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.
paul
Guest
Why? Is that due to Captain Clarke? This is a ridiculous state of affairs. You couldn't find a more professional cricketer than Katich. Why is it never going to happen Tim? Also agree with you abt the importance of a good gloveman. Does Queensland's Hartley rate in your calculations?
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
With how bad the batting is, and arguably how many spots are open ( you would suggest 3 ). I think any one who shows form in the Shield in the lead up to the first Test might get a chance
Dan Ced
Guest
I think Callum Ferguson found form again last shield season and might be in the seletors minds half way through next season. I say this being an Adelaide resident and only really focusing on Redbacks games in the Shield. I still want Klinger to get an AUS callup now he is back in form, before he is too old. I also think Sayers should get a go, he impressed me. Would probably be a good replacement for Siddle if Siddle's form doesn't recover from the last test. I quite like Cutting but he won't get a go unless someone similar gets injured. Unless Lehman brings some QLD bias. I hope he brings Redbacks bias though.
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
Eel, we would all want Kat back, but sadly it is never going to happen :(
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
Well, there is one Australian bastman scoring runs at a domestic level. He's not in Australia and he's playing for Lancashire. That's right, it's Simon Katich. In this year's domestic series he has scored 936 runs at an average of 72.00. When asked if he would come out of retirement to play Test cricket, this was his response "I never retired." Bring back the Kat
Linedropout
Roar Pro
Great article although to an extent finding a 'test class' batsman to put into the team would be difficult given they are all shield cricketers and need exposure to gain 'test class' status. Doolan is a bloke who could develop into a test class batsman if thrown into the team. He averaged somewhere around fifty with a ton and 4 fifties this year.
Steve J
Roar Guru
Too many NSW players - bring in Faulkner for Watson :)
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
Butterworth has bowled as well as Bird for 5 years now, and can bat
Bakkies
Guest
I don't know about tapered off as it's consistent across the board in shield cricket. Pitches are bowler friendly and teams are getting bowled out for low scores. I am not sure if it's a delibrate ploy to produce less flat track bullies but obviously it has reduced averages and put players out of the frame. I am not sold on Smith as a batsman. The selectors were quick to pension off North and Jaques. Jaques was averaging 50 in tests and got injured. They never picked him again despite moving Watson to opener. North was hot and cold but he was able to score test centuries, plus he was one of the better performed oz batsmen on the 09 Ashes tour. They gave him the flick and picked Khawaja who is struggling to score 50s. North was solid on tour, probably his home record killed him off but wasn't given another shot to fix it.
Bakkies
Guest
Why over Bird? Bird was one of the best bowlers in Shield Cricket over the past few seasons. Did well in his début tests and bowled well again in this test.
Jason Gillespie
Guest
I can assure you I am the one and only JG!
Tim
Guest
Great reply John- thank you In response Nevill- is actually from Vic, and I am old school meaning I would pick a keeper for the strength of his glove work first,,,,second,,,,third and then his batting as an after thought. To me he is the best glove man in the Country. As for Hartly, fabulous player, and equally good gloveman, but I jusr rate Nevill ahead. O'Keefe- I must admit I focussed on him because I judged the cupboard bare for spin stocks in the Country. So backed him, mainly for his leadership qualities Cutting- I think would have offered a different type of quick in a pace battery of sameness Butterworth- Despite doubts whether his skill set was high enough for Tests, he at the least deserved a few A games to run the rule over him
Tim
Guest
Thanks for the reply Sean, and agree wholeheartedlee we have to persist with youth. As for your thoughts on D Hussey, to me he has never really made me believe, and I would be more inclined to give Bailey/Voges a run or take a punt on youth by playing Joe Burns or Nick Maddinson at 5. Paine, is a tragedy, for if not for his injury, he would more than likely be the Captain now
Tim
Guest
Hi Jason, thank you for the reply, and if in fact you are the 'Jason Gillespie', congratulations on your fabulous career, in my mind, you were probably with Zaheer Khan, the most under rated great bowler in the Modern Era, and ended your career as an Aussie great. Thank you for the clarity too Nevill- his glovework is so pure, so as you agree, he will more than likely get a go O'Keefe- interesting thoughts on the NSW tweeker, which explains a lot, but in a time of the Team lacking leadership, I would have selected him with more an eye on that value to the Team. especially when we are in an age of not strike bowling spinners Butterworth- fair comments, but i think he deserved an A Tour to really seal his Fate Cutting- to me he offers something different, in terms of being an intimidatory enforcer in an attack
JohnB
Guest
I'll put the case on the other side about these four: Neville - came to prominence on the basis of a good stretch with the bat for part of one season (and, some might say, being from NSW that was enough). He shouldn't have gone to the WI - Hartley should. Did he keep all this season for NSW? O'Keeffe - his batting has been trending down and he had a very poor season with the ball the season before last, which was actually the first full season he'd played. He did better last season, but only took wickets in ones and twos. He's only ever taken one 5 for. Not saying he wouldn't have warranted a go at some point (certainly ahead of for example Xavier Doherty, and, if he;s being treated as a bowler, Glen Maxwell) but hardly the disregarded saviour he gets painted as. Cutting - decent Shield bowler, might well have played ahead of Starc when they were both picked a while back, but never really obviously better than those picked as bowlers. Butterworth - probably the one with the strongest case, but not sure he was ever quite a test batsman or bowler putting him in the dreaded bits and pieces class. How he wasn't given a good trial in one dayers is beyond me.
Sean
Guest
Hi Tim It's no doubt a tough time for Aussie cricket and at the moment we just don't have the players to dominate as we have done in the past. As such, I think we have lost our way with selections. Currently, we have a number of promising young top order players and yet we continue to pick them in the middle order. Whilst Rogers is good there is no future in his selection. We need to persevere with either Khawaja or Hughes. Watson and Warner should open. Aside from Smith there are no young middle order prospects. So, I would pick Dave Hussey. Also, Paine should be in if fit. Hardin has been a gun but we have to plan ahead.
Jason Gillespie
Guest
Tim, I agree that Nevil is a very good keeper batsman. His time may yet come. My understanding is that O'Keefe is seen as a solid cricketer but not quite good enough with bat or ball and that he has a reputation of being a bit of a 'toenails'. Butterworth is a good cricketer. Would not let anyone down but again I think he is seen as not quite good enough in either discipline. Have not seen much of Cutting to be fair, Australia has good bowling stocks so is probably a bit back in the queue.
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
Makes 'sense' doesn't it James? Even the fact that at a young age, he proved with either bat or ball, if pressure is on, he will perform.......... Just his batting in that match was so mature and resolute
James P
Guest
Great game. As a long suffering Tassie supporter I went back to Hobart from Melbourne for the first day. It was Butterworth's 5th first class match. He scored his maiden 50 in the first innings coming in at no 8 with Tasmania in trouble at 6/173 leaving at 9/335, took 4 wickets in NSW 1st innings and scored his maiden 100 in the second innings coming in at no 8 with Tasmania again in a little trouble at 6/176 and left at 7/339. Only got 4 overs in the second NSW innings as Wright and Hilfy ran through the Blues. Overall, in the last 3 seasons, he has taken 121 wickets at 20.22 and scored 1019 runs at 28.3 - topping the wicket takers list once and coming second once with 45 wickets each time. He had a bad 2011/12 and was down at 7th with only 31 wickets at 23.29 And he doesn't even get picked for Australia A ... The Australia A attack in the shield over the same period, Hazelwood has taken 41 wickets at 29, Sayers 57 wickets at 19, Coulter-Nile 69 wickets at 26.7, Cummins 9 wickets at 46.3
Gr8rWeStr
Guest
Agree.