Between the 3 stand-outs playing in this Test,Bumrah,Cummins and Starc, i know which 2 i'd have as my openers, and it wouldnt include Bumrah. Cummins is a huge bowler in any conditions, regularly hitting mid 90's and is also proving to be a sturdy no 8 too (as proved in this Test) , and only 25, and Starc is the best left-arm quick in the world.
Cummins isn't a new-ball bowler. Starc isn't bowling half as well as Bumrah. As they say, look at the score!
Between the 3 stand-outs playing in this Test,Bumrah,Cummins and Starc, i know which 2 i'd have as my openers, and it wouldnt include Bumrah. Cummins is a huge bowler in any conditions, regularly hitting mid 90's and is also proving to be a sturdy no 8 too (as proved in this Test) , and only 25, and Starc is the best left-arm quick in the world.
Cummins isn't a new-ball bowler. Starc isn't bowling half as well as Bumrah. As they say, look at the score!
I think its more like Cummins isnt a new-ball bowler for Australia now- simply because they believe that Hazlewood and Starc get more swing in the early overs, and that maybe Cummins gets a bit more reverse to be used later. However, with the guy bowling at 95 regularly, he'd be the opener for all other Test teams. When Cummins first came onto the scene in 2011 at Jo'burg he certainly was opening the bowling for Oz alongside Mitch Johnson (and took 7 wickets).Incredible to think it was 8 years ago. This led me to check Bumrahs and Cummins Test averages, not a good sample size maybe .... Bumrah 9 tests with 48 wickets at 21.02 Cummins 17 tests with 80 wickets at 23.25 However, Cummins has a batting average of 21 against Bumrahs 1.55.
Between the 3 stand-outs playing in this Test,Bumrah,Cummins and Starc, i know which 2 i'd have as my openers, and it wouldnt include Bumrah. Cummins is a huge bowler in any conditions, regularly hitting mid 90's and is also proving to be a sturdy no 8 too (as proved in this Test) , and only 25, and Starc is the best left-arm quick in the world.
Cummins isn't a new-ball bowler. Starc isn't bowling half as well as Bumrah. As they say, look at the score!
I think its more like Cummins isnt a new-ball bowler for Australia now- simply because they believe that Hazlewood and Starc get more swing in the early overs, and that maybe Cummins gets a bit more reverse to be used later. However, with the guy bowling at 95 regularly, he'd be the opener for all other Test teams. When Cummins first came onto the scene in 2011 at Jo'burg he certainly was opening the bowling for Oz alongside Mitch Johnson (and took 7 wickets).Incredible to think it was 8 years ago. This led me to check Bumrahs and Cummins Test averages, not a good sample size maybe .... Bumrah 9 tests with 48 wickets at 21.02 Cummins 17 tests with 80 wickets at 23.25 However, Cummins has a batting average of 21 against Bumrahs 1.55.
I know who i'd rather have in my side.
A case for Cummins over Bumrah could be made, thanks to his batting. Starc though? No way in hell does he get in past Bumrah to a combined XI - I'm not even sure he gets past Shami
There's certainly a case for choosing Cummins, who has helped drag Australia all the way up to number five in the Test rankings, ahead of Bumrah, the opening bowler for the world's number one Test team who has a better bowling average, strike rate and economy rate. But I don't know what it is.
Between the 3 stand-outs playing in this Test,Bumrah,Cummins and Starc, i know which 2 i'd have as my openers, and it wouldnt include Bumrah. Cummins is a huge bowler in any conditions, regularly hitting mid 90's and is also proving to be a sturdy no 8 too (as proved in this Test) , and only 25, and Starc is the best left-arm quick in the world.
Cummins isn't a new-ball bowler. Starc isn't bowling half as well as Bumrah. As they say, look at the score!
I think its more like Cummins isnt a new-ball bowler for Australia now- simply because they believe that Hazlewood and Starc get more swing in the early overs, and that maybe Cummins gets a bit more reverse to be used later. However, with the guy bowling at 95 regularly, he'd be the opener for all other Test teams. When Cummins first came onto the scene in 2011 at Jo'burg he certainly was opening the bowling for Oz alongside Mitch Johnson (and took 7 wickets).Incredible to think it was 8 years ago. This led me to check Bumrahs and Cummins Test averages, not a good sample size maybe .... Bumrah 9 tests with 48 wickets at 21.02 Cummins 17 tests with 80 wickets at 23.25 However, Cummins has a batting average of 21 against Bumrahs 1.55.
I know who i'd rather have in my side.
A case for Cummins over Bumrah could be made, thanks to his batting. Starc though? No way in hell does he get in past Bumrah to a combined XI - I'm not even sure he gets past Shami
The obvious thing about Starc is 'variety' , however, he is injury prone, which i think has hindered him. Like a lot of bowlers (and more so batsmen), they get 'sussed' at the top level after a while, therefore i think we should look at Bumrah after 20 Tests and see what his stats are then. He's 25 now, so India didnt see much in him before now.
So, whilst on the subject, given a neutral venue (ie no significant swing or green top or dust bowl), who would be your World bowling unit ? given 3 quicks, 1 spinner and 1 other.
So, whilst on the subject, given a neutral venue (ie no significant swing or green top or dust bowl), who would be your World bowling unit ? given 3 quicks, 1 spinner and 1 other.
For me, without giving it too much thought....
Cummins Rabada Jimmy Rashid Khan Ashwin
Stokes as all-rounder
Rashid Khan for white ball, sure. Not test yet. I'd pick Nathan Lyon if you wanted two spinners
Some allrounders who probably get in ahead of Stokes right now:
Holder Ashwin Philander Shakib? Depends on the pitch
um
OK yeah that's it. But still
Really ?!
TBH, none of them get anywhere near Stokes. Holder is a part-time bat and bowl, acceptable in both skills, Ashwin, compared as a batsman to Stokes ??, i dont think so, and lets not talk about the fielding aspect too. Philander - good bowler given the conditions but still only bats at 8 for SA, Shakib ? dont make me laugh- surely you can do better than that ?
Stokes has matured , post his Bristol incident this year, into a true all -rounder, can bat (no 5), can bowl, also as an enforcer (his stint in SL recently was outstanding), and is probably one of the best 3 fielders in the world.
You should stop putting him down - he is clearly, by a long way, the best all-rounder in the world at the moment.
NZ beat Sri Lanka in their first ODI at Mt Maunganui yesterday. The Black Caps scored 371-7 in their 50 overs and Sri Lanka finished 326 all out.
Jimmy Neesham, NZ middle order scored 47 off 13 balls, 34 runs off one Thisara Perera over. The first 5 balls were all sixes, then a 2 off a no ball followed by a single. He missed out on the fastest ever ODI 50 with the innings at a close (AB de Villiers scored the fastest ever 50 off 16 balls)
Some allrounders who probably get in ahead of Stokes right now:
Holder Ashwin Philander Shakib? Depends on the pitch
um
OK yeah that's it. But still
Really ?!
TBH, none of them get anywhere near Stokes. Holder is a part-time bat and bowl, acceptable in both skills, Ashwin, compared as a batsman to Stokes ??, i dont think so, and lets not talk about the fielding aspect too. Philander - good bowler given the conditions but still only bats at 8 for SA, Shakib ? dont make me laugh- surely you can do better than that ?
Stokes has matured , post his Bristol incident this year, into a true all -rounder, can bat (no 5), can bowl, also as an enforcer (his stint in SL recently was outstanding), and is probably one of the best 3 fielders in the world.
You should stop putting him down - he is clearly, by a long way, the best all-rounder in the world at the moment.
If this is part time, they must have some serious full timers....
Aussie 236-6 at the close, still 386 behind. Two days left for India to take 14 wickets as I’m sure they’ll enforce the follow on if Aussie don’t save it and I can’t see them doing so.
I was looking at the OZ Test batting averages, in view of their visit for Ashes next year..
Harris 36 Khawaja 42 Labuschagne 23 S Marsh 34 Head 33 Handscomb 39
Also, looking at their First Class averages, its only Khawaja who is above 40.! Ok for a few its the early start of their careers and there might not be a big sample size for a good comparison and also in view of the fact that Khawaja notoriously struggles in England, no wonder they want to fast-track Smith back into the side after his suspension.I'm not sure that the Oz people and the board would allow Warner to come back, and i'm not sure Bancroft is good enough to come back (test average of 30) - the cupboard would appear to be relatively bare.
I was looking at the OZ Test batting averages, in view of their visit for Ashes next year..
Harris 36 Khawaja 42 Labuschagne 23 S Marsh 34 Head 33 Handscomb 39
Also, looking at their First Class averages, its only Khawaja who is above 40.! Ok for a few its the early start of their careers and there might not be a big sample size for a good comparison and also in view of the fact that Khawaja notoriously struggles in England, no wonder they want to fast-track Smith back into the side after his suspension.I'm not sure that the Oz people and the board would allow Warner to come back, and i'm not sure Bancroft is good enough to come back (test average of 30) - the cupboard would appear to be relatively bare.
Which is why Warner will walk straight back in to the side
I was looking at the OZ Test batting averages, in view of their visit for Ashes next year..
Harris 36 Khawaja 42 Labuschagne 23 S Marsh 34 Head 33 Handscomb 39
Also, looking at their First Class averages, its only Khawaja who is above 40.! Ok for a few its the early start of their careers and there might not be a big sample size for a good comparison and also in view of the fact that Khawaja notoriously struggles in England, no wonder they want to fast-track Smith back into the side after his suspension.I'm not sure that the Oz people and the board would allow Warner to come back, and i'm not sure Bancroft is good enough to come back (test average of 30) - the cupboard would appear to be relatively bare.
Which is why Warner will walk straight back in to the side
Rain delays the early start to Day 4, doesn't help India but then it doesn't help Aussie either. Of course they'd need a Headingley '81 style miracle to win the game and square the series but that can't happen as time ticks away. The best thing to the delay has been listening to the state broadcasters (ABC) radio coverage. Jim Maxwell and former Test player Stuart Clark plus a few others have been bemoaning the state of Aussie cricket. According to them it is in a real mess. Youth cricket is a shambles with the 12-18 age group having the lowest numbers participating for generations. Clark was seriously criticising the move in the last 10 years or so to remove the elitist aspect of youth cricket which has now filtered through inevitability to grade cricket and will affect Sheffield Shield and Test in the near future. Aussie Grade Cricket, their version of our Club Cricket has been for decades the ultimate pinnacle of amateur or semi amateur cricket in the whole world. Many of our greats cut their teeth playing Grade Cricket as youngsters. However the numbers of quality cricketers in the system are simply not there. Clark was saying that these days promising young cricketers just don't get the chance to excel in a match as everything is restricted to "give everyone a game". They are playing shorter and shorter formats. Many talented teenagers are not interested in cricket as they don't get a chance to bat for a decent period or bowl enough overs. The retiring CEO of NSW Cricket Stuart Jones (apparently the most powerful post outside of the Board) is pushing for more reduced overs cricket across all levels of the game as he thinks this is the future of the game. Incidentally crowd numbers for the beginning of the Big Bash are down on previous years according to Stuart Clark, he says it shouldn't start before Christmas as people have too many other things to do. So lovely to hear Aussie having the kind of debate we've had to suffer for so long. Not saying everything is rosy in our garden, far from it, but to hear Aussie whinge is quite sweet.
Comments
This led me to check Bumrahs and Cummins Test averages, not a good sample size maybe ....
Bumrah 9 tests with 48 wickets at 21.02
Cummins 17 tests with 80 wickets at 23.25
However, Cummins has a batting average of 21 against Bumrahs 1.55.
I know who i'd rather have in my side.
Like a lot of bowlers (and more so batsmen), they get 'sussed' at the top level after a while, therefore i think we should look at Bumrah after 20 Tests and see what his stats are then. He's 25 now, so India didnt see much in him before now.
For me, without giving it too much thought....
Cummins
Rabada
Jimmy
Rashid Khan
Ashwin
Stokes as all-rounder
Holder
Ashwin
Philander
Shakib? Depends on the pitch
um
OK yeah that's it. But still
TBH, none of them get anywhere near Stokes.
Holder is a part-time bat and bowl, acceptable in both skills, Ashwin, compared as a batsman to Stokes ??, i dont think so, and lets not talk about the fielding aspect too. Philander - good bowler given the conditions but still only bats at 8 for SA, Shakib ? dont make me laugh- surely you can do better than that ?
Stokes has matured , post his Bristol incident this year, into a true all -rounder, can bat (no 5), can bowl, also as an enforcer (his stint in SL recently was outstanding), and is probably one of the best 3 fielders in the world.
You should stop putting him down - he is clearly, by a long way, the best all-rounder in the world at the moment.
Jimmy Neesham, NZ middle order scored 47 off 13 balls, 34 runs off one Thisara Perera over. The first 5 balls were all sixes, then a 2 off a no ball followed by a single. He missed out on the fastest ever ODI 50 with the innings at a close (AB de Villiers scored the fastest ever 50 off 16 balls)
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.sports.ndtv.com/australia-vs-india-2018-19/give-steve-smith-david-warner-another-chance-tim-paine-asks-australian-public-1971360?akamai-rum=off
Australia 24-0 at close
Especially as Kohli was out cheaply
http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/24978256/jason-holder-dream-year-ball
Harris 36
Khawaja 42
Labuschagne 23
S Marsh 34
Head 33
Handscomb 39
Also, looking at their First Class averages, its only Khawaja who is above 40.!
Ok for a few its the early start of their careers and there might not be a big sample size for a good comparison and also in view of the fact that Khawaja notoriously struggles in England, no wonder they want to fast-track Smith back into the side after his suspension.I'm not sure that the Oz people and the board would allow Warner to come back, and i'm not sure Bancroft is good enough to come back (test average of 30) - the cupboard would appear to be relatively bare.
The best thing to the delay has been listening to the state broadcasters (ABC) radio coverage. Jim Maxwell and former Test player Stuart Clark plus a few others have been bemoaning the state of Aussie cricket. According to them it is in a real mess. Youth cricket is a shambles with the 12-18 age group having the lowest numbers participating for generations. Clark was seriously criticising the move in the last 10 years or so to remove the elitist aspect of youth cricket which has now filtered through inevitability to grade cricket and will affect Sheffield Shield and Test in the near future.
Aussie Grade Cricket, their version of our Club Cricket has been for decades the ultimate pinnacle of amateur or semi amateur cricket in the whole world. Many of our greats cut their teeth playing Grade Cricket as youngsters. However the numbers of quality cricketers in the system are simply not there. Clark was saying that these days promising young cricketers just don't get the chance to excel in a match as everything is restricted to "give everyone a game". They are playing shorter and shorter formats. Many talented teenagers are not interested in cricket as they don't get a chance to bat for a decent period or bowl enough overs.
The retiring CEO of NSW Cricket Stuart Jones (apparently the most powerful post outside of the Board) is pushing for more reduced overs cricket across all levels of the game as he thinks this is the future of the game. Incidentally crowd numbers for the beginning of the Big Bash are down on previous years according to Stuart Clark, he says it shouldn't start before Christmas as people have too many other things to do.
So lovely to hear Aussie having the kind of debate we've had to suffer for so long. Not saying everything is rosy in our garden, far from it, but to hear Aussie whinge is quite sweet.