Ponting repalcement

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-sri-lanka-2012/content/current/story/595361.html

Suggestion seems to be that Cricket Oz didnt trust Phughes or Kwhjja\hjbvuhchj against SA and didnt think it was afir on the poor dears to make them lay against decent attacks.
Instead Hughes is to be given a chance to rack up a soft hundred in Sri Lanka and make everythink hes wonderful again in time to be made a fool of in anoter Ashes series.


Someone has to play at 3.

One rumour is that the batting line-up could be completely rejigged: Watson to open, Warner to 5, Hughes to 3 and Clarke to 4

Warner at 5? Strange, to say the least!.

Clarke at 4 makes some sense though.

I wouldn't disagree too much with Clarke moving up to 4, though given how many runs he's scoring at the moment you could wonder if it's a good idea. Warner at 5 strikes me as a bit bizarre though. I think Warner struggles to start against spin, and in SL coming in at 5 that's what will happen, and it negates his taking advantage of a hard new ball.

I was surprised when Hughes was picked I must say, not so much in that I believe he doesn't deserve another chance, but it will make for a strange re-jigging of the batting order if you have to accomodate 4 openers in there. Maybe Hughes will bat 4 (or 5)? takes out his struggles against the moving ball to an extent, and he's a pretty good player of spin IIRC.

To be fair the article is quite explicit in stating that his return is dependant on proving that hes overcome the technical issues taht allowed England and NZ to work him out (literaly)

But Im sure weve been down that road once already.

I'd rather see the top three stay the same, Clarke 4, Hughes 5 and Hussey 6.

Here is the article suggesting that Warner might move to 5, by Malcolm Conn, http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-news/clarke-watson-move-order/38970

Another recent article by Conn which is good value is this one: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/cricket/australia-on-verge-of-test-summit-with-victory-all-but-certain-in-adelaide/story-e6frey50-1226523657068