Australia - 2017 and Beyond

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Holden Hover Car Tri Series Game 8 - Australia vs Sri Lanka

A dead rubber against Sri Lanka sees Hughes return and Cummins in to give Patto a rest. We lost the toss and bowled on a flat pitch.

Sri Lanka
Marsh and Starc were the standout bowlers as we restricted Sri Lanka to 9/233.

Australia
Atkins guided us to victory, narrowly missing out on a second ODI ton.




AB Medal
3 - Atkins - Leading from the front with the bat.
2 - Starc - all round performer
1 - Marsh - ditto

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series 1st Final - Australia vs India

We are aiming a bit lower than this and just want our hands on that Holden Hover Car. The MCG pitch looked likely to turn, and we bought Pattinson and Smith back into the side, lost the toss and batted first.



Australia Innings
Atkins and Khawaja made a slow start and when Khawaja was dismissed for 26 (50), Starc was promoted to pinch hit. He beat Atkins to 50, and when the opener was out for 51 (75) we were 2/133 at the midpoint of the innings. 7 overs later Starc was dismissed for 71 (38). Maxwell and Smith took charge, belting 96 (72) and 44 (37) respectively and while we lost 4 late wickets, Marsh and Faulkner chipped in with some runs to boost the total to 7/334 after 50 overs.

India Innings
India started at over 10 an over, but slowed when Pattinson removed the openers. Marsh and Starc followed up well with tight spells and Agar grabbed 2 wickets in his first over to put us well on top. Chawla and Jadeja launched a counter attack but Faulkner and Pattinson came back and bowled India out for 243 after 35 overs.




AB Medal
3 - Starc - Stunning innings, changed the momentum of the game completely in 38 balls and bowled well.
2 - Maxwell - another great innings
1 - Pattinson - came back well from an early belting

Verdict
The real advantage of this long batting order in ODI's is the pinch hitters. If Maxwell batted 3 and got out early, we would have struggled for 250.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series 2nd Final - Australia vs India

The second final was to be played on a similar MCG pitch, warranting an unchanged lineup. Again we lost the toss and batted.

Australia Innings
Khawaja and Atkins made another cautious start, and this time Starc didn't come off. The middle order reverted to old habits, making starts but not going on with them. It took a 40 run last wicket stand between Pattinson and Doolan to see us to a semi-respectable total of 240 when we were all out in the 49th over.

India Innings
Pattinson and Faulkner started well and they were backed by a tight spell from Agar, but the other bowlers failed to restrict the Indian batsmen and they secured a 4 wicket win with 11 balls to spare.




AB Medal
3 - Doolan - saved the batsmen from a humiliating defeat
2 - Pattinson - batted and bowled well.
1 - Smith -best of the rest

Verdict
Crashing back to earth. Let's hope we can secure the final series in the next match.

[q felt]

Holden Hover Car Tri Series 3rd Final - Australia vs India

The MCG pitch had progressed into a completely flat batting track for the decider. We named the same XI, but Doolan would open on the flat pitch to help speed up the start. We lost another toss but this time would bowl first.

India Innings
India were steady throughout and looked to attack in the last 10. Pattinson picked up 3 quicks wickets and I thought that would be enough to restrict them to a small total but Kaul and Ashwin took control and belted India to 303 after 50 overs.

Australia Innings
Doolan did his job scoring 24 (17) quickly at the start of the innings. I risked Starc again and he made another splendid 71 off 43 balls. When he was out we were 2/155 and needed 5.2/over for the remaining 29. Khawaja came in at 4, but Atkins wicket for 65 (84) was followed quickly by Maxwell and Smith, putting India back in the drivers seat. Orton and Khawaja made 20-odd each, but
that where the resistance ended, India running out 45 run winners.




AB Medal
3 - Starc - Stood out with bat and ball
2 - Orton - batted really well and almost guided us to a victory
1 - Pattinson - was expensive, but who knows what India might have made without his wickets.

Verdict
India were deserving winners, but overall we can take a number of positives out of the series.

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Australia in Pakistan - Squad

The big news is that Shane Watson has been completely dropped. Dave Warner returns after a good shield season and Richard Monks will join Agar to form our sub-continent spin duo. Glann Maxwell and Steve Smith are potential allround options and 21 year old Queenslander Phil Swinburn will make his first tour. The towering medium fast bowler isn't expected to take part in the tests, but will benefit from the experience. Here's the full squad along with their current FC stats:

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Pakistan vs Australia - 1st Test

A very flat track awaited us for the first test. The only change from the last match in Australia vs India was the inclusion of Richard Monks in place of James Faulkner. Hopefully there is some turn for the young offie. We won the toss and elected to bat first.




Day 1
Khawaja and Doolan were predictably solid, getting us through to lunch at 0/71. Both, however, fell in the 400's soon after the interval. Doolan fell for a duck but 50's to Hughes and Orton got us back on track. Tight boowling produced a flurry of late wickets and we finished the day at 6/238.

Day 2
Agar was out in the first over of the next morning but 29 from Pattinson, 21 from Starc and 19* from no. 11 Monks saw us reach 310 before being bowled out. Pattinson grabbed an early wicket and added one later in the day. A run out and a wicket to Agar was the only other joy as the Pakistani batsmen cashed in on Starc and Monks in particular to reach 4/267 by the close.

Day 3
We gambled, opening up with Monks on the third day and it paid off as he grabbed 3 wickets. Agar equalled him and we finished Pakistan off quickly for just 331. The clouds were out and we batted cautiously, reaching 2/171 by the close, with both Atkins and Doolan 57 not out.

Day 4
Atkins was eventually dismissed by the new ball for 74, but Doolan continued on to register a fine and perhaps career saving century. He was out for 114 shortly after lunch and Pakistan allowed few scoring opportunities. By tea we were 5/313, a 292 run lead. Pakistan ran through the tail, but 48 from Starc left us with 344 to defend in 1 day and 34 minutes, about the rate we wanted to set. Bowling aggressively, Pattinson and Behrendorff managed to take a wicket each before the close, reducing Pakistan to 2/28.

Day 5
Starc took the only wicket before lunch as the dangerous Umar Akmal dominated proceedings and got Pakistan to within 200 of the target. After lunch however, the bowling partnership Monks and Pattinson then Monks and Behrendorff chipped away and managed to destry the Pakistan lower order, bowing the out for 219 just before tea.




AB Medal
3 - Doolan - his century in our second innings was the difference between a difficult target and a middle of the road one for Pakistan.
2 - Agar - his first innings display kept us in the match.
1 - Monks - Came back well from the early belting and helped win the match on the last day.

Verdict
Yes, Atkins did get the AI MOTM but no AB medal votes. He scored 100-odd runs slowly and I thought the contributions of Pattinson and Behrendorff were still above him. I guess this means it was a good team performance!

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Pakistan vs Australia - 2nd Test

A surprise green top greated us for the 2nd test. We normally like a steady team, but decided to drop Agar and Monks for Faulkner and Phil Swinburn. It's an unexpected debut for 21 year old Swinburn. He's in his second year as a first class cricketer and has 58 wickets at 28.72. We lost the toss but would still get to bowl first.



Day 1
Pakistan made it through to lunch for the loss of just one wicket, but a devastating spell from Pattinson after the interval saw us get back on top. Behrendorff, Swinburn and Starc chipped in with wickets while the spearhead James Pattinson finished with 5/53 as Pakistan were bowled out for 237 shortly after tea. We lost Atkins for 24 before stumps and finished 1/65.

Day 2
All of the top order batsmen got starts and failed to go on with them besides Orton who fell for 4. We were 8 wickets down as we passed Pakistan's total and remained that way to the end of the day, finishing 8/280. Pattinson starred again and was 41* at the close.

Day 3
Pattinson and Swinburn pushed us to around 300 before the latter fell for 33. Pattinson upped the aggression and when Behrendorff fell he had compiled 74*. This pushed his average back above 50 for the year and was the 5 time he had raised his bat in a test this year, in just 15 innings. We made 327 and Pattinson grabbed an early wicket to leave Pakistan 1/16 at lunch. We spent the rest of the day chipping away Pakistan wickets and had them 9 down by stumps, with everyone bowling really well.

Day 4
Pattinson grabbed the last wicket to finish with 4/47 and 9/100 in the match. Hopefully he wouldn't be required with the bat as we only needed 84 to win. Khawaja though was out to the first ball of the innings and he was followed by Atkins for 4 and Doolan for 1. When Hughes departed a few over later for 15 we had been reduced to 4/24. Orton and Triffitt combined for a decent partnership of 44 before the latter fell for 33. Starc was out next ball and Faulkner made just 3, meaning Pattinson would have to bat with 11 needed and 3 wickets in hand. Tony Orton took the majority of the strike and 11 singles saw us home. Orton's 144 ball vigil will likely the most important innings of 23 he ever makes as it guided us to a three wicket win.



AB Medal
3 - Pattinson - see above.. 78 runs over 2 innings without being dismissed, plus 9/100. Unbelievable.
2 - Behrendorff - Patto decided to share points and Jason was clearly the next best bowler.
1 - Orton - despite being the only batsman to fail in the first dig he saw us home in the second to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

Verdict
Blimey, I wrote the line about Patto getting a second bat before I started to play the innings. That was close but we sealed the series which will boost out ranking in the tests.

[q felt]

Pakistan vs Australia - 3rd Test

A flat pitch for the third test saw us revert to our lineup from the first. We finally won the toss and had a bat.


Day 1
Pakistan dominated the first day with the ball, the sole resistance coming from Khawaja (87) and Orton (53). We were eight down by the end of the day and Pattinson was already out, limiting the chance of being saved.

Day 2
We were bowled out for 231 early in the day. Pakistan batted well and passed our total for the loss of just 3 wickets. They continued their dominance for the rest of the day and finished at 4/353, Pattinson and Behrendorff bagging 2 wickets a piece.

Day 3
An excellent spell from Starc in the morning yielded 4 wickets. Agar polished off the last two after lunch and Pakistan were all out for 466, a commanding lead of 235. Wen Atkins fell for a duck we were in trouble, but we lost just one more wicket before stumps and were 2/104 at the close.

Day 4
The next morning did not go according to plan as we lost Hughes and Doolan early. The rest of the batting order folded, though Triffitt contributed 60 and pushed us past Pakistan's total. We were bowled out for 259 and Pakistan needed just 25, which they passed without losing a wicket.

AB Medal
3 - Khawaja - the most determined batsman by far
2 - Starc - Helped us bowl Pakistan out at least once
1 - Triffitt - continues to perform above expectations

Verdict
Thankfully the series was sealed, but Pakistan had been threatening a really strong performance and this was it.

[q felt]

Pakistan vs Australia - 1st ODI

Next up is a five match ODI series against Pakistan. Steve Smith is out of the squad and Mitch Marsh is injured, meaning Henriques is into the starting line up, as is Hughes. A flat pitch was served up for the first game, and we won the toss and had a bat.



Australia Innings
It was a shambolic performance with the bat, saved by 71 from Hughes, mainly in partnership with no. 10 Agar. We were bowled out for 171 in the 40th over.

Pakistan Innings
Starc grabbed early wickets, but Pakistan romped home for a 6 wicket win.




AB Medal
3 - Hughes - kind of obvious
2 - Starc - Almost gave us a chance
1 - Agar - didn't get a bowl but applied himself with the bat

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Pakistan vs Australia - 2nd ODI

Cummins replaces an out of form James Faulkner for the second ODI. The pitch was expected to help the spinners, and we lost the toss and had to bowl first.

Pakistan Innings
Pakistan batted steadily, just losing one wicket before taking the batting powerplay in the 35th over and looking to accelerate. They quickened the run rate but a five wicket haul from Pat Cummins kept them in check and they finished 8/241.

Australia Innings
Doolan, Atkins and Maxwell fell relatively cheaply, but with Khawaja acting as an anchor Hughes blasted a quick half century and Starc was promoted and scored 46 from 30 to get us close to the total. Orton and Khawaja negotiated the last 2 dozen runs, Khawaja finishing with 86* from 133.




AB Medal
3 - Cummins - his five wickets were necessary to restrict the Pakistanis.
2 - Khawaja - a good innings guiding the chase
1 - Starc - batted and bowled well

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Pakistan vs Australia - 3rd ODI

Faulkner came in to give Pattinson a rest for the 3rd match on a very flat Karachi pitch. Maxwell lost another toss and we'd be bowling first.

Pakistan Innings
Faulkner's form showed signs of improvement when he picked up 2 early wickets. An economical spell from Agar helped restrict Pakistan and while Cummins and Starc took some stick in the last 10, they also performed well to restrict Pakistan to 9/262 on a flat pitch.

Australia Innings
The top order proved brittle yet again, the top 5 all scoring between 11 and 19. Starc belted out a counter attacking innings of 62 from 44 balls but it was too little as we were bowled out for 179 in 36 overs.



AB Medal
3 - Starc - Another all round performance
2 - Faulkner - bowled really well
1 - Agar - 0/30 and 16* gets you a point in this one. Bowled really well and ran out of partners

[q felt]

Pakistan vs Australia - 4th ODI

Orton was dropped for Burns and captain Maxwell would open in an attempt to find some form in the 4th ODI. We won the toss and betted on a flat pitch.

Australia Innings
Atkins found some form, making 80 from 112 deliveries but his wicket was followed by another collapse. No's 10 and 11, Faulkner and Cummins added some respectability and we were all out for 243 with 2 overs remaining.

Pakistan Innings
An early wicket was no setback as Pakistan cruised to a 6 wicket win.



AB Medal
3 - Atkins - did well
2 - Agar - another decent bowling performance
1 - Faulkner - did ok

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Pakistan vs Australia - 5th ODI

Beckett and Behrendorff came in for the 5th ODI, a dead rubber. A flat pitch, another lost toss and we were bowling.

It turned into a close loss, a disappointing one but Pakistan showed us why they are ranked no 1 in ODI's.

AB Medal
3 - Hughes - scored a good 100 in a new role as opener.
2 - Starc - polished off the Pakistan innings which at least allowed us to get close
1 - Cummins - while he was expensive, his wickets helped restrict the Pakistanis.

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Pakistan vs Australia - Only T20

A bowlers pitch greeted us for the T20, and we picked a bit of a different team. We lost the toss and bowled first. A superb opening spell from Faulkner got us well on top and he was backed up by Cummins and Starc. We stumbled in the chase, but Cameron White got us home in the end.

AB Medal
3 - Faulkner
2 - Cummins
1 - Starc

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Allan Border Medal Night and Season Review - 2018/19

A much improved year from the last, though it wasn't really reflected in the rankings.

	Match W-L record	Series W-L record	Starting Rank	Ending Rank
Tests	10-2-1	4-0-1	2nd	2nd
ODIS	11-11	2-2	5th	6th
T20	9-4-1	2-1-1	4th	3rd

And the aggregate and average winners were:

	Tests	ODIs	T20s
Bat Avg	Phil Hughes - 58.80	Paul Atkins - 44.12	Shane Watson - 37.60
Bat Agg	Phil Hughes - 1176	Glenn Maxwell - 760	Glenn Maxwell - 287
Bowl Avg	James Pattinson - 17.24	Mitch Marsh - 17.18	Moises Henriques - 12.55
Bowl Agg	James Pattinson - 93	Mitch Starc - 35	James Faulkner - 21

So Pattinson took 27 more wickets this year compared to last. In terms of actual records, if this were a calendar year he would have the second most wickets ever, behind Shane Warne's 96 in 2005. He also averaged 49.10 with the bat got off to a pretty great start as test captain.


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: James Faulkner

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

The Test Player of the year is: James Pattinson

And the AB Medal countdown...

Coming in 3rd: Usman Khawaja (91 points)
The runner up: Mitchell Starc (105 points)

And the Allan Border Medallist for for 2018/19: James Pattinson (120 points).

I must've been tougher in marking Patto this year, only a narrow win! Interesting to see how long before the lock of Khawaja, Faulkner, Starc and Pattinson lose a grip on the awards. I predict Atkins might make a run next year. Anyhow, onwards and upwards.