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The end of a beautiful thing need not be a time of mourning. Indeed, Australia’s cricketing future is looking so bright that it’s causing some headaches at the selection table.
It’s been well noted that Australia is a country with 20 million selectors – 21 million by now. But the selectors – Hilditch, Hughes, Cox and Boon – are facing choices unlike any panel before them in recent memory.
Australian cricket has always prided itself on being a solid unit, a team of professional, experienced players, a team notoriously difficult to get into and even more difficult to remain in, with talented players in every position banging on the selectors’ door.
The Australian mentality has long been to give players a chance to establish themselves, as evidenced by the huge gap in capped players between England (645) and Australia (411).
But this is a period unlike no other.
Previous teams were filled with old-heads and a few up-and-comers. Selecting a First XI was child’s play: you could rattle the names off with little doubt as to who the best openers were, who should get the new ball, and how to man the middle order.
But with the exit of Warne and McGrath, the same talent that was always waiting in the wings remains, only it lacks experience and it seems the selectors – all 21 million of them – cannot settle on who the First XI should be.
It would also seem there are so many players coming through that a few have even fallen off the radar.
Shaun Marsh, anyone remember this name? Twelve months ago he was the next big thing, the answer to our problems at the top of the order with the retirements of Hayden and Langer.
He gets injured and players like Haddin, Paine, Watson and Michael Clarke go and do a fine job in his place and the young duo of Warner and Hughes couldn’t do a lot more than they have to push their respective cases for selection.
Katich and Hodge could also easily fill the void, and the other forgotten opener – who too was to be the next best thing – Phil Jacques, is a relative spring chicken in cricketing terms at 30.
Shaun Tait, come again? The tearaway whom many crowned the successor to the Australian fast bowling throne?
Still drawing a blank? The one who was bowling nasty 160 km/h thunderbolts before deciding to take a “break from the game” only for CA to leave him out of their initial 2009 contracted player list.
Tait has played just four ODIs and two T20s since his decision to step away from cricket and we’ve seen the likes of Bracken, Johnson, Lee, Clark, Hilfenhaus, Siddle, Bollinger, Nannes, Harwood, Laughlin and Geeves all get in the team for their fast-bowling prowess since then.
I’d like to see a throwback to the good old days where an Australian cap wasn’t so easy to get, where the selectors made decisions like men, players got a chance to establish themselves in the Australian XI, and players were given consecutive series to prove themselves.
To do that we must select a core squad, players to be the nucleus of the team, and afford them the opportunities to play together.
So here is my interpretation:
Test squad
1) P. Hughes
2) S. Katich
3) R. Ponting
4) M. Clarke
5) C. Ferguson
6) S. Watson
7) B. Haddin
8) M. Johnson
9) B. Lee
10) J. Krejza
11) P. Siddle
12) P. Jaques, M. North, T. Paine, S. Tait, B. Hilfenhaus
ODI Squad
1) P. Hughes
2) B. Haddin
3) S. Marsh
4) M. Clarke
5) S. Watson
6) C. Ferguson
7) M. Hussey
8) M. Johnson
9) S. Tait
10) N. Bracken
11) P. Siddle
12) D. Warner, S. Katich, T. Paine, B. Hilfenhaus
T20 Squad – if we have to play at international level, I better select a squad.
1) P. Hughes
2) D. Warner
3) S. Marsh
4) T. Paine
5) D. Hussey
6) J. Hopes
7) M. Hussey
8) B. Lee
9) B. Hilfenhaus
10) N. Bracken
11) P. Siddle
12) B. Haddin, S. Katich, M. Henriques
A core squad of 16 for Tests and 15 for ODIs, with a balance of young and old. “Always one eye on the future” must become the motto of our selectors, and from this pool, the selectors must pick based on form and conditions.
Injuries will need to be covered and that’s when fringe players can come in and get their chance.
Further, the team must be rotated amongst this nucleus so that the second choice players continue to gain experience. Once fringe players become regulars, they will already have the experience at the highest level.
There is no need for Brad Haddin, for example, to play all the ODIs when we have someone as talented as Tim Paine on the sidelines. Keep Haddin fresh for the games he is needed and let Paine gather some Test caps against the West Indies for example.
Don’t bowl Brett Lee for an entire test series, give Ponting a break, make sure we aren’t faced with the problem that half the team retires and the replacements are all fresh faces.
The lineup is debatable, but surely we must go back to what has made Australian cricket successful for so long: a core group of the most talented players, regardless of their age, race or state of origin.
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