Australian domestic cricket 25/26

[lemmon]

Thought I'd get this thread started as the Windies tour chat had a bit of discussion about the Australia A series in the top end.

You can't take much from a game where 1000 runs were scored for the loss of 10 wickets, but some good numbers from the guys who are pushing selection.

Jake Weatherald has laid down the gauntlet to the other prospective openers with his 183, and Jason Sangha has shown that he's probably the next middle-order batter in the queue with 202* as captain from number 4.

But if you're all about the next young batting dynamo, GET EXCITED ABOUT OLIVER PEAKE. This guy is 'the generational prospect' in the way that Phil Hughes was 'the generational prospect', Michael Clarke was 'the generational prospect', Ricky Ponting was 'the generational prospect' - go all the way back to Neil Harvey and Archie Jackson being 'the prospects' of their times.

He made 92 and absolutely murdered anything outside his off-stump. He has terrific gears to his batting, he plays spin beautifully, the footwork is crisp coming forward or going back to use the depth of the crease - I watch a bit of underage cricket and he's the best I've seen.

Victoria needs to lock him into their XI and let him play.

[GVGjr]

If you were setting up an A team of players to watch this summer who would you recommend we look at?

[lemmon]

If you were setting up an A team of players to watch this summer who would you recommend we look at?

Interesting one - just for a mix of some of the guys we know about and a few more obscure picks. This isn't guys who are on the cusp, more just some of those guys that I think are interesting to keep an eye on.

1. Campbell Kellaway - 22-year old patient and correct opening bat. Victoria have invested a lot into him as a talent. The chat about him as a Test player is very premature for mine, but he averaged 40+ last year and is trending upwards
2. Matt Renshaw - He makes it hard, but I'm still a believer that there's a good Test player in there. You can see the improvement in his game in terms of batting tempo and how he plays spin, but runs are the only currency that counts. I think he's one of those guys that could really explode after 30.
3. Jason Sangha - The most aesthetic player in the country. Seems to finally have overcome NSW's graveyard of batting talents and has become a key player for South Australia. What gets me excited is that he's 25, not 29. He's worked it out with time on his side. At his flowing best, he's a weapon and could be excellent on subcontinental tours.
4. Jayden Goodwin - Nuggety left-hander from WA. Really nice through the covers and down the ground player. Hasn't done a lot yet, but I like his talent
5. Ollie Peake - I'm all in, he's brilliant - he's the guy to fast track. Victoria should pick and stick somewhere in the middle order, even if it means leaving out someone established.
6. Harry Dixon - He was the best bat at the U19 World Cup that Konstas played in. I like the way Victoria are managing him, slowly introducing him to the side down the order. He's an aggressive left-handed opener, he says David Warner was his inspiration
7. Matthew Gilkes - Looks great, doesn't do it enough. He's a bit like Sam Whiteman in that you see him play and think he'd be better off giving up the gloves at playing as a bat. Super stylish and is only 26, but he needs to bat longer.
8. Corey Rocchiccioli - I say it in hushed tones, but he's better than Todd Murphy and might already have gone past Nathan Lyon. Reminds me a lot of Harbhajan Singh as that taller offie who bowls into the wicket and gets the ball to jump high onto the stickers. I thought it was strange he wasn't with the A squad.
9. Callum Vidler - Quick, aggro, red-head from Queensland - what's not to love? He's short and skiddy, more of that Dale Steyn type but he has genuine 145km+ pace, gets good outswing and has a good bumper. He isn't 20 yet, so they'll need to manage him pretty closely.
10. Joel Paris - His time has probably past, but he could've had a Scott Boland type impact. He has 200 first class wickets at sub-20 and gets beautiful shape into the right-handers. He would've played Test cricket if he wasn't living through the Starc era.
11. Jordan Buckingham - Will he ever play for Australia? Probably not, but he's heaps of fun to watch. Everything he does is about wickets - full length, lots of outswing, nick it or drive through the covers. He goes at more than 3.5 runs per over but his strike rate is comparable to Scott Boland.