- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
With the Ashes having been lost for the third consecutive series, Australian coach Darren Lehmann has come out stating that Test careers would be on the line in the fifth and final Test.
“No-one’s guaranteed [their place]. Apart from probably Michael Clarke and Chris Rogers,” he said.
However, former Australian captain Steve Waugh has come out and urged the coach to stick with the current crop of batsmen, saying no one performs at their best with the axe hanging over them. I agree.
Over the last two years Australia have been very inconsistent with their selections, rarely being able to field the same team for consecutive Test matches. Phil Hughes, Mitchell Starc and Usman Khawaja are perfect examples of this.
Before the third Test at Old Trafford, Hughes was dropped for the fifth time in his career. Khawaja had to wait almost two years before he was recalled at Lord’s in the second Test, while Mitchell Starc was dropped for the Boxing Day Test match last Christmas, the second Test at Lord’s and the fourth Test at Durham.
This sort of treatment certainly does not give these young player any confidence whatsoever; if anything it dents their confidence. It also gives the impression that if any players fails to perform in just one innings, the axe could drop on them any moment, making players unable to relax into their natural stroke-play.
If selectors were able to stick with Ricky Ponting over 2010-2012, where he failed to score a hundred for 33 innings, and now Shane Watson, who has only scored two fifties in his last 21 innings, why can’t they stick with Phil Hughes?
It was only two innings before Hughes’ dropping that he registered a magnificent innings of 81* batting with Ashton Agar, which saved Australia from humiliation and also put the team into a match winning position.
A line ball LBW decision and unlucky caught behind later, Hughes was dropped while Watson’s position was not even talked about after a horrendous across-the-line shot and inexplicable review.
Waugh said he had first-hand experience of the benefits that come from selectors showing faith. He didn’t win a Test match until his 13th game and failed to score a ton until his 26th.
After that he flourished into one of Australia’s most successful batsmen and captains, accumulating 10,927 Test runs at an average of 51.06 and leading Australia in 15 of their record-breaking 16 consecutive Test victories.
Both Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden also struggled to find their feet in the side in their earlier years. Ponting only scored four hundreds and averaged around 30 in his first 55 innings, which included a run of three consecutive ducks, while Matthew Hayden averaged less than 25 in his first 20 Tests.
Selectors at the time kept their faith in both these players, and they would become Australia’s most prolific run scorer in Tests and ODI and Australia’s most successful opener, one of the most dominant in the world.
Hughes and Khawaja have both been seen as the next Ricky Ponting. If that is any chance of happening, the selectors must stick with them even if there is a run of low scores. At 24 and 26 respectively, they can only get better.
Phil Hughes at 24 has scored 1500 runs @32 after 26 Tests; numbers that are almost identical to of Ponting’s after his first 26 matches. Khawaja, on the other hand, has only played nine Tests with an average of 25.
The scary thing is, Hughes has scored almost 8000 first-class runs and already has 21 hundreds to his name, more than Ricky Ponting when he was 24, while Khawaja has registered 4400 runs at 40 which is nothing to scoff at.
Those numbers can only grow and become more significant as these players’ careers go on. If the selectors and the coach can put their faith and belief into Australia’s current crop of young talent it will do the world of good for them.
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.