Aussie selectors have a hand full of 6s and 7s
The arguments in favour of each of the Ashes hopefuls…
With only a fortnight until the first Ashes Test, all eyes are on the contenders for (apparently) the final two spots in the Australian XI for the Gabba match.
Darren Lehmann and the board of the selectors are currently sitting at the poker table with a hand full of sixes and sevens but they are unsure which suits to play and how to play them.
Do they roll with tried and tested (read: failed) members of the Baggy Green contingent? Perhaps pick on potential (read: young guns) and plan for the future? Or pick on form alone (read: remember that competition called the “Sheffield Shield”? You know, the one that is apparently the best domestic cricket league in the world?) and select a batsmen and a keeper who are performing, right now?!
Everyone is speculating and it seems that not even the selectors now which method they will use yet.
So to help out the powers that be at the Centre of Excellence, we have taken deep dive into the numbers in an attempt to make a logical selection for who should be Australia’s №6 batsmen and their wicketkeeper.
WHAT TO DO WITH A HAND FULL OF SIXES AND SEVENS…
THE “TRIED AND TESTED” CANDIDATES
Shaun Marsh: The only empirical predictor of future performance are previous results and the only bloke who’s had enough time in the Test area to draw a reasonable conclusion about his ability to bat at this level is Shaun Marsh.
Marsh has played 23 Tests for 1476 runs at a healthy (if not amazing) average of 36.00. Dig a little deeper however, into the unfortuitous nature of Marsh’s Test career and you can find an argument for Shaun Marsh to be a regular middle order Test batsmen.
Of his 23 Tests, six have been at №5, a position where Marsh has prospered. Sitting snuggly in the middle order, he has amassed 540 runs at an average 54.00.
During that time, Marsh showed glimpses of his full potential, as seen by his gritty knock of 99 (run out) in the 2014 Boxing Day Test against India to set up a draw (albeit a stagnant one) for Australia, which he then followed up with a more free flowing innings of 73 in the Sydney Test.
Marsh’s highest score of 182 also came at №5 in a gargantuan partnership with Adam Voges (451 runs) but the asterisk next to that achievement was that it was against a hapless West Indies outfit playing in the very ‘un-Carribean climates’ of cloudy Hobart.
Marsh is currently opening the batting for Western Australia in the Sheffield Shield but at domestic level, runs are runs and to win back his Baggy Green he’ll take them at any position.
His 167 runs at 41.75 at a strike rate of 55 so far this season sees him there or thereabouts among the other Ashes hopefuls and confirms that while he has been recently discarded from the Test side, he isn’t past his used by date yet.
Callum Ferguson: November 12, 2016 wouldn’t be one of Ferguson’s favourite historical dates, we imagine.
On a drizzly day in Hobart, Ferguson made his Test debut and was part of a 1st innings collapse that saw South Africa dismiss Australia for 85 in 33 overs — of which, captain Steve Smith made 48 runs. To make matters worse Ferguson was run out for three and all before his loved ones had settled in the stands.
His second innings was no better, as he scratched around for a single run, and was again part of an epic collapse that saw Australia lose 6/26 — and Ferguson’s debut Test — by an innings and 80 runs.
Cricket Australia’s response to the double dose of collapse calamity was to hold an emergency selection meeting, the result of which was Ferguson’s dismissal from the team for the inclusion of three debutants, two of whom (Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb) are now regulars in the side.
It was a throughly unfair (and unfortunately, not uniquely unusual) occurrence of events for Ferguson and one that reflects the run of bad luck that has followed him around during his cricketing career.
Ferguson made his First Class debut in 2004 in the midst of Australia’s second ‘Golden Era’ of cricket, as the 2005 Boxing Day Test would mark the first of 16 consecutive Tests wins for Australia, the second time Australia had done so in a decade.
Needless to say Ferguson struggled to find a foothold in the Test selection conversation during that time.
He has however, been a weariless servant of the domestic game and in the ilk of Adam Voges and Michael Hussey — who broke into the Test side in their early 30s — there is no reason why Ferguson couldn’t play (and play for Australia) well into his late 30s.
As such a recall could be on the cards, especially considering his latest audition: a chanceless (and almost match winning) knock of 182no for South Australia in the latest round of Sheffield Shield — in just his 113th First Class match and his 100th for the Redbacks no less.
THE “PICK ME ON POTENTIAL” CANDIDATES
Cameron Bancroft: In an era where the Sheffield Shield is seemingly a glorified training run for whoever Cricket Australia wants to have trundle and a hit, Bancroft had to bide his time before breaking into Justin Langer’s Western Australia Shield side.
After making his List A debut in 2011, it wasn’t until the end of 2013 that he opened the batting for the Warriors in a First Class match.
Like his domestic partner Shaun Marsh, Bancroft is an opener but Test cricket has often seen a developing top opener batsmen slot into the №6 spot to learn the ropes of international cricket and while Bancroft plies his trade in blunting the new ball, his First Class strike rate of 42.38 proves that he is no curmudgeon at the crease.
The slight on Bancroft is that his candidacy could only be validated by his ‘potential’ as his First Class average of 37.68 pales in comparison to that of many of his Ashes rivals.
He’s done himself no harm however, as his recent knocks of 76no and 86 in valiant resistance to NSW’s bowling attack that featured all four of Australia’s first choice bowlers shows that he’s capable against the world’s elite.
Jake Lehmann: That’s a familiar name isn’t it? While the JLT Cup was awash with excitement about the debut performance of another famous name, Will Sutherland, offspring to CA boss James; Jake Lehmann, son of Australian head coach Darren, has been rapidly writing an impressive First Class CV.
Since debuting in the back end of the 2014/15 Shield season Lehmann has been averaging 44.00 with the bat and done so at a spritely strike rate of 66.60.
While the cavernous, empty stadiums that usually host Sheffield Shield matches are hardly conducive for nerve-inducing meltdowns, Lehmann is no stranger to the big stage, as seen by his most famous knock during BBL|05.
The game was Lehmann’s first in the explosive T20 league, there was one ball remaining in the match (which was also the first ball he would be facing as a Striker) and he needed to score four or more to win. Cue a calmly stuck ‘maximum’ for a stirring victory, a rapturous celebration and instant cricketing fame.
While his ‘coming-onto-the-scene” was rapid, he has maintained an impressive (and steady) level of form, especially in four day cricket and is coming into a rich vein of runs at just the right time.
His most recent knocks of 103 off 115 and 93 off 143 gave South Australia the platform to attempt to claim the outright win against Victoria in Round 2 of the Shield but possibly more importantly for Lehmann, it put him on the media landscape two weeks out from the first Ashes Test.
A current season average of 53.00 at a strike rate of 73.86 is more than enough to see him sit at the pointy end of the domestic cricket totem pole.
THE “TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS” CANDIDATES
Glenn Maxwell: The “Big Show’s” cricketing aura precedes him and he has proven himself at every level of cricket possible… just not regularly in every format.
Maxwell is a ODI World Cup and IPL champion. He has scored a century in every form of the game, (one of only 13 players to do so) but surprisingly has not been a long form regular for Australia or Victoria as seen by his absence from Victoria’s last three Sheffield Shield winning Grand Final XIs.
Maxwell’s regular omission from four and five-day cricket (he’s played 2 Tests and 5 First Class games in the last 18 months) is nothing short of horrendous mismanagement of talent by Cricket Australia however, the Big Show’s big mouth has been the cause of at least a handful of changeroom bust ups and the inspiration for many newspaper columns.
When given the chance however, Maxwell performs no matter the colour of the ball.
In his last Test series, Australia’s ill-fated Tour of India, Maxwell averaged 39.75 across his two matches including a determined 104 (at a pedestrian strike rate of 56.21 for Maxwell) that saw him post a 199-run fifth wicket partnership with Steve Smith.
His average of a tick under 40 for the tour was also the second highest by any of the Australian batsmen.
It’s a misnomer that Maxwell is just a ball away from a brain fade (however, those brain fades ARE indeed spectacular!) and while he hasn’t gone big yet in this season’s Sheffield Shield, he would have at least raised eyes with his consistency after posting 60 and 64 in two sensible innings during his most recent outing for Victoria.
Aaron Finch: Somewhat similar to Maxwell, Finch has been tarred with the short form brush and used extensively by Australia as a ‘brash and bash’ opening batsmen in the canary yellow.
And while he has amassed over 3000 runs at international level, he has never been selected for a Test — as again — he is seemingly only a false shot away from costing your side the match.
Finch’s most recent (and extended period of) form however, suggests that a new batting position — and perhaps a new attitude — is paying dividends for him in the long form of the game.
The oft asked question of a middle order batsmen is: “Would you want them coming in at 4/30?”
It’s obviously an extreme example but a valid one and up until recently, the reflex response in regards to Finch was “NO!” Dig deeper into the last 18 months of his First Class career however, and you’ll find a surprising pattern.
In his last 17 innings for Victoria, Finch has come to the crease with his state on fewer than 100 runs for the loss of two or more wickets on 12 occasions. On five of those occasions Finch has been involved in amassing at least a further 100 runs during his stay at the crease and on a further three occasions he helped tally a further 50 runs in innings were batting was difficult and the team’s total score was less than 200.
The above is best summed up by this statement — of the 12 times Victoria have found themselves in a jam, Finch has gotten them out of it 75% of the time. Pretty reliable if you ask us.
Could he do it at the Test level? Only one way to find out…
Oh! And before we forget…
THE “WHO’S GOING TO WEAR THE GLOVES?” CANDIDATES
The position of wicketkeeper almost seems auxiliary to the Australian Test selectors such is the limited air time it is getting at the moment.
However, this could also be due to the fact that no keeper in Australia seems to be in reasonable form, especially with the bat — and thanks to the “Ghost of Gillys Past” runs made by a gloveman seem to count more for their selection merit than byes saved or dismissals collected.
The incumbent Matthew Wade has seen his runs all but dry up. His total of 33 runs from four knocks this Shield season sees him battling to keep his spot for Tasmania instead of bludgeoning competitors away from his beloved Baggy Green and the privilege to drawl “Niiice Gaaary” ad nauseam.
The next in line may well be the one who was first out the door — as Peter Nevill’s record speaks for himself.
Despite a modest return of runs so far this domestic season, the NSW gloveman averaged 52 last Shield campaign and maintains a First Class average of 40, which is mightily impressive for a №7.
Nevill’s lack of political prowess could be his downfall however, as it seems he has fallen outside of Captain Steve Smith’s inner circle and as such his chances of re-selection are slim.
Next in waiting are the ‘up-and-comers’ Jimmy Pierson and Alex Carey — both of whom are wicketkeepers, more-so then “wicketkeeper-batsmen” and their poultry averages of 13 and 18 respectively this season see them without reasonable evidence to replace Wade.
Both are touted as fair superior glovemen however, and both managed to averaged over 30 last Shield season and in doing so, proved that they can (at the very least) hold a piece willow.
So, will the keeper selection be made on the subtleness of their gloves or the production of their blades?
It seems at this stage, not even the selectors know…
