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Australian Michael Beer fields on the boundary during play on day 2 in the Fifth Ashes Test. AAP Image/Paul Miller
When will the Australian selectors learn? When you visit the Indian subcontinent you take an experienced spinner or two as if your life depended on it. You cannot go to Cherrapunji, with an annual rainfall of 3000 mm, without an umbrella and you cannot tour the Indian subcontinent without a spinner who has bowled there.
What, no off-spinner Jason ‘Krazy’ Krejza in the Australian squad of 15 for the Test tour of Sri Lanka?
Crazy to leave him out, I say. In his Test debut against India at Nagpur of 2008, he took 12 wickets in the match, including 8-215 in the first innings.
Among Australians only Bob Massie had a 12-fer in his Test debut and he was a fast-medium bowler.
Then one failure in a Test in Australia and he was omitted and never picked in a Test again.
Nathan Hauritz is another offie with experience under his belt. He has bowled poorly in Australia of late but we are talking of Sri Lanka, the resplendent isles – especially for experienced spinners. It is unclear if he is injured, but Cricket Australia has not given that as an excuse.
Promising all-rounder Steven Smith can hit sixes and grab wickets with his loopy leg-spin. Is he in? No, he is out.
True, he has not fulfilled his promise but he has talent to burn. I realise that he has taken only three wickets at a terrible average of 73.33 in five Tests.
But do you recall that another leg-break googly bowler with promise had a worse bowling average of 335.00 (1-335) in 90 overs of Test cricket before being controversially picked for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2004?
Guessed his name? Shane Warne.
He came in his own in the Colombo Test of August 1992. Sri Lanka declared at 8-547 after gaining a 291-run lead. Australia scored 471 runs in the second innings setting the home team a mere 181 to win.
They were cruising at 2-127 but lost their last 8 wickets for 37 runs, thanks to off-spinner Greg Matthews claiming 4-76 and leggie Warne 3-11 in 5.1 overs.
Warne captured the last three wickets off 13 balls without conceding a run and Australia won by 16 runs.
It was either brave or foolish of skipper Allan Border to give Warney a bowl but the gamble worked and a star was born.
“It was the greatest heist since the Great Train Robbery”, Border said.
This was Warne’s first step to his legendary status and proves statistics in Australia and statistics in Sri Lanka do not necessarily go hand in hand.
Let’s hope slow left-arm orthodox Michael Beer and off-spinner Nathan Lyon do a Shane Warne in the Pearl of the Indian Ocean next month.
The opening bowling attack is wisely selected. Both youth and experience represented in James Pattinson, Trent Copeland, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris. But Ben Hilfenhaus will be missed.
Selectors have also done well with the batting except leaving out Simon Katich. But this has been discussed in the past ad-nauseum. Safe to say Phillip Hughes and Shaun Marsh have large shoes to fill as opening bats.
I am confident skipper Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey and the talented Usman Khawaja will perform well. I reckon Ponting, without the care of captaincy, will regain his touch.
I am surprised selectors have picked only one wicket-keeper in Brad Haddin. In Tim Paine, Australia has an equally good wicket-keeper batsman. In only four Tests he has taken 16 catches and stumped one besides scoring 287 runs at 35.87.
Speaking at the Australian Cricket Society meeting in Sydney last week, former Test cricketer Paul Sheahan said, “The Australian cricket selectors seem to have fallen asleep on the wheel.”
Apart from spin selection, the selectors appear wide awake. We’ll only know for sure on 20th September when the final Test ends.