Smokey_22 said:
How could you question Gilchrist's place? He's still the better keeper by far. And yeah, he can still bat a bit.
If this was say, the second Test, dropping a player such as Gilchrist or Hayden for the one match could have been just the spark the Australians needed.
Playing for the Australian team has clearly become something that the team take for granted nowadays.
I won't disagree that Gilly is by far the better 'keeper. He and Sangakkara are probably the only two in the world who can 'keep well to Shane Warne. Obviously the Sri Lankan outstrips Gilly in his ability to 'keep to Murali, but Gilchrist is a better batsman.
What is his batting average in this series, though? Seriously, it must be around about 20 or 25. He is the most talented batsman in the Australian side and he is failing miserably.
Perhaps we have just come to expect such high standards from the man that as soon as he lets us down, questions are raised.
However, his average of 56 has been instrumental in recent years in helping the tail wag, as it has done once again this series.
Hayden is out of form in the Test arena. Martyn and Gilchrist, though, have shown an uncanny ability to get their eye in but then get out cheaply. Both of them have not set up camp and batted for a whole session yet. This coming from two batsmen averaging over 50 in Test match cricket.
It's not as if batting against England is THAT hard. At least, it's not as hard as it's been made out to look. Evidence of this lies in the simple fact that Shane Warne and Brett Lee are both in the top three or four for Australian batting averages this series, and Glenn McGrath has managed to score about 30 runs without getting out once. Gillespie once again managed to stick around for at least 50 balls most innings, so batting couldn't have been much tougher for him than normally. Kasprowicz has been rock solid with the willow in his hands.
Why is this all happening? Because the batsmen from 8 through 11 are deciding to show some grit. They put their heads down, bums up, and try as hard as they can.
What has Gilchrist done in comparison? Ahhh, he was tied down for three balls by Ashley Giles, so he charged down the pitch and tried to smack him for six. Unfortunately, he mistimed it straight to mid-on.
If Gilchrist and Martyn decided that they would be there at the end of they session or at the end of the day, and then they played to this plan ... just on the back of this ALONE, Australia would have wrapped up the Ashes by now.
