With Michael Clarke looking at the prospect of missing a Test through injury for the first time in his career, the return of Shane Watson to India has stirred up quite a commotion about leadership.
This kind of reaction from the media over the past few days seems to come from Watson’s lack of popularity in the public as a captain.
As someone who is seen by many to lack passion and talk on the pitch, Watson’s potential rise to the top simply had to be a focal point.
I worry that everyone has grabbed hold of an easy target in the form of the Queenslander, and what started as a discussion of short term captaincy has exploded into long term leadership speculation.
Watson’s credentials as captain are not what I’m here to discuss – that’s a topic on its own.
But what I feel is that the media are almost driving the team’s focus into a long term vision instead of the short term it so desperately needs to be.
In two separate stories today I’ve seen David Warner and Ed Cowan both mentioned as possible future leaders.
I’m sorry, but why are we discussing potential leaders for years and years down the track when we have a final Test match in India and an Ashes to prepare for?
We have a pair of openers who need to figure out why their form is so all over the place instead of filling their heads with notions of captaincy.
If you want a pair of focused opening batsman, don’t you think it’s better to have them earn their place before making them feel like a secure part of the team?
Telling them or writing that they have good leadership potential can only serve to make them more complacent.
Even leadership questioning about the upcoming Test is getting stale.
You may have your opinion on who may be a better leader for the upcoming Test but last time I checked a game of cricket was won with 11 players.
A good voice in the field and well thought out field placement is crucial, of course, but it can only take you so far.
Huge questions need to be asked of recent selections and how some players have managed to keep their place in the side, looking outside the four man expulsion from the previous Test.
Phil Hughes is incredibly lost and is being wasted at first drop.
Yet it’s difficult to see him bumping one of the openers from the top of the order after this tour.
Where does he sit?
Henriques started with a bang then limped off from the last two Tests.
Does he need a break, or is it too quick to write him off?
Khawaja needs game time if he wants to be a long term part of this team. Get him in there!
These are the tough issues that we should be addressing.
Not leadership for this Test. Not leadership for five years down the road. Just playing cricket and playing it well.
I believe the only reason we’ve seen such a shift in focus by the media this week is because Watson is the subject. Supposed ‘unpopularity’ in leadership seems to breed a good story, as Julia Gillard could attest to.
Regardless of your opinion of Shane Watson, throwing other names in front of his for leadership certainly can’t be inspiring confidence in the man.
The media is becoming distracted and seemingly wants to forget that this tour has ever happened – but you can’t pretend it hasn’t.
No amount of long term vision can make you see beyond the wall of trouble in front of your face.
Alexander Grant
Roar Pro
Just noticed that the Roar's editorial team changed my question mark at the end of the Khawaja section to an exclamation mark. But you know what, it's how I feel anyway. Nice change! +1
Ken Hambling
Guest
Great post Mr.Toad
Ken Hambling
Guest
Agree 100%
Ken Hambling
Guest
+2
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Great piece Grant.
Mr Toad
Guest
Cheers. In all seriousness, Ted, I think that Ed should be put on a word-for-run media budget. He's already used up his 86-word limit from Mohali. His 8 in the second innings earns him half a sentence. Just think of the motivation to score 150 - that's a whole two columns for him to expound on whatever strikes his fancy! On the other hand, a string of low scores will just impose the discipline that he'll have to choose his words carefully - not a bad thing IMO.
TedS
Guest
Great comment! Gilchrist was a true ambassador of the game, not just Australia. Pointing, not so much.
Jocelyn McLennan
Roar Guru
The culture of the Australian cricket team has been on a downward slide since the day Ricky Ponting was given the captaincy over Gilchrist....how different things might have been with Gillie as the helm to continue the culture, discipline and sportsmanlike conduct that was set under the leadership of Taylor and Waugh.
TedS
Guest
haha...Thanks for the laughs mate!
Vivek
Guest
Yes Johnno has nailed it with his post
Mr Toad
Guest
Presumably Mr Ed thinks his 86 in Mohali bought his big mouth some collateral. And if he'd managed to struggle to a ton? Who knows, maybe we'd have a leadership coup on our hands. And the latest from the Cowan finishing school of self-promoting jibber-jabber? "We will accept him (Watson) as captain", because "he has probably decided to come back with a full focus." ( Very forgiving of you Ed - and nice use of the royal pronoun by the way.) He then presumes to speak on behalf of Clarke: "It is a day-to-day proposition. He's confident. Michael's expecting to play." Media liaison officer, self-appointed captain-in-waiting, team snitch, cricket visionary - is there anything our cricket renaissance boy can't do? Bat? - oh but that's just a trifle! I once thought that the heat being applied to Cowan was excessive and motivated by spite and felt some sympathy for him. Not any more. As a cricketer he'd make an excellent politician.
Vivek
Guest
Well said Pradeep
St Mark W
Guest
I agree with the crux of what the article is saying, we should be focused on the next Test match not future captaincy options but how easy is that when many squad members have essentially been chose because of perceived future potential more so than their ability to contribute to a victory in the Test that starts today?
St Mark W
Guest
Michael Mills, Most of us on 'The Roar' fairly quickly realise that Johnno and logic don't mix very well, so its best to just let Johnno have his rant. You make some valid logic points, that I think are sound but don't expect Johnno to endorse them just because they are logical.
Michael Mills
Roar Rookie
I made the assumption that you already didn't like Cowan, Johnno, so I'm wrong on that count. Apologies. Nevertheless, I still think a lot of the other people criticising him for what he's saying didn't like him to begin with. Criticisms of players should be based on performance and certainly this are fair enough with Cowan. A player would have to say something pretty heinous or ridiculous for it to warrant criticism and I don't think what he said was really that unreasonable. Anyway ... You make a very fair point that the younger players might not take him seriously -- his performances have been below par. But that's the way it is at the moment. There is a serious lack of experience in the team and it appears that the captain and vice captain aren't always on the same page. From what I've read, Cowan is an extremely hard trainer and worker, so hopefully that rubs off on some of the younger players. If they step up and play to their natural abilities, then maybe they can become senior players.
Johnno
Guest
Micheal Mills I love debating you, but i a m playing the man not the ball, i'm putting it all in context. I like Ed Cowan, thank you very much. Not in a homeorotic team bonding way, but i like him. He speaks well , sure, but i am putting it into context hence the prizes given out but underserved if hypothetically given. And didn't like him,? I don't like batsmen who only have attest batting average of 33, not I don't and if i was a smart coach i wouldn't want him in my team either , with that average , awful. Hardly would the youngins take him seriously, he is no Mike Hussey in what he achieved, once again the batting average of 33, has him down the pecking order..
Michael Mills
Roar Rookie
"When you have to many chiefs, it can undermine leadership. You need centralised leadership." But his comments were in support of the team's leadership. He has also publicly backed Watson as captain. I'm not sure exactly how he has undermined anything. If the suspended players got a bit ticked off by what he said -- and there is no indication that they were -- then that says more about their own failure to take responsibility for their actions. As far as I can tell, the only consequence of his comments so far is that it's spurred on people, such as yourself, who already didn't like him. "Keep the public statements to the senior players and captain. Ed Cowan is neither right now." Maybe the team does regard him as a senior player. It is a very, very inexperienced team right now. If he is, you and I might not agree with or it -- or even like it -- and that's fine, but that doesn't change anything. "Yes he can string a sentence too . Bravo Ed, what do you want ? To be rewarded the Noble prize in linguistics ? ... If he loves to blab or talk so much and is so ambitious , save that for when he finishes his career, and he can peruse a career in sports administration, but he is employed as pro cricketer for now as a player, not as a manager." Me he does, maybe he doesn't. It doesn't really have anything to do with it. You're criticising his character -- playing the man, not the ball.
Johnno
Guest
Micheal Mills You say "The idea that you need to have a certain batting average or reach a certain status before you can speak your mind is ludicrous. He doesn’t have to earn the right to say something.". That's where we disagree. A team with to many chiefs, and not enough soldiers rarely works in my view. Keep the public statements to the senior players and captain. Ed Cowan is neither right now. When you have to many chiefs, it can undermine leadership. You need centralised leadership. And also you say the media ask him questions. Well you could answer which I would do, if I was Ed Cowan. I am not at liberty to awnser such questions, I think it's inappropriate for someone of my standing int he team to answer those questions and give you my opinion publicly, those questions will be left to the captain or the coach. "Simple. " Maybe CA trot out Ed Cowan coz he isn't the star player so no one takes hims seriously perhaps, so he has a role of puppet where as if Micky Arthur or if Pup awnser such questions everyone listens. So could be tactical move, a bad tactical move too. Yes he can string a sentence too . Bravo Ed, what do you want ? To be rewarded the Noble prize in linguistics ? Please". Regular people can too string a sentance, not just a test cricketer who only has a batting average of 33. If he loves to blab or talk so much and is so ambitious , save that for when he finishes his career, and he can peruse a career in sports administration, but he is employed as pro cricketer for now as a player, not as a manager.
Michael Mills
Roar Rookie
I don't disagree that he might have been better off keeping that thought to himself, if only because he's opened himself up to criticism. But the fact is, journalists asked him questions and he answered them as honestly as he could. You're also neglecting that, in the same interview, he also said: "But now it feels there is some solidarity behind the team moving forward and we're excited by that unity and why it has been created ... We have been unified by what happened in Mohali and there is no doubt the tough decisions needed to be made if we aspire to be the best team in the world, which we do ... It feels as though we have come together behind that and we feel quite buoyed by the concept of moving forward together." I can't see that these comments will cause "gossip, confusion, and mistrust". The idea that you need to have a certain batting average or reach a certain status before you can speak your mind is ludicrous. He doesn't have to earn the right to say something. Cricket Australia's communications adviser on tour will work out with the team management who is available to speak to the media and send them out. That they regularly choose Cowan to do this probably speaks to his ability to string a sentence together and avoid clichéd responses. By the way, I'm not convinced that he should be in the team (although I'm not sure if anyone would do better) and agree that he has to lift his average above 40, but that has nothing to do with what he is and isn't allowed to say.
Red Kev
Guest
Great post Johnno