Peter Forrest was the only plus to surface from the highly-criticised rotation policy for yesterdays ODI between Australia and India at Adelaide.
Mike Hussey was ‘rested’ from the Australian lineup, India ‘rested’ Sachin Tendulkar. Both were fit to play.
Former England captain Tony Greig led the Channel Nine commentators on a verbal lashing of the policy. The station’s viewers lent support with a resounding 82% vote against rotation.
But without it we wouldn’t have seen the superb international debut of 26-year-old Forrest, whose composure, footwork, clean striking, and power showed he was right at home with the elite.
His 66 off 83, with five fours and two massive down-the-ground sixes, plus his 98-run fourth-wicket partnership with the very experienced David Hussey (72), shored up Australia from a dicey 3-81.
It wasn’t enough in the end, but it was entertaining while it lasted. India (6-270) beat Australia (269) by four wickets, with two deliveries in hand.
But it was Peter Forrest’s day.
He was a left-field selection, averaging only 29.33 for his adopted Queensland in the interstate 50-overs, but 58.10 in the Sheffield Shield with three centuries from 11 visits.
It begs a raft of questions as to how the selectors will react for the next ODI against Sri Lanka at the SCG on Friday, and the game against India at the Gabba on Sunday?
Mike Hussey must return, Forrest can’t be dropped. And there’s still the 20-year-old Mitchell Marsh to be given a run in this series with his all-round talents.
Is it Ricky Ponting’s turn to be “rested”? Will Michael Clarke’s tweaked hamstring be right to play? If not, who will lead the side?
If Ponting and Clarke don’t play, it would be the ideal time to blood David Warner as skipper, something the selectors should have done with the two Twenty20 games against India.
Warner has shown strong leadership qualities as captain of the Chairman’s X1 against India at Canberra, and the Sydney Thunder in the Big Bash League.
The other alternative would be to recall keeper Brad Haddin to the side as skipper. The Warner proposition has more legs.
But the dashing left-hander needs some runs, and the team needs an opening stand.
In the three ODIs to date the opening partnerships have been 15, 22, and 14 – leaving Australia under the pump from the start. The alternatives are light on, so the Warner-Matthew Wade combination looks the safest bet.
And with expressman Brett Lee ready to return from a broken toe, Mitchell Starc would be a casualty along with Ponting, and possibly an injured Clarke.
In that case, how about David Warner (c), Matthew Wade, Peter Forrest, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Marsh, David Hussey, Dan Christian, Brett Lee, Ryan Harris, Clint McKay, and Xavier Doherty.
Chris
Guest
That was a shocker, but I think McKay's last over might have contributed as well...
Chris
Guest
And as such is regarded as an integral part of the undroppable boys club that is the team within the team.
aussie1st
Roar Pro
I don't think Forrest will be in the ODI side long term unless Clarke goes. They are too similar and you can't have two of them in one side. However happy to be proven wrong if either Clarke starts scoring like he did in the last game or Forrest proves this was debut nerves. For me I was looking more at how he would go in the Test arena and so far so good. Short ball is one thing he might need to work on.
aussie1st
Roar Pro
Agree does look worrying. All the more reason to keep him on a series by series basis especially if he keeps getting out in the same fashion.
lolly
Guest
He really needs to learn to rotate the strike though. He faced a lot of dot balls.
lolly
Guest
I have no problems with rotating players. When he was skipper, Punter was always rested in the summer. It's just commentators getting worked up over nothing as they so frequently do. Its a long series so it's the perfect time to get some experience into the new batsmen.
lolly
Guest
He was in the ODI team in SA. I think they are going to give him a very long run in ODI's hoping that he'll come good.
roarr
Guest
I think he is probably suffering a bit from jumping from T20 to test back to T20 now to ODI. Despite being the same sport, they really do require different skills and moreso they require a change in mentality. Even from 20 over to 50 over... you can see he's a little bit unsure when he should be upping the gears and when he should be leaving balls. Its not as easy to go back and forward through all forms of the game as people think. I would strongly advocate more division between the teams... so much so that eventually the T20 team probably wont have any test players at all and might even play on a different touring schedule to that of the test team.
Maggie
Guest
+1 from me re Oz need for Lee's return asap. He was desperately missed last night. Lee is the master in both T20 and one-day matches in bowling tight last overs. Unfortunately Clint McKay, who had bowled well earlier in the match, crumbled under the pressure in that last over.
Behold
Guest
Warner needs to be dropped not rested from this team, he doesn't have the record to back up his selection and can't seem to find a way into an ODI innings. His fielding was horrible, he is a good catcher and quick across the outfield but his ground fielding is on par with being the worst in the team apart from Clint McKay who is a liability all round.
jameswm
Guest
Ian Chappell is losing the plot.
Brendon
Guest
Like last night's 0 for 49 off 8 overs?
Red Kev
Guest
I am not convinced that Watson can be selected on his batting alone. I believe him to be a formidable all-rounder, especially in the shorter forms of the game (and is without question one of the first-picked for those formats), but he is not one of the best six "pure batsmen" in the country in my opinion, he needs the added ability of his bowling to force his way into the lineup. That is just an opinion and I am not certain his stats support my viewpoint (test average of 38, FC average of 45). It is worth noting however that since the Ashes, Watson (5 tests @ 20.22) has performed worse than Hughes (7 tests @ 27.69), Khawaja (5 tests @ 29.29) and Marsh (7 tests @ 27.36) with the bat.
Gerry @ YourLawnAndGarden
Guest
What about Ryan Harris' woe-ful return throw to whoever the bowler was. One mis-field after another - the mis-fielding's what cost us last night!
Luke of GC
Guest
If Watson is to stay as opener he has to dramatically drop his workload with the ball. He can't continue to do both and still perform to his peak level. 12 months ago, Watson not bowling as much would of been not worth contemplating as our attack needed him. But the last 3-4 series our bowling attack has improved markedly and his bowling may not be as important as it once was to the side.
Blazza
Guest
I think your wrong about Clarke in ODIs . He has a great record. AVG of 45 with a strike rate of 78 is pretty good for a middle order batsmen. And just over a year ago he scored 82 off 70 to help the Aussies beat England chasing 334 to win. So he proved he can chase.
Chris
Guest
Agreed. Although I noticed Ian Chappell advocating for Watson to be retained as opener in the Test team in his column on cricinfo.
DC of nz
Guest
Ponting is too old for this competition ..so drop him. I would say that Wade, Forrest, the Husseys are your middle order. Clarke doesn't have the power to score fast in T20... And sometimes one day contests... He will be a brake in some crucial run chases...
jameswm
Guest
He needs to be 5 or 6 in tests, so that after bowling he has time to have a shower, a feed etc and recovr, before padding up again. No.4 needs to be semi-padded up at the first ball.
Blazza
Guest
I think your criticism is correct when you compare him to Gambhir who had 40+ singles in his knock but i disagree that he doesnt need to do it in test cricket. Its more common and better to rotate the strike more in test cricket otherwise you get bogged down for to long. His technique looked quite good. Khawaja has the best technique in Australia that i've seen and Clarke's is fine aswell and Forrest certainly looked comfortable out there .