We have lost the plot – we just didn’t know it. Cricket Australia continues to defend their proven-as-failed spin development program – promoting no two-way spinners and no wrist spinners.
They continue to support their appalling spin selection for the tour, and then compound it by continuing to select those spinners in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Lyon and Doherty are not fit for purpose – that is clearly substandard for Indian conditions – and probably substandard for any Test level conditions.
Playing these two is an insult to the standards imbued in the Baggy Green. It is not their fault they were selected – nor is it up to them to step down.
But their body language today as they were belted around the field by a pair of openers – one on debut – hardly left a sense of the required tenacity and dare I say mongrel. However it is 100 percent selection and those responsible for it.
It is certain there has been a catastrophic failure at both spin development and selection and re-selection.
This culpable management team has no where to go except to go.
They can’t make a decision to deselect the spinners without admitting they should resign immediately.
But this is bigger than the now-clear diversion of their, and our, respective needs.
This Border-Gavaskar Trophy is gone – but our traditions and ongoing pride require us to select our best available sportsmen, require them to stand up to the last man, and take our licks when others are better.
All those who went before, and those selected now, have an inailiable right to expect that those selected now meet those standards.
This India Tour has opened a can of worms that may have remained closed on other tours and home tests. But here we are.
India requires good spinners , India requires both-way spinners, India requires spinners that extract zip and topsin out of unhelpful pitches. We don’t have them – not in this team anyway.
It’s time to be radical and at least preserve our traditions, regardless of the expected Delhi strip. We must pick – this time – 11 players who meet the standards of tradition and a semblance of form.
In this team it means not picking either of these spinners. The consequence of having Pattinson, Starc, Johnson, and Siddle on the park says simply these are our best bowlers – so play them – we can’t solve the spinner issue here nor can we any longer sully the Baggy Green.
Call two of them ‘spinners’ for the match sheet if you must.
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