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When national selectors Rod Marsh, Mark Waugh, Darren Lehmann, and Trevor Hohns sat down to name to first ODI side of the summer, there was little to do.
The Australians had just whitewashed Pakistan in the three-match ODI series in the UAE, with Michael Clarke missing thanks to another hamstring injury.
So what did the selectors do for the first ODI against South Africa at the WACA? Reinstate a seemingly fit Clarke and drop Steve Smith, who was the man of the series in the UAE, averaging 63.33 with the bat.
From man of the series a month ago to see ya? Inexcusable.
Smith would have been left out of the second ODI, also at the WACA, after Australia won the first by 32 runs. But the fickle finger of fate stepped in when Clarke broke down again, allowing the selectors to regain some face by reinstating Smith.
From that point until today Smith has constantly reminded the selectors of their original folly by scoring 1657 runs at 97.47 in Tests and ODIs, to be the best Australian batsman of the summer. And from obscurity to captaining his country with distinction in three Tests and one ODI, as Clarke continued to break down.
On Tuesday the selectors named 16 players to tour the West Indies for two Tests in June, and 17 for the five-Test Ashes series in July-August.
They picked 30-year-old paceman Peter Siddle, as honest as the day is long, ahead of two genuine younger and better strike bowlers in 21-year-old Pat Cummins, and 24-year-old James Faulkner, fresh from earning the man of the match award in the World Cup final.
Don’t tell me ODIs are any different when it comes to selections. Runs and wickets are the only currency in any format. Apart from that, Cummins and Faulkner are far better batsmen and fielders than Siddle, so why the selection, especially with the future in mind?
The selectors were very busy yesterday, also naming an Australian A squad to do a four-day and one-day series battle against India in India in July.
Glenn Maxwell was left out of the Windies-England Test tours, but was named in the four-day Australia A squad, yet not the one-day squad.
Excuse me, wasn’t Maxwell an integral part of winning the World Cup, and now he can’t get a guernsey in an Australia A one-day squad?
The selectors sure are hard to fathom, but they do deserve some credit.
Not wanting to make another Steve Smith howler, they recognised the two most outstanding performances in the Sheffield Shield by ignoring age and selecting the best batsman in 35-year-old Western Australian captain Adam Voges, and the best-performed bowler in 33-year-old Pakistan-born leggie Fawad Ahmed, despite the fact neither has played a Test.
Voges cracked 1358 runs at 104.46, the fourth highest season aggregate in the history of the Sheffield Shield.
Simon Katich for NSW in the 2007-08 season, tops the list with 1506 runs at 94.12, followed by Michael Bevan (NSW) with 1464 in the 2004-05 season, averaging 97.60, and Victorian Matthew Elliot in the 2003-04 season with 1381 at 81.23.
Ahmed’s 48 Shield wickets in 11 games cost 24.85, with an excellent economy rate of 3.32 per over.
Let’s face facts: there’s no point in selecting Voges and Ahmed, despite earning recognition, if they weren’t going to play in any of the seven Tests. So don’t be surprised if Voges replaces Shane Watson in the middle order at some stage, and Ahmed does the same with offie Nathan Lyon.
Offies are a dime a dozen in England, but England batsmen have always had trouble with leggies, who are so rare in county cricket.
Time will tell.
Australia Test squad
Michael Clarke (c), Steve Smith (vc), David Warner, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Adam Voges, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin, Peter Nevill, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Josh Hazlewood, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon and Fawad Ahmed.
Ryan Harris will be the 17th man for the Ashes series after the birth of his first child.
Australia A four-day squad
Usman Khawaja (c), Matthew Wade (vc), Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Andrew Fekete, Peter Hanscomb, Travis Head, Nick Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Steve O’Keefe, Gurinder Sandhu, and Marcus Stoinis.
The Australia A one-day squad
Khawaja (c), Wade (vc), Sean Abbott, Agar, Cameron Boyce, Burns, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cummins, Callum Ferguson, Handscomb, Head, Chris Lynn, Sandhu, and Adam Zampa.
By the way, how many of the 441 Australians who have worn the coveted baggy green cap have had the first name Mitchell? Just three, and they are all heading for the Windies and England – Mitchell Johnson, cap number 398, Mitchell Starc 425, and Mitchell Marsh 438.