- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Moises Henriques will become the 432nd owner of the famous Baggy Green cap when he makes his Test debut against India on Friday.
Henriques beat out other squad members Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith for the coveted all-rounder position, as Australia’s cricket selectors continue their love affair with players that are deemed to be specialists in more than just one skill.
It will shock regular Roarers very little to know that I think the selectors made the right call in not granting Maxwell his Test debut, for I have made no secret of the fact that I don’t think his batting or bowling is up to international standard, particularly for Test matches.
While the National Selection Panel seem to regard him highly, I was actually mildly surprised that Maxwell found himself boarding the plane to India.
Yet, what really shocked me is when Australian and Victorian great Dean Jones recently compared Maxwell to Ian Harvey.
I immediately cried “sacrilege”, for Harvey was one of my all-time favourite cricketers when I was younger.
While others were bowling leg spinners in reverence to Shane Warne, attempting rapid chin music in the mould of Brett Lee, or nonchalantly flicking balls off their pads in the hope of looking like Mark Waugh, I was practicing bowling out of the back of my hand, endeavouring to replicate Harvey’s slower ball.
Though his numbers never really backed my opinion up, I believed Harvey was a brilliant cricketer who should have been a sensation at international level.
However, I was often a voice of one when it came to my lofty judgment of Harvey. And considering he is over five years removed from the game yet people are still talking about his ‘potential’, it’s a clear indication that he underperformed.
‘Potential’.
It’s a word no cricketer wants to hear associated with them once they’re well into their 20’s.
Yet it’s also a quality that ensures players keep getting picked well after they should have already really shed the tag, or when they don’t fully deserve to be selected.
It simply can’t be denied that when it comes to selecting cricket teams, statistics and performance are not the only calculations that come into play. The dreaded ‘p’ word remains a very influential criterion for picking players.
All three all-rounders in the Test squad – Henriques, Maxwell and Smith – were picked on their potential, as none could be considered automatic selections due to their performances this season. Or indeed, from previous seasons.
I was extremely surprised that any, let alone all three of them, made the touring party, but Jones’ piece on Maxwell and Harvey made me reassess my position.
It would seem slightly hypocritical to have a personal all-time favourite cricketer based almost purely on his potential, but decry the selectors for picking players on roughly the same basis.
I actually like Henriques and have always felt that he had plenty of talent and may one day be a good player at international level, but it’s debatable whether he has earned that right just yet.
And with regards to Maxwell and Smith, to say my jury is still out would be an understatement.
But in the same way I defended my high regard of Harvey, I now somewhat respect the selectors’ opinion that they see something possibly special in Henriques, Maxwell or Smith.
I guess my major issue is the judicious use of the word ‘or’ in that last sentence. For it does seem like the selectors are gambling that one of the three players mentioned will suddenly turn potential into performance.
I don’t mind the odd bolter in a touring squad, along with the selectors taking a gamble. But rolling the dice on three different players does seem excessive, not to mention desperate.
Which only serves to remind us that ‘potential’ continues to be an irresistible seduction for selectors.