Thread: Australian Cricket Team Crisis

Originally Posted by Panda

Does anyone know when the Ashes is on?? Can't remember!

I don't know but i am hoping for a start tomorrow. Then at least us poms will have a chance

Googled it ... apparently doesn't start until 8 July. A lot can happen by then.

Originally Posted by Reads90

I don't know but i am hoping for a start tomorrow. Then at least us poms will have a chance

Well todays West Australian newspaper aint too happy about Hayden being included in the Sydney test.
They say that he should have gracefully retired by now
Some even say that he will go to England for the Ashes tour.

Hilditch should 'move on' and retire himself

Don't know that he'll play in the Ashes ... I think it will depend on a lot of things before then. Now they've got Watson off for 6 months with a back stress fracture, Lee of for God only knows how long because of his foot/ankle being operated on, & Symond's knee's crook. Oh yea, & what's his name Stuart Clarke's elbow injury recently.

In the meantime, they really haven't got that much choice, 6 of 1 & half a dozen of the other. If they don't let Hayden play for the Sydney match, they've got to let another unseasoned young player on, who could be a recipe for disaster. I think they'll hope Hayden gets back some batting form for the Sydney match. (Remember how bad Ponting's batting was last year, it's only now I think that he's started getting any sort of form back in his batting).

Problem is there isn't that much young talent out there at the moment to take over. Even if they find the talent, they have to be trained, seasoned, etc. It's a fairly rare instance to find a young player who can just walk straight into professional cricket & take them by storm.

If they get rid of yet another seasoned player, who has proven himself in the past (i.e. Hayden), they could be opening themselves up for an even bigger disaster. At lease Hayden at the moment is fielding well, which can't be said for a lot of the other players.

Talking about this "Hilditch" bloke, I believe he's a solicitor? So what's he got to do with the decisions? Is he a past famous cricketer I haven't heard of before?

The only other selector I know's on the panel is Merv Hughes (& I know he used to be able to play a decent game of cricket).

Originally Posted by Tommy K

Well todays West Australian newspaper aint too happy about Hayden being included in the Sydney test.
They say that he should have gracefully retired by now
Some even say that he will go to England for the Ashes tour.

Hilditch should 'move on' and retire himself

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Originally Posted by Panda

Problem is there isn't that much young talent out there at the moment to take over. Even if they find the talent, they have to be trained, seasoned, etc. It's a fairly rare instance to find a young player who can just walk straight into professional cricket & take them by storm.

If they get rid of yet another seasoned player, who has proven himself in the past (i.e. Hayden), they could be opening themselves up for an even bigger disaster. At lease Hayden at the moment is fielding well, which can't be said for a lot of the other players.

Talking about this "Hilditch" bloke, I believe he's a solicitor? So what's he got to do with the decisions? Is he a past famous cricketer I haven't heard of before?

The only other selector I know's on the panel is Merv Hughes (& I know he used to be able to play a decent game of cricket).

In my opinion the selectors should take a leaf out of the AFL book on rebuilding teams. Dump all the older players - like Fremantle Dockers have done -and go for youth. Sure it may take a year or two to develop a formitable squad but at least it will happen.

The other thing they should look at is have a 'B' team that competes in the domestic Sheffield Shield competion. This would be like the reserves team so out of form players can fall back into and inform players can impress and win a spot in the test team. There would be intense competion for spots in the test side

BTW, Hilditch was a 'B' grade test player. Here you go, read all about him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Hilditch

I think that's a brilliant idea having a "B" reserves team for injured or out of form players can fall back on.

And thanks for the info on Hilditch. Though it's beyond me why he's on the selection panel seeing as he was only a "B" grade test player.

Originally Posted by Tommy K

In my opinion the selectors should take a leaf out of the AFL book on rebuilding teams. Dump all the older players - like Fremantle Dockers have done -and go for youth. Sure it may take a year or two to develop a formitable squad but at least it will happen.

The other thing they should look at is have a 'B' team that competes in the domestic Sheffield Shield competion. This would be like the reserves team so out of form players can fall back into and inform players can impress and win a spot in the test team. There would be intense competion for spots in the test side

BTW, Hilditch was a 'B' grade test player. Here you go, read all about him.

Andrew Hilditch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You should be very chuffed right now. Congratulations to your team, they played superbly.

Originally Posted by CapeLandy

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