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Conventional wisdom says you don’t change a winning team. As Kim Hughes put it in his interview during the lunch break on day three of the WACA Test, “Winning hides all sins.”
Australia’s new National Selection Panel needs to have the fortitude and vision to look beyond such platitudes and shore up the areas of Australia’s lineup that are still lacking.
Australia now plays a dead rubber against India in Adelaide and then an away series against the West Indies (after some meaningless and time-wasting ODI and T20 games). After that there is no more Test cricket until next season when it is South Africa and Sri Lanka in Australia, India in India (a far tougher proposition), and then the back-to-back Ashes.
Given that Adelaide is traditionally a good batting strip and the West Indies are very weak at the moment, the best time to make changes that we want to bear fruit for the Ashes is now, and it starts with Brad Haddin.
His wicketkeeping has been poor and his batting dreadful. In the last three Tests he has dropped two catches and almost botched two more (Hussey and Clarke covering for his ineptitude). In 15 innings since the end of Ashes series. Haddin has averaged 19.87 with the bat.
It is obvious the selectors want Tim Paine as the next wicketkeeper, but he is out injured for four months, may never reclaim his form and may never even play first-class cricket again – they cannot afford to wait for him. Matthew Wade is the next best after Paine and should be called up.
Ricky Ponting, it’s time. It is as simple as that. He has been superb for Australian cricket for 15 years. He has responded to recent criticism in the best way possible (by scoring runs against India). Now he has to declare his innings closed with his head held high.
It is obvious he now has to work much harder for his runs than he is used to. It is obvious that Clarke doesn’t need Ponting to back-seat-drive his captaincy. Ponting has nothing left to offer – 33 innings over 23 months at an average of 32.44 elapsed between his two most recent centuries.
Take a bow and go out on a high, please, Ricky (and if he won’t John Inverarity as a full-time professional selector has to make the call for the good of Australian cricket and not be swayed by the sentimental dross surrounding Ponting’s career).
Usman Khawaja has not grabbed his spot with both hands but neither has he done much wrong (seven of his nine dismissals are after he has reached 20); he needs to be shown some faith and patience and be called up.
Next, Shaun Marsh. This is a contentious one because he debuted with a century of 141 and since then his average has trended down every innings. He came back into the side (displacing Khawaja, who was his injury cover) and has since contributed 14 runs in four innings.
This is a cautionary tale for bringing injured players back into the Test side without any long-form cricket under their belt to prove themselves. He is likely to get another chance in Adelaide for two reasons: (1) he has only had four innings in three Tests since returning and they may think he deserves more of a chance; and (2) the selectors probably won’t gamble on Shane Watson for a dead rubber.
The selectors need to change the winning team. Matthew Wade and Khawaja should be on a plane to Adelaide and then to the Caribbean. Then when Watson does return, Khawaja and Marsh will basically be auditioning for the last spot in the lineup (with the loser likely to take over from Mike Hussey within 12 months).
Mickey Arthur said the selection panel hadn’t talked about a succession plan for Ponting and Hussey. Well, there it is. Done. Make the calls.
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