Aus squad for So Africa announced

Australia Test squad for South Africa: Michael Clarke©, Brad Haddin (vc), Jackson Bird, Alex Doolan, James Faulkner, Ryan Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Nathan Lyon, James Pattinson, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, David Warner, Shane Watson.

http://m.cricket.com.au/news-list/2014/1...frica-tour

[color=rgb(51, 51, 51)][size=14px]Sheffield Shield runs this season: Selected: Marsh 248 @ 31, Doolan 391 @ 39. Not selected: North 593 @ 99, Hughes 549 @ 61, White 556 @ 51[/size][/color]

Of the three you have listed there not selected I woulda pick Hughes ahead of Doolan. Not sure what they've seen in this young bloke

Oh FFS. Why is Marsh back already? And Doolan? FML.
I woulda easily picked North on his current form. Hughes as looked dire despite his recent scores in the Shield - credit to him, but he's far from good. But anyday over Doolan, WTF.

Kyle, the way I see it is this could be Marsh last chance to prove his worth to the test squad. North time has come and gone unfortunately, he's 34 yrs old already. I maintain, Hughesy woulda been my pick

I think the Aussies will become unstuck in South Africa purely because their batting is still quite weak.


Smith has surprised me with his effectiveness although reasonably poor technique.


You cannot base your attack on one man in Johnson as he is the one who did the damage against us and the others fed very well off him.


The Saffers have not just one but 3 match winning seamers in Steyn, Philander and Morkel.

I strongly feel its the Aus bowling attack that is going to make a difference in this series as well.Faulkner,Johnson...they probably don't need batsman,the former can double up as well..Why is Hughes missing and on what merit has Doolan been selected.He didn't have a great first class career in the recent times too.Strange one,Bailey been dropped.? I don't know if that will hurt or help. ;D

[quote author=DownUnda link=topic=87038.msg544865#msg544865 date=1390221905]
Kyle, the way I see it is this could be Marsh last chance to prove his worth to the test squad. North time has come and gone unfortunately, he's 34 yrs old already. I maintain, Hughesy woulda been my pick
[/quote]
Meh. Rogers is what, 36? So not buying that tbh. North has been ace this season. Hughes, I'm glad to not see him - despite his average. I've still not heard any good about him from my mates who've been watching him in the shield. He's been really dodgy to put it mildly, and he'd hardly get that luxury in SA.

I do like Marsh - he has the goods, technically. But the problem is that after his dire run, he didn't go back to Shield and prove himself, he's just continued to be dire. Either way, it's much more justifiable selection than Doolan IMO. Doolan has absolutely not done anything in his whole FC career to earn that selection. But again, he's technically sound and all, in fairness, but that doesn't mean it's a good selection.
I would have preferred Voges even, ahead of him. Lets see though.

Its gonna be a hell of a series  8)

Yeah, the real test TBH. Excites me way more than Ashes do now. Should be a terrific  contest. Quality fast bowling vs good batting lineups, but with vulnerabilities. SA slightly ahead, but with Mitch in form and Harris being available, it's great news. I'd love it if Bird played a game too, tbh. Although I guess it would be stupid to drop Siddle - he's been such a reliable performer.