Just something a little further to the non-selection of Glenn Maxwell and Chris Tremain in yesterday’s Test squad, mainly because it has wonderful to hear people like Ricky Ponting and Allan Border also coming out and publicly wondering just what the selectors are doing in this situation.
There are mixed opinions on Maxwell’s ability and whether or not he deserves to be selected. My opinion tends to change from week to week depending on what he has done, but he has always shown that he does have some ability with bat and ball and in the field, and I wonder whether that has been utilised properly at any time. Whether he deserves preferential treatment in this isn’t what is being discussed. What he does deserve is a level playing field, and I’m not sure he has been getting that.
When he came back from Bangladesh last year, having played in the final two Tests against India and both Tests against Bangladesh, he was dropped from the First Test against England in Brisbane in favour of Shaun Marsh. I ranted in another blog post at the time that it seemed a bit harsh, and that the selection criteria that was being used to select the Test team seemed to be weighed against different players in different ways. I felt the same when Peter Handscomb was then summarily dumped after the Second Test to allow the younger Marsh to be reinstated. Both Maxwell and Handscomb seemed to get little favour despite their efforts on the subcontinent, and although both Marsh brothers went on to score two centuries apiece in the Ashes series it didn’t feel as though that was reason enough for how they had been shoehorned back into the team
Last season Maxwell was told to go away and score more runs to force his way back. Well, as that Test match unfolded he slaughtered the New South Wales team for 278 at North Sydney Oval. Pretty emphatic. While it was his only first-class century for the summer, he also made a handy 91 in a tough match at the MCG to further showcase his virtue. He was ignored for the South African tour, but was flown across with both Joe Burns and Matt Renshaw after the ball tampering debacle left three players being flown home in disgrace. He missed out on a place in the 4th Test, but had surely better claims to come.
With the ‘New Australia’ beginning under Langer and Paine, Maxwell was hoping to show what he could do on the A tour to India in the hope of forcing his way into the squad for the upcoming Pakistan tour. He was not chosen for A tour though, which he took as a positive that he had nothing to prove and would instead be an automatic selection. On Tuesday that proved not to be the case.
What players and armchair critics alike want to see is accountability, and clear reasons why players have or have not been selected. By using lines like ‘we want to see more runs’ as the reason one player is not selected, and yet have others in the squad whose raw figures are less impressive than those of the player left out, leaves one to opine that there is more to the non-selection that what is being said.
There is an obvious necessity to rebuild the image of Australian cricket, and no doubt that will mean looking past a player if they do not believe he is a ‘team’ player, or is a person who doesn’t tow the line in the way the current leadership group believes they should. It is not unknown in the general public that Maxwell has rubbed some people the wrong way in the way he does some things, and that some of these (formerly) influential people had marked his card against him playing again.
In last season’s Sheffield Shield season, Joe Burns scored 725 runs at 55.76 with two centuries, Travis Head 738 runs at 46.12 with two centuries, and Glenn Maxwell 707 runs at 50.50 with 1 double century. Compared to the figures of Marnus Labuschagne with 795 runs at 39.75 and two centuries, and Aaron Finch with 494 runs at 35.28 with one century, and you seem to have an anomaly stacking up. Of course, selection isn’t just about numbers, but when the coach and Chairman of Selectors use this as their argument, it becomes an argument that has to be investigated.
If he is seen as someone who has issues around the team, then he needs to be told this so that it can be rectified. If indeed it is just that they want more runs from him, then the selectors need to be able to account for that in all of their selections and non-selections, not just on certain individuals.
The bowling selections offer just as much confusion, especially in the case where one obvious outstanding candidate for selection has been bypassed by three others with less credentials in almost every category. Chris Tremain is an extremely unfortunate young man given his form over a long period of time, and in conditions that the team is expected to encounter in the UAE.
I sat with my son Josh at the SCG almost two years ago for the fourth day of the Shield match between NSW and Victoria, and as Jon Holland tried to dismiss the strong Blues batting Chris Tremain was at the other end frightening them out. On an up and down crumbling track Tremain’s pace and bounce was exactly what you wanted to see from your fast bowler in those conditions.
His figures speak for themselves. Last season he took 51 wickets at 21.07. The previous season he took 42 wickets at 18.97. On the recent A tour in India in the two games he took 6 wickets at 22.00. If the selectors had the hide to tell him he wasn’t selected because they wanted to see him do more in first class cricket, Tremain had every right to ping a cricket ball right at them. With two of the ‘big three’ not going on this tour, surely, he was the perfect player to fill one of those positions. Instead, the experienced Peter Siddle is touring, while uncapped and for the most part untested Michael Neser and Brendan Doggett get themselves a trip. Last season in the Shield Neser took 39 wickets at 21.84, and Doggett 28 wickets at 27.71. Both good, but not as good as Tremain.
It’s quite possible that in the long run, missing out bowling on the dead tracks of the UAE may be the best career move Tremain will meet. Certainly, he’d be much more likely to enjoy a shot at the Gabba or perhaps the new stadium in Perth. However, that doesn’t make up for the fact that he deserved to be chosen for this tour, and that is what is most troubling.
I mentioned this a year ago. If teams are no longer going to be chosen on current form, but instead are chosen on gut feel or because certain people have a liking for certain players, the the whole system is going to come crashing down.
It really is a new era in Australian cricket, and while the result of the Tests against Pakistan will be the real acid test for how the team is traveling, any failure with bat or ball will be monitored and will have the follow up line…”If only they had chosen Maxwell and Tremain”.
Thursday, 13 September 2018
Tuesday, 11 September 2018
Australian Squad to tour Pakistan
Look, I know I tend to get on here and rant and rave about the cricket as though I know everything about the game and everyone else is subservient to my own immense knowledge on the subject. And yes I do realise that I am probably only correct about 17% of the time with what I write about. But it is officially the start of the cricket season today with the announcement of the Test team to tour UAE against Pakistan, and already the selectors have pissed me off. Wouldn’t have thought that was possible, would you? Well it is, and here is why.
1. The selectors have named a fifteen man squad, but the media have come out saying “Justin Langer has named his first Test squad”. Now I know the coach is one of the selectors, and that is still wrong, but that argument is for another day. But come on media, there is more than one selector, and Langer isn’t even the Chairman! Please get this right in the future.
2. The batsmen pretty much selected themselves, especially with the advance notice (ie. Leaks) that Aaron Finch and Marnus Labuschagne were more or less locks at the selection table. Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja and the Marsh brothers were always going, and it is good to see Travis Head get his chance. But there has to be some questions asked about overlooking the three batsmen who were sent to South Africa that are now superfluous to the squad. Peter Handscomb perhaps just doesn’t have the form on the board, while surely Glen Maxwell has just pissed too many people off to be given another chance. He’s done nothing wrong last year in India and Bangladesh, and hasn’t been sighted since. There’s more to this than is being said publicly. Why haven’t the media with their sources been able to give us this story? Labuschagne is man preferred for his spot, and he does have the kind of temperament that the ‘New Australia’ is probably looking for. And Joe Burns has again been treated like dogshit, given one Test after flying in just two days before the match after a stellar Shield season, but not required for the next tour. It’s pretty ordinary stuff if you ask me.
3. Aaron Finch is going to be the main beneficiary of David Warner’s exile from national colours. He must be odds on to become ODI captain and lead Australia to next years World Cup, and now on white ball form almost alone he has found his way into the Test squad. Everyone will hope that he succeeds, but we all see the same deficiencies in his defensive technique that are likely to be exposed at the highest level in Test cricket. The interesting thing to see is will he open alongside Renshaw, or will he slot into the middle order, with Khawaja opening and Shaun Marsh at three perhaps? Whatever happens, he has the opportunity now to lock down his place for years to come with a big 12 months in all forms of the game.
4. I haven’t seen enough of Brendan Doggett or Michael Neser, but if either is more deserving of a place in this squad than Chris Tremain then I am an extremely bad judge. And that is quite possible. I saw bits and pieces of both in last seasons BBL and the last Shield games streamed on CA app, and while they look handy they didn’t seem to be anywhere near ready for this step. Tremain on the other hand has topped the Shield aggregates for the past two seasons, and when I’ve seen him up close at the SCG he is frightening. Along with pretty good returns in the recent A tour in India, I cannot believe he is not in the team to open the bowling with Starc given the absence of Hazelwood and Cummins. It is a staggering decision, given they have also recalled Peter Siddle. Which brings me to this…
5. Peter Siddle, the ‘People’s Champ’, has had a great season In English County cricket, taking plenty of wickets and doing a great job for his county. But that has been on seaming wickets in helpful conditions with a Duke ball. Australia is going to the UAE on dead wickets in 40+ degree heat. No help there. Is Siddle the best option for those conditions? Is he just going because the team needs and experienced campaigner? I don’t know, and while I am not completely against his selection in the squad, I wonder if he is going to be just carrying baggage.
6. Three spinners have been chosen, and don’t think for a moment that the selectors aren’t think about playing all three of them, and relying on Agar’s improving batting to act as an all round option. The wickets will dictate what the balance is, but given Australia has struggled to score runs from anyone whose names isn’t Smith or Warner they will be look to get runs from wherever they can. Nathan Lyon will be the fulcrum of the attack, but as to whether Holland or Agar or both play will be another selection crucial to the outcome of the series.
7. Tim Paine retains the keepers role and the captaincy, though his holding of either role in 6 months time still seems to be being debated. The advancement of Carey as keeper and Mitch Marsh as captain is being kept warm through innuendo of those that have an ear close to the selectors, so Paine will be looking to not only continue his clean keeping, but also keep adding to his run tally – and better yet, win the series!
What does this squad say about the direction the leaders of the team are heading? It opens a lot of questions that are yet to be answered definitively, and it looks as though there is a lot left to faith in regards to some selections. It does at least bring a lot to look forward to when the series starts on October 7.
2. The batsmen pretty much selected themselves, especially with the advance notice (ie. Leaks) that Aaron Finch and Marnus Labuschagne were more or less locks at the selection table. Matt Renshaw, Usman Khawaja and the Marsh brothers were always going, and it is good to see Travis Head get his chance. But there has to be some questions asked about overlooking the three batsmen who were sent to South Africa that are now superfluous to the squad. Peter Handscomb perhaps just doesn’t have the form on the board, while surely Glen Maxwell has just pissed too many people off to be given another chance. He’s done nothing wrong last year in India and Bangladesh, and hasn’t been sighted since. There’s more to this than is being said publicly. Why haven’t the media with their sources been able to give us this story? Labuschagne is man preferred for his spot, and he does have the kind of temperament that the ‘New Australia’ is probably looking for. And Joe Burns has again been treated like dogshit, given one Test after flying in just two days before the match after a stellar Shield season, but not required for the next tour. It’s pretty ordinary stuff if you ask me.
3. Aaron Finch is going to be the main beneficiary of David Warner’s exile from national colours. He must be odds on to become ODI captain and lead Australia to next years World Cup, and now on white ball form almost alone he has found his way into the Test squad. Everyone will hope that he succeeds, but we all see the same deficiencies in his defensive technique that are likely to be exposed at the highest level in Test cricket. The interesting thing to see is will he open alongside Renshaw, or will he slot into the middle order, with Khawaja opening and Shaun Marsh at three perhaps? Whatever happens, he has the opportunity now to lock down his place for years to come with a big 12 months in all forms of the game.
4. I haven’t seen enough of Brendan Doggett or Michael Neser, but if either is more deserving of a place in this squad than Chris Tremain then I am an extremely bad judge. And that is quite possible. I saw bits and pieces of both in last seasons BBL and the last Shield games streamed on CA app, and while they look handy they didn’t seem to be anywhere near ready for this step. Tremain on the other hand has topped the Shield aggregates for the past two seasons, and when I’ve seen him up close at the SCG he is frightening. Along with pretty good returns in the recent A tour in India, I cannot believe he is not in the team to open the bowling with Starc given the absence of Hazelwood and Cummins. It is a staggering decision, given they have also recalled Peter Siddle. Which brings me to this…
5. Peter Siddle, the ‘People’s Champ’, has had a great season In English County cricket, taking plenty of wickets and doing a great job for his county. But that has been on seaming wickets in helpful conditions with a Duke ball. Australia is going to the UAE on dead wickets in 40+ degree heat. No help there. Is Siddle the best option for those conditions? Is he just going because the team needs and experienced campaigner? I don’t know, and while I am not completely against his selection in the squad, I wonder if he is going to be just carrying baggage.
6. Three spinners have been chosen, and don’t think for a moment that the selectors aren’t think about playing all three of them, and relying on Agar’s improving batting to act as an all round option. The wickets will dictate what the balance is, but given Australia has struggled to score runs from anyone whose names isn’t Smith or Warner they will be look to get runs from wherever they can. Nathan Lyon will be the fulcrum of the attack, but as to whether Holland or Agar or both play will be another selection crucial to the outcome of the series.
7. Tim Paine retains the keepers role and the captaincy, though his holding of either role in 6 months time still seems to be being debated. The advancement of Carey as keeper and Mitch Marsh as captain is being kept warm through innuendo of those that have an ear close to the selectors, so Paine will be looking to not only continue his clean keeping, but also keep adding to his run tally – and better yet, win the series!
What does this squad say about the direction the leaders of the team are heading? It opens a lot of questions that are yet to be answered definitively, and it looks as though there is a lot left to faith in regards to some selections. It does at least bring a lot to look forward to when the series starts on October 7.
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