[Series Thread] Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Hahah we can't even have a thread in the non Zimbabwe index without The 'Hhm opening agenda' comes into play 😂 😂 😂

Australia has sent home ( or will be sent home after the test ) Josh Hazelwood who suffered a side strain.

He's been replaced by Steve O'Keefe who many will recall stared in the recent India series. For those who think it was odd that a spinner who just took 12 wickets in a test against India was dropped this was the reason.

He got on the drink at a NSW Cricket awards night and said something offensive to Australian women's opener Rachael Haynes. This was his second episode on the drink in less than 12 months. But the selectors said it was a decision to opt for Aston Agar instead of SOK because they're planning for India in 4 years time so they want to develop Agar. Steve Smith backed up these claims which seemingly had ended the test career of SOK.

Although I don't agree with leaving SOK out of this tour and not considering him for tests anymore I understood the selectors angle. What I don't understand is how one test match later SOK has been recalled after the selectors reasoning for leaving him out in the first place ?

What is also confusing is the fact Australia replaced a fast bowler with a spinner even though they still have Mitch Swepson a leg spinner on tour already. Surely Australia won't play 4 spinners in the second test?

Another puzzling fact is that in the training camp which took place in Darwin Australia had 5 spinners there - Lyon, Agar, Swepson, Jon Holland ( left arm spinner ) & Adam Zampa. Holland was pick of all the bowlers and took 50 first class wickets last season but was overlooked ?

My only thought on how this has all worked out is that they wanted to leave SOK out even though they know he's the 2nd best spinner in the country but after seeing the pitch in the first test they don't see the point in playing 2 seamers in the 2nd test.

I don't think they have enough faith to throw in young Swepson especially since this series is turning out tighter than expected. Looking at the situation I don't see the point in sending another player for just 1 test if you're not going to play him so I'm expecting SOK to play the second test.

It's stupid selection policies and soap operas that get Australia into trouble, they keep trying to 'think 1 step ahead' predicting who will be a good player and selecting them regardless if there is someone better for the job.

So many good Aussie players get overlooked for stupid things like this.

BD desperately need a wicket

I wonder at what point BD realised they made a mistake picking Safiul Islam and even Muztafizur Rahman for that matter. An extra spinner or batsman would have been handy.

Bangladesh on the verge of history here

Australia's woes against spin continue massive collapse

jaybro wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2017 5:04 am

I wonder at what point BD realised they made a mistake picking Safiul Islam and even Muztafizur Rahman for that matter. An extra spinner or batsman would have been handy.

Or we could have picked the batsman who top scored in the practice match and has the highest average on the team. The selectors and coach have some answering to do.

It would have probably worked better had we gone with an all spin attack as the corollary to the Windies 4 man pace attack (did India ever field an XI without a single specialist seamer???). Then again, what could a 4th spinner do that the other 3 didn't already?

But maybe the Windies also never had promising spinners back in the 70s...

But Mustafiz had to make the XI since he averages under 25 with the ball and bowled the match winning spell vs SL in Colombo. Granted he's only played 4 Tests so that average isn't signficant, but its still better than say a Rubel Hossain who averages nearly 80. Plus, you'd reckon he could be a handful on a turning pitch with his cutters. Only conceded 21 runs off his 9 overs, so he could have bowled a bit more particularly to the tail to pick up some cheap wickets perhaps. But its not like he bled runs. He's our best seamer, and you have to play him. Hazelwood didn't do much, but you can't imagine Australia leaving him out even if Starc and Pattinson were fit.

Shafiul was a questionable pick. I think he can be a good 4th seamer, but when would you ever pick 4 quicks? Did beat the bat of Warner and/or Renshaw a few times in the first innings without really threatening. So he too didn't look totally hopeless. I'd have picked Taskin every day of the week...his pace and bounce could have prised out a wicket or two and also changed things up a bit when the game drifted.

The really poor decisions - so poor that I expect and hope its strong enough to break the "winning combo" concept - is the omission of Mominul. Soumya's fielding and talent with the bat warrant more chances, IMO, but I would also understand if he was to be dropped. Imrul should either open with Tamim or ideally be left out as we've outgrown whatever his utility is. Sabbir is NOT a longer form batter. Doesn't even have a score bigger than 64 in ODIs. I like Nasir Hossain, but I'm not sure we have room for him in our best XI.

Soumya, Imrul, Sabbir, and Nasir scored a combined 70 runs in the match at an average less than 9, and they are all specialist batsmen. Surely Mominul who averages 45+ for his career can come in place of one of those, form and "technique" notwithstanding.

My ideal side for Tests in the SC would be:

Tamim

Soumya (Imrul only fits as an opener but has less upside than Soumya)

Mominul

Mosaddek (can bowl some useful off spin as well)

Shakib

Mushfiq (his WK in the last two Tests has been superb)

Nasir

Miraz

Taijul

Taskin

Mustafiz

Maybe I'm sleep deprived but I can't think of who ought to be our #7, so I guess Nasir would take that spot for now. I think he needs a long run in the side having been left out for so long. He deserves it as he got the Mominul treatment before Mominul. Damn Hathurasinghe.

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My analysis of this Test in specific, but our cricket in general:

1) We've been resilient. England had raced away too 100-0 chasing 273 and then lost all 10 wickets in a session. Australia's fall wasn't as dramatic, but they were 158-2 at one stage and then found themselves at 199-8. This fact is probably paramount, and is the one that most makes me proud.

2) Lower order batting: virtually non-existent. None of our bowlers can consistenly score 15 runs, nor can they consistenly face 30 deliveries. By contrast, Cummins batted solidly in both innings and put our batsmen to shame.

3) Close in catching: p**s poor. In SC conditions slips don't get many chances to catch off pace, but when we were in NZ at least a couple of regulation chances were put down. Our bat-pads and slips have fared better at home, but when you see the sheer number of fumbles, lucky ricochete catches, you realize we have no one near the sure hands of a Rahane or a Smith or a Williamson (more of a gully fielder but still). Soumya took some amazing catches, but part of the novelty was the fact that he juggled fairly straightforward chances.

4) Shakib's frustrates with the bat. Threw away a sure fire draw in Wellington at the start of this year after his epic 217. Threw away the match with the bat in Mirpur as well. Only this time the conditions allowed him to fetch it back with the ball.

5) Tamim might just be one of the finest openers going around. He scores in all conditions he's faced, and looks equally solid vs both pace and spin. His twin 70s here were just as important as Shakib's 10-fer to our win, and his century on an identical minefield vs Engalnd last year won us that match. I'm speechless really.

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Interestingly, Bangladesh has now not been beaten in a home Test series since May 2015. With our next two series being Sri Lanka and the West Indies, we might be able to push to at least 3+ years without being beaten at home. Of course we've hardly played any matches, but I reckon we wouldn't have lost to SA in 2015, had it not rained, and would have probably beaten Australia in 2015 when they had a far less settled side than they do now.

With Hazelwood out, we might just take this series 2-0. Then again, Australia, did very nearly beat us in our tailor made conditions.

On the other hand, I reckon Cartwright has a great shot at coming in for Khawaja.

I've been home ill for the last few days so I got to watch the whole test and honestly it was one of the more exciting ones I've watched.

Real close up and down match and a credit to both sides for competing so well. Just another case for sides to produce more 'sporting pitches'. Don't tell me there wouldn't be more interest in test cricket if we saw more games like this. Bangladesh will likely be invited for a test series in Australia soon, maybe in the next year or two.

As for the Aussie lineup for the next test Steve O'Keefe will likely replace Hazlewood as the Aussies will go with 3 spinners. It will be interesting if Hilton Cartwright is given a match and if he is who will he replace?

It will either be for Khawaja or Maxwell although I assume they will want Khawaja to bat @3 in the Ashes due to his solid home record so it will be interesting to see if he's dropped. There's two ways to look at it firstly they might want to just leave him there because he's their guy for the Ashes or secondly they might want to shield him from being done by the spinners again and save him for the Ashes. Either way Khawaja is a flat track bully and will never be successful in Asia.

Matt Wade is on borrowed time also absolutely horrible batsman the Aussies can't wait for young South Australian Alex Carey to be ready

Jay, the match vs England in Mirpur last year was very similar...I'll compare the two as BD batted first in both:

England Test

BD went from 170-1 to 220 all out (Tamim 106, Mominul 66) mother of all collapses.

England slumped to 140-8 but Rashid and Woakes I think took them to 244 and a not insignificant 1st innings lead

BD replied with 296 all out, setting a tarvget of 273 (Imrul 78, Shakib scored 40 odd, most of the lineup chipped in some)

England raced away to 100-0 at 4 an over by lunch...game was over and I quit watching.

Miraz took 12 in the match and the Poms collapsed to 164 all out, losing all 10 wickets in a single session.

Shakib took 4 in the 2nd innings, including the vital wicket Stokes.

Australia Test

BD started 10-3 and then had a tail order collapse as well to get 260 all out (Shakib 84, Tamim 71).

Aussies went from 14-3 to 217 all out

BD had total control but middle and lower order collapsed so our target went from 189-3 to 265 (Tamim 78, Mushfiq 41).

AUS recovered from 28-2 to grab control at 158-2, then collapsed to 244 all out, with Shakib taking a 10 fer.

jaybro wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:52 am

Who would make a good captain Kriterion??

Tamin looks lazy and dis-interested in the field, Mahmudullah has been dropped and the rest are pretty young.

Sakib is the only other option.

I'm actually not that interested in changing the Test captain. Mushfiq has done a pretty decent job in terms of using the DRS an he has the respect of everyone on the team. He is also the most consistent run scorer and can bat in all conditions so he leads by example. He also has a exemplary work ethic.

His major flaws are stubbornness and rigidity, and he has a tendency to blame youngsters and newcomers into the team even when it was obvious the fault lies with senior players. He is viewed as the reason why mediocre players like Mahmudullah (his brother in law) played about 10 Tests too many.

That being said I am a huge fan of the guy for his toughness on the field. He was struck on the body by a 150 kph beamer from Varun Aaron during the 2014 Asia Cup, shook it off, and still managed to score a hundred. He averaged 170+ on the recent tour of NZ while battling bruised fingers and finally stopped terrorizing the Kiwis when he was struck on the head by a bouncer. Ironically, he was widley ridiculed for crying in public merely because a BPL franchise owner publically called him a bad captain.

Tamim does seem disinterested out in the field. But he has been working hard on his fitness the past 2 years and its showed in his numbers.

Shakib was perhaps not ready for the job back when he had it, and maybe he could be ready now.

But my future picks for Test captain would be Miraz and perhaps Mosaddek, although I dont know much about the latter. However according to Tamim, Musa has a very sharp cricketing brain. That may be a relative statement.

I didn't really watch the game yesterday. I didn't feel like watching the aussies rack up 550 declared and push on for an innings win. I figured Id get some sleep and hopefully wake up to see Australia at 450 for 6 or so. Always an optimist lol.

Was tickled to see them at 377 for 9 and a chance for us to keep them to well under 400...knock on wood.

Still a lead of 90 or so is pretty sizeable, but if Bangladesh bats well they should hopefully be in a position to go for the draw. Perhaps even an unlikely shot at the whitewash.

Just hope we wrap them up inside 5 overs tomorrow. Most pleased to see Miraz and Mustafiz both bowling to their potential. Fizz seems to be getting his pre injury pace back, although not quite there he did hit 138 a couple of times. Hope one of them gets a 4 fer tomorrow.

The BD batsman let them down today getting bowled out for 150, I feel this side lacks one real standout batsman, someone who can be relied on and averages 45-50.

Good series though I really enjoyed it and credit must go to BD for preparing good test wickets.

Nathan Lyon man of the series for me

To be fair I thought that the pitch had deteriorated to being a 150 wicket by the time of the BD 2nd innings. Possibly a 200 wicket. Impossible to really tell of course.

The game was lost when we won the toss on what was then a very flat track (zero spin the first 2.5 days) and only put up 305. 400 was par, and to take control of the match we would have needed to score substantially more. Full credit to the Aussies.

I had always thought Nathan Lyon was underrated as a spinner, but I'm sure its due to him not bowling on helpful surfaces most of the time. But I really started to realize how good he was in the India tour earlier this year. He was beastly in this series. Even Murali probably never took 21 wickets in BD, and BD used to give him truckloads of wickets for fun.

In the end, I'm OK with this result...it would have been great to win 2-0, but there's always next time.

As far as your point about having the one gun batter. Its true we don't have the guy like a Smith, Williamson, or Root (I don't kind rate Kohli with that trio yet) who just score runs mechanically. The closest we have is Mushfiq, but as the WK he bats too far down the order to have that kind of impact. And with his WK skills improving a bit of late, he's not going to give up the gloves. I'll post some more thoughts in the main Bangladesh thread.

LOL, apparently someone stole Khawaja's shoes at the mosque in Chittagong.

He went to the Eid prayer with Sabbir and Mominul and fell victim to shoe theft. Rookie mistake. I don't know what its like in Pakistan, but in BD you always take your shoes off and then carry them inside the mosque so you can keep your eyes on them at all times.

The rain has gone away and we have play

Safiul out for Mominul for BD

Khawaja and Hazlewood out for Cartwright & O'Keefe

interested to see how Cartwright is used, i'd like to see him bowl some overs and bat @4

jaybro wrote: ↑Mon Sep 04, 2017 4:35 am

The rain has gone away and we have play

Safiul out for Mominul for BD

Khawaja and Hazlewood out for Cartwright & O'Keefe

interested to see how Cartwright is used, i'd like to see him bowl some overs and bat @4

Is Cartwright a top order bat? I had always thought he would fit the #6-7 all rouner role with his mediums.

70-3 at lunch, this is a MUCH flatter pitch than Mirpur...I reckon 400 is the par score here, you might be able to get away with a bit less if you aren't batting last but this might be like the pitches ZIM saw in 2014.

Good to see Mominul in and he looks reasonably solid so far. Not as solid as Mushfiq or Tamim, but I have always rated Momin as the 3rd most technically sound batsman in the Bangladesh side.

He averages over 50 in first class cricket and spent time batting @3 for WA. His bowling is slightly better than part time but not much.

Definitely in the side for his batting

Nathan Lyon killing it !!! Too many lefties in the top orde for BD the top four all out LBW to the off spinner

no turn so far...poor batting by the BD top order. I still feel 400 is a good total on this track. an India would probably smash 500+...

good thing we are bowling last...I would hope the pitch starts turning later but cant be sure of that.

13 wickets had fallen on day 1 in Dhaka...only 6 here.

I hope BD can get 325-350 at the least if they want to have a chance. you have to feel Smith and Warner and Renshaw are licking their lips to bat on this strip.

didnt realize Cartwright averaged 50 at Shield level...that is seriously impressive. Ballance averaged 50 at County level as well...you reckon those guys would given Logan Cup scorers arthritis!