I was reading Bill Bryson's
Down Under today, and came across this (my emphasis):
It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavours look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect.
...
The upshot was that Australia was giving England a good thumping, but then Australia pretty generally does. In fact, Australia pretty generally beats most people at most things.
How have the mighty fallen...
But well played to India as well. Even without the rain they pretty much had control of the series by the middle of day 2 of this Test.
tbh I don't remember smith's technique, but I don't think someone who is suspended for cheating can be the best .....
Purely as a technical judgement, Smith was unquestionably the No 1 Test batsman in the world, performing in a wide variety of conditions and bailing Australia out of more bad situations than they had a right to expect. I cited it earlier, but he made 1,000 Test runs at a 70 average four calendar years in a row... Kohli was equally clearly the No 1 ODI batsman, and has been the best Test batsman over the last year.
On current team form, I expect Smith and probably Warner to be fast-tracked back into ODI and Test teams the instant the bans expire. And Smith probably has a fair chance to return to No 1 at some point.
Talking about team form, what changes would people make for the Sri Lanka Tests? I would hope Australia has a better chance to win (playing a lower-ranked team at home...), but at a minimum I'd like to see Burns or Renshaw coming in to open with Harris and Khawaja at his "normal" place at 3.