Australia - 2017 and Beyond

[q felt]

South Africa vs Australia - 3rd ODI

A flat track in Durban, where we decided to have a bowl after winning the toss.



SA Innings
Watson and McDermott took the new ball, Watson doing well to remove # early. It was however a great pitch for batting and SA proceeded at an easy 5 per over for much of the innings. Some good hitting towards the end saw them reach 5/282.

Australian Innings.
In a word: Tepid. No-one at the top made runs and when no's 4-6 got in they got out again in the 30's. We made 212 and SA a convincing series win.




AB Medal
3 Watson - bowled pretty well.
2 Faulkner - OK all round performance
1 Hughes - at least he is scoring consistently…

Verdict
These starts are so frustrating - like the current team though, none of the other bats are putting their hands up.

[q felt]

South Africa vs Australia - 4th ODI

Maxwell comes in for O'Keefe and Starc for Saddburg. We won the toss and decided to have a bat on a flat track.



Australian Innings
The top4 gain got starts but failed to go on with them. It is getting seriously frustrating. With many of the batsmen struggling with form we just have to try and make it to the next season. Maxwell (39* off 41) and Starc (35 off 36) boosted us to a marginal total of 8/228.

SA Innings
The lion-hearted James Pattinson was ready to concede just yet and took 2 early wickets. When Starc chipped in with a 2 of his own, we had SA 4/21 after 6 overs. Starc grabbed a third in his opening spell and Roussow was runout. 6 down, SA had basically lost the game and the tail didn't hang around, South Africa all out for 84.




AB Medal
3 Starc - Superb all round performance
2 Pattinson - Started the rot and bowled his 10 overs straight through. Massive.
1 Faulkner - 2-0-5-2. Not a big impact as they were late wickets, but the batsmen sure as hell weren't getting any points for this one.

Verdict
For a batsmans pitch it sure didn't play like one. Hopefully another consolation win coming up!

[q felt]

South Africa vs Australia - 5th ODI

Ferguson comes in to give out of form captain Clarke a rest. Maxwell will bat 3, take you chance son. And Patto will captain because he just deserves it. He, of course, won his first toss and decided to bat on another batsman's pitch.



Australian Innings
Another dire batting performance with none of the top 7 passing 26. Faulkner and Starc threatened to rescue us but couldn't quite pull it off, and we were bowled out for 184.

SA Innings
Pattinson grabbed an early wicket, but Starc bowled trash, continuing the variability that sees him as only a sometimes member of the starting XI. The introduction of Faulkner though was a master stroke as he picked up 3 wickets with his first 9 balls. When McDermott added two more SA were struggling at 6/94 after 18, with only bowlers left to bat. 31 from Philander and 45 from Parnell got SA back on track, but they when they were out SA still needed 14 with 2 wickets in hand. McDermott took the 9th wicket with 8 runs needed and 9 overs remaining. Maidens from he and Watson meant I need to bowl Starc, with SA 9/181. One ball later we had a 4-1 series defeat, Starc 6.1-0-51-0.



AB Medal
3 McDermott - great spell under pressure.
2 Faulkner - good again with bat and ball
1 Pattinson - just the one wicket today…

Verdict
CHOKERS - I was going to say it either way, choke of the day goes to Starc this time around.

SERIES RESULT: South Africa win 4-1

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Hi mate

Managed to read this one for the first time today - very impresssed.

I have an Australia save and was wondering how Cummins is getting on ? - I saw you picked him for a T20 game but unless I missed it that appeared to be his only international game for you.
Just wondering why he never gets a look in

[q felt]

South Africa vs Australia - Only T20

A one off T20 to finish off the tour. We've gone with a pretty experimental squad, let's see how it pans out! We lost the toss and were sent in on a green top.



Australia Innings
SA started strongly but a good partnership between Maxwell (64 off 45) and Smith (42 off 31) got us on track. Debutant Henry Eyre chipped in with 31 off 15 balls and we had a very competitive total of 7/177.

SA Innings
The Run rate was high from SA but they also lost consistent wickets. We got them to 7/118 and thought it was in the bag with their long tail. But consistent partnerships in the teens and low 20's saw SA needed 9 runs from the last over with one wicket in hand. Faulkner was bowling and it got down to 3 off the last ball. We won by 2 runs courtesy of a run out!




AB Medal
3 Maxwell - batted really well yet again, a T20 star
2 Smith - supported Maxwell nicely
1 Eyre - a great debut + none of the bowlers really stood out.

Verdict
We are actually finding our rhythm in the T20's.

[q felt]

Allan Border Medal Night and Season Review - 2017/18

A pretty disappointing season when all is said and done. I thought we had a chance in the Ashes, but apparently not. There were some positives, here are the results.

	Match W-L record	Series W-L record	Current Ranking
Tests	3-8	0-3	2nd
ODIS	5-13	0-3	5th
T20	4-1	2.5-0.5	4th

And the aggregate and average winners were:

	Tests	ODIs	T20s
Bat Avg	Usman Khawaja - 52.21	Mitch Starc - 42.00	Glenn Maxwell 45.50
Bat Agg	Shane Watson - 860	Phil Hughes - 642	Glenn Maxwell - 182
Bowl Avg	Michael Clarke - 12.00	James Faulkner - 21.58	Mitch Starc - 14.40
Bowl Agg	James Pattinson - 66	James Faulkner - 31	Mitch Starc - 10

The most amazing stat I found here was that the next most test wickets for the year after Patto's 66 was 25 from Siddle. Talk about carrying the team!


And now for the awards. There are awards for best player in each format followed by the best player overall. These are based on my 3,2,1 Points at the end of each game. The best overall player results are weighted based on these points 5:2:1 for Tests:ODIs:T20s.


The T20 Player of the year is: Glenn Maxwell

The ODI Player of the Year is: a tie! James Pattinson & Mitchell Starc

The Test Player of the year is: James Pattinson

And the AB Medal countdown...

Coming in 3rd: Usman Khawaja (60 points)
The runner up: James Faulkner (64 points)

And the Allan Border Medallist for for 2017/18: James Pattinson (129 points).

Thanks everyone for reading, I hope you all follow me into the next season.

[q felt]

Hi mate

Managed to read this one for the first time today - very impresssed.

I have an Australia save and was wondering how Cummins is getting on ? - I saw you picked him for a T20 game but unless I missed it that appeared to be his only international game for you.
Just wondering why he never gets a look in

Thanks mate. I've been playing NSW with this save as well and Cummins is in the top 2 bowlers for them every year. Josh Hazelwood is probably the better bet for NSW at the moment, but Pat got the nod for a couple of T20's based on his form and the fact I like to rest Patto from the format.

As for the test team, I thought about playing either he or Hazelwood, but their form dropped a bit when I stopped captaining them day to day at the start of this season. They were never really at the top of the lists. Hopefully they get more of a run in the next few years, Hazelwood especially is a chance.

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Thanks mate. I've been playing NSW with this save as well and Cummins is in the top 2 bowlers for them every year. Josh Hazelwood is probably the better bet for NSW at the moment, but Pat got the nod for a couple of T20's based on his form and the fact I like to rest Patto from the format.

As for the test team, I thought about playing either he or Hazelwood, but their form dropped a bit when I stopped captaining them day to day at the start of this season. They were never really at the top of the lists. Hopefully they get more of a run in the next few years, Hazelwood especially is a chance.

Cheers

I always gave the new ball to Starc and Cummins with Watson & Johnson as first change ... think I'll switch Pattinson for Cummins as I'm yet to see anyone posting Australian stuff in which he doesn't play amazingly well.

[q felt]

Yeah he is worth a try and I reckon the mid-20's average is about right for him. Just picked Cummins to tour Zimbabwe with the test team (the AI put him in the squad ahead of Hazelwood so I went with it) but he wasn't impressive enough in the warmups to warrant a test place. Behrendorff and Starc were though, hopefully I can post the series in the next day or so.

[Cam]

Fast bowling is hard in this Australian save!

Pattinson, McDermott, Sayers, Mennie, C-Nile, Cummins are pretty much the only quicks i use, i cant get a decent spinner ever though!

im in year 2017 now!

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Fast bowling is hard in this Australian save!

Pattinson, McDermott, Sayers, Mennie, C-Nile, Cummins are pretty much the only quicks i use, i cant get a decent spinner ever though!

im in year 2017 now!

How do the following spinners pan out in 2017 then ?

Maxwell
Lyon
Fawad Ahmed (if he is still about !!!)
Zampa
O'Keefe
Agar
Beer
Doherty
S.Smith - he always gets wickets for me

[q felt]

How do the following spinners pan out in 2017 then ?

Maxwell Hopeless, good ODI batsman
Lyon Dropped from NSW by 2014
Fawad Ahmed (if he is still about !!!) NFI
Zampa Pretty sure I dumped early on for NSW
O'Keefe Pretty good, best short form spinner for me
Agar Bowled well in a few tests, but the quicks are generally better bets, esp with Starc, Faulkner and Watto as allrounders I normally pick 5 or 6
Beer NFI
Doherty NFI
S.Smith - he always gets wickets for me OK, part timer only

See replies inline. I also used Jon Holland for Sydney T20's and he was OK, might have used him more for Victoria. Clarke's got me a couple of wickets too. But it's slim pickings.

I've had no such problem as came has had with quicks, the toughest thing is sicking with one!!

[q felt]

Australian Tour to Zimbabwe - Squad and Friendly vs Mashonaland

Always good to have a test series to start a season because the AI gets to throw 18 names at you! Even better when it starts against Zimbabwe. I decided to take a lot of bowlers and a few young batsmen, hoping someone will stand up. Tossing up leaving Siddle out of the starting lineup to give some youngsters a go as well. Notable droppings include Steve Smith - he scored basically no first class runs last year so he can sit out for a bit. Let's see how it goes..

Here's the squad and their 1st class records from last year:




Mashonaland vs Australia - 3 day friendly

We picked all the backup players in what would be my first friendly in charge of the Australian team. I have a couple of rules for these games - you have to bat aggressively to prove you can cut it in tests and we always press for the win. We lost the toss and had to bowl on a flat pitch.



Day 1
We bowled Mashonaland out for 157 shortly before, Starc making the best case for test inclusion with 3/24. Behrendorff (who I may never pick again on account of having to type his name) and Cummins also grabbed 3 wickets a piece for just under 50. By the close we were 2/164. Khawaja made 71 and Sabburg was 59 not out.

Day 2
Orton and Maxwell missed their chance to push for test berths, but Sabburg didn't with 105. Triffitt was also superb and we declared when he reached his ton off 110 balls, at 5/362. We wrapped up the win with 3 overs left in the day, Behrendorff collecting 5/30. Test slection will be difficult, with incumbent Gary Putland taking just 2 wickets in the match.

[q felt]

Zimbabwe vs Australia - 1st Test

A bowling firendly track greeted us at Bulawayo for the first test. We took a long bowling line up in with Sabburg and Behrendorff to debut. Putland is unlucky to miss out, Siddle Is on notice, as is Starc. We lost the toss and had to bowl first.




Day 1
Pattinson took 2 early wickets as Zimbabwe started slowly, reaching 2/61 at lunch. A fiery post lunch soell for Behrendorff and Pattinson saw another 5 wickets fall, before Siddle and Starc cleaned up the tail, Zimbabwe all out 107.
We batted calmly and reached 0/72 at stumps.

Day 2
A dour day saw us building a big lead, with 50's to Watson, Khawaja and Clarke, plus 45* for Sabburg. At stumps we reached 4/274.

Day 3
Sabburg, Starc and Pattinson made 50's as we built a 346 run lead by the end of day 3. Starc top scored with 88 and we had planned to declare when he passed 100, but no such luck. Instead we waited for Patto's 50 and stopped at 8/453 just before the end of the day. Behrendorff took the new ball after an impressive first innings and had 2 wickets by the close, Zimbabwe 2/25.

Day 4
I thought Patto was going to go wicketless, but he took the last three Zimbabwean wickets in his 19th over, and they were all out 107, and we had won by an innings and 239 runs.



Forgot to save the summary at the time so here is the last innings


AB Medal
3 Pattinson - 8 wickets and a fifty. Call the engraver, tell him it’s a repeat.
2 Starc - Outplayed fellow allounder Faulkner in all facets - slection drama potential!
1 Behrendorff - A good debut who validated the move in fornt of Putland.

Verdict
Just what we needed to get going, a Zimbabwe series! Hopefully this bodes well for the year to come!

[q felt]

Zimbabwe vs Australia - 2nd Test

A flatter pitch greeted us in Harare, with a fair bit of rain predicted over the first 2 days. We named an unchanged lineup, I think it is a bit of a shootout between the bowlers at the moment because the batting is a bit thin for a game against anyone but Zimbabwe. They won the toss and decided to bat.




Day 1
Pattinson's opening spell produced 3 wickets and Siddle added another to leave Zimbabwe 4/89 come lunch. After lunch there was a run out and Keegan Meth retired hurt, a big blow for their bowling. They were bowled out for 158, with Pattinson claiming another 5 for 45. They started really well with the ball, reducing us to 4/69 before Triffitt and Hughes got us through to stumps at 4/85.

Day 2
The first 1h 20m was lost to rain, then the entire second session and 1h 26m of the last session. We negotiated a tricky day without losing a wicket, Hughes making 50 on the way and the team reaching 136. Better batting conditions are expected tomorrow.

Day 3
Hughes had his century by lunch but we had lost Triffitt, Starc and Faulkner to be 7/239. When Hughes was eventually dismissed late in the day for 163 it was Pattinson who had proved the enduring partner, making 70*. With 46 mins left I decided to let him have a run at the ton, but he was clean bowled next over and we declared at 9/370, a 212 run lead. Patto then managed to shrug off the fatigue of a long innings, taking a wicket before stumps to leave Zimbabwe 1/16.

Day 4
Pattinson grabbed 2 more, plus one each to Faukner and Siddle, leaving Zimbabwe 5/87 at lunch, with only 4 wickets to get on account of Meth's absence. Pattinson and Behrendorff cleaned up the tail, with Pattinson claiming another 5 for 36, in an inngins and 90 run victory.




AB Medal
3 Pattinson - should be obvious really.
2 Hughes - held a fragile looking innings together
1 Triffitt - Stabilized the game with Hughes when it looked like a collapse was on, despite making only 48

Verdict
The batting struggled, but maybe they get a reprieve on account of the tricky batting conditions… Pattinson is still just 28, thankfully, he is the heart and soul of this team and will be the captain when Clarke retires.