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.
Dingo
Guest
oops, sorry, Matthew Elliott. ;)
aussie1st
Roar Pro
It's such a shame he copped that injury as he would probably be our opener right now. He was one of the guys who we needed during this transisition stage, he was the perfect age to be entering the side and had been scoring a bucket load of runs.
Behold
Guest
Jacques never was up to Australian team standards in the field. He can barely get picked for NSW these days, yes he was probably a little hard done by at the time but there are players like Love Law Hodge who were just as hard done by.
Disco
Roar Guru
It's been sad to see him struggle for NSW since his back injury. I wondered if we might see a resurgence this summer but that hasn't happened.
formeropenside
Guest
oops, sorry, Michael Elliott.
formeropenside
Guest
Isn't he the guy who hurt his knee in the WI a while back? Running into another batsman or something?
soapit
Guest
at least he got his baggy green and knocked off at least one hundred before injury hit.
Jeff Dowsing
Roar Pro
That is essentially correct - although Jaques was once passed over for Hughes (at which point a case could be made for & against), there's little doubt he would have subsequently been given other opportunities but for injury.
Crayfish
Guest
I'm all for selector-bashing but unfortunately it was injury, rather than the whims of the selectors, that ruined the Test career of Phil Jacques.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Jaques has never really recovered from his back injury. After the surgery and long lay-off he's never gone close to scoring what he was at his peak. He's still a decent domestic player, but not much more sadly.
Sports Writer
Guest
I would love to see Jacques back in the Test team...possibly alongside Katich opening? Anything is better than letting Hughes back in the team
Happy Hooker
Guest
Jacques has about as much chance of playing in a future test match as I have (and I am rapidly approaching a half century).
Jeff Dowsing
Roar Pro
Don't get me wrong - I actually like S Marsh as a player and his recent scores are more a symptom of being wrongly picked too hastily after a 2 month injury layoff. But as you were alluding to, it's these annointed ones that get picked ahead of less sexy alternatives who've been churning out the runs at Shield level. To this end, I think one of the reasons Ed Cowan's selection has been lauded was that finally good form and consistency from one of these types was actually rewarded. I just hope that should Jaques string together some scores that selectors don't forget that he's also cut it at the top level, albeit a few years ago.
RickG
Guest
Yeah, it's always sad to see a player not reach his full potential due to injury or other factors beyond thier control. I seem to recall his dropping from the side had much more to do with the back injury than anyhting else. Not sure his form since has warranted inclusion, and being the wrong side of 30 won't help, but once the older crew who have about 5 years on him are gone there might be a role for him as a stablising influence at the top of the order.
Red Kev
Guest
Jeff, everyone compares favourably to Shaun Marsh - Jaques, Rogers, North, Hughes, Khawaja ... the difference is someone put his name in the Argus report and labelled him crucial to Australia's plan to return to the top of the world rankings in all three forms of the game (and to be honest I think he'll be a good asset in T20 and probably ODI if he can remain injury-free, but I have my doubts about him being what we need for the test team).