They put players’ heads on the chopping block but it’s time for Australia’s Test selectors to get a taste of their own medicine
IT’S official - Australian cricket has lost the plot. Selectors have bumbled their way through another series of baffling decisions in Sydney and we’ve had enough, writes Brent O’Neill.
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IT’S official - Australian cricket has lost the plot.
A former Australian first class player told me this during the week:
“Greg Chappell f***** Cricket Australia when he changed the second XI state comp to an underage glorified rep carnival. I could go on and on about it but I’m just regurgitating what first class players of yesteryear have thought and said for a long time now,” he said.
Now, in his role as a Test selector, Chappell is doubling down.
The selections for the fourth and final Test in Sydney - a game Australia must win to avoid becoming our first to lose a home series to India - are baffling.
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Gone are the philosophies that underpinned Australia’s 10-year golden run from the mid-1990s.
Those teams, while significantly better in terms of playing talent, were a product of a strong Sheffield Shield, as well as clear and consistent selection criteria.
Players were picked purely on performance, not potential or age.
It’s not rocket science - selections in cricket, more than any other sport, can be made almost entirely off raw statistics.
If someone is averaging 50 with the bat or 25 with the ball over a sustained period, chances are they can play.
If they’re averaging 34 over 37 Tests, as is the case for 35-year-old Shaun Marsh, chances are it’s time to cut your losses.
Performance should be the foundation of selections and going away from it underlines why the national team is struggling.
Which brings me to the Sydney Test, where I’ll start with Marnus Labuschagne.
I have no issue with him being included as a spin-bowling all-rounder - his legspin offers a point of difference and there’s no doubt he has talent with the bat - but how can you justify throwing him to the wolves at No.3?
Once upon a time, your best batsmen went in at first drop. Think Ricky Ponting or Donald Bradman.
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Labuschagne, still just 24, has played two Tests, has a first class average of 33 and has battled for 254 runs at 28 in the Shield this season.
We’re hearing he will bat at three because that’s where he bats for Queensland.
Can you imagine a rookie like Martin Love occupying the most important position in the order ahead of someone like Ponting because that’s where he bats for Queensland?
As it stands, Australia have moved their best batsman, Usman Khawaja, from that spot in an attempt to paper over the cracks created by those failing around him.
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And while Marsh wouldn’t be anywhere near the XI if I was selecting the team, surely he is more credentialed - with 37 Tests and six hundreds - to bat first drop than Labuschagne.
So to Peter Handscomb, a bloke who was dropped for the last Test because his technique had again been found out, but has been reinstated because he’s “good” at playing spin.
Again, even withstanding horses for courses, whatever happened to earning your spot back?
It’s something greats like Ponting, Steve Smith, Michael Clarke, Matthew Hayden and now-coach Justin Langer were forced to do through weight of runs.
Selectors seem to think there are only 13-14 players to choose from in this country - it’s why so-called all-rounder Mitchell Marsh has been repeatedly returned to the side, despite clear inadequacies.
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But he is another story entirely.
We’ve been told repeatedly by the selection panel, chaired by Trevor Hohns, that no one in Shield cricket is banging the door down and they are therefore free to pick and choose based on gut feel.
It’s a comment as irrelevant as it is inaccurate.
Joe Burns is averaging 47 in 2018-19 and, along with Marcus Harris, is the highest runscorer in Shield cricket over the past two-and-a-half seasons.
Matthew Wade averages 63 this season and has the most Shield runs since the start of 2017-18.
How are they not banging the door down?
Even if they were only averaging 20, if everyone else is averaging 15, they are still the best men for the job.
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These are thoughts echoed by former Test batsman Ed Cowan, himself a victim of NSW’s desire for youth ahead of performance at the start of last season.
Speaking on ABC Grandstand today, Cowan said Australia’s selectors simply weren’t picking the best team possible.
It’s hard to argue with him.
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