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In the seven years since Mitchell Johnson made his debut in Brisbane in November 2007, some 40 players have been handed a freshly-minted baggy green – more than double the number of the previous seven years.
Of course 2007 was the year that so many of Australia’s ‘golden generation’ began to retire, notably Justin Langer, Shane Warne, and Glenn McGrath.
However, many of those called up to replace these legends of Australian cricket are now floating around Shield cricket with little more than half a dozen caps to their name.
Players such as Rob Quiney, John Hastings, Andrew McDonald, and Michael Beer are all miles away from a recall and many would be hard pressed to even remember that names such as Beau Casson, Peter George, and Graham Manou were ever part of an Australian Test team.
As the Australian selectors tried to replicate the success of the preceding decade, there has been a constant overhaul of players. Many factors have been attributed with the decline of the Australian talent pool in recent years, but why consistent first-class performances seem not to weigh in on the selection process needs addressing.
It would have been a hard task for any team to go through such a turbulent period and emerge unscathed, but the methods of selection that were consistently used over the last seven years should not be beyond reproach.
The national selection panel (NSP) seems to come under fire after every Test series loss, but the problems appear to be endemic rather than a matter of the NSP getting it right during series wins and wrong during series losses. There has been a long-term problem that has seen batsmen selected on just about everything but consistent first-class performances.
Patrick Cummins is being touted as a potential starter at the Gabba, but the last of Cummins’ mere six first-class matches came over a year ago – it shows a serious problem with Test selection. It is absurd to think that someone who has played more T20 internationals than first-class matches would be fit to play Tests for Australia.
In the batting department, the basis for selection over the past few years seems to have been to pick players who have either a certain stylishness at the crease, or good form in shorter versions of the game. Neither of these factors have been a good predictor of success at Test level.
Conversely, players have been dropped or overlooked if their personality was not seen to gel with the team ethos, something that both Simon Katich and Brad Hodge could attest to. With the success of the selection methods being decidedly hit-and-miss, there is cause for batting spots to be determined by a more statistical approach.
Recent call-ups Shaun Marsh, George Bailey and Alex Doolan had never scored consistently enough in the Sheffield Shield, and had mediocre first-class averages to begin with. Marsh’s 5220 first-class runs came at an average of 36, Bailey’s 6365 runs at 37.4, and Doolan’s 3743 runs at 36.7 (as per Cricinfo), which goes a long way to explaining why these players failed to light up the international scene during their brief cameos in the baggy green.
Considering a Test average of at least 40 has long been seen as the benchmark for a good Test batsmen, it is baffling that the NSP have persistently selected players who do not even meet that grade in first-class cricket. There are certainly Australian players in the Sheffield Shield who are consistently racking up better numbers, and it is they who should be considered for selection.
Usman Khawaja, supposedly overlooked on several occasions because of his uninterested demeanour in the field, and Phil Hughes who was unlucky to be dropped in England last year and certainly unfortunate not to have been called up since, have 5392 runs at 40.3 and 8942 runs at 46.6 respectively in the first-class arena.
Also putting runs on the board in Shield cricket over the last few years have been the young Queensland pair Chris Lynn (1901 runs at 43.2) and Joe Burns (2658 runs at 40.3), and South Australian pair Tom Cooper (2927 runs at 41.2) and recently-returned Mark Cosgrove (9087 runs at 42.7).
With the upcoming Brisbane Test likely to have two or even three spots up for grabs in the top six, depending on whether Chris Rogers is deemed to have done enough to hold his spot, it is surprising that it is again Marsh, Doolan, and Callum Ferguson (5431 runs at 38.5) who appear favourites to take the places of the injured Michael Clarke and the under-performing Glenn Maxwell.
In the wake of a forgettable tour of the United Arab Emirates, the Test against India could provide a perfect opportunity to bring in new players.
Hopefully, those chosen will have been scoring runs in first-class cricket regularly over the past few years. There is still no better preparation for Test Cricket than first-class cricket and this should be recognised in the selection of the Australian Test team.
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