I'd also add a decent wicketkeeper & leaving Kevin Pietersen to field on the boundary for life(6 dropped catches in close says he is a liability in close)
As for Australia,they basically need to start culling out the dead wood ie Hayden.he's tried his best to get dropped but the Australian side has gone back to its bad habits of retaining players on past performances
My guess is,if the South African tour is a debacle then it will happen otherwise the gravy train will roll on which can only mean one thing
Lambs to the slaughter in Australia
The sooner that blatant non-dismissals(inside edged lbws for instance)are adjudicated by the third umpire the better IMHO
Far too many people are saying,but if that batsmen hadn't been given wrongly out then the result would have been different.It taints victories big time IMHO
cheers
B....OZ
England 2 Aussies !
Re: England 2 Aussies !
I agree with Pietersen. He couldn't catch a bus let alone a cricket ball.
Geraint Jones then maybe. He can bat and that's the road the selectors have gone down as the keeper needs to be able to bat. If they replace him then Matt Prior is a better batsman but probably as dodgy with the gloves. Chris Read is the best keeper but only a usefull batter although reports say he has improved that this season.
As for Hayden then I agree he needs to be moved on. I've been loathe to criticise him for fear that when I do he will suddenly spring in to form but regardless of whether he gets runs in the last Test then it's time to move things on.
I've always thought he was a flat track bully and only against average bowling then.
You will have your work cut out against the Boks because if honesty prevails they were more competitive against England than Australia have been so far. They have a great captain in Graeme Smith as well.
I don't agree with using cameras for the inside adges etc etc. It's part of the game. Umpires make mistakes but that happens to everybody.
As for the Katich dismissal then I don't agree that was the difference between winning and losing. I believe when a side chases a small total then they are on a hiding to nothing. The game has basically been won and when you bat then you can get into that "everything to lose" and negative mindset.
Therefore I believe that mentally it's easier to chase 200 than 130-140 (provided the pitch is flat).
Geraint Jones then maybe. He can bat and that's the road the selectors have gone down as the keeper needs to be able to bat. If they replace him then Matt Prior is a better batsman but probably as dodgy with the gloves. Chris Read is the best keeper but only a usefull batter although reports say he has improved that this season.
As for Hayden then I agree he needs to be moved on. I've been loathe to criticise him for fear that when I do he will suddenly spring in to form but regardless of whether he gets runs in the last Test then it's time to move things on.
I've always thought he was a flat track bully and only against average bowling then.
You will have your work cut out against the Boks because if honesty prevails they were more competitive against England than Australia have been so far. They have a great captain in Graeme Smith as well.
I don't agree with using cameras for the inside adges etc etc. It's part of the game. Umpires make mistakes but that happens to everybody.
As for the Katich dismissal then I don't agree that was the difference between winning and losing. I believe when a side chases a small total then they are on a hiding to nothing. The game has basically been won and when you bat then you can get into that "everything to lose" and negative mindset.
Therefore I believe that mentally it's easier to chase 200 than 130-140 (provided the pitch is flat).