gilly_aj said:
This is hyped (other than the reasons listed) Because this is one team who I think everyone believes can really Beat Australia. Im not so confident about beating the Indians. People say there out of form well to be honest when I look at our team I am really not confident PARTICULARLY in our batting.
We have a few batsman in the side who are really unprooven (Katich and whoever replaces Ponting) and alot of guys who are not comfortable against spin.
3 of the 5 batsman named so far will really find it tough (Langer , Martyn , Katich) as there not the greatest players of spin. Even guys like Gilchrist really find it tough over there , as the conditions they play in can not be experienced anywhere throughout the world. Gilchrist last series got a ton then scored 3 ducks and 1 in his next four innings in the test series.
With Ponting out I think you have three options:
1) Bring in an allrounder (Watson) , bat him 7 , and reshuffle the top 6 in some what.
2) Bring in Clarke as a straight replacement for Ponting (Maybe not bat three though)
3) Push Gilchrist up and play 5 bowlers (Lee , Kaspo , Gillespie , Mcgrath , Warne)
My Idea would have to play Clarke. Our batting isnt strong enough to just have 6 batsman including Gilchrist. Though I wouldnt bat him at 3. My side would be:
1) Hayden - Obviously
2) Langer - Obviously
3) Katich - Someone has to do this as theres no other options accept a inexperienced Clarke (Probably)
4) Martyn - cemented this spot
5) Lehmann -I think you need Lehmann down at 5 as he is a fantastic player (probably our best) of spin and not as strong against the quicks and could hold that bottom order down a bit more.
6) Clarke - noone else really
7) Gilchrist - I like him at 7. He batted 3 once in Sri Lanka and it worked but I wouldnt expect it to come off. Also there could be times when he has to keep with the pads in high temperatures in 30+ degrees. He cant be expected to come off then and have to pad up straight away to bat. ( oh and theres a difference in a 50 over one day match and fielding for 5 sessions in high temps )
8) Warne - obvious
9) Gillespie - obvious
10) Kasprowitz - cant drop him on form
11) McGrath - obvious
12) Lee - great cricketer but cant find a spot.
To be honest, I reckon taking wickets might be a bit of a problem.
Haydos will pull out the broom again and sweep just about everything in sight, Boof is a top player of spin bowling as well.
Marto has improved tremendously against spin this year as well. Played one of the toughest knocks i've ever seen against Murali and Chandana this year which got us home in that match, but Harbhajan has troubled him before so it's a top challenge for him.
Katich was brilliant against Kumble at the SCG this year, he's got great footwork and tremendous eye so he should be alright in India.
Langer doesnt seem to have the range of shots required to face a spin duo in India and Agarkar does seem to get him out a lot these days.
Despite this I'm pretty confident Hayden, Martyn,Gilly, Lehmann and Katich will get us plenty of runs..
I'm just concerned about our spin backups. If Warnie has a shocker we'll be relying on seamers to do the work on unforgiving tracks which hasn't worked for touring teams in the past and with the tremendously talented batting lineup they have I don't know if we can take wickets with our current bowling lineup as it is.
