Cricinfo doesn't come with the CHannel 9 team.� Yay Cricinfo.Someone want to run me through the Broom thing ?
On a slightly different matter, can anyone explain to me why Grant Elliott is in this team?
Im not a huge Elliot fan but his ODI record is actually pretty good, has done well in some tight spots for us aswell. In this team in particular I guess he is in Piggys spot, who would you have in front of him? Don't say Matthew Sinclair, Cumming is the one over there who could come in.
I know his record is OK, what I want to know is what's his role in the team?
He's not a good enough batsman to play in the top 6 at international level, and if he doesn't bowl at all, what the hell is he in the team for? Know that he had to be played last night because of Ryder's injury to provide some bowling cover if needed, but his place in the squad mystifies me, his record notwithstanding.
If he's an all-rounder, how come he's in the squad ahead of Franklin, who's better with both bat and ball? If he's a batsman, why not go with someone who has more talent, is younger, and gives us more batting depth? Particularly thinking of How here - could re-jig the batting order to make that work.
The reality is, Elliott is a decent player, but is limited - I think he's well aware of this, and he plays accordingly, and good luck to him. From a wider selection point of view though, I can't really understand what the selectors are trying to achieve with the way they've been picking the sides. I mean, when you take a 14-man squad to Australia and only pick 5 specialist batsmen plus McCullum it really gets you thinking. I nearly cried when I saw the 11 we had last night, it's a miracle we managed to pull it off.