Australia v England, 1st Test, Brisbane, 8-12 December, 2021

Hanging for the REAL cricket.

Questions, questions, questions.

Will the apparent* multitude of lefties in the Aus top order be fodder for the old England warhorses, Jimmeh and Sturat?

Will the warhorses become sawhorses in Aus conditions (barring Adelaide under lights, when Jimmeh becomes unplayable)?

It seems Harris is guaranteed the opening spot with Warner. Has Green locked in no.6? Who's at 5 for Aus? Weed, Blowie, Puddle, A.N.Other?

What will England's top 7 look like? Who will open with Burns? Is Stokes a certainty?

What will England's bottom 4 look like?

Can Shrapnel have a season like last summer? Will Smith return to his best?

Is this too early for the 1st Test thread?

Feel free to add your own.

apparently we're naming our squad tomorrow...

GCS and NLWL2 have been ticked off by George

Marnus and Smith are no brainers

Come back to number 5

Green will be 6 ....not sure if he is ready ....certainly has the talent

If Paine isnt fit then we have a shedload of options to replace him as keeper and the best two options to replace him as captain would be reluctant choices by the selectors ...the disgraced and the bowler


Hazlewood and Cummins are definites

Lyon has people convinced he is a goat

Starc is Mitchell Johnson lite ....quickly swaps between unplayable and shite ....never as unplayable as Johnson but more shite ...his incumbency and left arm variety will be his saving graces

his potential replacements are all mini clones of Cummins and Hazlewood ...Steketee Neser J Richardson Abbott Boland ...Richardsons lack of height might have him in front ...

which brings us back to Number 5

Koaja Blowie Sharapova Puddle Wank ...all tried ...all failed ...

The push for Puddle is embarassing ...a few T20 slog offs is no indication of red ball success...his training prep for the WT20 was to try and hit everything for 6 in the nets ...he excluded himself from the wozzie shield game he was available for to not lose his T20 edge ...Dont pick him with Green in the team

Koaja if the poms play mediocre bowlers
Blowie if we want a nice 30 and then throw it away at fly slip
Wank if we want to gift Jimmeh a wicket
Which proabably leaves Sharapova FFS

Need some rain for this one ...

PeterCS wrote:Need some rain for this one ...

Quite right Pete. We need to give the Aussies a sporting chance.

Apparently* the Aus NSP has either Blowie or Ooze at no.5.

I guess it's a matter of "are you looking for a permanent no.5" or "are you playing horses for courses". FTB Ooze will probably always do OK in Aus.

I'm not sure Green is absolutely ready either - but if he doesn't get the gig now, he still won't be ready for Pakistan in the autumn either, and so on it goes. His form hasn't been awful. He has to play.

If the only no 5 options really are Ooze and Dunder, it has to be Ooze. At least a FTB recognises a FT when he sees it. Head is perfectly capable of getting out stupidly on anything.

Mishmash? Not now. As Gilly said on radio this morning, MAYBE later. At least we know he's seeing it OK.

Once again, whoever put the sched together should be made to face an over from (a fit) Joffra Archer with his helmet on backwards.

15 man squad just announced:

GCS
Harry
Shrapnel
Smudge
Ooze
Blowie
Green
Ima
Koo
2nd
Neser
JRich
Elmer
Purple
Sweps

Reckon the Test XII will be trimmed to:

GCS
Harry
Shrapnel
Smudge
Ooze
Blowie
Snot
Ima
Koo
2nd
Elmer
Purple

And let Ooze & Blowie arm wrestle for the no.5 spot.

skully wrote:Reckon the Test XII will be trimmed to:

GCS
Harry
Shrapnel
Smudge
Ooze
Blowie
Snot
Ima
Koo
2nd
Elmer
Purple

And let Ooze & Blowie arm wrestle for the no.5 spot.

I'd prefer Green at 5 if Head plays.

Don't think that (Snot at 5) will happen.

why is Agar in the 2nd XI squad? spin cupboard is bare again

Very, Nath.

No surprises in the Ashes squad.
Australia's Ashes squad: Tim Paine (c), Pat Cummins (vc), Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner

Australia A players: Sean Abbott, Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Henry Hunt, Josh Inglis, Nic Maddinson, Mitchell Marsh, Matt Renshaw, Mark Steketee, Bryce Street

Perhaps Boland unlucky not to take Starc's place.

Henry Hunt is an exciting prospect. His 130 odd out of 220 the other day was incredible.

Tim Paine quits as Test captain. Sexting scandal!

https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricket/australia/cricket-australia-2021-tim-paine-sexting-scandal-texts-latest-news-investigation-the-ashes-sacked-resigns/news-story/f0f04ffd8664c276552f36217f98ab3d

What a dill.

What craphead decided to release this now?

CA should remove the media credentials of the organisation

embee wrote:What craphead decided to release this now?

CA should remove the media credentials of the organisation  

This guy

https://www.australiasworstjournalist.com.au/news-media/newspaper/herald-sun/australias-worst-journalist-stephen-drill/

Drill sounds like a complete qunt.

Anywho, sentiment aside, is Paine the best man for the gloves in the Test squad now, sans capataincy?

Personally, at 30, I'd give Carey a go. Possibly not as good with the gloves but Gilly wasn't a genius either. I'd have him to bolster our dodgy top 6. He has 6 good years left in him, ala Haddit.

Still nevererdovim

Carey?

No, the other bloke....a complete tool by all accounts. I don't read the MPFSP but I thought I'd know a fair few of their scribblers by name just by kind of mental osmosis (for instance I am familiar with the name Nui To Koa although I have no recall at all of reading him), but the dill called Drill has never emerged from under his rock any time i've been watching.

Happy for Carey to take over as keeper tomorrow - the Paine band-aid (originally as keeper) had already outstayed any usefulness.

Drill is a dill, Carey must be narey.