Lets talk about the best cricket team in the world and their preparations for the cricket 20/20 world cup in sept.

Who do you guys think will be the breakthrough players?

When Australia Win, who will retire?

Any new faces to be included?

Will Hussey ever get to bat again?

Oh and Shaun Tait looks to be out of the world cup, needs surgery, he will be missed, no more 90 mph+ yorkers anymore.

wow this had dropped right off my radar..

first off.. winning it is a formality. no kidding 20/20 is a much more luck orientated contest.. however

1. hayden
2. gilly
3. ponting
4. symonds
5. hussey
6. watson
7. white


i dont even want to think about the hitting those seven are capable of..

i dont think tait will be too sorely missed as brett lee is coming back who is nearly as quick and much more accurate. he can also hit a ball a long way.

20/20 is all about batting IMO and i dont think any side in the game at the moment matches us in terms of potential to score quickly.


an interesting facet of 20/20 is how big of an affect the toss has on the result.. in the domestic season in australia.. something like 13 of the 14 games were won by the team that bats first. crazy stat.

i heard suggestion that the game should be split into quarters to make it more fair. thought that was a good suggestion.

what are your thoughts techincal?

wow this had dropped right off my radar..

first off.. winning it is a formality. no kidding 20/20 is a much more luck orientated contest.. however

1. hayden
2. gilly
3. ponting
4. symonds
5. hussey
6. watson
7. white


i dont even want to think about the hitting those seven are capable of..

i dont think tait will be too sorely missed as brett lee is coming back who is nearly as quick and much more accurate. he can also hit a ball a long way.

20/20 is all about batting IMO and i dont think any side in the game at the moment matches us in terms of potential to score quickly.


an interesting facet of 20/20 is how big of an affect the toss has on the result.. in the domestic season in australia.. something like 13 of the 14 games were won by the team that bats first. crazy stat.

i heard suggestion that the game should be split into quarters to make it more fair. thought that was a good suggestion.

what are your thoughts techincal?

I agree Lee is better than Tait, but you know i like Tait for his unpredictableness,

But before i give more thoughts, tell me about this game being split into quarters thingy, how would that work?

That 1st seven is just Shocking, no country can stand up to that batting, Cameron White hits a mile and he's at the end of the batting lol.

What i like about your 7, which is the seven would go with also, add hogg at 8 possibly (and he can hit too) is that its mix of hitters and scorers, eg. Ponting is a very quick scorer because he is great runnning between the wickets same as Hussey,

Where is Symonds on your list, he is fit right?

And Brad Hodge is gonna be there, thereabouts too.

yeah symonds is at 4 mate. ;) yeah i like that about our batting line up too.. pretty well balanced. both hodge and clark as batsmen would probably be pretty close to getting a run in my eyes.. just the format is more suited to white and watson.

yeah hogg at 8 and lee at 9.. that leaves only bracken and hopefully mitchell johnson who cant really bat.


well it was just a theory one of the commentators was brandying about.. that the first team would bat 10 overs second team bats the next 10 and then the first team again and then the second..

i think the theory is mainly to split the pressure up a bit.. i mean its alot easier to go out there and score as many as you can and end up with 200.. then go out there thinking we need 10 runs an over..

in the end the change over time would probably derail this option.

yeah symonds is at 4 mate. ;) yeah i like that about our batting line up too.. pretty well balanced. both hodge and clark as batsmen would probably be pretty close to getting a run in my eyes.. just the format is more suited to white and watson.

yeah hogg at 8 and lee at 9.. that leaves only bracken and hopefully mitchell johnson who cant really bat.


well it was just a theory one of the commentators was brandying about.. that the first team would bat 10 overs second team bats the next 10 and then the first team again and then the second..

i think the theory is mainly to split the pressure up a bit.. i mean its alot easier to go out there and score as many as you can and end up with 200.. then go out there thinking we need 10 runs an over..

in the end the change over time would probably derail this option.

Sorry about the symonds thing was watching the tennis and posting lol.

hmmm, yeah, i prefer other old way, wouldnt that make achieving run rate targets easier because you do it in one go, instead of stages?

You love Mitchell Johnson, i dont see it myself, i'd consider Lee, Bracken, Clark, Hogg, and then Symonds or even Michael Clarke lower down the order perhaps, he can spin it a bit no? dont think AUS will need 5 bowlers per game, they could rotate the bowlers per game and play Michell instead of clark for alternate games.

Shane Watson can do a few overs also.

hmm i think i like johnson cause he's a queenslander.. and i like having a left hander in there. i also see him as a better option than clark in the one dayers and 20/20s because he has more variety. alot of people over rate clark because of his test match bowling ability.. his ODI economy rate was up over 5 in the last series he played. just too predictable for the shortened version of the game.

definitely no need for five bowlers.. as symonds watson white and clark are all considered allrounders.

i think the theory behind the theory (haha im not real eloquent at 3 in the morning) is that if you do it in 10s.. both teams have to both chase and set targets.. say your oppo scores 89 and you score 119.. they are batting again and they have to both chase and reset.. just adds more variables..

im not for it either just trying to go through the reasoing to myself as much as anyone else reading haha

Let's be honest though. Dimi Mascarenhas will single handedly win England the 20/20 World Cup.

it's true. *cry*

hmm i think i like johnson cause he's a queenslander.. and i like having a left hander in there. i also see him as a better option than clark in the one dayers and 20/20s because he has more variety. alot of people over rate clark because of his test match bowling ability.. his ODI economy rate was up over 5 in the last series he played. just too predictable for the shortened version of the game.

definitely no need for five bowlers.. as symonds watson white and clark are all considered allrounders.

Your right on clark, thing is, now with Mc Grath gone, i think it would be nice to have..........

One Line and Length man. Clark.

One Strike Bowler. Lee

Left Handed Meduim Pace. Bracken

Spinner. Hogg.

Then of course Symonds, White, Watson et al coming in with remaining overs or a change of options.

He is predictable in the ODI game, but with Mc Grath gone perhaps he can fill some of the void left by him?

I think accurate medium-fast/fast-medium swing/seam bowlers seem to fail in limited overs because they're bowling at people who have to hit out. Clark and Hoggard are bowlers who are used quite extensively in the more defensive Test arena, bowling against batsmen who don't have to go for broke. Their pace just isn't enough for 50/20 over games. genuine quicks and spin bowlers who can run through batting orders or limit the run rate are more useful.

I think accurate medium-fast/fast-medium swing/seam bowlers seem to fail in limited overs because they're bowling at people who have to hit out. Clark and Hoggard are bowlers who are used quite extensively in the more defensive Test arena, bowling against batsmen who don't have to go for broke. Their pace just isn't enough for 50/20 over games. genuine quicks and spin bowlers who can run through batting orders or limit the run rate are more useful.

Of course, good point, point but accuracy is key, if you can consistently place it just outside of off stump or in the blockhole then you can restrict runs, bracken comes across the right handers with accuracy and doesnt give away runs as a result,

And then we have the strike bowler at the other end to compliment this, i think it works, mc grath was a line and length man, batsmen in the WC tried to go after him and got hurt by his consistency.

Of course, good point, point but accuracy is key, if you can consistently place it just outside of off stump or in the blockhole then you can restrict runs, bracken comes across the right handers with accuracy and doesnt give away runs as a result,

And then we have the strike bowler at the other end to compliment this, i think it works, mc grath was a line and length man, batsmen in the WC tried to go after him and got hurt by his consistency.

McGrath was a very special bowler.


I guess Bracken was never a good Test bowler, so it could all come down to focus and mentality. The likes of Hoggard and Clark could be seen as Test specialists, whereas Bracken has always been better in the shorter forms of the game.

Bits and pieces players have always done better in the one day game, and I guess England will have to keep that in mind. Australia already have a good balance to their team to be honest.

Yeah, its nearly time for some world cup cricket, this is the right time to bring this thread back,

Now what i wanna know is,

1) What are these 'Family Problems' which are stopping Punter from going to the world cup, at least for the early stages, does anyone know?

2) Whats the status of Watson and Clark, will those boys be fit to play?

3) If punter misses the opening games, how does your top order look like?

4) Who will be aussie's best player in this tournament?

hard to answer alot of thsoe questions sorry mate.. i dont think anyone has much of a clue on punter's reasons..

i read that the 3 boys will make it in time for the first game. watson only has a niggle and clark was staying home with a sick child.. :S

Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson.


to be honest.. if you take ponting out of that i have real fears for our batting line up this time around.
1. gilly
2. hayden
3. hodge
4. hussey
5. symonds
6. clarke
7. watson

doesnt sound anywhere near as deep to me without ponting.

hard to say who will be our form players.. we havent played in quite a while.

as always watch out for symonds and keep an eye on brett lee's return.

hard to answer alot of thsoe questions sorry mate.. i dont think anyone has much of a clue on punter's reasons..

i read that the 3 boys will make it in time for the first game. watson only has a niggle and clark was staying home with a sick child.. :S

Ricky Ponting (captain), Adam Gilchrist, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson.


to be honest.. if you take ponting out of that i have real fears for our batting line up this time around.
1. gilly
2. hayden
3. hodge
4. hussey
5. symonds
6. clarke
7. watson

doesnt sound anywhere near as deep to me without ponting.

hard to say who will be our form players.. we havent played in quite a while.

as always watch out for symonds and keep an eye on brett lee's return.

I agree with most of what you said, before the world cup (50 over) i said to my friends Hayden would be the best player, hayden is one of my all time favorites, and i knew when he got in the groove he would be deadly again.

This time around i thought it would be watson, but i dont know how fit he is.

Your right, the batting order isnt as good without Ponting, but i think 20 overs will suit that line up you have, aus will need hitters alot more than they did in the 50 over WC, and Hodge, Watston, Gilly and Hayden are mighty hitters, whereas Ponting is mixture of both, he can score boundaries, but is also a quick scorer running between the wickets, i think with only 20 overs, AUS wont wont need to rely on running as much as out and out hitting.

So i think AUS should still kick some ass,

To be honest im very excited about the whole thing, before the commonwealth bank series Eng and Aus played a 20/20 game, and Gilly and Ponting had Microphones attached to them, and they were talking to the commentators during the game. Its one of the funniest things i ever seen in cricket, when they put the microphone on Michael Vaughan, he said his neck was hurting from watching all the 4's and 6's going over his head.

Im not to sure if Australia's going to win this one. The new look young Pakistan team might shock a few im thinking. Especially with Shahid Afridi batting, 20 20 suits his game. But Australia have to be overwhelming favourites.

20/20 cricket just hasn't caught on here in my opinion.
Sounds like the world cup you have when your not having a world cup.

It's a 20 over smashfest and absolutely anyone can win.
Hence most of the skill is removed and replaced with slog.
I think 50 overs is just fine, but hey that's just me.

yeah that's true it hasnt stuck with fans in australia like it has in other places.

woftam do you post on australian boxing discussion as well?

yeah that's true it hasnt stuck with fans in australia like it has in other places.

woftam do you post on australian boxing discussion as well?

No mate just here.

o ok. there is an aussie bloke there with the name woftam. it must mean something i havent picked up on.

o ok. there is an aussie bloke there with the name woftam. it must mean something i havent picked up on.

Yeah mate it's an oldy

Woftam = Waste Of ****in Time And Money :)

haha o well there you go.

learn something new every day.

Aus have won the toss and are going to bat first,

Im at work right now, will try to get home now and catch the rest on the radio, apparently sopcast are showing some of the games.

Aus have won the toss and are going to bat first,

Im at work right now, will try to get home now and catch the rest on the radio, apparently sopcast are showing some of the games.


They got flogged by Zimbabwe and have been very ordinary in their lead up games apparently. I think they feel the same as everyone back home. Who gives a shit.

I not happy about what happened either, im putting it down to rustiness and waiting to see what happens on friday, i love the was ponting handles the media, he doesnt **** about, he said aus's batting was shite and they put themselves in that situation, he doesnt pass the buck, he just admits they played shit and gets on with it.

Aus's next game will be interesting.

And woftam your right, regardless of what happens over the next two weeks, aus is still the best side in the world by miles.

geezuz piss poor from the aussies by the sounds.

does this mean we need a result against england?

geezuz piss poor from the aussies by the sounds.

does this mean we need a result against england?

If aus dont win on friday, its game over,

And yes, apparently the batting was horrendous, but the bowlers nearly pulled if off, went down to the final two balls i think.

you didnt see it TS? a mate of mine reckons hussey is well and truly 'shot' (to use a boxing term)

you didnt see it TS? a mate of mine reckons hussey is well and truly 'shot' (to use a boxing term)

I didnt, apparently the games are on sopcast, but i dont have Sky Sports because i left home years ago, so i'll be listening on the radio, and watching highlights when possible.

Hussey is going through a patch, all players do, no way will i accept he is finished, i think come the start of the test season he will be fine again, hussey needs time to get into the innnings, then he scores quickly, i dont think his game is suited to limited over as much as test cricket.

Here is the good news, in the uk, there is a 5-0 ashes boxset, 9 hours long, i may buy it tommorow.

Woahh crunch match tommorow. If we feel a bit sorry for you lot we might let you take the win so you can go through with us, but dont know if Kevin has forgiven you for the ashes yet.

LOL i played cricket for years, im a huge fan of the game and i still wouldnt bother with 20/20.

LOL i played cricket for years, im a huge fan of the game and i still wouldnt bother with 20/20.


Yeah I know people are saying it's going to be the next big thing in cricket, but I have access to virtually every game live on Fox Sports and I haven't bothered even once to be honest.
For me - 2 forms of the game is enough. Why do we need a 3rd?
They already complain of playing too much cricket.

Gonna miss todays game, at work, cant even listen to it on the radio, disgusting,

20/20 world cup doesnt mean as much, but it would still be nice to for Aus to win it, they would be world champions, 20/20 world champions, Champions trophy winners and 5-0 ashes winners.

eng 29/1 so far, nearly 5 overs gone,

eng 129/7, 18 overs gone,

Come on aussie come on!

(I know im not australian, lol)

England made 135 all out,

If australia can reach 135 in 9.3 overs or quicker, england are out of the world cup.

Aus 69/0 after 7 overs.

Aus win by 8 wickets, and qualify for the next stage with england, they reached the target in 14.5 overs, hayden made 67 not out, Gilly 45, Ponting 20, Job done.

:hail:

wow that was a bit of a destruction. Never mind we live to fight another day.

i actually got to see a little bit of this on tv. looking much better.

so what stage are they at now? sorry i cant be assed to look it up. is it semis?

i actually got to see a little bit of this on tv. looking much better.

so what stage are they at now? sorry i cant be assed to look it up. is it semis?

Super 8's next.

you bloodey kick our asses today.

Bangladesh was on the menu today, i didnt follow it because i was on formula one and football duty,

9 wicket win for Aus, hayden made 73 off 48, gilly 48 off 28, Brett lee got a hat trick.

Aus reached the target of 124 in 13.5 overs,

Devestating.

Another world cup (sorry "world 20/20"), another failure for England. How we managed to lose against New Zealand considering we we 82-1 is a joke. Never mind, it now means I can actually watch good teams battle is out.

i saw the end of that. old kev threw it away

i saw the end of that. old kev threw it away

Aus is up next no?

Aus just lost to pakistan, dont wanna talk about it, lol

was it terrible? does that mean they have to beat sri lanka to go through?

was it terrible? does that mean they have to beat sri lanka to go through?

Lol the fact that you and no one else is really watching from Oz is a fair indication of how we feel about 20/20 cricket.

yeah it's strange. i guess im just a purist. i dont think i missed a delivery in the ashes...

yeah it's strange. i guess im just a purist. i dont think i missed a delivery in the ashes...

Of course your right, there is no doubt this is not as important, but its always nice to win,

I Cant wait to buy the Ashes 5-0 dvd boxset, classic stuff, i think as one of the extras they should have had the over the top celebrations by the english on the disc, you know, the one where 300,000 people lined the streets, every players was given an MBE,

Then they should show all the drinking and partying the england players did instead of remembering they had to go to AUS next year,

Then they they need to show all 5 tests, honestly, what went on down under was nothing short of GBH, an absolute beating, when the series was over, they beat them some more, mainly because ponting wont let sleeping dogs lie, i believe he inspired them to keep rasing the bar throughout that series, adelaide was an example, because what warne and Hussey did that day was outstanding, to be honest, im still celebrating lmao.

:lol1:

Australia had an easy win over Sri Lanka.

Pretty happy with how its panned out. I backed Pakistan at $15.

The best player so far has been Shahid Afridi. He will win them the match in the final, curtains.

Ricky Ponting was so out of form. When he got bowled by Hafeez that was the worst way i had ever seen him get out.