AUSTRALIA INTERNATIONAL CRICKET 2018/2019 SEASON

Australia has sent over perhaps its most vulnerable team since the Kerry Packer era
I cant see Australia winning a test match without Warner/Smith/Hazelwood/Cummins/Bancroft/Edwards

The Australian team 1st test line up is
FINCH
HEAD
HOLLAND
KHAWAJA
LABUSCHAGNE
LYON
M MARSH
S MARSH
PAINE
SIDDLE
STARC

Renshaw[injured]/ Neser/Doggett have missed selection

A lot will depend on Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon taking lots of wickets , cheaply enough , and some batters to play well v spin
I think the star batsman this series for Australia might be Shaun Marsh

A bad toss to lose and a lacklustre bowling performance on day 1. Need some quick wickets early on day 2 or we will be chasing 500+.

You gotta wonder why play them in Dubai in front of flies.
If Pakistan is not viable from a safety perspective, why not here instead?
Dubai hardly gives anyone an advantage from a spectator perspective.
There would surely be a few dust bowl grounds in the country regions that might even spread the love around to those places.
Could we not find a way to share money raised with Pakistan if they played here?

Gotta agree Chambo. I've seen bigger crowds in Sheffield Shield games recently.

Much better second day. Surprised Paine waited so long to take the second new ball but there was a long period where Pakistan were scoring very slowly. Great effort by the bowlers to keep putting in and it was rewarded for having them out for 482. Given they were 4 - 410 keeping them under 550 was really well done. Hopefully we can bat for the next 5 sessions and put some pressure on their second innings.

Alas, same old same old...

I got scoffed at by the experts on here when I said Australian batting is brittle, it happened again overnight

The selectors keep picking new players with not much background, hoping they'll work miracles.

Lee wrote:The selectors keep picking new players with not much background, hoping they'll work miracles.

Who would you have picked in their place ?

At least they’ve picked young players rather than quite capable players in their 30’s like White & so forth

Why do they persist with the Marsh's?

Between them they have 4 innings for 19 runs and 10 overs going at 4 an over for no wickets. I could probably do better over 4 innings!

Uncle Huey,

Perhaps they persist with the Marsh boys because of their surname

Australian batting dug deep tonight, it doesn’t excuse losing 10 wickets for 60 runs though

Glad they showed some guts and stuck it out. Khawaja had the best innings he's played for the baggy green, showed impressive patience. Head also played a very good second innings, impressive debut.

Hope they can take that level of determination into the second test.

PA 482...HAFEEZ 126...SOHAIL 110...SIDDLE 3/58
AU 202...KHAWAJA 85....BILIAL 6/36
PA 6/181 DEC...IMAN UL HAQ 48...HOLLAND 3/83
AU 8/362...KHAWAJA 141....YASIR 4/114

Draw, what a magnificent batting effort in the last dig of a game by Australia
One of the weakest batting line ups on paper, combined to play one of the greatest 4th innings in Australian test history

Usman Khawaja deserves every single accolade
To play 2 great innings against his nemesis, spin bowling, was startling

Aaron Finch who will be 32 years old next month , played  2 very good innings on debut in making 62 + 49

Peter Siddle bowled well
Travis Head on debut made a brilliant 2nd innings 72, after a blob in his first test dig

Tim Paine 'keeps' on  surprising me , a real fighter

PA more or less thrashed AU but its 0-0 in the test series

Pre- game I had though AU could compete well if Starc/Lyon and Shaun Marsh played well, they all performed below par though

Second test started wonderfully when GOAT captured 4 before lunch on the first morning and then turned to crap.

The Marshes were lamentable as usual. Unless a minor miracle happens we will get thrashed.

No miracles this time around

Another series loss in the Northern Hemisphere
PA would most probably be disappointed they only won this series 1-0

I think a 2 test series is not enough
All test series, if possible , should be a minimum of 3 tests matches

4 innings, 3 batting collapses....not good enough & how Maxwell who can also bowl isn’t in the best X1 available to be selected is beyond me