Australia - 2017 and Beyond

[q felt]

Australia vs India - 1st Test

Next up is a 3 test series against India at home. We've gone with an unchanged line up from the third test against South Africa for the first Test at the Gabba. It was another flat pitch at the Brisbane ground and we lost the toss meaning we would bowl first.



Day 1
India made a steady start but a 2-wicket over got s in the contest and one each to Behrendorff and Pattinson got us well on top by lunch with India 4/77. Kohli and Kaul, then Kaul and Kumar counterattacked, and when we finally broke these partnerships India were all out in the last over of the day for 302, Pattinson the pick of the bowlers with 3/56.

Day 2
Atkins was out early for 11 and it seemed he missed a chance at a big score, as Khawaja and Hughes batted the rest of the day, reaching 104* and 118* respectively by the end of play. It was not pretty, but it was getting the job done as we closed at 1/243.

Day 3
Hughes went on to make 136 and Khawaja 143. Most of the remaining batsmens got starts but missed out on 50's, Faulkner the exception with 56. We were all out for 535, a lead of 233. We had 30 minutes to bowl at India but couldn't take a wicket and India were 0/18 at the close of play.

Day 4
India worked to erase the deficit and did so for the loss of 4 wickets, which were shared among the bowlers. Pattinson and Behrendorff used the 2nd new ball to good effect and bowled India out for 290, taking 4 wickets each in the process and leaving us 57 to win. We were 0/26 at stumps.

Day 5
We completed a comfortable 10 wicket win by lunch.



AB Medal
3 Khawaja - well batted son
2 Hughes - see above
1 Behrendorff - took the crucial wickets

Verdict
A clinical win, well done chaps.

[q felt]

Australia vs India - 2nd Test

A more bowler friendly pitch was on show for the second test, and we lost the toss and would have to bat on it during the cloudy first morning. We went in unchanged from the team that won the two previous tests.


Day 1
Khawaja and Atkins were very cautious and we hadn't even passed 50 by lunch, but had not lost a wicket. The 2nd sesison was more productive and we were 0/119 by tea. Khawaja was eventually dismissed for 48 just AFTER tea, but Atkins accelerated to his second test ton, another score of 106. Wickets tumbled following his dismissal and we finished the day 5/206.

Day 2
Doolan and Starc rebuilt after the collapse making 64 and 39 respectively. Agar also chipped in with an unbeaten 55 and we were bowled out for 355 half way between lunch and tea. We stared aggressively with the ball and it paid dividends on a cloudy afternoon as we had India 7/127 by stumps, Pattinson and Behrendorff taking 3 each.

Day 3
Pattinson cleaned up the tail to claim 6/46 and India were 15 short of the follow on, which the big quick promptly enforced. India batted much more competently in the second dig, reaching 4/302 by the close, a lead of 88, thanks mainly to Che Pujara who scored 140*.

Day 4
The ball produced results for Pattinson, as he claimed 6/102 and was assisted in cleaning India up by 3 wickets to Agar. We needed to score 176 to win the test. We knocked off 115 by stumps for the loss of 3 wickets, thanks mainly to Atkins (51*) and Hughes (42).

Day 5
Atkins was out in the first over but Triffit and Doolan carried on to claim a 6 wicket win and the series



AB Medal
3 Pattinson - 12 wickets for the match
2 Atkins - 157 runs for the match.
1 Doolan - continues to make useful, but not large, contributions with the bat.

Verdict
A comprehensive series win against a team who have just overtaken us in the rankings. A little too reliant on just a couple of players though I feel.

[q felt]

Australia vs India - 3rd Test

With a dead rubber coming up, Tasmanian Tony Orton replaces Joe Burns in the side. Burns originally came in following the retirement of Michael Clarke and started well, scoring 2 fifties in the first test against South Africa, but his highest score since is 41, so we have decided to give the 25 year old Orton a chance. It was a flat SCG pitch and five days of sunshine that the youngster would have his chance on. Pattinson won the toss and decided to bat.




Day 1
Atkins was the only wicket to fall before tea, for 49, but scoring was slow and we were only 1/163 by that interval. Hughes was out in the last over of the day for 93 and Khawaja remained unbeaten at the close on 106*, and we were 2/255 overall.

Day 2
Doolan, Khawaja and Triffitt all fell before lunch but debutant Orton was impressive with 44*. He reached 50 soon after and would be forced to endure a nervous tea break on 89 after useful partnerships with Starc, Faulkner and Agar. On reaching his century he hit out and finished with 114, his dismissal bringing about a declaration on 9/505. With 47 minutes to bat, India made 47 runs following some unusually wayward bowling from Pattinson, but Faulkkner did manage to grab one wicket.

Day 3
Pattinson improved considerably on the second day, picking up three wickets. A further 2 for Faulkner and 2 apiece for Starc and Agar saw us bowl India for 268, 38 shy of the follow on mark, which we decided to enforce. In a little over an hour we could not pick up a wicket and India raced to 0/92.

Day 4
A tough day in the field saw us take 7 wickets and India reach 380, thanks largely to 158* from Kahn. Pattinson, Faulkner and Starc bowled well all day, while Behrendorff and Agar were expensive, but did manage the odd wicket.

Day 5
Pattinson and Behrendorff needed just 22 minutes to take the remaining 4 wickets, leaving us a chase of 148. Atkins and Khawaja reduced that by 50 before lunch and continued after, making 79 before Atkins was out for 39. Hughes and Doolan also fell, giving Tony Orton an opportunity to hit the winning runs in his first test!



AB Medal
3 Khawaja - guided both innings
2 Orton - a golden debut!
1 Pattinson - always seems to end up with the most wickets, uncanny.

Verdict
Good to be able to force a win on a flat track. Even better to finally unearth some guys good enough for test cricket!

[LBW Miller]

I'm really enjoying this, I'm still waiting for the game to be released on the Mac so this is making up for me not being able to play it.

By the way what happened to Offie Richard Monks from Tasmania and his namesake Keith Monks? I know the later made his Test Debut a while back but Richard seems to have faded into obscurity. Will either of the Monks make their way back into Australian squads?

Keep up the story it's great!

[q felt]

Thanks LBW!

So you want to know about the Monks boys?

Well, Keith is now the fifth choice seamer for QLD. He is still only 21, so there is time, but he has only played 2 FC games this year and taken just 1 wicket. They have McDermott and Cutting up there, and also a 21 yr old opening the bowling named Paul Swinburn, so he is probably ahead of Monks in the young pace pecking order.

Richard, on the other hand, has 40 FC wickets in 7 games this year @ 21.67. He is now my second choice test spinner behind O'Keefe, but I like Agar for his batting at the moment. He's 24, so he has time and will always be on tours to the sub-continent.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 1 - Australia vs India

We won the toss and bowled in the first game of the tri-series on a flat SCG pitch.




India Innings
I was nervous going into a match relying on Agar and Maxwell to bowl 10 overs each but they combined for 20-3-86-6 from their allotment putting me well on top in the middle overs. As a result we restricted India to just 8/226.

Australia Innings
I don't know if it was inept batting or the new match engine, but it was a pretty disappointing result. Tis was my second game since the patch and none of the batsmen seemed able to stay around. In the end we lost by 23.




AB Medal
3 - Agar - bowled brilliantly
2 Maxwell - unexpectedly good bowling…
1 Atkins - top scorer on ODI debut

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 2 - Australia vs Sri Lanka

We named an unchanged line up for the game versus Sri Lanka, on another flat pitch. We won the toss again and this time would bat first.

Australia Innings
OK, I'm man enough to admit that sometimes my inept batting performances are not a result of the game engine, rather my own ineptitude. We put on a much improved performance, even Khawaja was fluent at the top, cracking 76 (92). The real star though was Maxwell (73 off 68), with great support from (58 off 46), Orton (30 off 19) and Faulkner (24* off 7) as we piled on 7/317 from our 50 overs.

Sri Lanka Innings
Sri Lanka gave us a massive scare, reaching 5/270 with 8 overs to go. Pattinson and Starc however, managed to get the game back under control with some good bowling, and we bowled them out for 308 at the end of the 48th over.



AB Medal
3 Maxwell - also grabbed 2 wickets
2 Khawaja - proving the value of a defensive player at the top in ODI;s
1 Starc- nerves of steel at the end, despite a rough start with the ball.

[morgieb]

Holden Hover Car...haha!

Good stuff so far.

[Justo]

Just read through this all. Has been good stuff even with a poor team (you could say it makes it more interesting).

Looks like you've started to get some quality bats though which should help. Patto has been an absolute gun, what do his bowling stats look like?

[q felt]

morgieb - I try, the future is a great place.

Justo - Poor? I'd say up and coming, haha. As for Patto, here is his career so far.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 3 - Australia vs India

Our third game was on a pitch that looked as though it would spin a lot. We named an unchanged side, won the toss and bowled.



India Innings
Pattinson grabbed two wickets early and Agar added a third Indian wicket when he got hold of a newish ball, but that was the end of the joy for us, as Dhawan and Kohli proceeded to build a massive partnership. Faulkner, our most economical bowler, nipped Kohli just before the end of the innings for 106, but Dhawan was the star, finishing unbeaten on 199, India 4/341

Australia Innings
We started well, dominating the quicks with the aid of some Mitchell Starc pinch hitting, but the introduction of spin was our downfall. Ashwin removed Starc, Maxwell and Faulkner in a single over to wrest the momentum from us and we finished on 247.




AB Medal
3 Khawaja - proved he can keep the run rate ticking at the top
2 Orton - came in too late at 8 after the pinch hitters but did well.
1 Faulkner - bowled very economically considering

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 4 - Australia vs Sri Lanka

The pitch for our next game against Sri Lanka was expected to be more friendly to the seamers, so Marsh comes in for an underperforming Hughes and Behrendorff replaces Agar. We lost the toss and would bat first.



Australia Innings
Khawaja started slowly but 47 from 40 balls by Maxwell got us back on track. His dismissal brought a flurry of wickets and when Starc joined Atkins at the crease we were 5/155 in the 33rd over. The pair, however, put together a solid partnership and 22 year old Paul Atkins soon had his first century in any 50-over game! He was eventually out for 118 off 127 and added 118 in his partnership with Starc to get us back in the game. Starc also batted brilliantly and finished with 71* off 50 as we compiled 291 for the loss of 6 wickets.

Sri Lanka Innings
Pattinson and Starc grabbed early wickets and then the West Australian duo of Behrendorff and Marsh finished off the Sri Lankans for 165, Marsh finishing with the outstanding figures of 5.4-0-19-5.




AB Medal
3 - Atkins - Well batted son, I see a long international career for this bloke
2 - Starc - A good innings and a tidy bowling performance
1 - Marsh - Took the last three wickets when the match was basically over, but bowled well none the less.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 5 - Australia vs India

A similar pitch to the preceding match meant we took an unchanged lineup into the next game against India. This time we won the toss and would bowl first.

India Innings
Pattinson and Faulkner got us off to a good start but Starc and Behrendorff were unable to maintain the pressure. It was Mitch Marsh who eventually reined India in, claiming 4/35 from his 10. With 10 remaining, Marsh and Pattinson had bowled out their overs and Starc, Behrendorff and Faulkner let India bck in the game, thanks to a good partnership between Ashwin and Chawla India finished 8/263.

Australia Innings
A century stand between Khawaja and Atkins put us in a strong position, and half centuries to Maxwell and Smith ensured an easy, 7 wicket win with an over to spare.

India 8/263 (50 Overs)
Chawla 63*
Pujara 60
Marsh 4/35
Pattinson 3/28
Australia 3/264 (49 Overs)
Khawaja 71
Maxwell 58
Chawla 1/46
Kumar 1/51
Australia win by 7 wickets


AB Medal
3 - Marsh - bowling great since being included in the team.
2 - Khawaja - continues his good form, the last match looking like a momentary blip.
1 - Atkins - his combination with Khawaja could be the solution to our batting woes!

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 6 - Australia vs Sri Lanka

A much flatter pitch awaited us in Brisbane for the next match against Sri Lanka. Agar replaces Behrendorff and 24 year old New South Welshman Robert Beckett gets a debut in place of Steve Smith at four. We lost the toss and would get to bat first.



Australia Innings
Khawaja and Atkins failed, perhaps decided to give the other batsmen a chance. Beckett was outstanding with 82 (106) and Maxwell supported with 43 (52). Starc and Marsh then proceeded to tear apart the attack making 44 (28) and 48 (22) respectively. Their dismissals, however, saw us bowled out for 299 with an over to spare.

Sri Lanka Innings
The wickets were shared around as Sri Lanka batted aggressively to keep up with the run rate, but it didn't work out and they were bowled out for 193.




AB Medal
3 - Marsh - Bowled well again and explosive with the bat
2 - Beckett - a great debut
1 - Starc - really going well with the bat at the moment!

Verdict
We are safely through to the finals and getting to try out a lot of players. We already have 24 players who have scored AB medal points this year.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 7 - Australia vs India

We were unchanged for the next match on a turning Adelaide pitch against India. We won the toss and decided to bowl.



India Innings
India started well but good spells from Agar and Marsh pulled in the scoring rate. Going into the powerplay only one wicket down, India were on top, but the pace bowlers improved, Faulkner grabbing 4/51 and Pattinson with 2/55, restricting them to 8/259.

Australia Innings
None of the batsmen really got going with the exception of Orton. We were bowled out for 216 in 44.3 overs.




AB Medal
3 - Orton - batting well
2 - Faulkner - bowled well? Not got much to say really
1 - Pattinson - good bloke