It’s been three and a half years since Phil Jaques last donned the whites for Australia – a Test that ended in a hard fought 87 run win over the West Indies at Bridgetown.
Jaques opened with none other than Simon Katich, whose demotion from the national side will go down in history as one of the Andrew Hilditch era’s many ‘what the?’ moments.
But at least ‘Katto’ had fair crack at it.
Given Australia’s post-golden era period of trial and mostly error, where much of the strife has occurred at the top of the order, Jaques appears set to sit alongside the likes of Stuart Law, Martin Love and Brad Hodge in the faded annals as players whose baggy green caps never got the workout their brief appearances suggested.
In that Test in the Aussies’ last throes of world supremacy, Jaques peeled off a rapid fire 31 in the first dig, followed by 108 in a 223 run opening partnership in the second.
But as fate would have it, Jaques’ good timing was restricted to the middle. Once the incumbent openers Hayden and Katich’s all too brief injuries resolved themselves, Jaques resigned himself to being patient.
And his patience was further tested when Hayden called stumps, and the selectors embarked on their prolonged love affair with the technically-flawed-but-brilliant-on-his-day Phil Hughes.
Of course a chronic back injury and subsequent surgery consigned Jaques to being a patient when he might have been fulfilling a burgeoning Test career down the order, one that already featured three tons in just 11 Tests, at an average of 47.47 no less.
Jaques is now 32 years young – time is not yet the enemy. And Hayden’s own return from the wilderness to become an imperious batting force could be a source of comfort/inspiration.
But for now a return appears an unlikely notion, as elusively distant as that last Test match. Although Jaques still boasts a first class average of 49.37, including 38 hundreds (comparing more than favourably with Sean Marsh, just saying), his pre-bash for crash Shield season was less than underwhelming.
The wheel can turn quickly though, and hopefully the new selection hierarchy haven’t marked his card. To see Jaques dust off the baggy green once more would be quite a story.
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