Henriques in Australian side

[GVGjr]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

This is quite a bump but is Henriques every likely to become a regular Australian cricketer in any for of the game?

He seems to be in the fringes of selection for the limited over versions but never quite gets there. His fielding and strong arm from the out field is something that should be seen as a positive in the limited over games.
CA must rate him given that he was named as captain for the Australian A side but I think the emergence of Faulkner really means that Henriques has to grab a top 6 batting spot if he is to play test cricket.

Is this highly unlikely?

[Bulldog Joe]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

It would seem highly unlikely.

As you say the emergence of Faulkner has really taken the place that Henriques could claim.

The space is there for anyone who can really claim a batting spot, so that would appear his only realistic chance.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

Can the older posters help me out.

From say Katich onwards, the tag of future captain and dead cert to have a long career has been a tag that has been almost a poison chalice. Enter Moises.

Katich (captain tag at least), White, Paine, Henriques, Hughes, Smith, Wade, Warner?, Hauritz, Doherty (ODIs), Ferguson, Khawaja etc, etc.

Are we expecting too much?
Are the form in different formats screwing up perceptions?

Was it always like this? I can only guess that the 80's would have seen the anointed ones bring the Waughs, Moody, Slater etc,etc. Or has there always been an element of this?

[GVGjr]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

It's a good point you raise. Previously there was only a few players as genuine options to be included in the Australian side. Now there are about 30 players across the 3 forms of the game in contention.

While it provides opportunities and gives players a fantastic chance to earn a great income I think it places too much anticipation of someone having a break out season when they first come into a side. Not many can do what Mike Hussey did when he arrived.

Henriques has gone past the expectation phase and now needs to deliver otherwise he will be like Cameron White who just never quite reached his potential.

Henriques needs to peel off some good scores with the bat and then wait for an injury to someone like Watson. We seem to want that 5th bowler so the door is always ajar.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

It's a good point you raise. Previously there was only a few players as genuine options to be included in the Australian side. Now there are about 30 players across the 3 forms of the game in contention.

While it provides opportunities and gives players a fantastic chance to earn a great income I think it places too much anticipation of someone having a break out season when they first come into a side. Not many can do what Mike Hussey did when he arrived.

Henriques has gone past the expectation phase and now needs to deliver otherwise he will be like Cameron White who just never quite reached his potential.

Henriques needs to peel off some good scores with the bat and then wait for an injury to someone like Watson. We seem to want that 5th bowler so the door is always ajar.

When you think about the last period or so, Katich, Hayden, Langer and Martyn (in, then out), Hussey, Klinger, Siddons, Maher (ODIs), Lehmann (these just come to mind first) and some of the Tassie boys a decade ago actually made serious runs and showed that they could protect their wicket while scoring at 3.5 or 4 an over at test match level. The cynic in me thinks that flashy players like Maxwell and Maddinson are getting mentioned based on their ability to score, especially in 20/20. At test/SS level, they're not scoring any quicker, yet seem not to have the ability to protect their wicket and consistently score serious runs. I would like to see consistent form at the level they're being picked for, like the good old days. The murder of the ryobi cup this year makes it even harder to work form out, the selectors will have test/ SS and domestic 20/20 to work if out. I'm not sure who at state level currently will make 1,000 runs this season. And on that, is that standard too high?

[lemmon]

Re: Henriques in Australian side

When you think about the last period or so, Katich, Hayden, Langer and Martyn (in, then out), Hussey, Klinger, Siddons, Maher (ODIs), Lehmann (these just come to mind first) and some of the Tassie boys a decade ago actually made serious runs and showed that they could protect their wicket while scoring at 3.5 or 4 an over at test match level. The cynic in me thinks that flashy players like Maxwell and Maddinson are getting mentioned based on their ability to score, especially in 20/20. At test/SS level, they're not scoring any quicker, yet seem not to have the ability to protect their wicket and consistently score serious runs. I would like to see consistent form at the level they're being picked for, like the good old days. The murder of the ryobi cup this year makes it even harder to work form out, the selectors will have test/ SS and domestic 20/20 to work if out. I'm not sure who at state level currently will make 1,000 runs this season. And on that, is that standard too high?

Its an extrememly good point, I'm reading Pontings autobiography at the moment and the names he battled against for a spot were amazing: Siddons, Hayden, Langer, Blewitt, Elliot, Martyn, Gilchrist, Law, Lehmann, Symonds etc. They were all early/mid 20's, incredibly hungry and incredibly talented, the baggy green was the goal and to get there they needed 4, 5, 6 hundreds a season, 1000 runs and an average 60+. No doubt the pitches are greener now, the short forms have disrupted techniques and the bowling strength of Shield attacks I'd argue is now deeper but the biggest and perhaps most overlooked reason is simply that the batsman going around today arent as talented.

Talent is cyclical and at the moment we are experiencing a trough, that doesn't mean we temper expectation or simply let nature take its course but I simply believe that at the moment the talent is not in the system to the extent it was 15 years ago. To be fair that group was far from the norm, it is probably the deepest and best Australias batting has ever run, at least since the time of the Invicibles. To judge this generation or any generation by the same standards is incredibly unrealistic.

The Poms may be having this very same conversation about there current top 6 in 10 years time