Please see below an article in response to some questions from regular contributor LRLB;
How about a write-up about how good the England XI (15 or more, really, if you consider Tremlett, Finn, Trott, Onions all provide excellent service when they get a chance. Would Panesar make the Australian team? Discuss) are at the moment?
Monty Panesar’s form has plateaued of late. He bowls a LOT of overs in English County Cricket, for some reward. I would suggest that when the Poms play on the Sub-Continent, Monty MAY get a look in on Bunsen-burners (instead of Bresnan), but his Test Career will only be revived if someone force feeds Graeme Swann a massive garden sprinkler and he suddenly needs an emergency appendectomy!!
Yes, Panesar would be the first choice Australian spinner. He has a reasonable Test record (126 wickets at 34.37), and he shades Nathan Hauritz (63 wickets at 34.98) for mine. He would take wickets on our decks, particularly in Adelaide, Sydney and Perth (helped by the Doctor and the bounce).
And how depressing it is to admit that they are very good to watch.
Yes, they are very good to watch. They score freely, particularly from 4-7 (Pietersen, Bell, Morgan and Prior are EASILY the best middle-order in world cricket right now), they bowl as one hungry pack, they have a top-notch non-chucking finger-spinner, Cook and Trott are just relentless & ruthless and Broad is becoming an accomplished bowling all-rounder.
I cannot believe how badly India bowled to Cook and Trott in England recently, apart from the excellent Praveen Kumar. For goodness sake, pitch the ball up, just outside off-stump, and NEVER bowl short to these two.
And a warning to poms not to waste the next few years complaining that this era of cricket is soft – like Australians did in the last decade.
Well, to be fair, Test Cricket is only so-so at this time. There is a massive shortage of world-class bowlers right now. Being blunt, A-List bowlers would include Jimmy Anderson, Dale Steyn, Graeme Swann (153 wickets at 28.82), then, mmmm, who? Harbhajan is near the end, Vettori is good but not great, we have no A-Listers, Mohammed Amer is brilliant but a proven cheat, Ishant Sharma needs 12 months rest, Zaheer’s body is stuffed and he eats as much as TBRSM, the Windies have no A-Listers, Saeed Ajmal bowls a doosra that is WORSE than bloody Murali, Mendis can’t get a run for the Lankans, and Shakib Al-Hasan has a MASSIVE load on his shoulders in Dhaka. It is NO coincidence that the Poms are top of the heap right now, given their attack and their deep batting.
The featherbeds being prepared by curators are money for jam for half-decent top orders, which is why our Series win in Sri Lanka is a pleasing result, given that they have Dilshan, Mahaela, Kumar, Samaraweera and Matthews. Honestly, some of my mates in NSW’s Western Zone could survive for a while against some Test attacks right now, on the autobahns that regularly get served up on the Sub-Continent and in the UAE.
I can’t see the Poms being complacent. They are not old yet, and are seriously hungry for blood. I would suggest that the Australian Test attack the next time we play there would include Copeland, Siddle, Hazlewood, Pattinson, Lyon & Beer. I HOPE that Mark Cameron’s move to the WACA pays dividends, and it would be great to see Luke Butterworth’s consistent excellence in the Sheffield Shield be rewarded soon. I have great respect for Andrew McDonald as well. BUT, put this lot up against Anderson, Swann, Broad, Bresnan, Tremlett and “Spanish” Onions; jeez, we have a lot to catch up.
Our quick demise surely indicates that the rest of the world is never that far away from even the most dominant team.
Correct, LRLB. We were dominant for 15 years, a time in which we had Glenn McGrath, S K Warne, Jason Gillespie and S C G MacGill. Our top order ranged from good to brilliant, and then there was A C Gilchrist.
They are gone, we got lazy, England (aka Sud Effrika Second XI) got serious, and there you have it.
What, too, are your reactions to the Argus report?
Good stuff. The type of brutal review that is typical of the Australia I grew up with. We have been extremely negligent, and we are paying the price. The Argus Report provides a blueprint for the future. Now if we can get the new Selection Panel to realise that Australia actually has 6 cricket States instead of one Sky Blue one, we might get around to choosing a well-balanced, experienced and tough Australian Test side.
Is this a significant watershed moment in the administration of Aus cricket?
Simple, YES.
