Australian cricket Team of the Decade: Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke in star XI
In the past decade Australian cricket witnessed the emergence of the best batsman since Don Bradman and a stunning Ashes whitewash. But also some deeply flawed teams. So who makes Crash Craddock’s best XI of the past decade?
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Mr Cricket has done it again.
Six years into retirement Mike Hussey has performed one last rescue mission.
Not for Australia but for this column as we pick Australia’s Test team of the decade.
The first thing you realise when you pick the team of the second decade of the century is that you simply run out of batsmen.
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Names like Usman Khawaja and Adam Voges float through the discussion. You realise that if it was one more years worth of Test cricket Marnus Labuschagne may well be a surprise candidate.
But sitting quietly in the first three years of the decade stand Hussey’s nine Test centuries which make him a thoroughly deserved, dignified choice.
Where the top order was a question of who could fit in, the bowling line-up was a question of who to leave out.
A drum roll please for ...
DAVID WARNER: Played his entire 81-Test career this decade and left an indelible mark with a gung ho approach that changed the game. Often struggled overseas against the swinging or seaming ball but at home where he could strike confidently through the line of the ball was a master intimidator.
CHRIS ROGERS: Some may see him as a surprise choice but the nuggety opener did a deceptively good job in a 25 Test career which featured five centuries, barely a weak opponent, and a most impressive sign-off when he averaged 60 in his last Test series in England. Recalled in his mid-30s, his progress was a victory for the gnarled, battled hardened professional in a snatch and grab world.
STEVE SMITH: Not even the ball-tampering affair can detract from the fact he was the batting juggernaut of the decade. Enough said.
MICHAEL CLARKE: His form faded late but his numbers are still gold-plated and he deserved a Test average of 49 for the professional way he handled a career-long back injury which would have been a major handbrake to the less dedicated. A polarising figure but gets the captaincy on the strength of his on-field nous.
MIKE HUSSEY: Under-rated middle-order hustler who averaged 51, 42 and 59 in the first three years of the decade, signing off on top with four tons in his last full year. His strike rate in his last three years were the swiftest of his career as Mr Cricket let his hair down.
SHANE WATSON: Faded as a bowler in his last few years of Tests but, for all the flack he copped in failing to become the matchwinner Australia craved him to be, was a solid performed in a turbulent era. Did best in teams captained by someone who he gelled with, such as Ricky Ponting.
BRAD HADDIN: Nudges out Tim Paine by a feather in the toughest selection call of all. Tough player whose effort to construct a 61-test career while having the permanent concern over the health of his daughter Mia was one of Australia’s most underrated feats of mental resilience. An honourable mention to Paine for his exceptional work as a leader after being appointed captain midway through a Test match.
PAT CUMMINS: The once fragile fast man has turned himself into an iron man with a sustained burst of excellence that has all of his key stats columns – strike rate, average and economy – walking with the greats of the game. Significantly his record away is even better than at home, always the mark of a champion.
MITCHELL JOHNSON: Such was the force of his 2013-14 series (37 wickets at 14) against England that more than 20 English players and staff lose their positions after he effectively dismantled their cricket system from the top down. Occasionally blew hot and cold but his hottest work had more sizzle than any dish served up by a teammate, not simply this decade but this century.
NATHAN LYON: Bowled more balls in Tests than anyone from any nation in a decade in which only Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad took more wickets. Australia would have been lost without him as he taken more than 140 Test wickets than any teammate.
MITCHELL STARC: Enigmatic performer but had five good years in the decade.
RYAN HARRIS (12th man): Pips Josh Hazlewood for the final pace place in the squad. Brilliant bowler who often played through injury. When Darren Lehmann was asked which of the group of retired players he missed most in the time he answered “Harris’’ in a heartbeat.
Originally published as Australian cricket Team of the Decade: Steve Smith, Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke in star XI