IPL: Australian players disappoint

There weren't too many Australian cricketers who had great Australian summers, and that indifferent form carried over into the IPL. Of 29 Australians who have taken the field, few have had much of an impact on proceedings, and even fewer have done so consistently. The best performer with the bat has been Shaun Marsh, hitting 504 runs at an average of 42, and an impressive strike rate of 146.5. Mike Hussey has done well, hitting 429 at 42.9 and a s/r of 117.5, and Shane Watson had his moments with 330 runs and six wickets. Adam Gilchrist made the only century by an Australian and a couple of fifties, but has been far from dominating, while Dave Warner has struggled for the most part, hitting 324 at 25, with a subdued s/r of 117. Some of the other batsmen have struggled to find runs, and a place, with Cameron White, Callum Ferguson and names likes Blizzard, Finch and David Hussey barely making a mark.

On the bowling side, Shane Warne started the tournament extremely well, and still finished with an economy rate of 6.3 and thirteen wickets to be one of the best. Ryan Harris took 16 wickets but was expensive, while Doug Bollinger took 15 wickets with a mixed bag of performances. Brett Lee and Shaun Tait both disappointed. Brad Hodge finshed with reasonably all-round figures, but was inconsistent with the bat, while James Hopes also had some reasonable performances. Dan Christian too, had his moments, but too few to justify his price tag, while many others had limited game time.

If you had to pick an Australian XI based on form in this tournament, it wouldn't be easy. Two players who would make the cut have retired from international cricket (Gilchrist and Warne) while others seem to have slid out of the selectors' picture (Hodge and Hopes). Watson and Mike Hussey showed their class again, but the next wave offered little encouragement for those hoping for a turn around in Australia's short-term future away from Test cricket. The tour of Zimbabwe may shed some more light on hopes for the Test side, and the teams in both long and shoret forms have just been announced.

Australia A one-day squad: Tim Paine (capt), Callum Ferguson (vice-capt), Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, James Faulkner, Ben Hilfenhaus, Aaron Finch, Nathan Lyon, Chris Lynn, Nic Maddison, Mitch Marsh, Mitch Starc, Stephen O'Keefe, David Warner.

Australia A four-day squad: Tim Paine (capt), Callum Ferguson (vice-capt), Michael Beer, Luke Butterworth, Trent Copeland, James Faulkner, Ben Hilfenhaus, Usman Khawaja, Jason Krejza, Phillip Hughes, Nic Maddinson, Mitch Marsh, Mitch Starc, David Warner.