Cricket selectors weighing up whether it's worth picking Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach for Australia's T20 team

AUSTRALIA'S cricket selectors are bracing for another controversy on whether they have the courage to pick T20 stars Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach.

AUSTRALIA'S under-fire cricket selectors are bracing for another controversy on whether they have the courage to pick controversial Twenty20 stars Shaun Marsh and Luke Pomersbach.

The two destructive batsmen sit on top of the Big Bash runscoring charts this season with Marsh and Pomersbach lifting the Perth Scorchers and the Brisbane Heat into tomorrow night's domestic T20 final in Perth.

On form, the great mates should be the first batsmen picked in Australia's side for two Twenty20 games against Sri Lanka and one against the West Indies later this summer.

But the bleak disciplinary record of the duo could be held against them.

Former Test batsman Marsh, 29, suffered his latest behavioural black mark when was demoted from the WA Sheffield Shield team last October following a boozy night out while in South Africa for the Champions League.

And Pomersbach, 28, who has turned his life around since moving to Queensland, was suspended four times by the WACA and escaped a jail sentence in 2009 after assaulting a police officer following a drink-driving arrest.

So will Australia take a chance on the pair with the colourful disciplinary history?

The good news for the duo is that Test and one-day skipper Michael Clarke is in their corner and sees no reason why they shouldn't get an Australian T20 call-up if their form warrants it.

The bad news is that Clarke is not in the T20 side and is not a T20 selector. Straight-laced T20 skipper George Bailey and the tough task-master John Inverarity will make the call.

"Fortunately I am not the Twenty20 captain, so I don't have to worry about that selection," Clarke said yesterday.

"But if they keep performing the way they are performing, I don't see any reason why they won't be up the top of the queue when the selectors are talking about the T20 games coming up.

"It's about performance. It is exciting for Shaun and Luke - they are very good friends and I know they would both love to play for Australia again."

Tomorrow night's Big Bash final will provide another big stage for the pair but both are already off to India later this year with the Scorchers and the Heat having already qualified for the Champions League in September.

It is the ultimate case of redemption for Pomersbach who went off the rails in WA but has become a better person and cricketer in Queensland.

"It's really exciting to see him performing well and I think the Heat deserve a lot of credit and (Heat coach) Darren Lehmann deserves a lot of credit for going out on a limb and getting Pomers to Brisbane," Clarke said.

"Luke also deserves a lot of credit to have made the move to Queensland without having a contract, that took a lot of courage."


THE TOP BIG BASH RUNSCORERS THIS SEASON

Shaun Marsh (Perth Scorchers) - 396 runs - eight matches - strike rate 133.78
Luke Pomersbach (Brisbane Heat) - 360 runs - nine matches - strike rate 146.34

The next best

Brad Hodge (Melb Stars) - 342 runs - nine matches - strike rate 144.91
Aaron Finch (Melb Renegades) - 332 runs - eight matches - strike rate 125.75
Ben Rohrer (Melb Renegades) - 295 runs - eight matches - strike rate 152.06