Australia's New Contract List

Katich's career has effectively been ended, as well as Marcus North, as the pair have failed to secure contracts for this year.

This is the current list , with a few surprises:

Cricket Australia contracts list 2011-12: Doug Bollinger, Michael Clarke, Patrick Cummins, Xavier Doherty, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, John Hastings, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, David Hussey, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, James Pattinson, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle, Steven Smith, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

While the following have lost their contract:
Katich, James Hopes, Andrew McDonald, Clint McKay, Marcus North, Shaun Tait and Adam Voges


With Hussey and Ponting both over 35, the selectors have obviously felt that another 35 year old cricketer, coming back from injury, in Katich is not worth playing.
Only two additional pacers have been picked, young gun Patrick Cummins, who I have seen footage of, and he's quick + 18 and Pattinson.

Hauritz is still contracted, while Beer wasn't. I guess this indicates he's in the selectors plans. Krejza has been included also, as has Steve Smith (presumably as an all rounder) and Doherty. That's 4 spinners, which is quite odd.

Nonetheless, just looking at the list makes me cringe about the state of Australian cricket at the moment. We need to stick to players and give them a proper go. For crying out loud, Steve Waugh didn't make a ton til his 28th test or whatever it was!

They stuck my Hauritz for a long time, they should have continued with him. I'd also like to see Johnson go and Harris lead the attack. Bollinger is also one of the best limited overs bowlers around and he can do the job in the test format. Need to play a side like this in tests:

1. Watson
2. Hughes
3. Ponting
4. Clarke*
5. Khawaja
6. Hussey, M
7. Paine†
8. Harris
9. Hauritz
10. Bollinger
11. Hilfenhaus/Siddle

I still have faith in Hilfenhaus, he has the ability , pace and swing. If not him, then Siddle.

I still can't believe O'Keefe can't get recognised by the selectors, he's light years ahead of Doherty as a spinner and a top 6 batsman. He's definitely got more about him than Smith. If they want a spinning all-rounder, which could be useful, particularly with North gone and no great spinner in the side, then play O'Keefe at 6. He's got the talent, and stick with him.

Even though Krejza does turn the ball, his accuracy is poor. Every single over HE ALWAYS drags a ball short and gets hit for four. It's just pathetic. Australian conditions have seldom been conducive to finger spin. All our best spinners have been leggies (Grimmet, O'Reilly, Benaud, Warne, MacGill... can you see the pattern?).
There's a young leg spinner , Boyce , from QLD... he is a decent bowler, we might see him around next season. We need to spot talent like that. If you look at the youth teams, every spinners is a finger-spinner, who bats in the top 6. We don't want spinning all rounders, we want specialist spin bowlers. Finger spinners will never take big hauls in Australia. Just ask Murali! Even Swann wasn't that flash last Ashes. Kaneria, Kumble, Warne and MacGill have been awesome in Australia conditions.

The key , I think is to play your best attack. I'd much rather see 4 fast bowlers, maybe 2 left armers and 2 right armers and then a spin bowling all rounder like O'Keefe at 6 or 7. The kid can bat and can accurately bowl 15-20 overs an innings. Fact is, Harris and Johnson, if they both play, are decent batsmen and if you had them at 8 and 9 then having O'Keefe at 6 wouldn't be a liability. They just won't pick the kid!

Like Sledger said earlier, there is quality in that Australian line up. They just need some consistency. If Clarke, Ponting and Watson are at their best then there's no reason why Australia couldn't make 350+ in most of their innings. We know what all of these men are capable of, there just needs to be consistency and confidence.

Edited by Mikey - 07 June 2011 at 5:58pm

I've personally never seen such a poor Australian side, I wasn't around in the late 80's so I'm not 100% about how bad the team was back then under Border.

There is a talent there, but like you say Clobber, nothing that will terrify the world.

It's all about consistency. If Harris and Bollinger stay fit, you have to quick bowlers who can get the ball to swing. That's pretty useful, but those guys need back up. Johnson playing one good match every series is simply not good enough, he needs to take wickets all the time and he just doesn't do that.

Hughes has the ability, but why not bring back a proven performer like Phil Jacques, or Chris Rogers or Michael Klinger. Yes, they're a bit older, but they all proven first class performers. What about putting David Hussey in the middle order too? Australia should look at Pakistan, they brought back a 36 year old Misbah and he's been excellent. We have to be patient with the young talent, because unfortunately there isn't anyone really eye-catching. All our fast bowlers can bowl quick, but none of them are particularly accurate. All our batsmen can play strokes, but none of them are particularly consistent....

Clobber I do wonder what effect the lack of funds in English county cricket is having on that front. Kent weren't planning on having an overseas player at all, and a lot of county sides are bringing in a specialist for t20 only.

The relative strength of the Aussie dollar against the Pound can't be helping things either. What once was a golden payday season with an English club side probably now translates to just enough to pay for the flight home!

Be grateful still Mikey, at least your side still win games!!

Wouldn't mind seeing Shaun Marsh open either, could be a better option than Hughes.

Haddin has to go, if they don't want old players then why is he in the side? His performances are not that great, don't really justify a spot in the test side. Paine made a 50 and a 90 in his last 2 tests in India against a decent Indian attack.

It's funny they drop Katich even though he's been our best batsman in the last 2 years, only Cook has scored more runs than he. While Ponting and Hussey are continued with, despite both of them having very average seasons in the last 2 years. Hilditch and co. need to go. Appointing Greg Chappell was also a mistake, we saw how he almost ruined India. The guy is useless, even when he coached South Australia they never won a single trophy.

In addition, John Buchannan was always criticised, but the worst we ever did under him was lose the Ashes in 2005, and it's not like Australia was thrashed in that series. Yet Tim Nielsen is NEVER put under the microscope. Who the hell is Tim Nielsen anyway?

Katich has really sounded off about the selectors !  He's every reason to be hacked off , Andrew Hilditch is a joke ! That the selectors are part timers is ridiculous and to tell Katich that they're looking at a new opening aprtnership for the 2013 Ashes doesn't hold water for me.  The fact is that Katich/Watson have been terrific at the top of the order - it's the rest of the line up that's been average at best!    His outburst is probably going to get him in hot water , but I respect him for giving them both barrels.
                 Just watch the new opening pair fail a few times and they go grovelling back to Katich - then I hope he tells them where to get off!


Edited by Sledger - 10 June 2011 at 8:48am

Absolutely foolish decision by Australia.  Decisions like these is why they are currently a poor bunch compare to their standards.  Stuart Clark got dropped for "promising" players like Siddle, Hilfenhaus etc yet none of them possesses the record that he had.  Stuart Clark hardly ever bowled bad for Australia in test Cricket, probably only one series I can remember him failing in and that was against India in the sub continent.

The Aussie selectors have a history of getting rid of players very abruptly - remember Steve Waugh ?  I'm not saying they were wrong , usually the newcomer was a class act and the team's success continued.    But in recent times they've lost the plot - the Ashes selections reminded me of England under Atherton at times.  The shambolic selection of so many spinners since Warne's retirement highlights their indecision - and indecision then seeps into the players themselves , not knowing if they'll be there for the next test if they have one poor match.

Originally posted by bladescape Nathan Hauritz, Yawn. Jason Krezja, Yawn. Etc. Face it, a full pace attack with a part time spinner would be much better than trying to find a full time spinner.

 Yes was really impressive in his first two outings and I'd thought ,then , that they had just unearth their next biggest talent after Ponting. Lost his fizz since then esp after his shortcomings against the shorter balls were discovered.

 Problem for him has probably been , he started off his career with a bang too loud for his own liking. The hype and pressure just shot up manifold. A victim of his own success one could say. Think it should just be a matter of time though before he finds his feet , esp after the dish Katich got, he should be getting a lot more opportunities.