Australia tour of New Zealand - Feb 2016

[The Professor]

I have come to the conclusion that this Australia side could dominate for the next five years.

Warner, at 29, will lead the ughout and will also be the key run scorer ably supported by Smith and Khawaja.

Joe Burns is the steady eddy that you need at number 3.

Mitchell Marsh is starting to bear fruit from the faith the Australian team have shown him and is beginning to show he can regularly do it with both bat and ball.

Nevill made a mistake today but as far as I can remember that is his first. I can wax lyrical for hours about the advantages and disadvantages of different wicket keepers but I consider Nevill better than Haddin.

Lyon is rapidly turning into an all rounder. Shows what he can do with the bat, the ball and in the field.

The balance is just right for tests at the moment.

Then you look at the lads who aren't getting a game: Finch, Maxwell, Faulkner.

Frightening.

[Aidan11]

Good to see NZ didn't collapse and take it to a 4th day.

McCullum gone for 10.

[bigfluffylemon]

Going to be all over today barring a miracle.

Somehow the Aussies have gone through a year of losing five or six world class players (and Watson) and come out looking stronger than ever.

[yuppie]

Going to be all over today barring a miracle.

Somehow the Aussies have gone through a year of losing five or six world class players (and Watson) and come out looking stronger than ever.

The flat wickets have made the batsman look much better than they are.

But those same wickets have shown how good the Australian bowling attacks are. They really work as a unit, even when retirements and injuries take a toll.

Thus for me the Aussie batters are overrated at present, and the bowlers vastly underrated.

[Alviro Patterson]

In a situation where New Zealand need to take time out of the game, BJ Watling is wasted at number 7.

[yuppie]

Not looking good for NZ now.

Could be over before Lunch.

[Dr Cricket]

I have come to the conclusion that this Australia side could dominate for the next five years.

Warner, at 29, will lead the ughout and will also be the key run scorer ably supported by Smith and Khawaja.

Joe Burns is the steady eddy that you need at number 3.

Mitchell Marsh is starting to bear fruit from the faith the Australian team have shown him and is beginning to show he can regularly do it with both bat and ball.

Nevill made a mistake today but as far as I can remember that is his first. I can wax lyrical for hours about the advantages and disadvantages of different wicket keepers but I consider Nevill better than Haddin.

Lyon is rapidly turning into an all rounder. Shows what he can do with the bat, the ball and in the field.

The balance is just right for tests at the moment.

Then you look at the lads who aren't getting a game: Finch, Maxwell, Faulkner.

Frightening.

LOL

[Dr Cricket]

By the way Mitchell marsh averages 23 with the bat and a first class record of 31.
Been a better bowler than Stokes though.
looked good with the ball, struggling with the bat.

Can't see how he will get into the test side unless is batting improves drastically, isn't really good enough to be a front line bowler and not really good enough with the bat to get a top 6 slot in the test team.

Wouldn't call nathan lyon an all rounder either.
annoying batsman to get out at number 11 or 10.

[bigfluffylemon]

Going to be all over today barring a miracle.

Somehow the Aussies have gone through a year of losing five or six world class players (and Watson) and come out looking stronger than ever.

The flat wickets have made the batsman look much better than they are.

But those same wickets have shown how good the Australian bowling attacks are. They really work as a unit, even when retirements and injuries take a toll.

Thus for me the Aussie batters are overrated at present, and the bowlers vastly underrated.

Agree with you there. Voges is clearly a quality player, but an average approaching Bradman?

[yuppie]

Going to be all over today barring a miracle.

Somehow the Aussies have gone through a year of losing five or six world class players (and Watson) and come out looking stronger than ever.

The flat wickets have made the batsman look much better than they are.

But those same wickets have shown how good the Australian bowling attacks are. They really work as a unit, even when retirements and injuries take a toll.

Thus for me the Aussie batters are overrated at present, and the bowlers vastly underrated.

Agree with you there. Voges is clearly a quality player, but an average approaching Bradman?

Yep i would agree with this. Question marks still over Smith and Warner. Marsh is being picked on potential, and bowling. Voges has taken on that Rodgers role. A real solid professional who can have a good international career, but will not be considered a great.

Where as the bowling stocks keep changing due to retirements and injuries. The bowlers that come in just make the step up. Maybe it says more about international batsman than Australian bowlers?

The bowling line up has had to replace many players, but continues to bowl out teams.

[bigfluffylemon]

And continues to do so. Innings win approaching. Maybe it was a good toss to win, but the margin of victory suggests that New Zealand are going to have some soul searching to do ahead of Christchurch.

[Toby F]

Going to be all over today barring a miracle.

Somehow the Aussies have gone through a year of losing five or six world class players (and Watson) and come out looking stronger than ever.

The flat wickets have made the batsman look much better than they are.

But those same wickets have shown how good the Australian bowling attacks are. They really work as a unit, even when retirements and injuries take a toll.

Thus for me the Aussie batters are overrated at present, and the bowlers vastly underrated.

Agree with you there. Voges is clearly a quality player, but an average approaching Bradman?

Yep i would agree with this. Question marks still over Smith and Warner. Marsh is being picked on potential, and bowling. Voges has taken on that Rodgers role. A real solid professional who can have a good international career, but will not be considered a great.

Where as the bowling stocks keep changing due to retirements and injuries. The bowlers that come in just make the step up. Maybe it says more about international batsman than Australian bowlers?

The bowling line up has had to replace many players, but continues to bowl out teams.

For all the talk about bowlers and batsmen, the best find for Aus in the last 12 months has been Peter Nevill, a real keeper. Wade was OK as a batsman/keeper for the quicks, but half of Australia's problem's with spin bowling was due to poor keeping.

I must admit I am more positive about the batsmen and less so about the bowlers. Starc will add a lot, but this line up hasn't face a real quality batting line up yet.

[andy]

Mitchell marsh is a frustrating cricketer...clearly has all the talent in the world, but isnt anywhere near consistent enough yet..needs to be more consistent with the bat, rather than focusing on tempo of his batting he needs to realise its test cricket and that weight of runs is far more important then s/r.... however with yhe ball he is the same as ben stokes in terms of thsir roles...not a 3rd seamer but a more thsn useful 4th seamer to balance the sode, and definitely worth sticking with

[The Professor]

So looking at it on balance:

Australia have lost away to Pakistan, England and India but also thrashed those teams at home.

They've won away to New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies and South Africa and thrashed all of them with the exception of South Africa.

Are they the number one side? Probably not yet but it is so tight in the top four.

[GarlicJam]

Siddle is a confirmed absence from the second test.

Pattinson, or Sayers for a debut? The former, I reckon.