The inclusion of Callum Ferguson over Steve Smith, the withdrawal of Michael Clarke, the axing of Fawad Ahmed and the omission of David Warner from the ODI tour of India are signs Australia is at least heading in the right direction in terms of winning back the little urn.
Clarke’s decision to withdraw is solely based around his troublesome back, although had Indian cricket not currently been in turmoil, the decision may not have been so straight forward.
The BCCI has the capability to force teams to ensure that their best players are sent to serve advertising and marketing interests. Or perhaps someone behind closed doors has convinced the BCCI about excluding Clarke from the bilateral series; either way it is a win-win for Australia.
It will ensure that Australia’s best batsman is fresh and raring to go in time for the return leg of the Ashes ‘Down Under’. The reality is that if Clarke does miss an Ashes Test, the chances of Australia prevailing over England are low.
The decision to choose Ferguson is a golden opportunity for the Redbacks’ middle-order man, but all this talk about him playing in the first Test should be brushed aside.
Firstly, he has been selected to freshen up Steve Smith and allow the New South Wales man to play plenty of matches in Australia before the Ashes. Had Steve Smith been included in the ODI team, he would have had the opportunity of playing only one Shield match; now he has two.
Smith is a much better player of spin than Ferguson, he is a brilliant fielder, can bowl a few overs and has more experience playing in India than his South Australian counterpart.
Smith would have gained confidence from his hundred in the last Ashes Test, but it is a wise move by the selectors to exclude him from the ODI tour of India – it sends across a message of security to Smith and stability in the Australian top order.
Fawad Ahmed bowled beautifully in the first match of the season at Bankstown Oval two days ago; he certainly out-bowled Xavier Doherty, the man who has replaced him for the forthcoming tour of India.
Given Ahmed’s background, and his knowledge of the sub-continental conditions, he should have been a certain starter.
Once again, the selectors have touted Ahmed as the second-best spinner in Australia and want to preserve his confidence for the Ashes.
Touring India can be a tough place and had Ahmed been taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen, it could have severely dented the leg spinner’s confidence. After all Ahmed did get a taste of how well Indian batsmen handle spin in the Australia A ODI tri-series tour to South Africa in August.
In the three matches he played against India, Ahmed returned with combined figures of 3/170 from the three matches with an economy rate of 6.8 runs an over.
Despite the matches having been played in South Africa, the conditions were similar to sub-continent like flat pitches. Ahmed may not be a long-term prospect, but in terms of the Ashes this summer, he is seen as an asset that needs to be protected.
Warner’s exclusion seems to be based more around his attitude than form. Surely, if there was a way of getting Warner into form it would be to play him on the benign pitches in India.
Over the past year Warner seems to have taken everything for granted. Dropping him from the ODI tour is effectively a message to Warner that he needs to prove his value to Australian cricket once again.
Warner’s axing also allows him to avoid the spotlight and constant media attention that he would receive in India.
Warner will understand this and will be keen to try and outscore his competitors in domestic cricket in order to warrant a place in the Test team.
The selectors have devised an astute plan in the build up to the Ashes. Along with Cricket Australia they have realised that losing another Ashes series at home will have a catastrophic affect on the public.
And with that in mind, choosing between an ODI series against India and an Ashes series at home against arch-rivals England, Cricket Australia have chosen to prioritise the latter.
They may have got the scheduling wrong, but their approach to team selection seems to be on the right path.
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