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[330Mark]

It's clear most of these blokes are not cut out for digging in when the team is in trouble.

can we blame T20 for this?

[northernboy1987]

It's clear most of these blokes are not cut out for digging in when the team is in trouble.

I don't think this is a problem related specifically to Australia's batting order but more to modern cricket in general.

[Biggie Smalls]

Our batting was all brands of crap .
Personally i dont understand a few of the selections either .
I remember Ed Cowan making a good 80 or 90 odd last tour of india . He has improved as a player since then too . We could do a lot worse than picking someone with a Cowan / Bancroft type batting temperament for subcontinental conditions .
We really need to solve our home pitch sameyness / drop in pitch problem . Get a few to be a bit greener so we don't freak out every time we're in England , and get Sydney back to being a bunsen burner . We can't make good choices re recent form against spin when domestically we never play on turning tracks and said tracks don't encourage spin bowling talent or depth .
As bad as Wade's keeping can be perhaps its time to revert back to him to bolster the batting a bit ... Nevill has not produced sadly ( he's more than capable which makes it all the more frustrating ).
Also , I think we need to avoid our pick-an- allrounder-at-all-costs policy henceforth . No more Mitch marsh,  unless he is picked as a frontline bowler . No Enriques . Ever . No Faulkner either . Agar maybe in a few years , if his bowling develops further . Or Maxwell if hes playing regular shield cricket and making big runs and taking wickets ....maybe .
Voges has done well but as long as he stays it just prevents us from blooding the eventual replacement .
Hazlewood is and always has been a bit overrated in my eyes . Fully fit Pattinson would be a better choice (Hazlewood was so under bowled in this series we may as well have played another batsman and bowled M. Marsh more ) . Or they could be bold like Pakistani selectors and pick real talent when they see it , even if they aren't the finished package ie pick Billy Stanlake .

[Bats_Galore]

I do think that this series is just one in a line suggesting that the icc needs to have greater authority on controlling home advantage over pitches. To me it is destroying test cricket as on the whole we are going from one one sided series to another as pitches becoming more and more extreme. I am not suggesting that pitches should be homogenous around the world far from it, it is one of the joys of cricket the effect location and climate have one the game, however the pitches should reflect those used in first class cricket in the country/test match venue and to a degree be consistent over time. Let's be honest The present pitches are making some decent but steady bowlers from all nations look like world beaters and statistically better than greats of previous eras. It's the same in England with the edgbaston and Trent bridge pitches of last years ashes as it is for Indias pitches against South Africa. Fundamentally there should be something in the pitch for batsman pace men and spinners alike, and ideally the pitch should hold a match for 5 days, the weighting will be different in each country, and each ground but fundamentally I do feel that some greater oversight is necessary for series to be competitive and exciting to watch.

[Felix Tito]

I'm not sure the ICC can enforce what type of pitches the home side offers up. But I think the rankings system need to be tweaked so that winning an away series gains you more points than just winning all your series at home. This should encourage visiting sides to show more backbone as they can't just boost their egos during home series.

[edge]

Don't see that coming, not a high scoring series but Sri Lanka mostly put on good totals. As for reflecting domestic pitches, English test pitches are a lot less green than the ones produced for county games! India v SA for sure though, when Dean Elgar is ragging it square and bowling sides out you know there's a problem with the deck.

Shouldn't be a surprise that teams are doing less well abroad in the modern age - shorter tours with less warm-up games to acclimatise and less players go abroad to play domestic cricket than in years gone by. Definitely agree that away wins should count for more in the rankings though.

[parthnayak]

Well thats not true for India atleast.......... we have players such as AB, Gayle who are more loved than the local players around After IPL, loads of players have improved their skills against the spin bowling .
I feel personally its the skill that has gone down than the climate or conditions ..... Players nowadays dont want to grind ... simple ..

[Nmcgee]

Or they could be bold like Pakistani selectors and pick real talent when they see it , even if they aren't the finished package ie pick Billy Stanlake .

I reckon big Billy might be a season away yet. I'd love to see him have a good Matador Cup and Shield season. We could do a lot worse than getting Ed Cowan back in the side. Not a bad idea.

[ProCricketer1982]

I don't think this is a problem related specifically to Australia's batting order but more to modern cricket in general.

It is a modern cricket problem. If you breed aggressive hitter batsmen who feel the need to score at 4+ am over for white ball cricket and mainly grow up/play white ball cricket how the hell do you expect them to learn to bat in the test match? Shock horror, they bat the same way and so we pre ended up with the he last generation (Clarke, sanga/mahela) who were test bred and now we have white ball bred players.

If anyone were serious about bringing test cricket and the skills you need to make it as good as previous generations then stop producing roads, place emphasis in county/state cricket on the 4 day game and bring amateurs up learning to play the game properly (ie draw cricket). If we don't, it'll simply get worse and test cricket will suffer (2020 and odi will continue To 'improve' because people will get bigger, stronger snd smash it more, bowling will stagnate.

[Biggie Smalls]

I reckon big Billy might be a season away yet. I'd love to see him have a good Matador Cup and Shield season. We could do a lot worse than getting Ed Cowan back in the side. Not a bad idea.

I know that Stanlake ideally needs at least one full , good season of shield under his belt ....its just that I'd like to see our selectors show some balls and i can't see him performing so bad that I'd be wishing for the incumbent to return in his place . He really is our test pace future along with Starc .
Heeey ! ....someone who actually thinks Eddie Cowan is not a bad idea ! , thought i was the only one in the world !  There are guys with plenty more talent , but almost no one with such temperament and patience. ...and those two qualities are severely lacking in our top order .

[Nmcgee]

I think he has the right temperament too. He doesn't have the flair (or youth) of Travis Head or Nic Maddinson though. It'll never happen.

[Felix Tito]

ODI series started today. Steven Smith won the toss and put the Sri Lankans in.

Changed a plenty of both sides. SL with as many as 6 spinning options in their sides. Travis Head gets an opportunity ahead of Shaun Marsh and Usman Khawaja. Head essentially has taken the place of the recently axed Glenn Maxwell.

Sri Lanka: 1 Kusal Perera, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Dhananjaya de Silva, 7 Milinda Siriwardana, 8 Thisara Perera, 9 Dilruwan Perera, 10 Amila Aponso, 11 Lakshan Sandakan

Australia: 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Moises Henriques, 6 Travis Head, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

[Felix Tito]

Mitchell Starc has become the fastest bowler to 100 ODI wickets, getting their in only 52 matches, breaking Saqlain's long standing record

[Felix Tito]

Australia have finally notched up a victory on their tour of Sri Lanka. After restricting Sri Lanka to above par 227/8. Kusal Mendis continued his good form with 67 and Dinesh Chandimal scored an unbeaten 80(his fifth consetutive ODI fifty), but Australia kept taking wickets with regularity. James Faulkner with a career best 4/38 and Mitchell Starc 3/32 where the pick of the bowlers. Chandimal took a fearful blow to the ribs towards he end of the innings and it remains to be seen if he's ok to play the rest of the series. During the Australian chase Aaron Finch got the wheels in motion with a rapid 56. Steven Smith 58, Matthew Wade 26 and George Bailey 39 got the Aussies close until a mini wobble but Australia saw it through.

On aside note, Josh Hazlewood is billed as the new Glenn McGrath, but he's looked totally toothless at times on this tour. If the likes of Pat Cummins and James Pattinson weren't made of glass, they'd be far more useful.

[Biggie Smalls]

Australia have finally notched up a victory on their tour of Sri Lanka. After restricting Sri Lanka to above par 227/8. Kusal Mendis continued his good form with 67 and Dinesh Chandimal scored an unbeaten 80(his fifth consetutive ODI fifty), but Australia kept taking wickets with regularity. James Faulkner with a career best 4/38 and Mitchell Starc 3/32 where the pick of the bowlers. Chandimal took a fearful blow to the ribs towards he end of the innings and it remains to be seen if he's ok to play the rest of the series. During the Australian chase Aaron Finch got the wheels in motion with a rapid 56. Steven Smith 58, Matthew Wade 26 and George Bailey 39 got the Aussies close until a mini wobble but Australia saw it through.

On aside note, Josh Hazlewood is billed as the new Glenn McGrath, but he's looked totally toothless at times on this tour. If the likes of Pat Cummins and James Pattinson weren't made of glass, they'd be far more useful.

Hazlewood is overrated. ...i mentioned it in an earlier post on this thread.....good to see someone else say it !