Third Test - IN-PLAY

The entire Australian side was arrogant during the heady days.

Coincidence much?

The final 15 will be named on January 19 ahead of the tournament in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh starting the following month.

Half that squad are never getting a look in

My 15 will be:

Ponting, Clarke, Christian, Doherty, Fergusen, Haddin, Hodge, Hussey, Hussey, Lee, Johnson, Smith, White, Watson, Tait

Preferable X1

Watson
Haddin
Ponting
Hodge
Clarke
White
Hussey
Hussey
Smith
Lee
Tait

I can't see them not taking Christian on the form he has shown this season.

WTF

After Tait breaks down following two overs of leg side wides, you revert to gentle off breaks?

Hodge is retired mate.

Tait is alright in two over bursts.

Lee, Tait, Smith and Watson to bowl 40 overs. Clarke, Hussey, White to bowl 10 between them.

Why I hate the Australian cricket team and think they are a bunch of jerks.

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi4czgF_bXA[/url]

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2F9Y-wXek4[/url]

Johnson mouthing off Strauss and acting like a dick last session on day one. Ponting also in the mix when the players went off the field.

Johnson carries on like a wimp to try and get wickets. Knows he doesn't have cricket ability.

Peter Siddle today. Mouthing off and carrying on after getting a lucky wicket.

Ricky Ponting complaining about time wasting a few times when Australia have done that a few times themselves.

Clarke's attitude and carrying on.

So on and so forth.

Pure filth!

Would you rather they be pacifists and just let England walk?

If I was Test captain I'd be an arrogant box too.

White is 27. Perfect age as the batting starts to go on around your late 20's. Hayden was tried early and came back and was a gun, why not White?

Why he’s not already the national Twenty20 and one-day captain beggars belief. He assumed the captaincy of Victoria at just 20 years of age, and has performed with distinction for seven years, widely praised as an imaginative, cheerful, determined skipper who leads from the front.

In that seven years his sides have reached five Shield finals, winning three; the last four consecutive domestic one-day finals; and all five domestic Twenty20 finals, winning four. It’s an astonishing record.

Yet every time his name comes up, someone declares that White’s batting isn’t up to Test standard.

White’s batting is about as destructive as the GFC when he turns it on, which is apparently what makes him unsuitable. Critics point to his average of 41.9 as being below par. It’s actually highly impressive for a guy who started his career purely as a leg spinner at the age of 17, batting at No. 9, and averaging less than 20 in his first three seasons.

As White moved up the order after his 2000 debut, so did his stats. In the 2006/07 Sheffield Shield, he averaged a tick under 40. The next season, just under 50. The next, nearly 58. And last season, 47. In between were prolific 50-plus seasons in country cricket.

Then there was his recent gritty century against the touring English side in the Australia A game in Hobart, when the more fancied challengers failed. There is more to his ability than as a limited-overs power hitter. 16 first-class hundreds don’t speak of a lower-order cudgelman having a lucky flail.

Criticising his Test batting record is also a popular tack, though senseless, given he’s never had the chance to fail.

In White’s four Tests in India in 2008, he was played as a spinner and forced to bat at No. 8. Genuine batsmen generally struggle that low down, distracted by the change in their role and unable to build an innings as they normally might.

Still, White’s seven innings ended up with two not outs, a 44, and a 46, mostly while batting without top-order support. There’s nothing to suggest that the backing of a top-order spot wouldn’t give a far greater yield.

In fact White’s case is reminiscent of Steve Waugh’s.

Waugh started out as a bits and pieces player: handy bowler, handy bat. He took four years to get his first Test hundred, and averaged 36 after 46 Test matches. Yet by hard work and sheer determination, Waugh rose to become the pre-eminent batsman of his day, and despite the handicap of his early career, ended with a Test average of over 51. For several years there, if there was a guy batting for your life, you wanted S.R. Waugh at the crease.

Then there was Andrew Symonds, a one-day smasher with greater potential. Again, the selectors gave him time and top-six backing. Though it tested the patience of some, the investment paid off. Symonds showed the world and himself that he had what it took, as a valuable Test batsman, a useful bowler, and an outstanding fieldsman.

White could be very much in the same mould. His attacking play makes him a potential game-breaker, of the sort Australia has lacked in recent years. His much-maligned bowling could still prove a handy option: 172first-class wickets at 40 isn’t terrible, and the man dismissed Tendulkar twice in Tests.

And for what it’s worth, he’s also an outstanding slip fieldsman, something missing since Shane Warne and Mark Waugh rode off into the sunset. Ponting is very good, but his athleticism and ability to throw down stumps are wasted in that position.

In every facet of the game, White would bring something to the team, but leadership is the most important. Australia’s future would be looking far more stable if he had already notched a dozen Tests.

Full feature here:

https://www.theroar.com.au/2010/12/16/life-after-ponting/

He should be given a chance in the test side - his stats point to it. Because he's Victorian, the selectors won't look at him.

Sure he may not bat number 4, but number 5 or 6 is pretty decent. Particularly after Hussey and Ponting go, he will be right to slip in. Should be in Smith's position right now IMO.

You mofos think he shouldn't be in the test team? Look at his stats. He can do better than North and Smith.

Watson you arrogant little fuck. Take that.

England's hopes of winning goes down to how long it takes them to take the next 2 wickets.

White would be a better choice.

This pitch is obviously good for batting if you get your eye in. I still believe Australia need a lead of 450+