victorious" highlights and the endless tv commercials praising the heroes.

Lehmanns probably the best option. Supposed to be a great motivator, man manager, shrewd tactician.

Too bad Tom Moody doesnt coach these days. Otherwise he too could have done a good job.

[BD_TigerZ]

Originally Posted by jeesh
Getting fedup of "India Victorious" highlights and the endless tv commercials praising the heroes.

Any team other than India would be good..

[BengaliPagol]

Originally Posted by BD_TigerZ
Any team other than India would be good..

It will be Bangladesh soon dont you worry

[BengaliPagol]

Hearing Mickey Arthur couldn't really unify the team. Lehmann should fix that up. The team as a whole looks really disjointed at the moment.

[jeesh]

A South African coaching Australian national team. It was doomed for failure even before Arthur started the job.

[Gowza]

Reckon Clarke stepping down as selector is a good move, always thought it was a bad idea.

[Tigers_eye]

We are doomed. Aren't er following the aussie recipe?

[sum_1]

Originally Posted by Gowza
Reckon Clarke stepping down as selector is a good move, always thought it was a bad idea.

Exactly. Why was he on the selection panel in the first place. Isn't that conflict of interest? The mind boggles.

[Gowza]

Originally Posted by sum_1
Exactly. Why was he on the selection panel in the first place. Isn't that conflict of interest? The mind boggles.

just asking for trouble when they did that imo. think about it, if you and your mate are both in the squad but one gets picked in the XI and the other doesn't and you know the captain helped select the team then you're going to know he probably didn't want you in the team and that's going to cause all sorts of issues.

[BengaliPagol]

The only reason Phil Hughes has been in the national team is because his best friend Michael Clarke kept picking him.

[Gowza]

yeah, hughes had a great start but he's doing nothing now, time for him to go work his stuff out in domestic cricket. interested to see how watson goes opening again, he did well there depite having trouble scoring tons, possible opening pair of watson/warner could work, though warner/cowan wasn't that bad. shane watson should give up bowling and focus on batting, he use to be a much better FC batsman than he currently is.

[jeesh]

There was a time Australia used to only pick battle hardened very experienced batsmen.

Hayden, Langer, Hussey, Katich probably had 10,000+ runs, 50+ average and stints with 2-3 counties before they got a permanent place in the Aussie team. And that too in their late 20's.

Ponting, Clarke got earlier debuts because of their prodigious talent, but that too at 24-25.

A spot in the Aussie top 7 was so tough. All of them were consistent, and each had different strengths. Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Lehmann, Law, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Michael Hussey, Simon Katich, Ponting.

Just see how brittle the current lineup is. No character.

[Gowza]

watson given a chance to open in the warm-up and of course he makes a swashbuckling innings of 90 with s/r 95. should have got the ton, but for me it seems pretty obvious that he does better opening even if he struggles to convert tons.

[BengaliPagol]

Originally Posted by Gowza
watson given a chance to open in the warm-up and of course he makes a swashbuckling innings of 90 with s/r 95. should have got the ton, but for me it seems pretty obvious that he does better opening even if he struggles to convert tons.

Exactly. He is a destructive and one of Australia's best batsmen when opening the batting even though he never converts. Lehmann straight away makes the right call.

Him and Warner opening together in tests will be fierce.

[BengaliPagol]

Lehmann must have rubbed off on the boys because they put up a strong batting performance today. Shane Watson finally scored a century. He barely converts his starts so i'm glad he could finally do so. Watson and Rogers had a 170 run stand which is great. Hopefully Australia take some of this confidence into the Ashes series.

[Gowza]

lehmann has had tremendous support from everyone, a lot of former players backing him and also saying he'll bring the team together and bring a calm over them. clearly his presence has so far been very good for the team and it's just been days, makes the future look brighter.

[BengaliPagol]

Top order looking strong. But the #5 position looks weak.

[jeesh]

I have a feeling we ll soon see an Aussie resurgence back to the top. Darren Lehmann is really the key. Already his impact is visible.

When you had so much of superstars and top performers someone like Buchanan was ok. But since they are in transition with younger, unproven players they need a strong personality to guide them. Somebody with a lot of influence, man management ability. Geoff Marsh did brilliantly in the late 90's. Now i reckon Lehmann will continue in Marsh's footsteps.

[BengaliPagol]

I knew Boof would make an impact because the first thing he announced when he became cpach was that Shane Watson would be opening. It shows the sense he has as he is aware what Watson can do unlike Cowan. He has a strategy in place and looks like it might pull off it. If Australia do somehow win the Ashes if will be the back of Boof's coaching and nothing else.

[sum_1]

I have a feeling we might be having turning pitches for at least part of the series, with Swann and Panesar both in the playing XI. Too far fetched?

[jeesh]

I wonder how Lyon will do under Lehmann. Obviously the guy is far ahead of their other spinners. But he lacks the confidence to perform at a higher level.