What Should Be Australia's Top 6 for the Ashes?

As part of the peanut gallery, it filled you with mixed emotions listening to a recent Cricinfo interview with Australian Chairman of Selectors John Inverarity with him bemoaning the rogue influence that T20 culture has had on the standard of Australian batsmanship. On the one hand, it actually angered you with it showing that the man in charge of Australian cricketing fortunes was so oblivious or in denial about what represents a virtual Cancer in the blood stream of the Test Team.

The Indian debacle stood testimony to this with Blind Freddy being able to tell you that success in that Lions Den was only possible for the hardened specialists with respected skill and pedigree. Only to see Inverarity treat the Tour as though it was a virtual pyjama party with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Co selected and expected to excel with the bat in the top 6.

Thankfully humiliation seems to have awakened Inverarity to reality underlined by his Selection of the Ashes Team that on paper will support every Fleet Street Tabloid as being the worst Aussie Team ever. But at least it is full of men of the right constitution and ability for Test Cricket. A step in the right direction, but with the Tour on our doorsteps can the Aussie Brains trust take another leap of faith by redesigning the Aussie top 6 to better suit the conditions and give the Teams greatest weakness its best chance to succeed?

Conditions, that unless you have an immortal name like Sir Viv Richards have never been accommodating for top order batting dashers from visiting teams.

A mere look at the figures for the cavalier batsmen in England underlines this

Chris Gayle ( WI ), 21 innings, 721 runs, England average 36.05 ( career average 42.45 ), 1 century, 5 50's

Virender Sehwag ( Ind ) , 10 innings, 278 runs, England average 27.8 ( career average 49.34 ), 1 century, 1 50

Matthew Hayden ( Aus ) , 18 innings, 552 runs, England average 34.5 ( career average 50.73), 1 century , 1 50

Ricky Ponting ( Aus ), 34 innings, 1421 runs, England average 41.79 ( career average 51.85 ) 4 centuries, 6 50's

That is a 44 run dip from their career averages for four players who range from above average in Gayle to a vindicated all time great in Ricky Ponting. It is not hard to find the reason for this either with England being renowned for its swing and talk off the wicket which makes it so hard for top order batsmen to blaze against the misbehaving new ball.

The needs of the conditions are further emphasised when you look at the success of the more dour and resolute visiting batsmen to England

Justin Langer ( Aus ) 11 innings, 496 runs, England average 55.11  ( Career average 45.27 ), 2 centuries, 2 50's

Rahul Dravid ( India ), 23 innings, 1376 runs, England average 68.8 ( Career Average 52.31 ). 6 centuries, 4 50's

Graeme Smith ( RSA ), 22 innings, 1355 runs, England Average 67.75 ( Career Average 48.62 ), 5 centuries, 3 50's

Mark Taylor ( Aus ), 31 innings, 1584 runs, England average 52.8 ( Career average 43.49 ), 5 centuries, 7 50's

The 54 run rise from these players career averages shows how their defensive styles were supported in the conditions allowing them to dominate with all being astute accumulators of runs.

Keeping these figures in mind, one only has to look at what has been England's recipe for batting success with their top three always being full of dour types that embrace the traditional styles of play and feel compelled to mimic. Very like the South Africans did last year with the defensive expertise of Smith and Amla grinding the excellent English pace attack into the turf by depriving them of their greatest weapon in the new ball.

In dissecting these facts the first names that come to mind when looking at Australia's batting fortunes in England is the cavalier duo of Shane Watson and Dave Warner with it apparent that neither are suitable for a top order role. But such is the weakness and lack of depth in Australian batting ranks at present that both need to be found a place in the order where they are shielded and given the best chance to excel

To have them at the top, where both struggle with the need to turn over the strike in bowling friendly conditions and are a moment of madness a way from demise would be a fatal mistake before the Tour has begun.

So what should be the Aussie top 6?

This would be mine and the reasoning behind it

Ed Cowan- The nearly man of Australia Cricket needs to deliver in this tour for the team to be a success. It confounds me as to why he has yet to announce his arrival too with him giving many false dawns. Most notably his very accomplished century against South Africa recently. He has the technique and temperament to succeed and needs to for the sake of the Team

Chris Rogers- A bit of a risk choosing Rogers for this Tour, but he is a grizzled Veteran with an impressive First Class career in varied conditions. So, if he can replicate similar deeds at the top, he provides the team with the ' rock' that it has so missed since Simon Katich's inexplicable axing.

Michael Clarke ( C )- The best batsman always bats at three and Clarke needs to in the Ashes and dominate as he has recently. So as to give solidity to a top three that has many question marks, but also provide a platform for the more attacking types in the middle order to bat with less pressure on them.

Shane Watson- I have never been sold on Watson's mental aptitude for test Cricket with him in this regard being a midget when only the strong survive. Moving him to 4 providing the top 3 does not implode as it has in the last 2 odd years gives him a chance to play his natural attacking care free game and hopefully be a factor.

Usman Khawaja- Should have been in the team way before now, and provides a middle order fighter to compliment the dashers in this line up.

David Warner- It has been interesting seeing Warner deployed in the middle order in the IPL T20 with him stating his like for it with it supporting his free flowing style. Why not utilise him in the same manner in the Test side where his counter attacking blitzes could be decisive andsupported a way from the new ball?

X Factor- Mitchell Marsh- I think it was more than coincidental that on a day when Australian Test batting stocks were bemoaned that the 'Great White Hope' in Marsh was added to the Champions League Squad. Reading between the lines, you can see if he does well him being added to the Ashes squad with a shock inclusion to the Top 6 on the cards throughout the series.

The Desperate Need for Common Sense In AFL Umpiring

The immortal commentator Lou Richards made Legends of many in his glorious stint behind the microphone with the excitable rise in the tone of his voice always endearing the figures to all.  

These parts of commentary folklore, that many have tried to replicate but few have embodied Louie the Lips' unique magic logically always revolved around the stars of the show in the players. But one that stood out clear as a bell in my mind for it involved the mortal enemy for all fans in his labelling of the iconic Indigenous Umpire Glen James as ' Jesse James........the fastest book in the West.......'

It was in homage of James being a stigler to the rules and authoritarian in his application of them, but like with all his targets it was also in appreciation of James's mastery in the ruling of the game. That homage seen in the fact that James was a true Rule Nazi with no diverting from the letter of the Law, but the thing that made him Legend with a truckload of Respect was the fact that he could marry common sense with his strict interpretations. Which at the time was supported by a set of rules that were simplistic in their viewpoint allowing a bit of out of the square application

A quality that 30 years on seems foreign to the people running the game which has lead Umpires to the edge of the Abyss in the terms of credibility.

The crux of the matter is the frequent changes in the rules and with them the complexity in being able to apply them with little or no scope to counter the players who will delve into the grey areas to gain an edge. The most infamous example of this in recent times revolves around the ruling of the Head being sacrosanct with any contact to it leading to a free kick. Which on paper was met by great applause from all sections of the AFL faithful with symbolically the Mothers of the next generation feeling confident to allow their precious little ones to indulge in a game that was increasingly being labelled too rough and dangerous.

Beautiful in its ideal, but so open to manipulation in its application with it giving rise to the brainiacs of the League like Joel Selwood to grab the ball and instantly dive head first into his opponent....

Head sacrosanct....whistle blows....free to Selwood

Inspiring the cynics to swear Teams were having sessions to mimic Selwood's expert milking of the rules and with it a farce attached the the games governance that has rarely been seen

In defence of the Umpires, their hands were tied by the League being naive to realise that with a rule like this that it was bound to be manipulated. When they should have greeted their needless tinkering of the rules with a bit of good old wholesome common sense allowing for that cynical ploy by the likes of Selwood to be punished rather than rewarded

Instead, as with everything that greets criticism of Umpiring standards and interpretation it was dismissed by vehement denial which in effect has given rise to a new wave of simulation within the game. Which has been seen most pertinently around the ruling of the contentious holding the ball rule in its sole interpretation and how it relates to the presence of an in the back infringement within the tackle.

Which has seen players numerous times this year be in possession, feel a fair tackle pin them and ingeniously buckle at the knees carrying the weight of the tackler in a diving motion forward leading to all to see the rouse. Then be outraged when the whistle blows and the Umpire awards in the back rather than holding the ball....

The sad thing of this brief example is I could cite many examples of how the game is being exploited through the loopholes discovered in rules, and their rulings which makes you wonder why the Big Heads running the game cannot see the same.

If it is indeed through a choice of denial to the obvious, the end result will inevitably be the game that we all love being stripped of all its credibility

Rating the Australian Ashes Squad

Ashes squad 

Michael Clarke (capt), Brad Haddin (vice-capt, wk), David Warner, Ed Cowan, Phillip Hughes, Shane Watson, Usman Khawaja, Chris Rogers, Matthew Wade (wk), James Faulkner, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Jackson Bird.

'On the announcement of the Ashes Squad you could see a very real attempt has been made to steady a ship that sunk without trace during the humiliating Indian Whitewash. The Selectors have thankfully seen the errors of their ways from that embarrassing Tour with the jettisoning of the T20 bits and pieces players that were very much behind the malaise and replacing them with hardened types with either proven calibre or at least identifiable potential.

Significantly, the appointment of Brad Haddin as Vice captain, even if it is in a short term tenure gives Michael Clarke some much needed support after having to put up with the undermining and boorish antics of Shane Watson as his Deputy for all too long.

These positives aside, the Squad will arrive on English soil with most certainly the mantle as the 'Worst Aussie Ashes Team Ever' from both the Countries Media. Which on paper is indeed a justified tag. Unlike India, where the team was dead on arrival because of the massive selection gaffs at least here they have picked the best Squad from the talent available in the hope of a miraculous upset

So let us dissect the Squad further

A Grade Players

Michael Clarke 

The Australian Captain alongside Hashim Amla and Alastair Cook has claim to being the best batsmen in the World. In fact a good case could be made for him assuming this mantle by the fact that most of his runs have been scored under pressure and with little support. Again during the Ashes he will be expected to be the main man and carry the batting which makes you question how long can he maintain his excellence till the pressure gets to him. Add to the burden a troublesome back and Clarke will have to be at his very best to excel

Prospects- Clarke is class, but the English are very tactically savvy meaning if he is left to carry the load then they will just focus on him making his Life very tough......

This being said, there is plenty of fight in the Aussie Skipper, so expect him to be a huge factor once more in this series

James Pattinson 

Exceptional bowler with everything in his kit bag to finish his career as a vindicated great spearhead. He has pace with the ability to make the ball go through the air or talk off the pitch completed with a nice bit of nastiness and sincere hatred for batsmen. His bowling aside, he is also a very dangerous lower order batsman.

The only downside to Pattinson is his bodies habit of breaking down too much

Prospects- If he is fit, he could run through any batting line up in the World, but sadly on the treatment table more than he is on the field.

Crucially for Australia's prospects, he needs to be managed before the Ashes meaning it would be insanity to select him in the Champions League ODI farce

Ryan Harris 

When he is fit, Harris is in the top 5 fast bowlers in Test Cricket....

But, he is rarely if ever fit.........

Assuming he is fit for the Ashes, he will give the English batting cold sweats with his skill with the ball in hand. Then more worrying for the hosts is he is one of the most astute 'thinking bowlers' you could see. Which in this Age over matches most.....

Prospects

Very much identical to Pattinson's write up in regards too if he is fit he could and most likely will devastate

B Grade Players

Peter Siddle 

Big hearted quick, that would gleefully traverse through the pits of Hell for the Baggy Green...

Regrettably for Siddle with the frequent injuries to the Teams spearheads is  that he has been expected to assume the role as spearhead when he is the perfect first change bowler. The greatest compliment is that despite this obvious burden with little support, Siddle has still excelled taking 53 wickets at an average of just over 25 in his last two years of Test Cricket.

Prospects- You know Siddle will be a factor, but he might become an unexpected force if Pattinson and Harris are fit which will mean the batsmen will be more occupied with those two allowing him to get some cheaper wickets

Jackson Bird 

Only played two Tests where he ran through a disinterested Sri Lankan Team, but his style and skill is perfect for test Cricket. In a sense, he is a bit like Vernon Philander with him landing the ball incessantly on off stump with a bit of swing and nibble off the pitch. Meaning that most batsmen have not the temperament to deal with his relentless barrage and duly succumb

Prospects- Given a chance, he will announce his real Test pedigree during this series in conditions that are tailor made for him.

C Grade Players

Brad Haddin 

I fully support Haddin's selection and choice as Vice Captain. Firstly on his keeping, the move had to be made on the bumbling Matthew Wade who nullified one of the teams few strengths in their bowling with his frequent inexplicable gaffs. Haddin is a neat and tidy keeper that will rarely let the Team down

He is the archetypal Team man too allowing Michael Clarke to sleep soundly at night knowing he has the support of his Deputy rather than the selfish persona of Shane Watson.

Lastly, his batting is not what it once was, but he is still a warrior in a Team full of flashy types

Prospects- Will not excel in any regard, but will make a real difference to the team by providing a safe glove man behind the stumps and a very able Deputy.

Ed Cowan 

He hardly has a record to support this grading, but is one of the few that approaches the game with a respectable technique and temperament. Meaning that he could go from being a borderline Test player to being a vindicated one if he can turn his 30's into big innings


Prospects- Time and patience are starting to run out on Cowan, but you just get the feeling that if he starts to believe then the rest could fall into place for him...

Nathan Lyon

Lyon like every spinner after Warne has struggled with the expectation to replicate one that is arguable the best ever....

Needless to say, that is never going to happen. But what Lyon has provided is a good honest performer that will rarely excel or put in match winning displays, but he will never let the Team down.

Prospects- You can see him being useful without ever being decisive

Usman Khawaja

Can anyone explain why Khawaja has not been in the Test Team after being dropped after the New Zealand series of 2011?

Inexplicably Rob Quiney was preferred to him against South Africa recently and then he had the likes of Glenn Maxwell and  Steve Smith preferred to him in India

Very curious to be kind!

Even the Selection of Phil Hughes with his kit bag full of weaknesses before him truly astounds

Prospects- Given a chance, you can see Khawaja never being a Test batting star, but he could develop into a solid and dependable batsman.

Just what Australia needs!

Borderline

Dave Warner 

Warner is very much hit or miss and for the most part miss.....

Then he confounds himself by attracting unnecessary pressure to himself by being like a yapping dog in the field...

He lacks discretion in his shot play with him being a natural dasher that has at times devastated oppositions, but when the pitches are not true and the opposition more noteworthy he lacks the ability to dig in

Prospects- I think he will get destroyed in England in the bowling friendly confines

Floaters

Shane Watson

It is a simple scenario with Watson in regards to if he can bowl he is one of the first chosen, but if he is solely a batsman he is not even warranted a place in the Squad

He lacks an ability to read situations when he bats with his choice of shots being dismal and then his running between wickets is an accident waiting to happen. He is solely a boundary hitter with him being unable to accumulate runs...

Away from his batting, his bowling and his mastery of reverse swing is L.E.T.H.A.L

Prospects- I hold little hope for Watson, and would not have selected him

Mitchell Starc 

The boy is very raw, but has real skill to swing the ball and can get it through with real pace....

But like all youngsters lacks consistency and can be erratic which can cost the Team big...

Away from his bowling, he is a very dangerous lower order batsman that could develop into a Wasim Akram ( in batting ability ) all rounder

Prospects- Like the Little Girl with the Curl- he could be astoundingly good or dreadful

Fail/Dunces

Matthew Wade

A true accident waiting to happen with the gloves, and then very average with the bat

The Australian version of Kamran Akmal

Phil Hughes

On watching Hughes being made to look like a fool against spin in India the first thing I thought was that he is worse against Swing

England='s Swing, so Hughes will be like a Dead Man Walking

Chris Rogers 

The Selectors have to be commended for them identifying the need for experience....

But, they seem to have overlooked know how in the Selecting of Rogers who is a million miles a way from Test Class

They should have grown a pair, swallowed their pride and rang Simon Katich........

Newcomer

James Faulkner 

Faulkner was deserving of selection, but he is very much a Mitchell Starc clone without Statc's pace. He has the tools to be a Test standard player, but for team balance on this Tour, it might have been greater sense in eith selecting the right arm bowling all rounder Luke Butterworth or the young spinning all rounder Ashton Agar

Summation 

The selectors are to be commended for selecting the best squad from the available talent available. The sad part of this is the Squad might give the best chance of pulling off a real upset, but that is in truth a snow balls chance in Hell.

Mainly because the batting is diabolical, and if people had their heads in hands with their struggles against spin, then they are worse against swing. In England they will face a high class cocktail of both swing and spin.... So success is reliant on some one raising or in fact a few to support Michael Clarke with the bat...

Do you have faith in this happening?

So, you can see the Australian bowling being very effective and on occasion devastating in the series, but have their fine work constantly undermined by the paper thin batting

England to win the series 4 nil

Should The Australian Cricket Team Pick Rain Dancers For The Ashes?

Watching the Australian batting be the driving force behind the humiliating whitewash felt at the hands of India made me as a fan think of probably the biggest 'Oh Shit' moment in the history of mankind.....

Referring to the moment when the SS Titanic hit the ice burg with both instances being governed by misplaced ego, incompetence in the extreme and denial to very obvious realities meaning sooner rather than later both are going to sink without a trace

2013 will see The Australian Cricket Team give a good re-enactment of the Titanic with India representing that Iceberg followed by two Ashes campaigns of certain carnage

The Indian debacle was largely because of India's fine play, but their ability to dominate was set up be the Aussie choices before and during the Tour. A cricketing challenge in gruelling and ultra foreign confines that dictated men of substance and real mental fibre to be chosen only to see the Aussie powers that be insist on the 'sexy', speculative and vastly unproven. This despite the writing being on the wall about a top 4 that was bone china in its fragility and with a resume that had more collapses in it than a decade old set of Dominos. Damning still was Blind Freddy could see that the batting line up was only given credibility by the duo of Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey continuously having to be the Superhero and able offsider. The two represented 68% of the Teams runs in 2012, and when Hussey unexpectedly decided to call an end to his career the hole left in the line up was one only a sincere fool would think he could wall paper over....

Enter that fool in Mickey Arthurs, who in the wake of Husseys retirement talked up his exceptional leadership and experience which had such meaning in the Team in the Team. As well as his batting excellence that was still regarded as being in the top echelon of Test Cricket. The batting excellence was impossible to replace, but the leadership and experience gulf could have been mimicked in the Team by selecting a more seasoned pros for the Tour. The likes of Adam Voges, George Bailey, Brad Haddin would have been very able or even the swallowing of pride and recalling a vindicated junk yard dog who would have been perfect for the Tours demands in Simon Katich.

Instead, Arthurs insisted on T20 specialists in Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith and a host of green rookies as Husseys possible replacements.

The adding of these coloured clothing specialist to a line up that already had a Team with too many already meant failure was imminent with the batting know how for Tests being in short supply and 'temperament' being something found in the mystery section of the library. The tours aftermath saw excuses such as the conditions given, but the truth of the matter was that it was the application of the batting that was so lacking with attention to basics always greeted with disdain. Always the ego fuelled decision to try to be sexy followed up by excuses and denial to try to escape responsibility for their actions.

One shot exemplified the Tour long batting malaise

With Shane Watson being inexplicably made Captain for the 4th Test and coming in with plenty of time left in the game and with the chance of setting up a very real chance of an unexpected victory with a partnership supported by a responsible Captains knock. He instead chose to underline his inability to read the needs of the situation coupled with him going against one of the unwritten rules of batsmanship by amateurishly choosing to try to pull on a pitch with variable bounce.

His Stumps invariably are rearranged and he is applauded for Leadership of the highest calibre that was right out of the Blind leading the Blind hand book.

The Ashes 

The biggest worry of the upcoming Ashes campaign in England is the fact that if you think Australia is bad batting against spin, then they are worse playing against swing

They smelt the idle blood of Australian batsmen whose weaknesses against a swinging rock are starting to resemble a cricketing form of kryptonite. ( ROAR )

"Every time the ball has swung or done something we've found ourselves in a little bit of trouble. ( Mickey Arthurs )

Quotes to fill fans with hope considering swing will be the main meal served in England with a decent spicing of Spin.

So with a setting that very much relates back to the Titanic like impending doom for the Aussies what are the answers to avoid further humiliation?

Well tough decisions need to be made now in the knowledge that if the batting can at least be break even, Australia has a pace attack that could be very damaging in supporting conditions.

The first decision means the sexy batsmen like Shane Watson, Dave Warner and Matthew Wade need to go. Watson is the one that should never have been let back in the Team for he is not only a cause of constant aggravation, but to be frank a toilet of a Test batsman. When he wears Australia's highest honour, the Baggy Green and refuses to bowl in Hyderabad like he did it shows he has not got the passion to be part of the Team. Warner is a potential weapon, but only in a Team that has a strong middle order allowing him to go hell for leather to set up Sehwag type carnages with the support of that padding if he fails. Then, Wade is a hap hazard keeper whose batting is not note noteworthy enough to cover that fact.

Finding replacements is fraught with further potential failure because to be frank the cupboard is very much bare in Australia at present meaning all selections would be on speculation alone.

But this would be my top 7 for the Ashes with the explanations

Ed Cowan- He might not have struck gold at present with career defining scores but he is one of the few with a vindicated technique and Test temperament

Phil Hughes- The thing that gets him on the plane to England is the fight he showed amidst getting made to look silly by the spinners in India. Fight in a line up that was matched by no other

Michael Clarke ( C ) Needs to bat three, not only for he is far and away the teams best batsman, but because he can have a greater impact on the batting in this position

Usman Khawaja- It astounded many that on a tour where the batting failed so miserably that this youngster was not given a go. He deserves one on the Ashes

Joe Burns- Arguably Australia's most talented batsman and plays in conditions similar to England with swing and seam on a bowling friendly pitch

Tim Paine ( VC ) - Paine, if not for injury would have been Captain by now. He is a natural leader and a strong character in a Team that bar Clarke has been mostly filled with irresponsible nufties. Plays as a specialist batsmen in this team, but could act as the 2nd keeper if needed.

Brad Haddin- The Team missed a beat by not picking Haddin for India with him being the 'warrior' that the Team so lacked

As for the rest of the Squad, this would be my choices

Bowlers- Ryan Harris, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Jackson Bird, Mitchell Starc

Spinners- Steven O'Keefe, Nathan Lyon

Batsmen/ All Rounders- Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh, Luke Butterworth