Something odd is going on with the Australian cricket team.
They keep trying to play Victorians in the national side.
Not content with Hodge, McGain, Nannes, Harwood, McDonald, White, Hussey, Holland and Quiney (the last two in squads), they have now picked Crazy Clint McKay as their replacement for Hopes and or Lee.
That is how good they think McKay in, he is relacing Australia’s best white ball bowler and their dependable all round tradesman.
They could have sent over Dirty Dirk Nannes and the all round dynamo of Dan Christian if they were trying to actually match the skills, instead they have decided that Clint has all the skills they need.
This isn’t exactly true, Moises was already sent over, even before anyone had been sent home, because of his stellar form for the KKR. So Clint is really just cover for Lee, and he won’t play unless Hilfy and Douggie get injured.
The major scandal is that there was another NSWales players that could have been picked.
Mitchell Starc.
Starc has played one first class and one list A game for New South Wales. He is 19 and took two wickets against the Warriors.
Surely that makes him overqualified for the Australian team.
It is a risky decision for an Australian selector to pick a Victorian over a NSWelshman, especially one as experienced as Starc is.
You could even say there were other NSWales bowlers who could have been picked, the Kings XI Punjab’s Burt Cockley took 4 wickets in a game of cricket the other day, surely that should have gotten him a ticket.
Other players that could have been picked before McKay include: Matthew Nicholson, Brad McNamara and Stuart Clark.
Let’s face it, we could have two NSW teams at the moment and they’d end up 1 & 2 come year ebnd. OK, maybe 1&3. The Vics could sneak into 2nd.
This article is interesting
http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/cricket/how-the-blues-can-win-back-the-ashes-for-australia/2009/10/29/1256405474213.html
Never a truer word was spake
Pete, the Siddle being fragile bit made me laugh, he has just been on tour for 5 months straight. I still remember the images of Douggies leg in a cast from last year.
Who’s Stuart Clark?
I hate Victoria but DDN would be a fucken great choice. He was lethal in the last match of the clitty20.
Sozzle? Fragile? That’s what the opposition’s bones are after a few of his overs. He’s give up on trying to hit the stumps. Too sophisticated a concept for him.
One more hit and the Indians will be demanding he be sacked. Or they’ll get a on a plane and go home.
Jrod, I’ve been waiting for you to get stuck into the selectors over Nannes for a while now. Just what does he have to do to get into this Aussie setup.
His game seems to be at another level at the moment – one of the top 3 quickest bowlers in the world and a seam position that Mitch can only dream of.
Dougie Bollinger is a fair bowler, bless his hairplugs, but he’s no Dirk.
Oh, and according to the NSW press, apparently Phil Hughes scoring some ugly runs against a formidable 125k/hr Warriors pace barrage on a road in North Sydney, has guaranteed him a place back in the test side.
Readers not from Australia should be aware that NSW contains exactly one half of the entire population of Australia.
So really five or six Blues in the Test squad would be about par, nothing more. Generally speaking, NSW historically is under-represented in the national side.
As someone who has lived both sides of the Murray its also pretty obvious that cricket is the Number One sport in NSW, by which I mean that not many cricketers even play Rugby League, let alone need to decide which they will play professionally.
Whereas here in Victoria, where the committment to and obsession with football (the quaint Australian version – the one that no-one else plays) needs to be experienced to be believed – think cult and you might be getting close – means that to qualify as a Victorian cricketer there is one, first , essential criteria: you need to be not good enough at football to begin with. Hence, the Vics lose about 600 blokes straight off the top, before cricket even gets a look-in. Most Victorians, Hodge and Warne being two recent examples, would much rather play football if they were good enough.
In fact, Hewy, the reason Nannes doesn’t get picked is that he is too old. Why? Well, because his number one sport is snow-skiing. Even he never really gave a shit about cricket when it counted.
Fuck the Vics.
By the way, with the possible exception of Queenslanders, most of whom only moved there from NSW two years ago, no-one else rabbits on with this NSW-gets-preference bullshit. It’s just Victorian paranoia.
@ Steve: “One more hit and the Indians will be demanding he be sacked. Or they’ll get a on a plane and go home”
They ARE home my man.
Even as an Indian supporter, I think DDN would have been the obvious choice given his deadly bowling and sunny disposition. Cant figure out why he is not in India. If he played brilliantly for Indians against aussies on Indian pitches, he can definitely play for aussies against Indians on Indian pitches, I cracked myself a bit over that.
I think Ricky has a serious hatred for any player that is even .0005 degree un-australian. like Brett lee, DDN. Brett lee with his guitar wielding and chocolate boy looks (we love him in India) does not fit into his plans for having a team of rugged, dirty mouth, hound like players. maybe DDN is a victim of that, his stats are definitely good, what do y’all think ?
Saurav
Duh! That is the point, my man. It’s called “irony”.
I can’t think why quite a lot of people aren’t in India. half the Blues, a few more Vics, … and throw in Crazy – it worked last time.
as for Ricky lovin’ “rugged, dirty mouth, hound like players”, isn’t that what DDN is?
I don’t really quite see Pup, Hussey, Mitch, and the boys in that category, though. Really only Siddle, and I’m not sure he’s Ponting’s favorite son. Twatto has aspirations that way but is really just a cupcake.
Batting etc.
thanks for the enlightenment.
The only ones taking a plane home currently are..erm..Ozzies. They seem to be queueing up to fly home and escape the wrath of Dhoni. Irony, eh?
raj
Duh, you got it.
But i don’t think its the “wrath” of Donny Boy that’s making them flee. More likely Tendulkar’s 17000000 runs coming up. There is a limit to the amount of Indian extravangaza we can handle before we go deaf. Im already watching with he sound turned off.
We prefer the no-frills approach. Like 10 people lying on the grass watching the world’s no. 1 team play at North Sydney Oval yesterday. Like a Chiko roll. Like Siddle.
Except Lee, who would run all the way back to India if he thought his elbow could stand it.
Joke 1 – Moises in team. He barely holds down his NSW place.
Joke 2 – Western Warriors. Fucken’ Warriors. If they feel like scoring 250 in an FR match this year, I’ll stop saying fucken’. And the first 5/6 games of this tournament no-one has scored 250. No wonder… see Joke 3.
Joke 3 – Aus batsmen who are all great admirers of Michael Clarke’s one day technique of not scoring runs unless by accident (with honorable exception of PunterAndThe MikeHusseyman)… see Joke 2.
Maybe it’s time you checked up on your facts. Clint was named in the 20/20 International Allstars team and took the 2nd most wickets of the tournament (which by the way was achieved with one less game than NSW. He has alsoplayed an Australia A tournament and was selected in the Prime Ministers 11 earlier in the year. In both these games he took a good number of wickets against international standard players. He has earnt his spot as much as any one. What about accepting Australian players for their ability instead of only focusing on one sstate!!!
CMac Supporter, I hope for your sake this was your first trip here, and/or you are taking the piss.
How incompetent is this team? 4 run-outs? Players getting run-out backing up? Like you don’t learn not to do that at age 10.
You must be able to smell the fear in the changerooms once Hussey gets out.
What about Darren Pattinson? We don’t want him any more
.-= Paddy´s last blog ..Why do we not love umpires any more? =-.
He played for Victoria yesterday, he very nearly took a wicket.
Pattinson only played because Clint left…
Ned, when did the NSW population jump by 4 million? We’re* just better, and would be even if we played football as well!
(*This statement is in no way a reflection on my own cricketin abilities.)
.-= Jonathan´s last blog ..Injuries and Hilditch decimate state attacks =-.
Ned,
Nannes too old? That’s got nothing to do with it – plenty of players have debuted older. But you’re other point is more pertinent – he hasn’t slogged away for a decade playing club & state cricket so he’s not part of Andrew Hilditch’s ‘plans’. If anything this very fact means that he’s probably fresher than a 28y/o ‘career’ cricketer.
Your football point is actually very relevant. 6 foot 3 + athletic guys make good fast bowlers but they also make good AFL players. If you’re in NSW or QLD you’ll play cricket. In the southern states why slog away for a decade on labourers wages just hoping you’ll make it into Hilditch’s spreadsheet of players who’ll play for Australia regardless of form, when you can possibly pick up $250k before you’re 20 playing AFL.
thanks for writing siddle’s epitaph guys. india will now really have to push to lose, but lose they will.
jogesh99, I wish I had your optimism.
Now that Siddle is out, let’s have Dirky in. They can’t bring over Geeves, despite how well he has been bowling – too many Tasmanians is never a good thing.
.-= Dustbinner´s last blog ..Check out "Hilditch & the Selectors" – the great new band from Sydney, touring India this week! =-.
I can see Hilditch with his fingers in his ears, shouting ‘la, la, la, I can’t hear you’ whenever someone tries to say the name ‘Dirk Nannes’ to him.
it looks like the result after 6 matches is fixed – its going to be 3-3. then the bookies will decide the winner after seeing the bets for the 7th. but, are the stupid indians actually betting on this crap?
can’t wait for the lankan series – murali, mendis and malinga – unless the bcci contrives to injure them too.
The NSW snub is over with Cockley included. How the hell can a guy that has got only 5 wickets in 4 list A games get a call-up to the national side even if he is from NSW?
Cockley’s inclusion is bizarre – Hildtich has totally lost the plot. He’s not even from NSW, either.
Isn’t he a lawyer by trade? I s there something going on we don’t know about.
WHere is Nannes anyway? He didn’t play for the Vics yesterday either.
Pattinson took 3 wickets. Very Odd.
Well for use against the selection against clint mckay i hope use are thinking twice now.. after yesterdays performance 10 overs 3 wickets and only gone for 59.. best bowler for match… lee is the best australian bowler but clint did his bit to replace him yesterday and the australian selecters got it right with him
Cockley in the squad, henriques played for aus, warner played, i used to say u get your blue cap a week before your green one, but these days u don’t even need a first class game to play for australia, if your from nsw