Australia announce team

Zaheer is probably the most important player in Indian cricket - we depend on him so much in tests. When we were touring England, Zaheer had Cook and Strauss knocked over within 10 overs in the first match. It would've been such a different story had he have been fit.

He didn't get any wickets in the warm up matches which is a bit worrying. Maybe he was just trying to get his bowling rhythm back rather than push for wickets.

Have to disagree, a fit Zaheer or not would have made little difference in the series in England. It would have taken more than him to stop what happened to India then.

"I have a massive amount of time and respect for Zaheer"

Really? He came to England looking overweight and unfit. No-one was surprised when he broke down.

He's a quality bowler but you have to work hard to stay fit and succeed in Test Cricket. You can't leave anything to chance.

I have the respect and time for Zaheer as he is a world class bowler therefore he gets my respect being a cricket fan. Also being a worcester fan i saw how he bowled all day in a match for us and whilst the rest of the team was in the changing room at the end of the day he stayed out in the nets for about 2 hours every day teaching the young players how to bowl, so yes i have a lot of time and respect for him.

And being an England fan i can sure remember Freddie Flintoff turning up overweight and unfit a few times, didn't hurt my respect for him, or seemingly many England fans.

Comment Deleted by Site Moderator

I think my quoting was misjudged. I don't want to undermine respect people feel for professional cricketers.

It is a little disappointing when these professionals, with these amazing opportunities, can't put the hard yards in when it matters.

And tbh I wasn't all that sad when Freddie called it a day. He was more of a burned on English cricket by then. I'll always remember 2003-2005 and his heroics though.

burden*

zaheer fitness is key for us. without hm we mite just struggle. but aussies are a poor side, very poor in batting these dsays so should be close.

but aussies are a poor side

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one of the daftest clauses of a sentence i have ever read.
australia are not what they once were but they reamian a good team