Only a week ago, Graeme Smith left Michael Clarke stranded in the middle of St George’s Park, still trying to work out who would be playing in that match. Now, it seems the shoe is on the other foot.
The selection dilemma facing the Australians before the third and deciding Test in Newlands is a very tricky one.
Only a few days ago, the answer was obvious. Shane Watson had to come back, and Chris Rogers would be dropped.
But after a riveting century by the hardy opener, Rogers has once again secured his place in the Australian line-up.
Now here is the tricky part. Who is to be dropped?
The unfortunate player that will be destined to run the drinks out is seeming to be either Shaun Marsh or Alex Doolan.
Marsh, whose comeback to the Test arena resulted in 148 and 44, should be retained in the squad, based on logic and reasoning. But Australia’s selectors do not always abide by the rules of logic and reason.
It seems John Inverarity has a love affair with Alex Doolan. The Tasmanian, who only averages 37.67 in first-class cricket, has been talked about around the Australian side since the first Ashes Test.
Doolan has proven he is good enough in the Test arena, for now. Scores of 27 and 89 on debut show how much potential he has.
It is extremely unfair to drop either Doolan or Marsh in place of Watson, who in the past five Test matches averaged 38.33.
Sadly, cricket is not fair.
In the modern world of cricket, it only takes one failure to put yourself at risk of losing your position in a Test team.
Shane Watson also has an ace in the hole. The fact that he is a tremendous swing bowler who can move the ball both ways at 135kph and does not bowl bad balls is a great asset for Michael Clarke.
There is also talk that both Jackson Bird and James Pattinson will replace Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle, giving them a ‘rest’ after the two quicks, along with Mitchell Johnson, bowled 120 overs together in Port Elizabeth.
This is certainly a risk, as Bird and especially Pattinson can be wayward and both are inexperienced. It will also be interesting to see how Johnson bowls without the support of the experienced Harris and Siddle.
The selection quandary is exactly what South Africa experienced after their humiliating defeat in the First Test at Centurion.
They won the very next Test in dominant fashion. Will Australia be able to do the same?
Aransan
Guest
SuperEel, I don't think it is fair to count the ball that got him out for 44 in your four innings. Apart from the 6 ducks he has two 3s in 15 innings, more than half his innings have been 3 or less and even the small sample is insufficient to explain so many early innings failures which are duplicated in his first class cricket.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
40% of his Test innings have been ducks. In his last four deliveries in Test cricket he has gotten out 3 times and played a dot ball. Shaun Marsh has scored less runs than Brad Hodge in Test cricket.
Dalgety Carrington
Guest
Yes yes, very bad, not passing 200 in a Test...and fancy having a majority of scores between 0-50 with occasional 100's, mmm very unusual. Look in reality, of the four series he's been involved in, he's had one very bad Test series and contributed substantially in the others. But as I said the 192 runs in the Test before last trumps all else, barring Watson's incumbency.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
In a perfect world you would have the next Ricky Ponting scoring 1,000 runs a season and forcing his way into the Aussie team at the age of 22.
Christian D'Aloia
Roar Guru
I can't believe there was a time when people thought that Test cricket was going to die due to the rise of T20 and One Day cricket. Nothing comes close to Test cricket for me.
Dylan Carmody
Roar Guru
It was obvious as Rogers was the one who had not made a big score and Watson had to return. Now Rogers has made yet another hundred, it will be interesting to see who the selectors decide to drop.
Dylan Carmody
Roar Guru
In a perfect world, you would play Doolan ahead of Marsh. However, both failed in the last Test and Marsh made 140 in his last Test, whereas Doolan made 89. It is an extremely difficult selection case the Australians have, which is why this next Test is so interesting selection wise.
Dylan Carmody
Roar Guru
I find it absolutely fantastic that Australia has managed to recover this well to the dark days of the Indian Tour last year to have the whole country behind the team.
Sideline Comm.
Guest
A series (3+ tests) of low scores should be all that can end his career.
Christian D'Aloia
Roar Guru
The question is though, how many failures should he be afforded before being dropped from this point on?
James P
Guest
I like the 44 and then the two ducks happening twice ... Any bets on a 3 and 0 in the third test?
Stellenbosched
Guest
To stand back for a minute, isn't all this talk about selections etc. and the intense interest the series is generating both here in SA and in Ozz proof once again of how supreme test cricket is? I would say that nobody would get this involved in team selections for yet another one-day/T20 game. Whatever the outcome at Newlands, which is 45klm from my home in Stellenbosch (you wouldn't have guessed), I would like to give a round of applause to both teams for the way they have played. It is yet another mega-tick in the on going tussle between SA and Australia and from my view it doesn't get better than this.
Bearfax
Guest
John Inverarity has a love affair with Doolan? What do you call his attitude towards Marsh then? Doolan earned a place on the tour with some reasonably solid performances in first class cricket over the past year. He wasnt the best going around but he was in the mix. Marsh didnt earn it, given a mid 20s average in first class cricket over the last 3 years.. Inverarity has had a long term bias towards the Marsh brothers and neither quite frankly in the long term have justified that favouritism. Therefore in respect of selections Doolan and Marsh will play the third test unless Watson is fully fit. I suspect Marsh will play at 3 and Watson at 6 if Watson is fit.
Aransan
Guest
Never mind the averages for Marsh, the problem is that his latest "pair" just confirms his past record of early innings failures. It is a great pity as he is obviously greatly talented and he was unlucky in his last innings as no Australian batsman seemed to be able to cope with the reverse swinging ball. The selectors have a lot more to go on than just numbers on a piece of paper but repeated failures early in an innings cannot be ignored.
SuperEel22
Roar Guru
The issue I have with Marsh is that everyone lauded him as yet again the next big thing after the Centurion Test. He's showed glimpses of his talent but he shows it too sporadically. I hoped he'd go well in South Africa and I thought he played brilliantly in his first dig. However, I never got my hopes up because he's commonly made a big score and then dropped out of form his entire career. His first class average is indicative of that. Someone who averages 30-40 will produce a majority of scores between 0-50 with the odd century. When Marsh scores a century they are outliers in his career graph. The same can be said for Shane Watson. Although Watto doesn't have more than 30% of his innings featuring under 10 runs. Marsh has batted 15 times for 6 ducks and 3 scores above 50. Here's Marsh's test career broken down in his individual innings: 141 81 18 44 0 0 3 0 11 3 0 148 44 0 0 He has only passed 100 runs (both innings combined) in a Test match twice and has never passed 200 runs in a Test match. In Marsh's case his FC average and record indicate he's never been of Test match quality.
Dalgety Carrington
Guest
I'm sorry but for me (and I'd say for most people who don't have an axe to grind) a Test century (or 192 runs in a Test) one match ago generally trumps First Class average. It also trumps a pair in the following Test. "Saffas…work out Doolan" is also pretty subjective idea so early on. Nerves would of played a large part for Doolan in his innings to date and he was hardly an orphan in getting out cheaply. While you may succeed in targeting someones weakness early on, it may not always work once the player starts to feel more comfortable at that level. This can be down to the right conditions, maybe a bit of luck, but you need a chance for form to flow. Hughes has had that chance and not made the most of it. He also has time on his side and his peak years are still ahead of him.
john360180
Guest
Watson for Doolan. Bird for Harris.
Sean Greenhill
Guest
It's perfectly fair to drop Doolan or Marsh for Watson. Watson has averaged 38 with the bat this Test season. Marsh and Doolan have FC career averages of less than this. Long term, they're not going to average more than Watson in Tests. Especially Marsh, who has been around too long now to improve any more.
jammel
Guest
If everyone's available, I'd go Warner Rogers Doolan Clarke Watson Smith Haddin Johnson Harris Siddle Lyon However, I think they'll retain SMarsh and drop Doolan. Poor guy. Real question is who to play for Harris and/or Siddle. Hopefully only one can't play - might be Harris from the looks of things. So Pattinson in for Harris...? Hope he's ready!
James P
Guest
I understand your point. Either way, I wouldn't have picked Doolan or Marsh for either "best performing players" or "building for the future" Unfortunately for Hughes, there are some people who just aren't able to make it up that next level. Michael Bevan averaged 57 in first class cricket but couldn't manage tests.