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Burns, Nevill and Hazlewood should play first Test

22nd November, 2014
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Josh Hazlewood and his diamond duck. (Photo: AAP)
Expert
22nd November, 2014
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1410 Reads

Move on from Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle, and don’t field an all-pace line-up. That would be my advice to the Australian selectors, who tomorrow name the squad for the first Test against India.

Australia are entering an 18-month period during which seven of their core players – Haddin, Siddle, Chris Rogers, Ryan Harris, Mitch Johnson, Michael Clarke and Shane Watson – could well end their international careers.

Due to age, injury problems or declining form, none of that group are guaranteed of playing cricket longer than another year and a half.

As such, Australia will need to make a huge generational change. If they wait too long several of these players will retire or fall off the perch all at once and Australian cricket could plunge into disarray.

We have seen this happen before. Just two years ago, the selectors made the assumption that veteran batsmen Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey would play on at least until the end of last year’s Ashes tour of England.

Instead, both departed in swift succession in the 2012-13 summer and Australia’s batting line-up was plunged into a crisis. The side promptly went nine Tests without a win during which they made a dizzying array of alterations to the batting unit in a desperate effort to counteract the loss of Ponting and Hussey.

This time there could be even greater upheaval. If Australia nurse all seven of those aforementioned players through to the end of the Ashes next year they could quite possibly face a situation where as many as four or five of them could depart within a matter of months.

That would be a disastrous outcome. Australia have the perfect opportunity to begin the side’s transition given that two of its elder statesmen, Haddin and Siddle, have had awful recent returns and there is a wealth of replacements for either player.

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In Siddle’s past 11 Tests he has taken just 24 wickets at the inflated average of 44. He has bowled with accuracy and admirable courage, but he no longer appears to have the penetration required to consistently trouble Test batsmen.

His decline in effectiveness has coincided with a startling drop in pace. The last time Australia played India at home, three summers ago, Siddle intimidated the touring batsmen while regularly nudging his pace close to 150kmh.

But over the past 12 months he has operated mainly in the low 130s and has looked a far less potent bowler, with his returns backing up that perception.

NSW beanpole Josh Hazlewood has been impressive for Australia in the ODIs against South Africa and seems well suited to filling Siddle’s role as the Test side’s stock paceman.

Hazlewood has been rested from the next round of the Shield and, by all reports, is a certainty to be in Australia’s squad for the first Test.

The young right armer should only play at Brisbane, however, if spearhead Harris is ruled unfit. Harris, who is on the comeback from serious knee surgery, was given the choice to be rested from Queensland’s next Shield match but has opted to play to boost his match fitness.

If he comes through that match in good nick he should lead Australia’s attack alongside Johnson, left arm swing bowler Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon.

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Starc cannot possibly be dropped, yet again, after playing just one Test against Pakistan in the UAE. The 24-year-old has been treated appallingly by the selectors since making his Test debut three years ago.

During that period he has continually been dropped, ‘rested’ or ‘rotated’ after playing just one Test. In the second Test against Pakistan he was far more threatening than Siddle and every bit as impressive as Johnson.

It was a remarkable display given that he had not played a first-class match for 14 months. Since returning from that tour, Starc has snared seven wickets in his sole Shield game, and taken 5-72 across two ODIs against South Africa.

The 196-centimetres quick is bowling just as swiftly as Johnson, regularly pushing the speed gun close to 150kmh. Combine that extreme pace with his late swing and steepling bounce and he represents exactly the type of bowler India’s batsmen would hate to face on a rock-hard Gabba deck.

The man gloving his thunderbolts at Brisbane should not be Haddin but Starc’s NSW teammate Peter Nevill. Like Siddle, Haddin’s recent performances have suggested he is a faded force at Test level. His past five Tests have seen Haddin compile just 71 runs at the miserable average of nine

In South Africa, he was vulnerable against pace. In the UAE he floundered against spin. After keeping neatly last Australian summer, his glove work is also on the decline.

Nevill is renowned for his tidy keeping and is also a wonderfully gifted batsman in the best form of his career. The 29-year-old has made 716 runs at 48 in the Shield since the start of last summer and was also the Blues’ leading runscorer in this year’s One Day Cup.

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Queensland’s Chris Hartley and WA’s Sam Whiteman also have claims to take over from Haddin. However, the former is 32 years old at a time when Australia need to build for the future, while Whiteman’s form has been poor in all formats this summer after a blistering 2013-14 Shield campaign.

The last spot in the side up for consideration is the number four role, with skipper Michael Clarke appearing unlikely to play at Brisbane due to his hamstring injury.

Clarke reportedly will be named in Australia’s squad for the Test but it would be a huge risk to rush him back given there is a World Cup and an Ashes tour on the horizon.

Queensland youngster Joe Burns should be drafted in to replace Clarke, with all-rounder Shane Watson batting ahead of him at first drop.

South Australian strokemaker Callum Ferguson seems to be the favourite to take Clarke’s spot if he misses out. Ferguson’s form over the past three seasons would justify such a selection.

Whoever replaces Clarke, however, likely will only be a stop-gap selection who will be jettisoned once the skipper returns. They will essentially be auditioning for a place in the side six to twelve months down the line when the likes of Clarke and Watson may well reach the end of their careers.

Ferguson will be 31 in a year’s time. I have no issue with selecting mature players to begin Test careers on the proviso that they are clearly the best available option and have fantastic career records, like Rogers did when he was picked for last year’s Ashes tour.

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Ferguson does not have anywhere near the same pedigree as Rogers, however. Australia would be better served giving an opportunity to a far younger cricketer like Burns who, despite being five years the junior of Ferguson, has a better first-class record.

Ferguson has an average of 39 and has scored a century every eight matches, compared to Burns’ mark of 42 and return of one century every six matches.

The latter has more upside than Ferguson who, even now at the peak of his powers at 30 years old, is not clearly a better player than the blossoming Burns.

The Queenslander has carved 1084 runs at 57 in first-class cricket since the start of last summer. His impressive form has also extended to limited overs cricket, with 385 runs at 55 in 50-over games for Queensland this summer, including a ton against Ireland.

Burns may be opening the batting in the Shield but he has plenty of experience down the order. He started last summer batting at four for Queensland before he was moved to opener midway through the season due to the dearth of options for the Bulls in that slot.

He has spent the majority of his Shield career batting between three and five in the order for Queensland. Compact in defence and blessed with an array of attacking strokes, Burns is a versatile batsmen capable of batting anywhere from one to six.

He drives strongly down the ground and also punishes bowlers who drop short, particularly when he unfurls his viciously powerful pull shot. Burns represents the future. So, too, do Nevill, Starc and Hazlewood. It is time for Australia to move forward.

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My team for the first Test
1. David Warner
2. Chris Rogers
3. Shane Watson
4. Joe Burns
5. Steve Smith
6. Mitch Marsh
7. Peter Nevill
8. Mitch Johnson
9. Mitchell Starc
10. Ryan Harris (or Josh Hazlewood if Harris is not fit)
11. Nathan Lyon

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