New South Wales
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How the Blues can win back the Ashes for Australia
If the selectors want a team guaranteed to perform internationally, they need look no further than Katich and co, writes Will Swanton.
Just pick a NSW-only Test team and be done with it.
Pipe down, Victorians and assorted other non-Blues. NSW have proved themselves as the dominant provincial side in the world, let alone Australia, so the selectors might as well just flood the Test XI with Blues - 10 of them plus captain Ricky Ponting, who lives in Sydney anyway.
And before all those Victorians and assorted other non-Blues start moaning about NSW's struggles in the Sheffield Shield, come for a meeting in the fair dinkum department - the only reason they don't win the Shield every year is the unavailability of their premier players who are representing their country.
Cast ahead to the first Ashes Test against England next year. Australia lost the urn, NSW can win it back. A Blues-Only-Plus-Ricky-Ponting Test team isn't remotely far-fetched.
Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger and Stuart Clark. That's a legitimate Test team. Every one of those players is already in possession of a baggy green cap. None of them could be considered bolters. Look through the list - every one of them has a realistic chance of making Ponting's side. So why not all of them?
Of the Australian team that lost the Ashes, only Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle could feel aggrieved to be excluded. Johnson is the ICC Cricketer of the Year but even he admitted to being shocked after he misfired throughout most of the Ashes. He struggled against England when he was supposed to be carrying the attack.
If Lee is fit and firing, he's still a safer bet as Australia's Test spearhead. Johnson's batting is invaluable, but so is Lee's. Johnson was on the verge of being sacked in England anyway so his place is no longer a fait accompli. His lack of consistency is a whopping great problem. Put it this way: you need someone to bowl an inswinging yorker at full tilt to save your life. Who do you trust? Lee or Johnson? Lee, surely.
Siddle commands immense respect for trying so damned hard. He is full of heart, hitting the pitch hard, getting in batsmen's faces. His 20 wickets at 30.8 was a decent Ashes return but he's far from being a long-term Test certainty. Bollinger is a similarly aggressive and combative quick, with the advantage for the purposes of variation, in a Johnson-less team, of being a left-armer. He could so easily do the same job as Siddle given another opportunity. Regardless of form, Siddle's fitness is already a series-by-series proposition.
As for Clark, the all-class NSW paceman, his absence from three Tests of the Ashes loss will remain a mystery to all bar the selectors.
An all-NSW batting line-up is a very real possibility. Watson's eventual destination is No.6 despite recent experiments with him as an opener. He's moved from Queensland to Sydney so he can live with his girlfriend Lee Furlong and represent the Blues.
Hughes is likely to have fought his way back into the Test side by the next Ashes stoush, while Jaques will rocket back into contention after back surgery. Both have already produced Test hundreds. Further opportunities are bound to come their way.
One oddity is, when Australia's openers, Katich and Watson, are both available for NSW, they will be batting down the order because Hughes and Jaques are the preferred options.
Ponting will be tempted to slide into the middle order for the twilight of his career, so the ageless Katich is a ready-made No.3. Mike Hussey will have come and gone by then, with Brad Haddin retaining wicketkeeping duties. Hauritz is still the most consistent spinner in the land, a scenario unlikely to change in the next 18 months.
NSW versus England for the Ashes. The selectors have come up with more ludicrous combinations.
If the selectors want a team guaranteed to perform internationally, they need look no further than Katich and co, writes Will Swanton.
Just pick a NSW-only Test team and be done with it.
Pipe down, Victorians and assorted other non-Blues. NSW have proved themselves as the dominant provincial side in the world, let alone Australia, so the selectors might as well just flood the Test XI with Blues - 10 of them plus captain Ricky Ponting, who lives in Sydney anyway.
And before all those Victorians and assorted other non-Blues start moaning about NSW's struggles in the Sheffield Shield, come for a meeting in the fair dinkum department - the only reason they don't win the Shield every year is the unavailability of their premier players who are representing their country.
Cast ahead to the first Ashes Test against England next year. Australia lost the urn, NSW can win it back. A Blues-Only-Plus-Ricky-Ponting Test team isn't remotely far-fetched.
Phillip Hughes, Phil Jaques, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin, Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Doug Bollinger and Stuart Clark. That's a legitimate Test team. Every one of those players is already in possession of a baggy green cap. None of them could be considered bolters. Look through the list - every one of them has a realistic chance of making Ponting's side. So why not all of them?
Of the Australian team that lost the Ashes, only Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle could feel aggrieved to be excluded. Johnson is the ICC Cricketer of the Year but even he admitted to being shocked after he misfired throughout most of the Ashes. He struggled against England when he was supposed to be carrying the attack.
If Lee is fit and firing, he's still a safer bet as Australia's Test spearhead. Johnson's batting is invaluable, but so is Lee's. Johnson was on the verge of being sacked in England anyway so his place is no longer a fait accompli. His lack of consistency is a whopping great problem. Put it this way: you need someone to bowl an inswinging yorker at full tilt to save your life. Who do you trust? Lee or Johnson? Lee, surely.
Siddle commands immense respect for trying so damned hard. He is full of heart, hitting the pitch hard, getting in batsmen's faces. His 20 wickets at 30.8 was a decent Ashes return but he's far from being a long-term Test certainty. Bollinger is a similarly aggressive and combative quick, with the advantage for the purposes of variation, in a Johnson-less team, of being a left-armer. He could so easily do the same job as Siddle given another opportunity. Regardless of form, Siddle's fitness is already a series-by-series proposition.
As for Clark, the all-class NSW paceman, his absence from three Tests of the Ashes loss will remain a mystery to all bar the selectors.
An all-NSW batting line-up is a very real possibility. Watson's eventual destination is No.6 despite recent experiments with him as an opener. He's moved from Queensland to Sydney so he can live with his girlfriend Lee Furlong and represent the Blues.
Hughes is likely to have fought his way back into the Test side by the next Ashes stoush, while Jaques will rocket back into contention after back surgery. Both have already produced Test hundreds. Further opportunities are bound to come their way.
One oddity is, when Australia's openers, Katich and Watson, are both available for NSW, they will be batting down the order because Hughes and Jaques are the preferred options.
Ponting will be tempted to slide into the middle order for the twilight of his career, so the ageless Katich is a ready-made No.3. Mike Hussey will have come and gone by then, with Brad Haddin retaining wicketkeeping duties. Hauritz is still the most consistent spinner in the land, a scenario unlikely to change in the next 18 months.
NSW versus England for the Ashes. The selectors have come up with more ludicrous combinations.
Will poke my head in here
Not sure if McCullum would be available for too much cricket, is a pretty packed summer over here with the Pakis here for 3 tests, the Bangers coming, a month of domestic 20/20 and then your mob arrive for a tour
Would love some of those 20/20 signings here though !! We only get the bloody Poms really
Bopara playing the entire summer for Auckland, Oawis Shah turning out for Wellington, Napier playing for Wellington and Mascarenhas for Otago. Dilshan playing for Northern should be ok though, here in Canterbury we can't have any because we have a couple of Yarpies still trying to qualify for NZ, so they have roped McMillan and possibly Astle back in
Not sure if McCullum would be available for too much cricket, is a pretty packed summer over here with the Pakis here for 3 tests, the Bangers coming, a month of domestic 20/20 and then your mob arrive for a tour
Would love some of those 20/20 signings here though !! We only get the bloody Poms really
Bopara playing the entire summer for Auckland, Oawis Shah turning out for Wellington, Napier playing for Wellington and Mascarenhas for Otago. Dilshan playing for Northern should be ok though, here in Canterbury we can't have any because we have a couple of Yarpies still trying to qualify for NZ, so they have roped McMillan and possibly Astle back in
Cameron
Make Manly Great Again #Hasler2019
NSW are nothing but the roosters of domestic cricket
lets look at the current blokes in the test 11
"from" NSW
Katich - from WA
Watson - from qld
Clarke - from nsw
Haddon - From the ACT
Hauritwz - from qld
So theres only 1 NSW player really in the team compared to Real Qlders
Watson
Hauritwz
Johnson
Look at the big bash last year and that dirty tactic of buy a kiwi for one game.
When i think of nsw cricket i think 1 thing
OVERRATED.
lets look at the current blokes in the test 11
"from" NSW
Katich - from WA
Watson - from qld
Clarke - from nsw
Haddon - From the ACT
Hauritwz - from qld
So theres only 1 NSW player really in the team compared to Real Qlders
Watson
Hauritwz
Johnson
Look at the big bash last year and that dirty tactic of buy a kiwi for one game.
When i think of nsw cricket i think 1 thing
OVERRATED.
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lszFirst Grader
| Team | P | W | L | PD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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6 | 5 | 1 | 59 | 12 |
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6 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 12 |
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6 | 4 | 2 | 53 | 10 |
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6 | 4 | 2 | 30 | 10 |
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7 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 9 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | 40 | 8 |
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7 | 4 | 3 | 24 | 8 |
|
7 | 4 | 3 | -8 | 8 |
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7 | 4 | 3 | -18 | 8 |
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7 | 3 | 3 | 20 | 7 |
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7 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 6 |
|
7 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 6 |
|
6 | 2 | 4 | -31 | 6 |
|
7 | 3 | 4 | -41 | 6 |
|
7 | 2 | 5 | -29 | 4 |
|
6 | 1 | 5 | -102 | 4 |
|
6 | 0 | 6 | -90 | 2 |
