Well done to New Zealand. They set some great field placings, and Bracewell bowled to the field and got his just rewards.
I was pleased to see WARNER rack up a ton, but I'm deeply annoyed at the other members of our top order.
Phil Hughes must certainly be dropped. Go back to shield cricket and work on your flaws you fuckign embarrassment. I love the guy, but Ponting needs to shelve the gloves soon, it's painful to watch a great go down like this. Haddin can fuck off from the side as well. Hussey can stay, for now, as noone else could take over for us as 6 as well as he does.
Clarke is a joke of a captain and really needs to pull the carrot out his arse and start acting like a cricketer.
My ideal side for us to play India on Boxing Day is:
Watson (vc)
Warner
Marsh
Khawaja
Hussey
Clarke (c)
Wade
Siddle
Pattinson
Harris
Lyon
That would be one epic lineup.
What a load of crap. Since he has been captain there has been three test series, and we haven't lost one yet. His batting has improved beyond any doubt, 3 of the countries last 4 centuries have been scored by him. The bowling and fielding has been brilliant in pretty much every test, which is in some part due to great captaincy with rotations and field placings etc. No other captain would have given Lyon the fields and opportunities that Clarke has, and Lyon has thrived under his captaincy. Since the Ashes, when Clarke took over, it has only been the batting that has struggled, and the man is only in charge of his own fate in that regard, and as mentioned above, he has done well. Averaging over 50 i might add.
Speaking of the bowling being successful, did I mention that in that time, we have unearthered 4 debutant bowlers (Copeland, Starc, Pattinson, Cummin, Lyon). With only one or two experienced bowlers to work with, and bowling sides like South Africa out cheaply consistently, the captain is obviously doing something well and truly right.
Im more than happy to listen to opinions if you can back it up with something meaningful. The fact remains that the comment above is a load of crap, and if it wasn't for Clarke's batting we probably wouldn't have won a test since losing the Ashes let alone, not lose a series.
Off that, your side seems pretty spot on, based on what it has to: form.
1. Warner - 123 carried his bat in the last innings of the test where noone else looked like scoring runs all test.
2. Watson - two time Allan Border Medalist at the top of the order, thats where he has to stay. No matter how much he bowls.
3. Marsh - if fit, he was killing it in Sri Lanka and looked good when not many others did in the first test in South Africa.
4. Ponting - despite no tons, if you take out this test where only one man batted well, he is coming off a few good 50s. Stay.
5. Clarke (C) - made the most runs this calendar year to date, 3 of the last 4 centuries. A braindead monkey knows he is killing it.
6. Khawaja - ease him into it. Ponting batted at 6 for three or four years when he first started and worked his way up. He is our future.
7. Wade - Paine out for another 4 months means its the Victorians time to shine. Weight of runs and good keeping mean he takes Haddins spot.
8. Siddle - speaks for itself, really bowling well and leading the attack.
9. Pattinson - 14 wickets in your first two tests. Two five wicket hauls. Raw, exciting and everything I love about a bowler.
10. Harris - if fit, has been successful in almost every test he has played in. Hopefully the body holds up.
11. Lyon - What a find! Bowling well, India is the big test, as the best spin playing nation in the world. Good luck Gaz!
* Watson not fit, pick Cowan
** Marsh not fit, pick Khawaja at 3 and keep Hussey at 6.
*** Harris not fit, Starc stays..just
