I’ve been busy over at State Cricket, turns out the NSWales blues still have a mathematical chance of making the Sheffield Shield final against the choking Mexicans, and Dave Warner will not get his 1st class debut on Thursday.
Posts Tagged ‘dave warner’
New posts over at StateCricket.com
February 24th, 2009
The search for a Baggy Green Pinch Hitter starts here
February 9th, 2009
Travis Birt, Unlucky
Birt, TR 86(66), 94(80), 67(56), 25(15)
Smith, DLR 29*(13), 28*(26)
Manou, GA 48* (39)
Warner 31(20), 97(54), 165*(112)
MG Dighton 59(58), 87(76)
Klinger 133*(128)
Ferguson, C 52(35), 32(26), 101(83)
Hopes J 76(61), 42(40)
Bailey, GJ 32(28)
Divin, MA 38(31)
Ronchi, L 80(64)
AK, Heal 43(34)
Quiney 42(40), 16(15), 92(85), 73(63)
Crosthwaite, AJ 52(49), 29(17)
Thornely, DJ 108(90)
Doropoulos, TP 92(75)
Henriques, MC 41(37)
Borgas, CJ 39(35)
I’ve quite possibly missed some, if anyone can point me towards a tool that pulls out domestic data rather than having to manually read the scorecards, that would be most appreciated.
Looking purely at the numbers, the standout domestic performers are:
Travis Birt from Tasmania
Travis is the form pinch hitter in the domestic T50 competition with his 7 innings yielding 363 runs at 60.5 and at a strike rate of 122! His returns this year are:
- 1/11/08 56*(37) vs SA
- 12/11/08 25(15) vs Vic
- 29/11/08 34(38) vs NSW (the game where Warner scored 165*(112)
- 07/12/08 67(56) vs NSW
- 10/12/08 94(80) vs SA
- 14/12/08 1(5) vs QLD
- 07/02/08 86(66) vs VIC (this low scoring game Tas made 197 and VIC made 189)
David Warner from NSW
Dave has already been given a shot in the national setup with promising signs but too many failures. From his 8 starts there have been 3 good innings, yielding 89(43) on debut, 69(60) in his 4th match, and 22(29) in his 6th match when he was very unlucky to be run-out.
Combine these scores with Dave’s domestic highlights of 31(20), 97(54), 165*(112) and it’s easy to agree he has the destructive power hitting would really dominate the batting powerplay without the additional pressure of opening. I’d like to see Dave given a go down the order, where he’ll have a chance to perform without the added pressure of opening.
Callum Ferguson from South Australia
His stand out performances include 52(35), 32(26) and 101(83). It’s good to see him given a shot in the Aussie side, though I would have picked Birt first purely on the numbers. Callum played well last night before a Bucknor howler cut short his opportunity. Who did the BCCI ask to wipe him from their fixtures, and can we please be added to this list?
James Hopes from Queensland
In the two games that Hopes played for Queensland he’s opened in both, scoring 76(61) and 42(40). I’d like to see him given an extended run at the top of our order, his tight straight bowling will keep him in the squad regardless. Ideally we’d have a run of 2 or maybe even 3 ODI’s without changing our openers, wouldn’t that be nice.
Adam Voges from Western Australia
Conversely, Adam Voges has made the squad without topping a run a ball all year. Now he’s the one our selectors have picked to apply ‘pressure’ to Hussey and White, yet even if he were to continue his domestic results at the higher lever I don’t believe this would be enough. His 295 runs at 49.2 certainly doesn’t constitute bad numbers, but his strike rate of just 70.2 is not get our 300+ mojo back.
- 8/10/08 13(35) vs NSW
- 24/10/08 56(78) vs Tas
- 16/11/08 104(119) vs SA
- 26/11/08 39(72) vs VIC
- 20/12/08 78(108) vs VIC
- 23/12/08 5(8) vs NSW
If we were after a reliable batsman then Simon Katich would have to be the first picked, selecting Voges in this form to me makes little sense.
NSW to rally towards 46th Sheffield Shield
February 2nd, 2009It’s not too late for the mighty NSW Blues to defend their Sheffield Shield, and considering we’ve won 1, lost 3 and drawn 2 matches it’ll have to be one hell of a late rally for us to contest the finals.
We’re currently sitting in 5th place out of the 6 teams. At this stage, I’d book the MCG out as Victoria are a certainty to top the table. They’re sitting pretty on 30 points and have a big gap to the next placed Queensland with 3 matches to go. To improve our chances I’ll be hoping for as many Victorian wins to keep them ahead of the field.
There’s 4 matches remaining:
- Fri 30 – Mon 2 Feb vs Tasmania in Newcastle
- Sun 15 – Wed 18 Feb vs Victoria in Melbourne
- Thu 26 – Sun 1 Mar vs Queensland in Brisbane
- Thu 5 – Sun 8 Mar vs WA in Sydney
and of the matches on this weekend, QLD lost to Western Australia but picked up first innings points, Victoria should beat South Australia, and NSW should beat TAS outright for 6 points, which will leave the table 7/10ths of the way through the comp looking like:
- Victoria 36
- Queensland 22
- New South Wales 18
- Western Australia 18
- Tasmania 18
- South Australia 8
The real challenge for NSW, as always, will be when our Test stars depart for the South Africa tour. There is a 3 day game against South Africa A on February 20th, and I’m guessing that safety first Cricket Australia wont let those selected play the shield match against Victoria that finishes on the 18th.
Phillip Hughes is now looking a certainty for his Baggy Green, along with Simon Katich, Michael Clarke and Brad Haddin. Hopefully we can hold onto Phil Jaques, Dave Warner (to get his First Class debut), Nathan Hauritz and Nathan Bracken at least until the One Day squad is sent over for the 27th March. We’ll also be carefully monitoring Stuart Clark’s elbow and Brett Lee’s ankle – their return could well be the deciding factor in this years shield.
Our young blokes will have to step up against the nearer full strength Victorian, Queensland and Western Australian outfits, and if they do we’ll be looking good for another finals appearance. And then, just maybe we can lift the trophy for the 46th time of the 106 times it’s being contested.
Victoria – cry me a river
January 23rd, 2009
Man Cry
Here’s who they’ll be missing tomorrow night
- Brad Hodge – avg 42, sr 136. Top Twenty20 run-scorer in Australia. Top Twenty20 run-scorer in the world. Injured in Elimination Final.
- David Hussey – avg 32, sr 140. Second top Twenty20 run scorer in Australia. Restrictive bowler. Playing for Oz.
- Cameron White – avg 35, sr 154. Destructive batsman and part time bowler.
Boo fúcking hoo. I realise it’s a new experience for Victoria to lose players to the national setup, but this is something that happens to us all the time. Here’s the first choice players on our books that we’ll be missing tomorrow night:
I can’t work out why these articles only mention the absent Victorians. On the balance I’d say NSW are in fact more weakened through injury/abscence than Victoria, but obviously both teams are missing a lot of quality. Regardless, it’s hard to agree with the sob story coming from south of the border.
3rd ODI – Australia vs Seth Efrika
January 23rd, 2009Going into the third game at 1-1 and you’d be forgiven for thinking we’ve got a series on our hands here. Both matches have been decided in the final over from these two very evenly matched sides.
Australia
Our bowling lineup looks at it’s strongest so far in the series with Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson playing together at last. Mitchell’s troubled the Saffas more than any other bowler on this tour so having him back after a rest will be a big bonus.
Hilfenhaus has shown some of the potential that I keep talking up this series, and bowled a heap of garbage too. He and Ryan Harris have been dropped for tomorrow’s game to make room for Tait and Johnson. I’d really like to see ‘Dirty’ Dirk Nannes given a shot, preferably in a way that forces him to miss tomorrow night’s Twenty20 final at the SCG 
Shaun Marsh has blasted off the cobwebs of his sub-par domestic season with 78 and 79, here’s to a century from the Son of Swampy. The only question remaining in our lineup is which Queenslander to not play at number 8. Here’s hoping my boy Dave Warner starts middling them again tonight, if not can we have him back for tomorrow?
South Africa
Johan Botha throws like a girl, and his action is dodgy as hell but at least the teams over rate is improving. AB ‘c’ DeVilliers should be be getting back on the horse that threw him, look for Ricky to bring Tait on as soon as he’s in. The overly hyped Vaughn van Jaarsveld has been dropped, much like the multiple chances that have fallen through his hands and snuck past his bat.
We’re still looking for a way to negate JP Duminy, hopefully Tait can maim him as I just can’t see us getting him out the old fashioned way.
Free Stuff
If you’re going to the match tonight, hold on to your ticket as it’ll work at Homebush for the Twenty20 final tomorrow as well. We’re hoping to take the record for highest attendance at a domestic Twenty20 game from the Vics in addition to the Big Bash Trophy, so giving tickets away seemed like a good plan. To be honest I reckon they should give all tickets away and make cash off food/drink/merchandise, or charge a token amount to get the bums on seats. Still, $20 aint too bad..
The Teams
Australia 1 Shaun Marsh, 2 David Warner, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 David Hussey, 6 Cameron White, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 James Hopes/Nathan Hauritz, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Shaun Tait.
South Africa (possible) 1 Herschelle Gibbs, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Neil McKenzie, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Albie Morkel, 9 Johan Botha (capt), 10 Dale Steyn/Morne Morkel, 11 Makhaya Ntini.
