Recent Test debutant Beau Casson has been repeatedly overlooked for the Australian squad in India because he turns the ball the wrong way.
Selection chairman Andrew Hilditch today explained that left arm wrist spinner Casson missed out because his stock ball spins from off to leg, the opposite direction to the leg breaks of injured Bryce McGain and his replacement Cameron White.
“The decision to replace Bryce with Cameron White will obviously be disappointing for Beau Casson, who debuted on the West Indies tour,” Hilditch said.
“The initial selection for the Indian tour was based on the desire to have a right-arm finger spinner (Jason Krejza) and a right-arm legspinner (McGain), which we thought was the best combination for Indian conditions; the basis for that decision was explained to Beau at the time.
“With Bryce’s injury, we felt that Cameron’s legspinners, coupled with his powerful batting and his recent strong performances in Indian conditions, rendered him the right choice for this tour.”
White must now be a strong chance of playing in the first Test in Bangalore starting Thursday despite his lack of preparation, due purely to the contemptuous treatment meted out to off spinner Krejza in Australia’s tour match in Hyderabad.
By lunch on the final day, Krejza had accumulated the unsightly match figures of 0-199 from 31 overs, after he was again targeted by the Indian Board President’s XI batsmen in the second innings.
Nevertheless, White’s elevation appears to be slightly baffling even to the Australian team, with batsman Mike Hussey describing him in largely developmental terms as a bowler.
It’s clear from how little he bowls himself as captain of Victoria – 84 overs in first-class matches last summer for six wickets at 47 – that White, too, is unsure of his value as a wicket-taking spinner, the role ascribed to him for the remainder of this tour.
Asked if White was capable of performing the role of a frontline spinner in India against the best players of slow bowling in the world, Hussey’s initial response was “good question”.
“I’m not sure … I think it’s a part of his game he’s really improved in the last couple of years. I think previously you probably saw him as more of a batsman who can come in and help out with the ball,” Hussey said.
“But watching him work up in Darwin against Bangladesh and seeing some of the results against India A here in India, he seems like he’s really improved his bowling and getting a lot more confidence with it so that’s got to be a good sign for our team.
“I’m sure he’ll still continue to improve that side of his game.”
One scenario opened up by the selection of White is that Australia will stack their team with batting and seek to prosper through weight of runs.
An XI featuring White and fellow allrounder Shane Watson would bat virtually all the way down to No.11, as Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and Stuart Clark are all quite capable.
Such a gambit would be defensive in nature, however, hampering the tourists’ chances of claiming 20 Indian wickets and therefore winning Test matches.
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