Andrew McDonald

Um, don't know just every test series you turn up to you just desperately want to win and england ashes series even more so like this would probably be my seventh or eighth series for smithian or maybe a bit less six or fifth or something smithian starkey they're probably up to eight nine ten but you still each one's a big series you want to do super well you know it might be your last chance all those kind of things so it'll be good what are your views on the death of basball and stokes retiring as well It's interesting seeing it from afar.

Yeah, obviously you don't really know exactly what happens in anything, but I was surprised, obviously, Captain Coach not that long ago.

And then within the space of a couple of test matches, it's all kind of blown up and moved on.

So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see who's appointed as Captain Coach.

He had 12 months, a long time, so we play him in 12 months.

I wonder if he can make a comeback.

But it is hard in a, in a traveling situation like that.

And Andrew McDonald no doubt does some batting coaching and, and has a view.

Um, but it is tricky.

Dan says, "With the ever-increasing search for competitive edges, why did, uh, would teams be researching umpire biases like they do in Major League Baseball?"

Anyway, get me back.

Andrew McDonald will join it.

[laughs]

Well, I don't think that is what Carlton need.

...

if it's our coach Andrew McDonald, who's got all the information, the data, knows the players, like great strategic brain, if he's telling you something, I, I'd hold that slightly more weight than the punter at the pub.

Yeah.

And I, I think you just...

I think that's where they do most of their work.

[laughs]

Well, it, you, you don't feel, and Andrew McDonald doesn't feel like a captain coach combo that feels like we need to have a meeting about everything, and then essentially have a meeting about a meeting.

Yeah.

Uh, and then they don't want t- to lose him because he's a great bloke, apparently, so the team says.

So he's a part of that, that good bloke makeup that has made up the Australian team since Andrew McDonald's become honors coach, uh, and Pat Cummins as captain as well.

And also, his fielding is outstanding, and he's probably the best fieldsman in the Australian team outside of Steve Smith.

So they don't wanna lose that either, because he takes catches anywhere, and he's fielding, he stops runs, he's terrific in the-- on ground fielding.

You can see it every time he gets out, he, like, crawls off the pitch.

We can all say it, but Bailey, McDonald, you cannot keep saying, oh, he was once the number one batter in the world.

He scored 10 test centuries.

The last one was three years ago.

Because, well, it wouldn't surprise me, actually, that these guys are that short-sighted.

I heard Donna May played in that era, so that would be surprising.

But some of the shit they say, like when McDonald going, oh, Gilchrist should have batted at six.

Fuck off.

So that, that's a bit of a watch.

Uh, but, uh, I, I was surprised they're still gonna take him after the comments around, uh, him during the test series against Bangladesh, where Andrew McDonald called Marnus out for needing runs.

And I do think if you're going to take him and then leave him on the sidelines, that could almost be worse for him.

You, you might actually be better off if you're taking-

Yeah.

Yeah, and that's, and that's exactly why I have...

I mean, if you've listened to this podcast for a few years, I have been critical of the way Cummins and McDonald did things.

They didn't like the, the changeover from McDonald to Langer, et cetera.

Just as it is today.

But yeah, as I said, there's a really important couple of tours coming up for some guys who are right on the fringe there, and I think if they were to grab hold of, um, some opportunity and put some big runs on the board in an Australia A tour, it will make, uh, George Bailey and Andrew McDonald's jobs very difficult.

[laughs]

Yes.