Perhaps one of the most roundly cheered outcomes from the Argus Review was the removal of Andrew Hilditch and his crew of merry men from the National Selection Panel.
Their selections in the series leading up to their demise, particularly the Ashes, had drawn a large amount of scorn and it was almost universally agreed that their time was up.
John Inverarity and his co. came in and during their first home summer it was generally agreed that they had done a good job with selections and that their methods were correct.
However, their selections and methods during the second home summer have left many baffled, reminding us of the ways of their predecessors.
The ongoing drama of the number three spot and the handling of Shane Watson was comical, with selectors unable to determine if they considered him a top order batsman or an all rounder.
First, they decided Watson was a batsman. Rob Quiney then came in because, as it was later revealed, they wanted to shield Phil Hughes from the South African attack.
So does that mean Hughes plays everyone and we just drop him for each series against South Africa?
Then after deciding they need to replace him as a top-order batsman, they come out and say Watson will only be picked if played as an all-rounder. In he comes, gets injured again, and is subsequently replaced in the squad by Glenn Maxwell.
This is a complete 180 from the start of the summer.
Now with the selection of the ODI squad for the first two one day games, the NSP has again contradicted itself and gone around in a circle.
The big talking point has been the omission of Mike Hussey from the side, with the reason given being that the NSP wanted to have a look at players with a focus on the 2015 World Cup.
Now as much as it would have been wonderful for Huss to get a farewell tour, you can understand the NSP wanting to make sure we have the best team to ensure that we win back the World Cup.
The problem with this is then the selection of Brad Haddin to cover while Matthew Wade is given a break to refresh and work on his keeping.
Don’t get me wrong, Haddin is a fine keeper, but at 35 how is that looking to the future?
There has been talk that Haddin is being picked as he will be the backup keeper for the tours to India and England. Surely if they are looking to the future, Tim Paine should be given the gig?
Paine was originally the number two to Haddin, and in his Test and ODI appearances had done very well indeed – coincidentally over in India and England.
Two years with a serious finger injury has cost him as he would have been the man in the side now instead of Wade.
He is now back, fit and playing well for Hobart. They cannot say that his form at the moment is only T20 form – its all they can play at the moment, and they have set a precedent before that T20 form can count for selection in any team (isn’t that right, Dave Warner).
Looking at the rest of the squad, it is a squad that has, as it should be, been picked on form displayed so far in the Ryobi Cup.
Aaron Finch had to be the first name listed, Phil Hughes gets a well deserved call up and Ben Cutting could provide excellent all round value.
The selection of Steve Smith will be an interesting one for me. The reason for this is that in his previous stints in the team, its almost as though they don’t know whether they have picked him to bat, bowl or both, and often gets left in the lurch doing nothing during the game at times.
Let’s hope they finally have a well defined role for him that will allow him to play to his potential.
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