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Surely chairman of cricket selectors John Inverarity and high performance director Pat Howard realise the unpopular rotation policy could create a mutiny among Australia’s fast bowlers.
With all the best intentions in the world, telling a fast bowler like Mitchell Starc at 22 he won’t play both the MCG and SCG Tests against Sri Lanka is like red rag to a bull.
The two most sought after Tests of any Australian summer.
Imagine if Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson were playing now, and given the same ultimatum. All hell would break loose, the gobful the selectors would cop would turn the air blue.
Right now Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ryan Harris, and John Hastings are out of action. Shane Watson, Mitchell Johnson, and Doug Bollinger have all been there. It’s a problem, but the solution is like hen’s teeth to find.
Inverarity was a slow bowler, Howard a Wallaby. What would they know about fast bowlers? All their information to make a decision is second hand at best.
You can see where the rotation policy is coming from, but it goes a lot deeper than trying to avert injuries.
Mindset for one, morale for another.
Starc is the perfect example. He’s only played two Tests and two Shield games in two months.
He has the potential to become Australia’s most lethal bowler if he ever gets his act together.
He’s busting to play at both the MCG, the biggest Test of any year, and his home ground SCG, where he’s yet to wear the baggy green at either venue.
He would be devastated to miss either, and don’t kid me it won’t affect his career capabilities and his respect for the selectors.
Newcomer Jackson Bird is in a different category, If he doesn’t play at the MCG why did the selectors name him in the 12?
His figures prove he deserves to play as the leading wicket-taker this summer. But if he’s to carry drinks after six days sitting in the hot seat pondering his fate, that too would be devastating.
Then there’s Usman Khawaja, standing in for the injured Michael Clarke if the skipper’s hamstring injury stops him playing at the MCG.
Batsman Khawaja was denied playing in a Big Bash League game five days before the Test starts, a Test he may not play in at all.
That decision makes no sense at all.
The overall policy is a mess, with little to no light at the end of the tunnel.
And the only ones suffering are those cricketers keen to play.
We haven’t heard the last of this poorly put together policy by a long shot.