Busaholic
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 7 Jun 2014
- Messages
- 14,088
Oh dear.
Nobody could have known Anderson would get a recurrence of his previous calf injury (could they? I hope not.) England, presumably batting last, are going to miss him terribly if he doesn't reappear (and would it be wise to even if he was up for it?)
I thought when I heard the respective teams that Australia had probably got it right and England wrong, though at least Woakes correctly got the nod. OK, Wood is injured and Archer apparently not really considered for selection because of what exactly? But then not to select Stone on his home pitch when his pace had discomfited some of the (admittedly rookie) Ireland batsmen OR Sam Curran, whose batting at least shows up some of the higher order's. Curran was Man of the Match in the last Edgbaston test against India in August last year. Mooen Ali should have been left out imo - Curran is more likely to make runs these days and Ali is back to his 'I'm not the no. 1 spin bowler' spiel, so let's take him at his word and share spin (if needed) between Root and Denly.
Australia are weakened from the off in including a player just there to captain in the enforced absence of Steve Smith from that role. Tim Paine is probably not even the best wicketkeeper in their side, so we have an advantage from the start. On the other hand, I believe they've chosen well in their bowlers, though. James Pattinson has a good record in tests since his return from long-term injury, and has outbowled Broad in the matches they've both played for Notts this and last year. The Aussie broadcaster whose name I forget who's on TMS wrote on the BBC website prior to the match that he thought Pattinson, if selected, would win a match this series (let's hope not the current one!): on the other hand, he wondered which Mitchell Starc would turn up for this series, seeming to fear it'd be the 0-89 off 18 overs one. That other Mitchell, M. Johnson, was a very hot or very cold bowler too, wasn't he? Peter Siddle will never let you down, has been on excellent form for Essex, knows how to hold a bat and to score with it. An unheralded bowler, but he'll try his heart out- worth trying in preference to Hazlewood imo, the latter never really improving or living up to the early McGrathesque hype.
Bring on Day Two!
Nobody could have known Anderson would get a recurrence of his previous calf injury (could they? I hope not.) England, presumably batting last, are going to miss him terribly if he doesn't reappear (and would it be wise to even if he was up for it?)
I thought when I heard the respective teams that Australia had probably got it right and England wrong, though at least Woakes correctly got the nod. OK, Wood is injured and Archer apparently not really considered for selection because of what exactly? But then not to select Stone on his home pitch when his pace had discomfited some of the (admittedly rookie) Ireland batsmen OR Sam Curran, whose batting at least shows up some of the higher order's. Curran was Man of the Match in the last Edgbaston test against India in August last year. Mooen Ali should have been left out imo - Curran is more likely to make runs these days and Ali is back to his 'I'm not the no. 1 spin bowler' spiel, so let's take him at his word and share spin (if needed) between Root and Denly.
Australia are weakened from the off in including a player just there to captain in the enforced absence of Steve Smith from that role. Tim Paine is probably not even the best wicketkeeper in their side, so we have an advantage from the start. On the other hand, I believe they've chosen well in their bowlers, though. James Pattinson has a good record in tests since his return from long-term injury, and has outbowled Broad in the matches they've both played for Notts this and last year. The Aussie broadcaster whose name I forget who's on TMS wrote on the BBC website prior to the match that he thought Pattinson, if selected, would win a match this series (let's hope not the current one!): on the other hand, he wondered which Mitchell Starc would turn up for this series, seeming to fear it'd be the 0-89 off 18 overs one. That other Mitchell, M. Johnson, was a very hot or very cold bowler too, wasn't he? Peter Siddle will never let you down, has been on excellent form for Essex, knows how to hold a bat and to score with it. An unheralded bowler, but he'll try his heart out- worth trying in preference to Hazlewood imo, the latter never really improving or living up to the early McGrathesque hype.
Bring on Day Two!