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http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/is- ... 2ilbh.html

The article which gives me hope. A small excerpt...

At the Ashes squad announcement, former Australian captain Mark Taylor gave the compliment of an era.
''I think the Australian side … has played pretty well in recent years and they can do the same thing that we did back in 1989,'' he said.
It was the year the Australians arrived in England to ridicule as the worst Ashes tourists yet. By series end, Taylor had amassed 839 runs, second to Don Bradman's 974 in 1930. Steve Waugh went from struggler to superstar, averaging 126.5. Dean Jones, Allan Border and David Boon were rocks in the order. Terry Alderman toyed with illustrious England batsmen en route to 41 wickets, assisted by Geoff Lawson with 29, and leg spinner Trevor Hohns, who snared big scalps at critical times. Only 12 players were used in the 4-0 sweep, which might have been 6-0 but for rain. A dynasty sprouted and England would not regain the Ashes until half a decade into the next century."

As i said; my only source of hope.

Yes, I agree. Le Tour is where I think I will concentrate my direction.

I see a certain previous Cricket Captain is making himself available to the ACB selectors, just in case they need him. This is the problem I wrote of earlier. Good as he may be, he should have retired years ago. Hard though when you have 8000 runs and a swag of caps to your name. But as it may be, we do ourselves no favours if we dilute the current selection with these distractions.

How can we learn the lessons of a tour by going back to previous senior players to prop up the team! If there are weaknesses now, then surely it’s the problem for the selectors. There is no end of new talent coming up, and I don’t get where they are going by holding on. Hopefuly, the seldctors will ignore this. Let’s take the licking we might be dealt this time round and learn the lesson. Too much emphasis on the on-going appearance money and lifetime careers and not enough emphasis on turn over to get the best.

Now, if we can only get Green Edge into a higher winning place at Le Tour this year, I would be a very happy man. This is one sport where they think nothing of dumping riders to strengthen the team! Fortunately or not, thats the way of highly paid professional sport these days

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Jim

"You have Control".

Yeah, i think an unhealthy culture has developed in Australian cricket where players think they own their spot. They play on more for their benefit than the team. That's fine: they're professionals. But then when the selectors move to drop them, they bleat. The idea that a player gets to choose when and how they leave the Australian team is so unhelpful. It breeds an ongoing sense of entitlement. In the past even the captain was dropped when the selectors decided his time was up. Alan Border wanted to play on but the selectors had the guts to drop him. Mark Taylor faced the axe in England and Ian Healy was vice captain when he was dropped because selectors were determined to have the best team.

I've tried to increase my level of optimism by thinking of 1989, but I just can't buy it. The batting averages posted by Novacastrian a few posts ago were telling.

Trying to take hindsight out of the equation as best I can, I am convinced that our batting order in 1989 was far more accomplished and its recent form was far less patchy. Maybe some stats guru can prove me wrong but that's my gut feeling.

Just had a quick look at the 89 tour. Australia used only 12 players in 6 tests, England used 29 including 19 different bowlers !!!! Barring injury I expect the English team to use 12 or 13 players maximum this time. I'm glad the days of chop & change have long gone !!

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Quite a few Breitlings, most of them starting with the letter C.

Looking great!! Is there an emoticon for stabbing yourself in the eye?

"Australia were bowled out for 65 by India in a Champions Trophy warm-up match in a blow to their morale ahead of their title defence.
Already shorn of injured captain Michael Clarke, who is a doubt for their tournament opener against England on Saturday, the Australians allowed India to rack up 308 for six before being skittled out cheaply to lose by 243 runs."

It's all about luring the poms into overconfidence

Bumping this thread for Darren Lehmann! Conventional wisdom probably doesn't say you should sack the coach 16 days before the start of an Ashes series, but in this case I approve.

I suspect this is a move made with eyes on the return series, rather than the one that's about to start.

Interesting backslide from the cricket Australia... Change from the rotating/resting roster as well as back to having the coach and the team having a beer together after every game.

Hoping it works, but not too optimistic. Almost laughed when I saw the papers hinting at Lehmann bringing Warnie back into the team... 2 weeks out isn't a likely time course for a comeback!!

This is almost setting itself up for an Australian miracle - suspended players who can't keep their fists to themselves, sacked coaches, rumours of a returning veteran. I'm sure it's just the Englishman in me who grew up thinking that the Ashes were something that Australia owned permanently anyway, but will be a lot happier when England win the 1st test by an innings and change

Being English myself, I think this is almost the perfect match plan for Australia. It probably won’t pan out in an Australian win, but I love the strategy that is going on at the moment. It’s so anti-intuitive and confusing. Truth is stranger than fiction and the ACB could not have written this one in a million years.

Confusion is an energy...........

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Jim

"You have Control".

He's talked about getting Warne (and other veterans - Ponting, Gillespie etc) into the changing room for motivational purposes, but nothing more than that. Though like most Englishmen I'd still tremble at the sight of Warne twirling the ball from one hand to the other at the start of his run-up, even if he was 70.

Oh, must have misread the article. I thought they were talking of him playing! (Hence why I laughed... And also secretly got excited on the inside)

Yeah, but its brilliant isn't it! You have to admit, this is one of those rare times when nothing makes sense and its a perfect foil for when you are perhaps not at your best. This brings out the best in Australians.

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Jim

"You have Control".

Boof has huge player respect and I'm sure the fact that he's an Aussie will count for a lot in their eyes. Plus he comes from an era when Australia knew how to win. If they get their foot on the English throat he'll be pushing for ruthlessness.