Cricket news: How selector Greg Chappell condemned Test recall of Matthew Wade, warning of dark days ahead
A furious Greg Chappell was so aghast when Australia recalled Matthew Wade to the Test team for his “mongrel” that he delivered a stinging assessment of what would transpire.
Former Australian selector Greg Chappell has revealed his private fury over the day gloveman Matthew Wade was recalled to add “mongrel’’ to an ailing Test team.
Chappell was overruled by his fellow selectors when Wade was one of five players called into the Test team after a sorrowful loss to South Africa in Hobart in 2016 which was one of the lowest points in recent Australian cricket history.
In his new book Not Out (Hardie Grant), Chappell talks about how Australia lost its moral compass in the countdown to the South Africa ball tampering affair in 2018 where a win-at-all-costs attitude triggered a lapse in behavioural standards.
Wade’s recall for the day-night Test in Adelaide meant the capable but less combative Peter Nevill would not play Test cricket again.
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Chappell said Wade was recalled because the team’s leadership reckoned he was the loudest gloveman with “the most mongrel … whatever that means.’’
“I stated ‘that’s never been a criteria for picking a Test team that I have ever heard of, and we shouldn’t be starting now,’’ Chappell wrote.
“As the idea developed in the meeting I just shook my head, saying ‘no, we cannot go down this path.
“Wicketkeepers are very important parts of a team. But not for their yapping, rather for their ability and commitment. One of the best teams that played the game, the West Indies, never said a word. They didn’t have to.’’
Chappell was so angry with the decision to recall Wade that, the instant the selection meeting was over, he walked into the office of Cricket Australia High Performance boss Pat Howard and warned of dark days ahead.
“I said ‘Mate, I just need you to know that for the first time in my life as a selector, I have been involved in something I totally disagree with. Every other selection meeting I’ve had my say, we’ve had a good discussion, a decision is made and we’ve all been comfortable.
“We have just made the wrong decision, and it’s going to end in tears, and I need you to know that from me right now.’’
“A year later, with the team in the first home Test to be selected for the Ashes, it did end in tears for Wade, because this time the team leadership felt a different wicketkeeper was required. I had a strong belief we had the best wicketkeeper in the country staring us in the face: Tim Paine.’’
Wade was dropped for his old backyard rival Paine but later returned to Test cricket as a specialist batsman.
Chappell had been watching Paine closely since giving him rave reviews for his efforts on the 2011 Australia A tour of Zimbabwe though he said Paine was also criticised for being too “self-involved’’ on an Australia A tour of England when he was coming back from a broken finger.
Chappell said he was taken aback when he heard Paine was thinking of retiring to work for Kookaburra in 2017 and send a message via Tasmanian talent manager Michael Farrell to urge him not to retire “because he is only one injury away from playing for Australia.’’
Chappell and Paine had a coffee in Hobart when Chappell urged Paine, “as a friend rather than a selector’’ not to retire.
Ussie ready to open, but Aussies might have other ideas
Marnus Labuschagne has declared Usman Khawaja could handle a Test match return as opener but Australia may have a different plan for him in the Ashes.
The battle is on for the vacant positions of David Warner’s opening partner and No.5 in the first Test against England at the Gabba next month and form over the next few Sheffield Shield games will be telling.
It appears Victorian Marcus Harris, in excellent recent form though hampered by a Test average of 23, is the frontrunner for the opening position given that incumbent Will Pucovski has again been sidelined with concussion issues and is expected to be unavailable.
This would leave Khawaja to duel with Travis Head for the No.5 spot, a tight tussle if ever there was one.
It is not as if Khawaja cannot open.
He averages 96 in his seven innings as a Test opener and Labuschagne pointed out those figures included a Pink ball Test century in Adelaide (against South Africa).
But he has been batting at No.4 for Queensland over the past two summers and is now seen as more suited to a middle order role, particularly after twin Sheffield Shield centuries this season.
“He (Khawaja) is batting beautifully, especially his innings (174) in Adelaide,’’ said Labuschagne, accompanied by his pet dog Milo at a celebration of the Brisbane Heat’s first season offering pet memberships.
“It was quite a tough wicket. We ground it out together for about five hours. He looked good. His game was very organised. He was pulling the ball well which was always a good sign to how he is batting, if he is playing a pull shot just off the top of the stumps if they just miss their length.
“To see him play those sorts of shots gives me a lot of confidence.’’
Former Test captain Ian Chappell said this week that Khawaja was a good player of ordinary bowling but Labuschagne feels he is better than that.
“He averages over 40 in Test cricket … he’s certainly a great player.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion but Usman is batting well and you can only score runs against the opposition you are facing at the time. Hopefully he keeps piling the runs on and we see him in a Test spot.
“It is a bit stiff to say he is not sort of scoring runs against a high quality pace attack … he is not playing in the Ashes. He has certainly showed he can bat anywhere so if he is batting in the middle or at the top of the order there is no stress.
“He is very tempoed and he is a very good leaver of the ball and we know how important that is in the first game at the Gabba.’’
Khawaja has not played a Test since the 2019 Ashes tour but was named as a shadow player for the cancelled Test tour of South Africa earlier this year.
Australia will play a three-day trial match in Brisbane from December 1 before naming its Ashes squad.
Why Khawaja should leapfrog Pucovski as opener
— Ben Horne
Usman Khawaja should be the new favourite to partner David Warner in the Ashes in a move which could also benefit young blood Will Pucovski.
The focus of Australian selectors last summer understandably moved towards the future, but in an Ashes year, planning needs to be put to one side and the focus purely on the here and now of getting the job done.
Khawaja will turn 35 before the Boxing Day Test, but his back-to-back Sheffield Shield centuries presents an almost irrefutable case ahead of a series Australia cannot risk losing following the humiliation of losing to India on home soil twice in three summers.
The Ashes is the most heavy-duty series of them all, and Khawaja’s Test record on home soil is proven beyond doubt, averaging nearly 53 from 24 matches with six centuries.
There is hope Victorian batting prodigy Will Pucovksi might return from his latest head knock in next week’s return Sheffield Shield clash against NSW at the MCG. But even if the 23-year-old is able to put his name forward for first Test selection against England, Australia might prefer easing him down the order rather than thrusting him into the furnace of opening the batting in an Ashes.
Fellow Victorian and out and out opener Marcus Harris has built a strong case to hold his place from last summer’s final Test. He’s in a position (41 not out) to make a ton against NSW on Friday, which would back up an excellent winter against the moving ball in English county cricket where he made four centuries.
But Harris’ Test average of just 23.77 from 10 Tests leaves him vulnerable when the stakes are so high and he hasn’t taken his previous opportunities at the top level. There can be no second guessing in an Ashes.
Khawaja averages 40.66 from 44 Tests, and although his patchy record overseas has left him sidelined from the Test side since the last Ashes in 2019, there can be no doubting the left-hander’s reliability on Australian pitches.
A convincing 119 off 184 balls against Tasmania in Townsville follows a last-start 174 against South Australia and it’s difficult to see how the veteran would need to do too much more to secure a place in Australia’s squad at least for the first Test starting on December 8.
Khawaja is Queensland captain and a natural leader and besides everything else could be a cool head under pressure for Australia.
He has known David Warner since he was a kid and although he’s batting at No.4 for Queensland at the moment, his pedigree is as a top three batsman and opening wouldn’t daunt him, particularly with the series starting on his home deck at the Gabba.
Khawaja was on standby for this year’s tour of South Africa before it was cancelled, and it’s clear there is healthy mutual respect between him and coach Justin Langer despite claims to the contrary.
Australian selectors see Pucovski as an opener – hence why he made his debut at the top of the order at the SCG last summer – but if there’s an option to take pressure off the country’s most impressive young batsman for the Ashes then it needs to be considered.
It’s not that batting at No.5 safeguards Pucovski from being hit on the helmet, but it does allow him to settle into his rhythm without the intensity and expectation that comes with opening the innings.
Pucovski is no certainty to be fit or rushed back, especially given South Australia’s Travis Head has started the summer as arguably the most in-form batsman in the country other than Khawaja.
There’s no doubt Pucovski, Head and Harris are the future for Australia, but no matter what combination selectors go with this summer, it’s difficult to see how Khawaja’s presence won’t improve a top six with holes to be filled.
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