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Australian Michael Beer fields on the boundary during play on day 2 in the Fifth Ashes Test. AAP Image/Paul Miller
Michael Beer has been a national joke for the past 3-weeks, but yesterday we saw why the selectors plucked him from obscurity. By obscurity I don’t mean Western Australia either (it’s a lovely place). If you don’t know the story of Michael Beer you’re missing out.
It’s almost unbelievable, but somehow fits perfectly with the modus operdani of Andrew Hilditch and his merry men (aka the national selection panel).
Another left arm spinner in Jon Holland was keeping Beer, 26, out of the Victorian side. Beer was performing well for St Kilda and decided to make the move to Perth to see if life at the Warriors would be more fruitful.
At the time, Nathan Hauritz was the first choice Australian spinner, but he was dumped from the national side before the first Ashes test in Brisbane and quickly sold off anything white with a tinge of green and gold. Xavier Doherty was next up, but he was also shown the door after producing darts that Simon “the wizard” Whitlock would be proud of.
So, in a time of crisis, they turned to Beer who had played just five first class games at the time.
He was overlooked for tests in Perth and Melbourne and it seemed he would never get that baggy green cap. But he was always going to be impossible to ignore once the circus rolled into Sydney.
He finished day two with figures of none for 26 off 9. That’s an economy rate of 2.88.
Jason Krejza was dumped because he gave away too many runs. Nathan Hauritz was axed because his deliveries didn’t threaten the batsman and Doherty for bowling too flat.
Beer is the anti KrejzaHauritzDoherty (yes that’s all one word).
In nine overs he showed what Australian cricket has been looking for.
He has flight, dip, spin and can maintain a good line.
We, as a nation, are quick to proclaim heroes. Some were willing to criticise those who believe Usman Khawaja is the next long-term test number 3 after he made 37 off 95 balls.
But you have to look at the manner in which these players have gone about their business.
Yes, Khawaja only made 37, but he did it with a rock-solid technique that will stand up to a decade or more of test cricket.
Beer has only bowled nine overs, but always looked dangerous. He had batsmen in two minds. The drop and spin he gets on the ball is fantastic. Yes, we have a spinner who SPINS the ball!!
Beer deserves an extended run in the team from this point on. There is no more need for line-ups with four pacemen in it for the foreseeable future. It should end now.
Every spell of Beer’s test career won’t be like yesterday. He will come up against batsmen in red-hot form and will cop a pasting from time to time. A man with just a handful of first class games to his name won’t always know how to get out of those situations like Shane Warne did. But eventually he will if given time to adjust to test cricket.
The selectors have a responsibility to stick with this fiery character or risk ruining another career.
He has the qualities. It’s about working out how to get him to produce them on a consistent basis. That shouldn’t be too hard if what we’ve already seen is anything to go by.
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