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Australia's 140km/h policy cruels Bird and Sayers

1st December, 2015
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Jackson Bird is back in the side. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Expert
1st December, 2015
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Australia’s policy of favouring pacemen who can top 140km/h is alive and well after prolific wicket-taker Jackson Bird was beaten to the Test squad by an underdone Nathan Coulter-Nile and a left-field selection in Scott Boland.

The retirements of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, together with injuries to Mitchell Starc, James Faulkner, Pat Cummins and Jason Behrendorff, has forced Australia to dig deep into its stockpile of fast bowlers.

Bird had appeared the obvious bowler to bring into the squad for the three-Test series against the West Indies, which starts at his home ground Bellerive Oval, where he has the remarkable first-class record of 71 wickets at 19.

His career first-class record is extremely impressive too, with 170 wickets at 24, while the swing bowler also is the current leading wicket-taker in the Sheffield Shield, with 18 wickets at 25.

At just 28, Bird has age on his side and was impressive in his three Tests, taking 13 wickets at 23 and scooping one man-of-the-match award. As far as resumes go, that is striking.

That he can’t get a place in Australia’s squad, despite so many quicks being injured or having retired, casts serious doubt on his international career.

So does the fact that he was overlooked in favour of two bowlers who, at the current time, do not have tremendous appeal.

That Coulter-Nile and Boland are capable of exceeding 140km/h, while Bird operates in the mid-130s, shapes as the deciding factor when you consider coach Darren Lehmann’s stated preference for sharp bowlers.

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Coulter-Nile is a dynamic paceman who can shape first-class matches in a short period of time. He also has looked comfortable in international limited-overs cricket, snaring 37 wickets at an average of 25 from his 24 ODI and T20 matches.

But his first-class record at Bellerive Oval pales in comparison to Bird’s, with just seven wickets at the inflated average of 44.

More pertinently, though, Coulter-Nile is underdone, having not played a first-class match in more than eight months due to several injuries. It would appear a risky move by the selectors to ask him to debut in Tests on the back of zero match practice.

Boland, meanwhile, is not in the 12-man squad for the Hobart Test but is on standby should one or both of Josh Hazlewood and Peter Siddle not be fit to play.

There are concerns about Hazlewood’s heavy workload while Siddle suffered back soreness during the Adelaide Test.

The 26-year-old Victorian Boland is fresh from a match haul of 9-72 in his team’s Shield win over Western Australia. His long-term form is underwhelming though – prior to that standout match, he had averaged 33 with the ball across his 25 first-class matches.

Boland may well develop into a fine international prospect. He has not done enough though to justify his position in the Test queue ahead of Bird and South Australian swing bowler Chadd Sayers, who has 140 wickets at 25 in first-class cricket.

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But Boland and Coulter-Nile are the type of paceman the Australian selectors prefer – aggressive bowlers who can push the speed gun above 140km/h. The subtler skills of Bird and Sayers lose out by comparison as far as Lehmann and co. are concerned.

Bird is not slow – he can reach 140km/h and bowls consistently in the 134-137km/h range, similar to the speeds of leading Test quicks Stuart Broad, Trent Boult, James Anderson and Tim Southee. Sayers is just medium pace, operating in the 125-130km/h zone.

Unfortunately for that pair, Lehmann has repeatedly emphasised the need for Australia’s Test pacemen to be able to rattle opponents with their speed.

The Australian coach made it clear soon after he took over that bowlers in the 125-135km/h bracket would probably be overlooked for Test selection.

“That’s a really big area for us in our bowling attack – you need to have speed against players these days,” Lehmann said late in 2013.

“Gone are the days when you can bowl 125km/h. You need to be 140 if you possibly can. Speed’s a really big issue… we’re looking for blokes who bowl with some pace.”

This policy would make it unlikely that Sayers will ever get a chance in Tests while Lehmann is coach. Bird is not without a hope given the selectors have been playing Hazlewood and Siddle who are no swifter than him.

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Australia clearly favour playing two express quicks and one slower, frugal type, where possible, so Bird is competing with Hazlewood and Siddle for what typically will be just one place.

For the moment, pace is king.

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