Over four years ago, the Australian selectors showed just how much disarray Australian cricket was in by selecting a squad of 17 players for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba.
Despite being the home side, so unsure were the selectors of just who made up the best 11, multiple spinners and all-rounders were thrown together in a panic which was the first of numerous errors in a disastrous summer for Australian cricket.
So given the wonderful injury-free run which allowed Australia to field the same 11 throughout the entire Test summer last year, the naming of just 12 players for the first Test shouldn’t come as any shock.
However with the injury clouds which continue to hang over the squad the selection of a clearly underdone Ryan Harris and the non-selection of a reserve batsman certainly leave a lot of questions unanswered.
Firstly, picking the squad prior to the final round of Shield games before the first Test is as baffling as it is ludicrous.
Mark Waugh mentioned on Fox Sports that the selectors had to do this for ‘marketing purposes’, which was quickly corrected by Cricket Australia that it was in fact for logistical reasons.
There is no doubt that to sell the game to a public who are about to endure a jam packed year of cricket that the Cricket Australia marketing team need to know who is playing to get bums on seats, but this has come at the expense of the team.
In picking Ryan Harris, the selectors have taken a huge gamble. After just one Shield game in which Harris himself admitted he wasn’t ready for the rigours of Test cricket, he has potentially been thrust into a five day game his body isn’t ready for.
Selectors continue to trumpet the wonderful bowling depth Australia has and with both a World Cup coming up and the Ashes this winter surely this is a risk they didn’t need to take.
Imagine the uproar if Harris blows out his knee this series and isn’t able to get himself right come the first Ashes Test in Cardiff.
The back-up fourth quick is Josh Hazlewood, who while putting together a terrific string of one day games has hardly set the first class scene on fire the past few seasons. Put these two selections along with a very out of form Nathan Lyon and suddenly the bowling attack is once again reliant on Mitchell Johnson to shoulder the load.
Surely Mitchell Starc deserved an opportunity to at least be in the squad after bowling on the dust bowls in the UAE. Why not name four quicks (with Harris excluded) and Lyon for the first two Tests, which allows flexibility in the line-up and also allows Harris to slowly regain match fitness for a crack at Boxing Day.
Not naming a reserve batsman essentially allows the selectors to cover their bases and take into account the last round of state games. While it is a clever ploy it isn’t a great look to name the skipper with a large asterisk next to his name saying ‘subject to fitness’.
While Clarke being injured is obvious for all to see the selectors could have simply selected Clarke and named within the twelve a reserve batsman such as Phil Hughes.
With or without Clarke, the batting line up appears far from settled with Shane Watson’s position in the top six resting largely on whether Clarke plays or who his replacement may be with Steve Smith also waiting to see where he slides in. Amazingly Callum Ferguson has been bandied about as the replacement and despite a wonderful start to the Shield year surely the selectors need to see greater consistency.
Australia remains desperate to fill the void left by Ricky Ponting but Ferguson with 11 first class hundreds from 159 digs, simply isn’t good enough to warrant automatic inclusion off the back of two good games.
Naming the reserve though – whoever it may be – would at least allow the batsman to focus on where they will sit in the line-up and mentally prepare for the challenge.
Incredibly the only stable part of the side at this point appears to be Brad Haddin. Haddin is certain to keep for the first Test but was arguably the biggest question mark of all to come out of the UAE following his injury.
The Aussies are probably lucky that they face a sub-continent side who do not like facing pace and bounce, otherwise this uncertainty could lead to a continuation of their recent poor form. But whatever the result of this Test series, Australia needs to quickly understand who their best Test squad is because familiarity breeds stability ahead of a long winter in England.
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