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If you were to cast your eyes across the Australian Test squad for the upcoming tour in the UAE, you would notice that Pakistani bowlers will be faced with just six specialist batsmen.
With Shane Watson now replaced by Ben Hilfenhaus, the side is very bowler heavy, as Glenn Maxwell and Mitch Marsh take the roles of all-rounders. If you were to take a closer look, and examine the age, experience, and form, it seems to smack of the same issue concerning our Test side since we lost our greats. Where have all out quality Test Batsmen gone?
Cast your mind back to 2009, a mere five years ago. Australia had the likes of Brad Hodge, Phil Jacques, David Hussey, and the now incumbent opener Chris Rogers, all missed Test selection while sporting First Class averages in excess of 50.
While many may argue they were hard done by and perhaps unlucky to have others picked ahead of them, it demonstrated the depth in our batting stocks, that we could have batsmen of this calibre warming the proverbial bench. Cricket Australia used that period to blood young batsmen.
Switch back to present day. The Quineys, the Baileys, the Khawajas, and the Cowans have come and gone, while the Smiths and the Hugheses have come and gone and come again.
Our batting line up has never looked as thin, nor as has it lacked as much consistency, since World Series cricket shook up the Australian side. We’ve also seen a lot shuffling of players. David Warner, Phil Hughes and Shane Watson, have all been moved up and down the order. It’s yet another sign that we’ve lacked stand-out batsmen, especially in the vital number three slot, with question marks still on Alex Doolan.
So what’s caused the rot? A few stakeholders have pointed to the slew of ‘Result’ pitches that were used in Shield Cricket. These pitches were often green tops, and made batting difficult so as to ensure a winner within the four days. As a side effect, the ball dominated the bat, and you could see a lack of the ‘occupy the crease’ mentality when we toured India, and were bundled out on flat decks.
Australia has also gone through a ‘bloom’ with regards to all-rounders. Australian cricket seems drenched with players, particularly young players, not content with just wielding the blade, but also trying to diversify and contribute with ball in hand.
Watson continues to struggle for fitness and continuity, so there has been a fair go at competition for that key position. There have been plenty of players trying to showcase their wares with both bat and ball, from Maxi and Marsh, to more recent experiments in James Faulkner, Moises Henriques and John Hastings. It’s possible that players trying to be jacks of both trades are limiting their batting prowess.
Many people would also point the finger at T20 cricket as another reason for the rot. The dollars a player can earn playing abroad in the Indian Premier League and Bangladeshi Premier League (if the BCB ever pays them) can far outweigh the financial gains of a long Test career, so why not become a tonking mercenary?
Yet players like Warner, Marsh and Starc, along with other young Test hopefuls, have all built their career in the shorter formats first, and progressed with solid techniques. There is still, however, a lot Cricket Australia needs to do to balance the importance and integrity of Shield Cricket, over completions such as the BBL, in order to help produce impressive Test batsmen.
Despite our triumphs over both England and South Africa earlier this year, our batting has looked brittle at best. It was our bowlers, both with handy tail-end runs along with incisive bowling, who really drove our recent Test success.
While we do have some quality in our top six, there are still areas of concern, as well as our overall depth. If Australia’s batting was to be hit with injuries, it would be hard to see us being competitive at this stage. That being said, c’mon – we’re Australia.
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