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He bowls to the left and he bowls to the right, Mitchell Johnson, his bowling is… deserving of a Test recall? The Poms will be laughing themselves silly when the news reaches their shores.
Johnson is currently placed 10th in the Sheffield Shield with 17 wickets at 29.00 apiece. He has flattered the National Selection Panel (NSP) so much so that they’ve rewarded him with selection in the third Test squad.
Some will point to Johnson’s record at the WACA as cause for his inclusion. But a similar argument was used to justify his place when he was struggling ahead of going to South Africa last year.
He had a good record against the Safas away from home yet, when there, lacked any penetration. Many let off a huge sigh of relief when he was injured and forcefully prevented from playing any further part for the Test side.
Ironically, the NSP cited Shield form as the main prerequisite for a test call-up when Rob Quiney was picked for the first Test. Maybe after seeing how well his Test career turned out they’ve abandoned such an approach?
Pity that, because Tasmanian quick Jackson Bird has put forward the least ignorable case a Shield player has composed in years.
Form and/or proven consistent performances at this level must be the main focus when deciding which players deserve a spot in Australia’s Test side.
Bird’s 26 wickets this season have come at less than 20 runs apiece and he was the surprise leading wicket taker last season with 48 scalps at 15.75. On top of that, he was voted player-of-the-year for 2011/12 by his fellow players.
How is his exclusion being justified? Put simply, no justification has been put forward.
This is the perfect example of a player who has done everything he should need to. But the school girls at the NSP table are too busy playing favourites with Mitch because he might be tall, dark and handsome. They aren’t concerned by his form, temperament or record.
Most would agree quite rightfully that New South Welshman, Mitchell Starc, should be next cab off the rank. He has travelled with the side for the past 12-18 months and developed into a genuine international quality bowler.
Surely Bird should then slot in behind him in the pecking order. However Johnson, along with unproven young fast bowler Josh Hazelwood and Victorian medium pacer John Hastings (at least his statistics are good) seem to have jumped the queue.
It could easily be argued that Queensland spearhead Ben Cutting should be ahead of that lot too. His 17 wickets may parody the tally of Johnson, but have come at an average of just 18.11, not to mention 280 runs with the bat at 40.00.
Cutting was on the brink of earning his Baggy Green last summer, but injury struck and he’s been forgotten since. Cutting must also be thinking what it must take to get a game.
To select Johnson would be a massive step backwards for a side on the way up. Our strength lies in a battery of young, exciting fast bowlers. We already have the reliable old heads in Peter Siddle and, to a lesser extent, Ben Hilfenhaus.
If Johnson were to be asked at a press conference, “Do you believe you are the most deserving person of this place in the squad?” could he honestly say yes?
Apparently he’s back near his best. Johnson took 4-103 in the first innings of the current fixture between Tasmania and Western Australia, which was used as evidence that he deserves a recall.
But tellingly, in the same match, Jackson Bird took a casual 6-25 – his sixth five-wicket-haul in just 17 first class appearances.
Just over a year ago I was relieved, Johnson’s Test career seemed over, with a mutual approving chorus from supporters. It was agreed that he should never be allowed near the Australian Test side again.
How wrong we were, and how wrong are the NSP going to be proved if they select him in the final XI?
Johnson doesn’t deserve his fast-tracked return. He has not proven himself to be Test quality again. He hasn’t had the big hauls, he hasn’t torn though every batting line-up.
He’s essentially slotted into state cricket as a mediocre, run-of-the-mill bowler, who has done nothing to impress me or the wider Australian public.
There are plenty of other contenders for his place, many of whom are far more justified and, if common sense prevails, it should be them that are earning the call up.
But as the old proverb goes: common sense isn’t all that common.
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