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With Rogers and Watson looking shaky, who are the Test contenders?

10th December, 2014
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Joe needs a big one day tournament to stay in the selectors' minds. (AAP Image/Lincoln Baker)
Expert
10th December, 2014
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With Michael Clarke’s back injury, the continued struggles of Chris Rogers and Shane Watson yet to cement himself at first drop, opportunities are on the horizon for Australia’s next Test batsmen.

West Australian strokemaker Shaun Marsh heads the pack, having been on standby to replace Clarke had he been deemed unfit to play in this first Test at Adelaide.

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Marsh is a gifted and aesthetically-pleasing batsman who has demonstrated the ability to play match-changing knocks at Test level.

He is, however, the definition of an all-or-nothing batsman. At Test and Shield level of recent times he has mixed hundreds with single figure scores.

Marsh’s past 11 Test innings have included six ducks and during India’s last Test tour of Australia his scores were: 0, 3, 0, 11, 3, 0.

Ed Cowan, meanwhile, had the opposite problem at Test level – the inability to kick on after making a start.

In his 32 Test innings, 19 times he passed 20. Despite displaying a solid ability to blunt the new ball and endure the toughest part of an innings, he routinely gave away these starts.

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Twelve times he was out for between 20 and 44. Cowan’s strength against the new ball was his concentration and patience. Somehow, these attributes often deserted him once he had done the heavy lifting.

The Tasmanian, who now bats at first drop for the Tigers, can make a case that he has overcome that issue this season, having registered three tons from eight Shield innings. He has made more hundreds than anyone else in the competition and is second only to Western Australia youngster Cameron Bancroft for total runs, with 432 at 54.

While Cowan’s age won’t work in his favour, the selectors have shown a willingness to pick older batsmen if their form warrants it. Shaun Marsh and Chris Rogers are two such examples.

The 30-year-old Callum Ferguson will also hope that selectors don’t focus on injecting youth into a Test team which currently has seven players at the tail end of their cricketing careers.

Similar to Marsh, he has looked a Test prospect since making his debut as a cherubic and outrageously-gifted youngster.

Both batsmen, however, spent years underachieving and only belatedly began to exploit their talents. At 28 years of age, after eight years in the first-class system, Ferguson owned a first-class average of 35 despite being based on the most amiable surface in the country at Adelaide.

The past two seasons he has begun to pile up the kind of totals that grab the attention of selectors. Ferguson has clattered 934 Shield runs at 58, including three centuries, since the start of last summer.

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He has batted at first drop for the Redbacks in recent times but spent years in the middle order. This versatility should make him even more attractive to the selectors.

One spot behind him in the South Australian order is Tom Cooper, who has also surged into Test contention on the back of consecutive impressive Shield campaigns. His Shield haul over that time has been 1182 runs at 52, with three centuries.

Cooper is more of an aggressive, free scoring batsman than his teammate and this could well appeal to the attacking sensibilities of Australian coach and selector Darren Lehmann.

If the Australian hierarchy decide that they need to plump for youth then it seems Queensland opener Joe Burns will be the most likely option.

With 1181 runs at 58 in first-class cricket over the past two summers, the 25-year-old is in stellar form. This impressive touch 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.

While he currently opens the batting for the Bulls in the Shield he has spent a lot of time further 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.

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The passing of Phil Hughes has left Burns as the best option to replace Rogers if he cannot regain form. The veteran left-hander has formed a solid opening partnership with David Warner and his experience and composure make him a valuable Test player.

He cannot afford to continue his lean run, however, or he faces losing his spot to the likes of Burns or perhaps even Cowan. Clarke’s form is less of a concern after he completed a wonderful, fluent hundred against India yesterday.

It seems likely though, that with only three days rest between this Test and the next, he may be rested at Brisbane and could potentially miss even more than one Test.

Watson will hope that his body holds up better than Clarke’s after yet another lengthy stint on the sidelines. The burly all-rounder clearly has some strong supporters in the Australian hierarchy.

But the emergence of the multi-skilled Mitch Marsh has loosened Watson’s grip on his Test spot. If Marsh blossoms further, Watson will have to justify his place as a specialist batsman.

With the likes of Ferguson, Marsh, Cowan, Cooper and Burns flaying Shield attacks, he may not get many Tests to make his case.

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