Australia vs. India (in Australia)

Symonds is to blame for his own demise.

I know Raj will disagree with me, but I will play Kohli ahead of Rohit Sharma.  Kohli looks too outstanding a batting talent to be playing failures like Yuvraj etc ahead of him.

Mikey, Warner and Watson will definitely open for Aussies.  Tough luck to Cowan but Warner is currently seeing and hitting the ball as good as anyone currently playing the game.

I'm really not happy with this team why is Copeland out?? he did nothing wrong and Starc and Hilfy were very ordinary still they are ahead of him?


Edited by mystery - 21 December 2011 at 1:02pm

Mikey, I thought Watson was passed fit, that's why I used definitely.  Well, good news that for India.  I think they'd rather Cowan instead of Watson or Warner.

I never heard of Cowan before but then I don't really follow domestic cricket of any nation except to an extent Pakistan and India. lets see how he goes, lefties normally have done well against India, almost all lefties do well against India!!!

Cowan is known for being quite defensively correct, which is a big difference from Hughes. He is however a a late bloomer. He is actually a fine journalist and I have been following both his articles and tweets in the last couple of years and have been truly impressed. He's a very balanced sort of character, and his maturity and experience will hopefully mean he settles in straight away despite being a debutant. At 29 it's not a bad age, considering some of these debutants lately have been seriously young, yet he's not too old and hence why he gets the thumbs up ahead of the likes of Rogers, Jaques (who hasn't been doing that well anyway) and Voges, who have played for Australia before.

Cowan's last two tons were against the India XI and NZ XI in warm up games for the tourists, and while the intensity is lower, it's certainly encouraging to see him make runs against touring teams and not just other domestic attacks. I hope he does well, and any reinforcement at the top order will be welcomed!


Also, Shaun Marsh has made a blistering 99* in a BBL (Australian domestic T20 competition) in his comeback match into professional cricket. The innings included 5 sixes and was against an attack that featured international bowlers like Razzaq and Afridi and the likes of Tait and Shaun Harwood (anyone remember him?). He fielded the whole innings too and his running between the wickets was extremely impressive. I am hoping that he is 100% fit for boxing day and by the looks of it, despite the match being a T20, he looks in decent nick. If Cowan, Warner and Marsh can for a strong trio at the top of the order, Australia is in good stead to beat India - particularly with the zippy Pattinson and in-form Siddle in the bowling line-up. Hilfenhaus is the favourite for the 3rd seamer position, and from all reports, he has found a yard of pace and worked hard on his variation and action.

Edited by Mikey - 23 December 2011 at 9:27am

If Ponting and Hussey can come good, that is a very formidable team, the bowling looks potent more so because of the pace Siddle and Pattinson can generate against 37, 38 and 39 year old middle order batsmen, Hilfy can be quick too. India are likely to play Zhaeer and Ishant, both, and that is what they need because their backups in Vinay Kumar and Mithun are crap. Ashwin won't do much either, they should play Ojha but they won't.

Actually, Ashwin will do better than Ojha.  Ojha is not as good a wicket taking spinner as Ashwin.  Ojha will keep it tight, Ashwin will give you more chances of a wicket, plus he can bat well too.  If India is only playing one spinner, they will definitely go with Ashwin.

A lot of people are taking about the age of the Indian batting, but it seems like people are forgetting that not to long ago, Rahul Dravid was making century after century against the best bowling attack.  The Aussie decks may have a bit more bounce but the swing that caused all the trouble in England will not be such a factor in Aussie land.

Hilfenhaus and Siddle is no quicker than Finn, Broad, Bresnan - they all bowl around the same speed.

Originally posted by Mikey Originally posted by Mikey My feeling is that the team will almost certainly look like this: 1. Warner 2. Cowan 3. Marsh 4. Ponting 5. Clarke* 6. Hussey 7. Haddin† 8. Siddle 9. Hilfenhaus 10. Pattinson 11. Lyon With Starc and Christian being left out. And this is exactly the XI that has been chosen. Any change will only occur if there is an injury before the 26th.

that's a hell of a long tail....it starts at No 4

Originally posted by BackwardPoint If the wicket doesn't assist spin, Ashwin can leak runs. Sometimes it is better to have a tight, pressure-building spinner than a wicket-taking spinner. It depends on the situation, conditions, opposition etc. Ojha would be a better choice but Ashwin should get the nod because of his performance in the tour game and because of his batting ability. They all bowl roughly around 90mph spinny but Finn was consistently hitting 93/94 in the India ODI series. I'd say he is the quickest based on that series but they are all in and around the 90 mark. England's attack has more consistency and penetration, which should come as some relief to the Indian batsmen. Still fancy an AUS victory though.

Pattinson was bowling in the 150s consistently against NZ and Siddle hit 150 a few times I believe... it is also said that Hilfenhaus is consistently bowling in the 140 range as well.

Anyway, pace is not an issue unless the wicket is uneven, otherwise the batsmen can adjust. The key is bowling for swing with the new ball and building pressure - something which Mitchell Johnson could never seem to do well.

Vettori has done decently in Australia, bagged a few decent hauls. Left armers have a chance of LBW if they go around the wicket to right handers....

Spinners tend to take wickets here, but are expensive and if a spinner can average less than 35 with the ball they've done a decent job.

Originally posted by Mikey Clarke made a ton in his second last match and Haddin made an 80 odd also in that match. Let's be fair Clobber, Siddle is batting a lot better than Ponting at the moment, bit of a shame to put them in the same category

joking aside, Siddle has come on a heck of a lot with the bat in the last couple of years, and there is much to admire in the way he is prepared to scrap hard every time he walks out to bat.

Originally posted by sam_ahmed England bowlers might be better and more penetrative but I think the Aussies are definitely a touch quicker and the likes of Siddle and Pattinson and later in the series if they play then Cummins and Harris can touch 150 K, they could hurry up 37-39 year old people on pitches that are a bit quicker and offer more bounce than the ones in England, and their reflexes will be tested. India's middle order is the biggest concern for me in this series, more so because you never know what Sehwag will do, he was back in the hut early in the warm up games, he is always edgy early on and unlike the West Indies, the Aussies certainly won't drop catches to give him more chances.Â

Speed has never been a massive issue in Australia and I've been saying for ages and ages, and some people dismissed it, but Australia is full of bowlers who can push the ball out at over 140 kph regularly... In saying that, Australia also has a number of very capable Fast Medium bowlers who shouldn't be forgotten, Peter George and Clint McKay who have both tasted test cricket are examples.

Australia's biggest problem is batsmen and they are now following what some are terming the "English Standard" by picking guys who average 35-40 in first class cricket. Cowan is an example....

India fought back well although they were aided by some dreadful umpiring decisions. Good partnership between Haddin and Siddle. 

both teams will be happy at the end of the day but I think India have had a slightly better day than the aussies, some really poor umpiring decisions once again raising questions about the use of DRS, I hope India get a couple of real shockers when they come on to bat!