- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Australians have a fervent belief that dominance in cricket is their right, meaning the spectacular fall from grace of late has been too shocking to digest.
Padding their distress to a degree is the fact they can blame the fickle hand of fortune, with a host of greats retiring at the same time as a shallow gene pool washing up in the cricketing talent tides.
Whatever the reasoning – whether it be trying to digest cold hard facts, or the greater likelihood of denial being embraced tight, with scapegoats being formed and conspiracy theories hatched – acceptance will never be forthcoming.
The main reason for this fall has been the fall out from the shallow talent pool, and the associated decisions made because of it, which has centred around selections.
Most will agree that the humiliating whitewash in India was largely due to the selectors insisting on bits and pieces places for a tour where even hardened pros with real expertise came up short.
The Ashes squad eliminated this shame but it still stood out, not for the players selected, but the ones overlooked.
Who of the following four can be deemed as Australia’s forgotten, especially when most are imploring Australia to rebuild with youth, and all of these talents range in age from 26-28?
Peter Nevill (NSW)
I am old school, so the first building block of any good team needs to be a great gloveman, and in Nevill, the team would have a very fine one
His overlooking, since being rushed to the Caribbean as cover for Brad Haddin, has been curious to be kind.
And though he was not as stellar with the bat this season as he was in 2011/12, he still should have been Haddin’s deputy for the Ashes tour on the strength of his glove work.
He is easily the best gloveman in the country, and when the Ashes start in Australia, he should be the first choice ‘keeper.
Steve O’Keefe (NSW)
Ask yourself, what are Australia’s current weaknesses?
If you’re honest, you would label batting, spin, and leadership. as well as ‘keeping
In Steve O’Keefe, he covers three of the four, being the best performed spinner in Australian first class cricket, a very useful six to eight batsman, and one of the country’s best young leaders.
Can anyone tell me why he has never been selected for the Test squad?
He would have been a very proactive choice as vice captain for the Ashes tour.
2012/13 figures
Batting: nine matches, 278 runs, average 25.27.
Bowling: nine matches, 24 wickets, average 22.2.
Luke Butterworth (Tasmania)
The constant overlooking over this very talented and consistently excellent bowling all rounder has me stumped.
If I was a selector, I would have put him in the team after his dazzling effort in the Shield Final of 2006/7, where he excelled with both bat and ball under real pressure.
I have never heard one valid reason why Butterworth has been constantly overlooked, and though we are blessed with fast bowling options, his skill is comparable to any and all.
2012/13 figures
Batting: 11 matches, 320 runs, average 26.60.
Bowling: 11 matches, 45 wickets, average 20.8.
Ben Cutting (Queensland)
Admittedly, Australia is very strong in pace stocks at present, but the success of any pace battery is its varied parts, and on this point Ben Cutting would have offered something different.
His 6’5 height allows him to get rearing bounce out of any pitch, which, when you take into account he gets the ball through consistently at 145, makes him a handful.
Plus, Cutting has a lovely bit of old school nastiness, as seen in his assortment of bouncers, which seem to pay homage to the great West Indian Andy Roberts, who had one sucker bouncer, and then the next bouncer was delivered 15 clicks faster and right between the batsman’s eyes.
He should have been selected just for the joy it would have given to see Kevin Pietersen floored!
He is not just an unhinged tear away either, with him having real skill in getting the ball to swing or talk off the pitch.
Plus, he is a deadly dangerous lower order batsman, skilled enough to be defined a bowling all rounder.
2012/13 figures
Batting: five matches, 348 runs, average 38.66.
Bowling: five matches, 22 wickets, average 18.88.
As for batsmen, sadly none at present are any where near Test class, with the best long term prospect being Western Australia’s opening batsman Marcus Harris.
Build your own fantasy cricket team and put it to the test with Draftstars daily fantasy competitions. Pick your match, pick your team and watch the points roll in to take out cash prizes on each match. What are you really gambling with? Set a deposit limit.