Friends lets look @ Reality What chapell says is of no use People can only talk but truth is Punter cannot be replaced the Australian cricket Management should have allowed transition phase which they haven't hence its very tough keeping all these Points. They have to analyze and get in a Young batsman who can step in and can have a long career.

Khawaja for me with Doolan a close second.

Posted by   on (December 4, 2012, 1:45 GMT)

Mr Chappell said that MJ Clarke had his chance at n° 3 spot as a debutant, it is wrong, MJ Clarke has made his debut against India at n° 6 and since then he moved up at n° 4, he had one chance at n° 3 against the West Indies in Perth in 2009, he made 25 in the 2nd innings replacing Punter retired hurt in the 1st innings. MJ Clarke is ready for the n° 3 spot.

Fantastic analysis by Ian Chappell, there are not too many who know the game better then him. Punter was a legend and I think he could have gone on longer if he wanted but he is a team man and the moment he thought he couldn't contribute to his standards he retired, hats off to him. He is right about the options available for his replacements, as a Bulls fan I would be biased towards Usman but he has earned it too, thanks to his batting this year we are at the top of the shield table, he single handidly won the game against Tasmania where his 140 odd outscored the Tasmanian's total. I think he is exactly what we need in the top order. I also think selectors should give Quiney another chance but for Hughes leave him in shield as he needs more time and runs to work out his technical issues.

ACB should have thought of that before asking Ricky to resign. Or if they did not ask, then they should have known this and should have asked Ricky to postpone until someone grows a little bit into his shoes.

Khawjaa for Punter and Hughes for Cowan.

I think Chappell is one of the more intelligent commentators around. I agree with him that we should have a 21 year old ready to come in but the fact is that we have some very good 24 and 25 year olds in great form. Khawaja is the man i think we must get in as he is the best number 3 or 4 around. His batting this year speaks for itself with centuries against some very good attacks on tough decks. But for me the biggest improvement in Khawaja's game has been his fielding and running between the wickets. In the Ryobi games I have seen intend and urgency in his game which was missing last year. Hopefully he continues to improve and work on these aspects which the selectors gave him as we need this young man in the team as he will add stability to our top order.

For me our batting let us down, had we got runs in on day 2 we would have been on the top. For the Sri Lanka series Khawaja must be bought in. He scored 138 against Tasmania when they as a team only got 95. And that Tasmanian team included the likes of Bailey, Paine, Cosgrove, and Doolan. He also top scored against NSW which included a star NSW attack of Starc, Hazelwood, Bollinger and Copeland. For me the most impressive improvement has been his running between the wickets and fielding which everyone has seen in the Ryobi cup. A big score in the Chairman's X1 game and he will be picked as Punter's replacement which is well deserved.