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Hilton Cartwright is the all-rounder Australia need at number six. Rather than a bits-and-pieces player, like Mitch Marsh or Moises Henriques, he is a frontline batsman who also happens to bowl regularly at first-class level.
Neither Marsh nor Henriques would deserve a spot in their Sheffield Shield teams based purely on their batting, thanks to their respective first-class averages of 29 and 32 with the blade.
That’s not the case for Cartwright, who has a batting mark of 44 in his 16-match first-class career, including two tons.
The 24-year-old West Australian is not nearly as gifted with the ball as Marsh, Australia’s most recent Test all-rounder. While it was a luxury to have Marsh as a fifth bowling option, Australia cannot carry a number six who averages 23 with the bat, like Marsh did in his 19 Tests.
Australia require a fifth bowling option, except for on particularly lively pitches where a Test is likely to be short and low-scoring. But such is the potency of their frontline attack that this fifth bowler need not be of Marsh’s quality, just someone who is a regular bowler for their state, rather than a part-timer.
It would be nice to have an all-rounder of the quality of England’s Ben Stokes, someone who can make tons and take five-fors. Until such a cricketer emerges, a player like Cartwright is the best fit.
It is Australia’s batting, not their bowling, which has been their weakness in recent years. The selectors have bitten the bullet and invested in youth to try to fix this nagging problem. So far the results have been largely positive, with two of the three debutants picked at Adelaide showing great signs.
Peter Handscomb and Matt Renshaw both look well worth persisting with. The third rookie batsman, Nic Maddinson, was always an odd choice and should not play ahead of Cartwright on Boxing Day. From what I’ve seen of Maddinson and Cartwright over the past two Shield seasons, the West Australian is better prepared to play Test cricket.
Maddinson may well be more gifted than Cartwright, but he has significant issues with his temperament, all too often gifting his wicket through impatience. Cavalier batsmen of this sort rarely flourish in Tests.
At Test level, it is not easy for batsmen of any calibre to arrive at the crease and immediately dictate terms to the bowlers. Until Maddinson manages to harness his attacking instincts he is unlikely to become a reliable first-class batsman.
Cartwright, by comparison, is a more compact and patient player.
Unlike Maddinson, he has shown a willingness to scrap for runs early in his innings, when necessary, until he gets set. As a Western Australia fan, I’ve been delighted to see how Cartwright has blossomed since becoming a regular member of the Warriors Shield team last summer.
Batting in the middle order he made 409 runs at 68 last season, to go with eight wickets at 28. That earned him a place in the Australia A side to play a four-day match against India A and he exploited this opportunity. Australia A were struggling at 4-128 in their first innings, with India A having earlier been rolled for 169, when Cartwright peeled off a fluent 117.
Cartwright’s three best Shield knocks this summer each also came when he arrived at the wicket with his side under pressure, rather than once the opposition had already been run into the turf. While Cartwright was first selected for Australia in ODIs – he was in the squad for the recent series against New Zealand – he appears better suited to long-form cricket. He looks to have the temperament and the game to succeed with the bat in Tests.
A strong offside player, Cartwright sweats on any width. His cutting is a feature of his game, as is his driving through the covers. Cartwright showed against India A’s spinners that he’s also confident against spin, regularly using his feet to dispatch the slow bowlers through and over the infield.
His medium pacers, meanwhile, are unlikely to cause any major concern for the Pakistani batsmen. Australia will be merely hoping Cartwright can hold up an end while the frontline quicks rest.
His selection is another bold call from a selection panel which has changed tack by placing faith in youth.