Ponting Out
It is possible Ponting has played his last test match after being left out of the squad for Sydney due to his broken finger. This means Clarke has been named captain. What worries me a little about this scenario, however is that Usman Khawaja is going to slot straight into the number three position. There is no doubt he is a talented player, he's leading this seasons Sheffield Shield runs tally, but I don't think you should be throwing a rookie sraight into the number three position. Some may argue that its a dead rubber (its not, we can still draw the series) lets see what the kids made of, but I would rather see him eased in at number 5. Throw Hussey up to number three. Not many players, no matter how talented, are expected to come into a test side in the pivotal number three slot.........even the great Ponting himself served his apprenticeship at number 6.
2 comments:
Agree...best to bring batsmen in lower down the order, but tricky to know what options there are - I imagine Hussey would do whatever the team asked but I'm not sure he'd really be pleased at being asked to move up to 3.
You know infinitely more about the Aussie batsmen than I do, but I'd move Haddin to 3 and Khawaja in at 6 with Smith at 7.
Ponting surely hasn't played his last Test though - he's still in Australia's top 6 batsmen despite a poor run of form this series. And he's one of the best fielders too.
Can't move Haddin to 3. Too much for a keeper to do. Can you imagine if Australia field first, spend a day and a half in the field, then lose an early wicket.....then Haddin is expected to go out there and make a big score. I'd prefer not to even move him up to six (though he's a better option there than Smith). To me there is a psychological factor......moving up that one position to six puts extra pressure on a keeper, they are now expected to score hundreds, if they bat at 7, they are expected to contribute with the bat, but centuries are considered a bonus. Aussies were reluctant to move Gilly up the order for that very reason, and the few tests he did bat at six, from memory, he didn't do that well.
If we could find another opener (or two) I wouldn't mind seeing Watson at three.
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