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So here we are, a few days away from the first Test of a very important series against South Africa, and once again the batting line-up has been shaken.
Not for the first time, this uncertainty has stemmed from a calf injury to Shane Watson, who I daresay would be surrounded by people who are more than a little fed up with him.
The selectors now have quite the conundrum on their hands due to the fact that James Faulkner was withdrawn from the touring squad.
He was replaced by Moises Henriques, who is vastly similar to Watson and would shape as the most likely player to come into the XI, yet he remains out of favour with the selectors.
They are also considering adding an extra fast bowler at the expense of Nathan Lyon, who won’t be assisted on the green, seaming Centurion pitch.
This would be hugely unfair on Lyon after his fantastic performances in the Ashes whitewash, though it would allow Australia to play the highly-rated James Pattinson.
Of course, the Australians will not be without slow bowling options, with Michael Clarke, Steve Smith and Dave Warner all capable of bowling some handy overs of spin.
Since batting on the Centurion deck is set to be very bowler-friendly, the Australians may even choose not to play an all-rounder in order to play that extra batsman.
Alex Doolan was all but assured of making his Test debut at first drop at the time of Watson’s injury, with Phil Hughes likely to return to the Australian team batting at six.
Another spanner in the works is the very late inclusion of Shaun Marsh, who was omitted from the original touring squad as a result of a calf strain of his own.
Many critics were appalled by his inclusion in the original squad, pointing to his mediocre first-class form.
Justice looked to be served when Marsh’s injury forced him out of the squad. He was replaced by the very much in-form Phil Hughes, who many believed should have been picked over Marsh to begin with.
It seems that Marsh recovered from his calf strain in the nick of time, proving to the selectors that he was ready to go in his match-winning innings of 63 from 43 balls in the Big Bash League final.
With Marsh at their disposal, the selectors may choose to ease the uncapped Doolan into the batting line-up at number six and play the more experienced batsman at three.
There are a number of ways the selectors can handle his predicament, the easiest and least disruptive of which would be to simply slot Henriques into Watson’s position.
My line-up, for the first Test at least, would look more like this.
1. Chris Rogers
2. Dave Warner
3. Phil Hughes
4. Michael Clarke
5. Steve Smith
6. Alex Doolan
7. Brad Haddin
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Peter Siddle
10. Ryan Harris
11. Nathan Lyon
How would you handle this dilemma?
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