1st Test Day 3: Cummins Cleans Up Sri Lanka and Stakes His Claims to Number One

He’s played just 18 Tests since his debut just over seven years ago. 17 of those Tests have come in the last two years. As an 18-year-old phenom who bowled above 150kph he had the world at his feet. His return as an enforcer who averages in the low 140kph but has all the aggression and fire to back up his short of a length attack he has been the man to find the wickets when his team needs them, but the main rewards have seemed to come to the bowlers at the other end rather than to him. Today’s cricket finally put paid to that, as Pat Cummins reaped the rewards that he so thoroughly deserves in delivering to Australia a much-needed Test match victory in just over two and a half days.

Australia’s bowlers have not been exempt from criticism this summer, though their job has been made exceptionally more difficult by the fac that they are getting on average only a couple of sessions rest between innings which makes it difficult for them to be at their best. Mitchell Starc has taken the brunt of this disgruntlement, and though it is not misplaced he is probably for the first time feeling the pressure of being the leader of the pack. Having lost Hazlewood for the immediate future he would be pushing even harder to make the breakthroughs, but presently it is not happening for him. Again today he tried hard but gained nothing. To me, as a hack analyist, his rhythm just doesn’t look right. He needs to g back and look at video highlights of the way he bowled in the 2015 World Cup, when everything he did turned to gold. Studying those will surely give him an idea as to what he did right then and isn’t doing now. If he can’t find his mojo soon his presence in either teams to tour England may not be in strife but actually appearing on the field could be in jeopardy.
Replacing Starc and Hazlewood here was the new pairing, Cummins and Richardson. Jhye Richardson continued on from his good work in the first innings, barely leaking a run while he attacked the batsmen mercilessly. He finished with 2/19 from 13 overs and was constantly threatening and proved to be the perfect foil for his pace partner. His was a dream debut, and with the promise of more to come.

The star though was Cummins, the new vice-captain of Australia, who started it all off with the last ball of the previous evening. With his second ball of the third day he had Chandimal caught in the gully by Patterson to a full pitched delivery. With his seventh ball of the day he had Mendis caught at second slip driving at a full ball again. With his 36th ball of the day he picked up Silva, again caught by Burns at second slip driving at a full pitched delivery. The significance of these wickets shouldn’t be glossed over. Cummins has made a new career out of getting batsmen out with short pitched bowling, but here on a grassy Gabba pitch with a newish pink ball he was using his old method of full seaming deliveries to pick up wickets. At his pace, and with a full slips cordon, it was a terrific sight to see. For those who have begun to look forward to the upcoming World Cup and especially the Ashes series in England, it was a sign that in these types of conditions Australia’s premier fast bowler can adjust his lengths and tactics to suit the conditions. At this point Cummins had 4/9 and was rolling.
In picking up Thirimanne, Sri Lanka’s last line of defence, with the same ball and method of dismissal as Karunaratne the previous evening, Cummins secured his fourth five-wicket innings in Test cricket. When Kurtis Patterson took one of the catches of the season, diving full length from gully to take the ball one handed while horizontal a few feet off the ground to dismiss Perera, Cummins had taken his first ten-wicket match in Test cricket, and finished with his best ever bowling figures of 6/23 from 15 overs. Paine’s stumping off Lyon to end the Sri Lankan innings at 9/139 (with the injured Kumara unable to bat) left Australia as victors by an innings and 40 runs, and the smiles everywhere were a reward for the effort.

The three days of this Test have brought a refreshing look to the Australian team, though not one that has the feel of permanency to it. The catching in the cordon of Burns, Labuschagne and Patterson was excellent, as was the fact that Australia’s bowlers were able to garner so many false strokes and edges from the batsmen. The positives in the batting outweighed the one possible negative of Khawaja again failing to deliver a big score himself. That the win was secured over an already understrength Sri Lankan team that suffered further injury concerns through the course of the match probably hasn’t been highlighted. That this team needs to do a similar job next week in the 2nd Test is also something that needs to be made clear. A win is a win and should be celebrated. That it was brought forth by a man who has fought so hard to gain full health and deliver on his undoubted promise is perhaps the best news of all.

1st Test Day 2: Middle Order Stands Up to Deliver Significant Lead

The Australian team would have been hoping for a better day of output from its batting line-up, instinctively hoping that they could bat out the day five or six wickets down and with a huge lead having been amassed. That they did not came from the excellence of the Sri Lankan bowling, especially their occasional fill-in skipper who bowled his heart out to keep them in the match and giving them the chance to now rectify what happened on the first day.

Much has been made of the lack of individual centurions in the Australin Test team in recent times, and Maruc Harris’s soft dismissal early on day two didn’t improve the conversation. Having struggled through the previous evening’s session he must have been almost as disappointed as those watching were with his method of being dismissed. Coming to the fore instead were two batsmen maligned for different reasons over the past four months.
Marnus Labuschagne was returned to the Test squad on the whim of the selectors rather than weight of runs, and his inclusion over the young gun Pucovski here had encited grumbles. Inserted at four but dropped down a place after the intervention of Ntahn Lyon as night-watchman, Labuschagne showed the kind of patience that has effectively been missing from the Ausralian batmen this summer, most notable given one particular opponent who showed its positives in his perfrromance this season. Labuschagne was happy to bide his time, and showed a penchant for leaving balls outside the loine of the stumps and keeping an eye on the swing available. Only towards the end of the first session did he take advantage of the ball being further pitched up and closer to the line of his stumps. In the second session he appeared in complete command, picking the right ball and defending well. It was a complete surprise when he popped up a simple catch to mid on with two overs to go before the second new ball to be dismissed somewhat lamely for 81. For all that disappointment, Labuschagne has shown that he does have a temperament for Test cricket. His innings apart from one show an improvement numerically every time he has been to the crease – 0, 13, 25, 43, 38 and now 81. How he fits into this team in the coming few months is yet to be determined, but further improvement over the remainder of this series and the possible introduction of his bowling will make him a very difficult man to cast off easily.
Travis Head has had his problems with loose shots costing him his wiocket when his team has needed more from him, and he as much as anyone would have realised he needed to improve this aspect. Even so, he again gave two chances to the cordon, one a typical Head flash that flew high and wide of second slip which while not technically catchable was a symptom of his rash play, and a second an edge that was dropped by the keeper caught in the middle of nowhere. Both of these chances were where Head’s weaknesses lay and yet given how hard he has fought this summer he was due a little luck, something he then needed to double up on. To his credit he did, fighting against his natural instincts to carefully watch the pink ball and feed off the energy from his partner at the other end. He raised his fourth Test half century in his seventh Test. His partner’s dismissal did appear to stall his progress after the dinner break, and whether or not it was because of his determination to break through to triple figures or not is open to question. The second new ball had proven to be another Test, and eventually his luck ran out when he was adjudged LBW to Lakmal, with the ball tracking showing the ball would have just tipped the bails off. His 84 is his highest Tet score and continues to show the class he has for the game. Like Labuschagne, more of the same this series will make it hard to cast him aside if others are deemed necessary to return in the coming months.

Australia was eventually bowled out for 323, following an excellent debut innings from Kurtis Patterson of 30 who was dismissed in the team cause of chasing late innings runs. It had been a hard slog against some good bowling which was even better in retrospect given that the Sri Lankans had lost Kumara early on day two to back ang leg soreness, as well as Chameera for portions of the day to feet problems. The warrior of the day was Suranga Lakmal who bowled himself into the ground in their absence. He rarely got his pace into the high 130kph range, but he was accurate and dangerous with both swing and seam, and caused all of the batsmen trouble. In the high humidity and temperature engulfing the Gabba he was truly magnificent and produced a number of spells that must have been up there with the best of his career. He dismissed Burns and Lyon, and then Head and Paine with consecutive deliveries, before finishing off with Patterson to claim 5/75 from 27 wonderful overs, and almost single handedly kept Sri Lanka with some semblance of being in the match in restricting the deficit to 179 runs.

They had six overs to survive before stumps which seemed a little light on by the Australians, who could have declared earlier to give them a better use of the advantageous conditions. With one delivery to go it looked as though Sri Lanka was going to survive and set themselves up for a good shot at the next day, but in a Boys Own Annual page, the warhorse Pat Cummins found the edge of the tourists’ best batsman Karunaratne and Paine accepted the chance to leave Australia elated with their evening’s work and have Sri Lanka at 1/17 in the process. It leaves them with a tough road back if they are going to push the match beyond tomorrow’s scheduled third day.

1st Test Day 1: The "One Ball" Day Has Australia Motoring

Despite all of the likelihoods, despite the loss of key personnel for the Sri Lankan team, despite another two young players making their debut for Australia, despite the fortress that is “The Gabbatior”, it was still a strange thing to see Australia dominate a day’s Test cricket like they did on the opening day of the 1st Test after the tumultuous occurrences of 2018.

The day was highlighted by one ball from Jhye Richardson in the first over after the first ‘tea’ break, and it seemed to set the agenda for the commentary panel for the rest of the day. Richardson was one of the two debutants on the day for Australia, and his opening salvo had been well received. Though he was chosen for his raw pace and ability to swing the ball it hadn’t been overly prevalent in the first session. Mendis had made a cautious start with 14 from 43 deliveries. The third ball of the session was a peach, full and finding Mendis leaning towards pushing it through the leg side. From wide of the crease Richardson’s delivery pitched on the stumps and seamed away to take off stump. It would have gotten most batsmen in the world out. It was a ripper, and the celebrations were long and loud. Almost immediately the experts had Richardson opening the bowling at Edgbaston in eight months' time in the first test of the Ashes series, ignoring the fact that he still had work to do here, along with any number of matches in all forms of the game along the way. It was however the magic moment of day one. 

Without Angelo Mathews to hold back the tide the Sri Lankans were routed in the second session. A fighting innings from Niroshan Dickwella frustrated the Australian bowlers as he treated the spectacle like a T20 fixture. His 64 out of the eventual total of 144 was massive, and saved massive blushes for the tourists. Given the way they fought in New Zealand recently they would have been disappointed with their start. 

Mitch Starc again didn’t look anywhere near his best. His rhythm is completely off at the moment. He could do worse than go back and look at replays of his bowling in the 2015 World Cup when he couldn’t do anything wrong. Perhaps it would shine some insight as to what he is missing. Richardson on debut was superb, and his 3/26 perhaps deserved better. Pat Cummins started well and finished less so, but his 4/39 is as much a reward for his bowling all summer than just here on the first day. Nathan Lyon bowled more overs than anyone and got surprising spin and bounce, both of which accounted for an unbelieving Karunratne. He bowled too fast again and would surely have benefitted from tossing the ball up a bit more. It was the slower paced ball that did for Karunaratne.

Batting in the final session under lights, the Australians survived, which is probably the best way to put it. Joe Burns return started well but was cut short by a good away swinger from Lakmal for 15, while Usman Khawaja again fell to Dilruwan Perera – his first ball of the match – trying to cut a straight ball. It is the fourth time he has fallen to him, and he again didn’t fail to disappoint. He has some work to do in his next couple of Test innings if he wants to retain his spot in the mix for later in the year. 

Marcus Harris started beautifully, but as the ball and lights took effect he found himself confused and puzzled as to what shots to play and which balls to play or leave. He had a certain amount of luck which he was probably due after the Indian series. Perhaps against the Indian attack he would have been found out, but he fought hard against the rogue conditions and finds himself on 40 not out at stumps, with a flat wicket and older ball and more batsman friendly conditions ahead of him on day two. He needs to cash in with a big innings to give Australia the boost it needs. 

Australia is halfway to the Sri Lankan total with eight wickets in hand and has their best chance of the summer to post an imposing first innings lead. There will be plenty of interest to see how Harris, Labuschagne, Head and Kurtis Patterson take their chances to make big individual scores on a good batting wicket. For Australian supporters sakes at least, let’s hope they take their opportunities.

Selection Roundabout Continues as Sri Lankan Series Arrives

Depending on your point of view, the current situation with the choosing of the Test sqaud for the Test series against Sri Lanka either shows that the National Selection Panel (NSP) of Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Justin Langer are on the right track and are ensuring the best team possible is being selected while trying to avoid as much controversy as possible, or they are proving to be stumbling from one cock up to another. As always they will be judged by the performance on the field of the players they have chosen, but does the process itself come across as inept? 

The selection of the squad for the Test series more than two weeks out from the 1st Test is the first case for conversation. On the face of it, this appears to have been done in order to stop talk in the media of the possible fate of the Marsh brothers in particular but of any number of others that you could mention (including Peter Handscomb’s omission), which no doubt would have dominated the airwaves throughout the ODI series if it hadn’t been done. It also allowed a ‘good news’ story to emerge to instead take most of the media airtime, in that Will Pucovski in particular had been chosen, and that both Joe Burns and Matt Renshaw were being given belated chances to re-establish themselves in the Test arena. Perhaps this tactic worked fine for the NSP. Given that Shaun Marsh and Handscomb both succeeded (relatively) in the ODI series, did the early call on the Test team save the selectors some pot shots from an eventual decision to exclude them from Test squad? The answer is probably yes. It also abbreviated any possible shaky thoughts they may have had with both of those players, perhaps saving them from second thoughts about their Test removal given their form in the white ball arena. In Marsh’s case at least, this is a good thing. 

There was then the selection of the A team to play Sri Lanka in a warm up game in Tasmania, which looked to become a bat-off between the four batsmen chosen in the A team that were also chosen in the Test squad - i.e. Burns, Renshaw, Pucovski and Marnus Labuschagne. It may have appeared to the NSP as the perfect way to decide who would play in Brisbane and who would miss out on their form in the warm up game. 

Then Kurtis Patterson scored a century in each innings of the warm up match, and Jake Doran a century in the first innings. Neither was in the Test squad. In fact, while they plundered the Sri Lankan bowling, the four batsmen trying to secure a place in the Test starting XI all struggled. It was a bad look and with foresight was the biggest problem the selectors faced in naming the Test team before the warm up game had been played. So, to counter this, they added Patterson to the already bloated Test squad using ‘form’ and ‘centuries’ as the base point they claim to have been using in selecting teams this season – something that, as has been mentioned before, they only appear to use when it is convenient for them (Renshaw’s selection for this squad is a perfect example of ignoring those two case points). Also, to any of the four new names added to the squad two weeks earlier, how do they feel when they are suddenly joined by another, one who now looks like leapfrogging all of them into a Test debut? Batting has not been Australia’s strength in recent times, but with eight now in the squad trying to squeeze into six positions it feels like overkill. 

On top of this, Josh Hazlewood was then diagnosed with the beginning of stress fractures and was ruled out of all cricket for the foreseeable future, and was replaced by Jhye Richardson who was playing in the ODI team. And yet Chris Tremain, who was a most recent member of the Test squad without getting a game and was currently playing in the warm up match against Sri Lanka, was overlooked. It’s another off-track decision, even given that Richardson toured South Africa ten months ago. Using form as a guide, you could argue for either case. Yet Richardson looks to be on the NSP’s fast track while Tremain appears to be being strung along in a similar way that Chadd Sayers was for two years. 

So where do you stand? Do you applaud the NSP decision to name a Test squad early in order to make clear that certain players are now out of the running, to announce that there will be new faces in the team for Brisbane, and yet are courageous enough to add to the squad when a player’s form demands it? Or do you think the NSP has a doddery look when players in the team they named then fail to fire in the warm up match and are exposed by one who wasn’t named in the original squad, meaning they have to accede and name him or look foolish... but look foolish for having to do so? There is a case for both arguments. To me it feels like they took a gamble, and it is one that didn’t pay off. 

In once again passing over Tremain they are playing God with his career, and it feels eerily like what has happened to Sayers and Joe Mennie and countless others in recent years. Players that show great form for a 2-3 year period without getting a chance at the highest level, and are then gifted a one-off chance at a time that their previously excellent form has waned, and they are unable to produce enough for the selectors to ever try them again. While Richardson may well be brilliant in this series – and we all hope he is – surely the Brisbane wicket against a Sri Lankan team somewhat adverse to pace bowling would have been the perfect place for the tall and fast Tremain to debut. I can’t help but feel it is a massive missed opportunity by the NSP. 

Patterson was the victim three years ago when he probably should have been the one to debut against South Africa in Adelaide, when instead Nic Maddinson was chosen, ironically when his best form too had waned. He appears to be the kind of player Australia is searching for, and if he gets his chance it will be interesting to see how he performs. But it exposes the unusual decision to bring Matt Renshaw back into the fold with no first-class form behind him and ignore those that have been making runs in the Shield this season, and again brings a cloud of uncertainty and suspicion about the way the NSP goes about selecting our national teams. 

However, we are now at this point, and in two days time our revamped Test squad will take on an eminently weakened and shallow Sri Lankan team that under normal circumstances you would expect to be well and truly thrashed over the next two weeks. But this is not the Australia we have seen over the past two decades, and despite not possessing some of their best performers due to injury, Sri Lanka acquitted themselves well against a strong New Zealand team over the last month and will be looking to create some history of their own. Whether the NSP will be happy with the eventual outcome of the next two weeks may well also decide their own fate.

Selectors Mindgames Don't Bear Up Under Scrutiny

The Australian selectors – Trevor Hohns, Greg Chappell and Justin Langer – have named their Test squad for the two Test series against Sri Lanka in a couple of weeks, and it’s fair to say that the playbook has been thrown out the window and they are writing another one. There is little rhyme or reason about the way they have gone about the selection of this team compared to the ones that have been chosen in the first half of the summer. Certainly most thought change had to come, but how can they justify the way they are going about it? It doesn’t feel like there is any consistency at all in the way players are being chosen and that must be the hardest things for the players involved to handle. There’s no doubt it continues to create confusion for the viewing public. The selectors have their reasoning which they are unlikely to share with us, but a sharper look at what has occurred may provide those answers that are not going to be publicly aired.

Will Pucovski. 
Yes we need a kid in the team, and Pucovski appears to be the real deal. The real question is this - is it the right time? Pucovski has had well documented mental health issues. He has only been back in cricket for six weeks or so after spending six weeks away from the game to deal with these issues. He has also been hit in the head three times over the past two seasons, and though I am not aware of his health one can only imagine that these have also been playing on his mind. Leaving all of this aside, my major concern is whether or not now is now the right time to pick him in the Test team for his career sake that his health sake. My thoughts on his talent and likely importance to Australia’s cricketing future is well documented. However for some time I have felt the best way to handle him was to wait until next Australian summer, especially if (when) we were to come back from England without the Ashes. My feelings were that if that is to happen then he would miss the disappointment of that series and be away from any fallout from that loss. The new season with Tests against Pakistan and the West Indies would then be the perfect time to inject him into a team that would require rebuilding. Following his selection in this squad it is a concern about how they will handle him when it comes to the Ashes. Does he start that series or is he left on the bench? If he comes back from an Ashes tour with not many runs and Australia having been dominated, how is he handled at the start of next summer? These are the immediate problems I see. But let’s not be stuck on that for the moment. He will get plenty of support from the Australian public who will rally behind him and hope he succeeds. Whether the selectors have handled this selection well is to be determined in the next few weeks, but I for one cannot wait to see him bat for Australia in Test cricket. 

Joe Burns
What is happening in the selectors’ minds with both Joe Burns? It has been well documented (again as much in this blog as anywhere else) that he has been poorly dealt with in recent times. He made 42 in his last Test innings in South Africa after he was called over following the fall of the three involved in Sandpapergate, and on his first class form from the 2017/18 Sheffield Shield season should never have been in doubt of holding his place for the next Test series, which was in the UAE against Pakistan. He was not selected in A team that played in India where many of the batting candidates were sent, following which he was then overlooked, somewhat unbelievably, for that Pakistan tour. Then despite solid form back home in the Sheffield Shield this season he was again overlooked. Now suddenly he has finally been chosen after the tough run of Aaron Finch. The concern is that there is little solid base behind the selectors decision to decide that he was to be demoted from the Test team after just one Test back in the fold, and that his now subsequent elevation back into the Test team feels like it is a convenient time for them to bring him back so they can point their finger and say they are picking players on the basis of form. Well, only when it appears convenient to them. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great he is getting another chance, but to me, on form, he shouldn’t have been out of the team in the last nine months. 

Matt Renshaw
Renshaw’s selection in this squad is as strange as any in recent times. Like Burns, Renshaw played in that 4th Test in South Africa, but unlike Burns he then DID go on the A tour and was then picked in the Test squad for the UAE. He was then concussed while fielding in close before Test and did not bat in the lead up match. Despite enough form in the lead up he was then left out of the Test, ostensibly because he had not had enough batting in the lead up because of his concussion and was passed over in favour of Marnus Labuschagne. It was an ordinary selection tool. On his return to Australia Renshaw has broken records in Premier Grade cricket in Brisbane but has barely scored a run in the Sheffield Shield to challenge for a recall. And yet now finds himself back in squad again, and it certainly is not on the strength of big Shield runs, which is what was used as the mantra at the start of the season for selection by the selection panel. 

Marnus Labuschagne has been retained in the Test squad but Peter Handscomb has been left out. Given Labuschagne’s Shield form was similar to Renshaw’s coming in to the BBL break – i.e. not great - it looks on the surface to be a tough call on Handscomb. Both played similar innings in 4th Test against India but one man was retained, and one was not. Is one being retained over the other merely for the fact that one bowls a bit of part-time leg spin? 

On top of these selections, what do we make of those that have been overlooked on this occasion. Do we accept Hohns saying that Maxwell and Wade know what they have to do to make Test team and that it has been clearly communicated to them? A majority of cricket watchers in Australia probably aren’t concerned that they aren’t in the side. What is a problem is that it was clearly said by Langer at the start of the season that runs in the Shield would be a major factor into forcing their way into the Test team. That now appears to be a half truth given the selection of players such as Renshaw and Labuschagne, and that the selectors once again are using the “form” guideline when it suits them, and then ignoring it when it suits other purposes. No matter what Hohns and Langer may have said, the selections made for this squad are not clear cut and the reasoning behind them not necessarily on a solid base of form and ability. Also suggesting that both of these gentlemen needs to make runs batting higher in the order is facetious. You can’t have 50 cricketers all batting at three or four in the batting order. Also, team balance is still important at state level, and states are trying to win a Sheffield Shield title not just be at the whim of what the national selectors want. The selectors in recent years have completely forgotten or ignored this fact, which is part of the reason the competition is stalling. Instead of letting the states pick their strongest teams on their own terms they are being dictated to by the selectors when they want something different. Calling the Tasmanian coach at the start of last season to have Tim Paine bat long enough to make good runs at the expense of Tasmania winning a game of cricket is a perfect example. The selectors trying to dictate to Victoria where Aaron Finch should bat in a Shield game is another. It is this kind of interference that is hurting cricket in Australia at many levels. Maxwell and Wade are both within their rights to believe their cards have been marked as ‘not to be picked again’. 

So, what is the actual reasoning behind all of this? I can speculate and offer some thoughts that I think are close to the mark. Whether you choose to agree or not is another thing altogether. 

1. Matt Renshaw and Peter Siddle have both been chosen on the form they both showed in England last season in County cricket, with an eye to them both as probable tourists in the Ashes squad. Siddle in fact looks to have been carried around all summer with that in mind. Siddle has been good in Shield and BBL as well, but in Renshaw’s case this appears the only possible reason as to why he has been recalled at this time, to get him back around the team that he will be touring with in August and September. 

2. The Test and ODI squads are being separated for their respective World Cup and Ashes tilts. Finch, Handscomb and both Marsh brothers have all been left out of the Test squad for the Sri Lankan series, but they are all in ODI squad for the three one dayers against India. Both Khawaja and Siddle look like they are getting their chance in the Indian series to make the World Cup squad but everyone else is being separated into red ball and white ball corners. 

There’s lots to look forward to in cricket during 2019, and while we can only hope that Australia’s fortunes improve on what we’ve seen so far this summer, it can only happen if our players play to 100% of their ability, and our selectors perform their duty with the same level of proficiency. I continue to have my doubts over their processes and whether it will do more harm than good for Australia’s cricket in the near future. None of that will stop me cheering on those that have been chosen, and hope that they all succeed. I especially hope that when I am at the Canberra Test match that I watch our most exciting young batsman since Ricky Ponting come out and score a glorious century.

Test Changes Needed to Kickstart 2019

If all reports are accurate then on Wednesday the selectors will announce a Test squad for the two Test series against Sri Lanka at the end of January and the start of February. Given there is no four day cricket on the agenda for any of the combatants it could be argued that it doesn’t matter when the squad is announced as there is no red ball form to use anyway, and very little white ball form in the interim either. The question that needs to be asked then is are the selectors getting in early so that any controversy that may (will) come from the team selected be dissipated by the fact that the ODI series against India starts just three days later and they hope that will take the focus away from it? 

Most of the time it is fairly easy to know what is in the selectors mind before a squad is announced. Hell, in this day and age they leak it to the media the day before it is announced so why they even bother having an announcement is sometimes beyond me. On this occasion though there is a fair amount of intrigue. Australia has lost its last three series, and won only one of its last nine Tests. Batsmen and bowlers have all got to be under pressure no matter what their name and reputation is. Many fans and most commentators have already turned their minds to the Ashes series in England in August, but if Australia takes its eye off the ball anymore than its already has they could easily slip up in the Sri Lankan series and have a complete home season of embarrassment. 

I’m willing to give my opinion here and suggest what I think the selectors have to do in order to both ensure they have a team that should be capable of winning the series against Sri Lanka, but can also set up some valuable thoughts in regards to Tests down the track. It would require some tact from the selectors when it comes to communicating what they are trying to achieve, but I believe it could be the best way forward. 

The bowlers in theory have chosen themselves for some time, and that doesn’t change too much apart from a slight tweak. Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon all get a guernsey again. I understand why Peter Siddle was chosen for Pakistan and why he was kept around the squad this summer as 12th man. He had a good winter in England and performed well in the conditions, and he has been looked at as that long term selection as back up bowler for that tour. That doesn’t have to change, but he should be left to play out the season with the Adelaide Strikers and be considered for the World Cup squad if that is the way the selectors are thinking. This also goes for another candidate who has terrific form in the English County circuit, James Pattinson. Coming back from injury this season – again – he has shown good pace and intent in a couple of Shield games and in the BBL for the Brisbane Heat. He is another that will be considered very carefully to make that tour, and while it would be great to see him bowling in a Test again, especially at the Gabba, he also should be left to bowl out the BBL season and then look ahead after that. 

I would choose Chris Tremain with an eye to picking him to play at Brisbane in the 1st Test, replacing Mitch Starc. Tremain has been the leading fast bowler in the Sheffield Shield over the past two and a half years, and he deserves a chance to play Test cricket. Not only would giving him a game against Sri Lanka on Australia’s best wicket for fast bowling be the perfect way to introduce him to this level, it would remind the other three bowlers that form is what you need to be selected for Australia, and not just being a permanent member of the team. There is no reason why Starc could not then play in the 2nd Test in Canberra, either ‘resting’ Hazlewood or Cummins to do so, or replacing Tremain if he doesn’t quite get it right. But playing Tremain has more benefits than down sides. If it comes off then Australia knows it has a fourth fast bowler ready to go and not coming in as a rookie if required in England. It also covers bases in case any of the three bowlers in the current cartel continue to struggle to take wickets. If they don’t try Tremain, and our current three fast bowlers continue to struggle for two Tests, where does that leave us in August? To me this is a sensible and measured selection for a player who fully deserves his chance while he is in wicket taking form, and doesn’t suffer the fate that bowlers like Joe Mennie, Chadd Sayers and others have had of being selected when they were in a form slump. 

The batting line up is just two Tests away from being able to welcome back their two best exponents from suspension, and with that in mind I think the selections need to prepare the team for their arrival. Usman Khawaja has had a summer to forget, but still looks to be the Test team’s number three, and that is where he should return to. It means that the selectors need to find an opening batsman to partner Marcus Harris at the top of the order, his third partner in his short Test career. I think it is the perfect opportunity to bring Joe Burns back into the team. He has been the best performed opening batsman in the Shield over the past eighteen months, and did nothing wrong in his latest recall to the team when he scored 4 and 42 in the 4th Test against South Africa and was then once again unfathomably cast aside with little explanation. The Gabba is his home wicket, he would form a handy left hand/right hand combination at the top of the order and he deserves the chance to come in and try and nail down his spot on the form he has shown. 

No doubt the selectors will disagree, but I cannot believe you can pick a batsman who has averaged 18 in Test cricket over the past 12 months. It defies every convention of selecting, and surely Shaun Marsh must go. It will be no surprise to see him held onto. 

Peter Handscomb has been pilloried by many commentators for his technique (cue Shane Warne), but he had such a terrific start to his Test career that you cannot believe he can’t be a Test batsman. I would stick with him for the Sri Lanka series, along with Travis Head who is still learning the long form game and continues to look good until he plays that one bad shot that gets him out. Another couple of Tests may iron that deficiency out of him. 

Number six is wide open, and there are reasonable applicants in current squad member Marnus Labuschagne, white ball all-round participant Marcus Stoinis (cue Shane Warne) and the best number six in Shield cricket Matthew Wade. Labuschagne probably deserves another chance after his good showing in the 4th Test with the bat, and he looks more suited to number six than number three. Stoinis looks a good bat and a handy heavy bowler but perhaps hasn’t quite done enough with the bat in red ball cricket to be selected. Wade has done nothing wrong since his demotion from the Test side, scoring all the runs he was hoped to do when he was actually in the Test team. He deserves his spot on form, one of the few in the country to be in that position.

I however would go with Glenn Maxwell. It is his time to show what he can do. He has still not played a Test in Australia. When he was left out of the Ashes team last season he was told to go away and make runs. He scored 278 in his next innings, averaged 50 last season and in only four innings this year has averaged above 40. He has also been captaining the Melbourne Stars and has shown some great maturity in the role. And in fulfilling the selectors desire to have someone who can bowl a few overs (umm… guys… Travis Head can do that…) Maxwell can also roll his arm over. Two Tests against Sri Lanka will soon show whether he has what it takes to be a Test number six, and whether he needs to be considered for England. 

I don’t for a second believe this team will be chosen, and I don’t believe many people will agree with me. Still, this is what I would choose to not only win the Sri Lankan series, but give us an eye towards the English series and also set the parameters for the return of the pariahs. I look forward to what we are offered when the team is announced. 

My squad: Marcus Harris, Joe Burns, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine (c & wk), Pat Cummins, Chris Tremain, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitchell Starc (12th), Marnus Labuschagne (13th).