Is it time to start preparing our assualt on the next Gilly? Please don't tell me that what has been served up in recent matches IS the preparation!
We have won back to back Gillies with the likes of Bevo and Martyn but surely it's time to give some new blokes a go, for an example...
David (?) Hussey : The guy who went east to make shiteloads of runs for the vixen. Bring him in at number four. Apologies Vics if I've got his first name wrong, but who cares...he can bat!
Katich: I've had fun bagging this guy for years but I've had second thoughts lately as he really impressed me with his footwork against the slower bowlers and he plays the faster men far more competently than does Bevan whose best days appear to be well and truly behind him. Number seven instead of Bev for mine.
Tait: Many are saying it's too soon but how much better are the Indian youngsters bowling than Lee at the moment?
And some more established players to be welcomed back into the fold such as Warne, McGrath, Lehman and Watson.
Surely it's bye bye time for
Martyn: Too easy to shut down and his fielding is slipping. Unlike Benno, I don't consider Martyn to be a pretty boy but there's no accounting for taste is there :)
Harvey: Jack of all trades, a master of none. We have persisted with Harvey for a long time now and perhaps it's time for Watson to have an extended time in the side...he won't have all that tough an act to follow. Harvey can still be usefull from time to time but an experienced Watson in 2007 seems a better bet.
Lee: At his best Lee deserves to be in the side but India have provided a global blueprint on how to best reduce his effectiveness. Lee was a sensation early on in his career but now the opposition is bluffing him. With confidence at an all time low, Brett needs to drop back to the dubbers and learn how to bowl a bit of line and length. No doubt working with Dennis Lillee will help Bing enormously. Not finished but shouldn't be in the side right now.
Bevan: Can't throw, can't bowl and the gaps are becoming harder to find for a guy who has saved Australia's bacon on many previous occaisons. We need to develop another player who can fill Bevan's role and for me Katich is the man.
This is what I reckon our best XI could look like
Hayden
Gilchrist
Ponting
Lehmann
Symonds
Clarke
Katich
Watson
Warne
Gillespie
McGrath
With the 'squad' players being
Hussey
Williams
Tait
Hogg (for the want of a better second spinner - maybe Horrie or White from Vixenland could step up).
regards,
REB
PS - A lot depends on the three main bowlers with Watson, Symonds, Clarke, Katich and Lehman to share twenty overs admittedly.
r
― Rik E Boy (Rik E Boy), Monday, 19 January 2004 02:31 (twenty-one years ago)
Only two full-time fast bowlers? Come off it - Watto won't be bowling for a while yet, and the part-timers (with the exception of some of Symonds) are all slow. We need at least one more quick in the team, in place of Watson until (if) he can bowl again.
We could do worse than Bracken. He needs to do some more work, but he has genuine class.
― tailender (tailender), Monday, 19 January 2004 07:36 (twenty-one years ago)