Two 30-somethings in line for Test debuts

Joe Burns and Steve O’Keefe are very unlucky to have been overlooked for Australia’s 17-man squad for the upcoming Test tours against the West Indies and England.

But I cannot begrudge Adam Voges and Fawad Ahmed who won selection ahead of that pair. Both had phenomenal seasons in the Sheffield Shield, in fact for batsman Voges it was his second dominant campaign on the trot.

While it is a large squad, both Voges and Ahmed are strong chances of making Test debuts, Ahmed most likely in the West Indies and Voges on the Ashes tour.

Ahmed is in line for a Test debut in the Windies, where the dry pitches tend to favour tweakers over pace bowlers. On Australia’s last tour of the Caribbean, three years ago, incumbent Test spinner Nathan Lyon was comfortably the leading wicket taker with 13 wickets at an average of 26 from three Tests.

Lyon was paired with fellow tweaker Michael Beer in one of those Tests, while captain Michael Clarke chipped in with five wickets at 23 for the series. Meanwhile, West Indian off spinner Shane Shillingford had tremendous success, snaring 14 wickets across the final two Tests.

Helping Ahmed’s chances of a debut in the Windies is the presence in the Australian squad of two all rounders. One of Shane Watson or Mitchell Marsh look certain to be in the starting XI, which means Australia would still have three pace options if they decided to play Ahmed alongside Lyon.

Ahmed, a refugee from Pakistan, bowls with a degree of accuracy which should give him a chance of success at the highest level. Unlike Australia’s other prospective leg spinners, Queensland’s Cameron Boyce and South Australian Adam Zampa, he offers batsmen few boundary balls, while still imparting heavy spin on his deliveries.

The 33-year-old Victorian earned his place in the squad by finishing as the highest wicket taker in the Sheffield Shield, with 48 wickets at 26.

O’Keefe, however, was terribly unlucky to be overlooked in favour of Ahmed.

After years of being inexplicably ignored by the Australian selectors, despite being the leading spinner in the Shield each summer, O’Keefe finally got his hands on a baggy green cap last October.

In that first Test against Pakistan in Dubai, O’Keefe was Australia’s leading wicket taker, with four breakthroughs, although at the high cost of 55 runs apiece.

Pakistan’s batsmen ran amok in that match – across the whole series in fact – and churned out 740 runs for the loss of just 12 wickets as their side smashed Australia by 221 runs.

O’Keefe was unerringly accurate on debut, although he rarely troubled the Pakistani batsmen who put on a clinic on how to play spin on low, slow decks.

The 30-year-old New South Welshman was dropped for the second Test but later returned to Australia to compile yet another brilliant Shield season, taking 29 wickets at 23, bettering Lyon’s haul of 23 wickets at 29. He complemented that by cracking 329 runs at 37 to underscore his all-round ability.

After waiting so long to get his first go at Tests, O’Keefe must be devastated at being discarded so swiftly.

Burns, too, would have been feeling ill after being told he had dropped off the face of the Earth as far as the selectors were concerned. The versatile batsman from Queensland cracked 124 runs in Australia’s last Test, against India in Sydney. Less than three months later, he isn’t even considered good enough to be in a 17-man squad.

The Australian selectors have made a habit of messing with the heads of young Test cricketers in recent years. Mitchell Starc has been dropped/rested/rotated something like a dozen times in his 15-Test career, while Queensland batsman Usman Khawaja was dumped three times in his nine-Test career.

Many renowned cricketers and coaches have emphasised that Test cricket is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent ability. It is crucial, then, that young players blooded in Tests are given the best possible chance to feel confident and at home in their role to better allow them to play naturally.

When Burns, Starc or Khawaja are afforded another chance to play Tests surely their mind will be clouded by the fear that another dumping is just a bad shot or a poor spell away.

At least, on this occasion, the young player being omitted has been replaced by someone who truly deserves that opportunity. Voges has just completed one of the most extraordinary seasons by a batsman in Shield history. With 1358 runs at 104, the West Australian broke numerous state and national records.

The previous summer, Voges had again been prolific with 769 runs at 55. His experience playing county cricket for Hampshire, Middlesex and Notts may also have swayed the selectors, who clearly view him as a serious contender to play in the Ashes.

The selectors showed during Australia’s last Ashes tour of England that they are not afraid to pick a veteran in the twilight of their career. Opener Chris Rogers was the same age as 35-year-old Voges when he joined the Test team in England in 2013. Rogers since has been a key component of Australia’s resurgence, something which will make the selectors even more likely to again punt on an old head.

The remainder of the Test squad was relatively straightforward. Pacemen James Pattinson and Jackson Bird both toured England last time but have been badly hampered by injury since. Experienced seamer Peter Siddle has earned a reprieve due to some potent spells in the Shield.

Shane Watson looked in danger of losing his Test place thanks to the emergence of young all-rounders Marsh, James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell, with the latter pair starring in the World Cup. Watson can count himself lucky after having had a lacklustre Test series against India this summer, and making runs in the last two Ashes only when the series already were dead and buried.

Faulkner and Maxwell both have the potential to be good Test cricketers but will have to bide their time.

Despite the harsh treatment meted out to Burns and O’Keefe, it is a very strong 17-man Test squad. Australia should defeat the hapless Windies and are very well placed to win the Ashes in England for the first time in 14 years.

Australian Test squad for West Indies and Ashes tours
Michael Clarke (C), Steven Smith (VC), Fawad Ahmed, Brad Haddin, Josh Hazlewood, Ryan Harris (only for Ashes), Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Peter Nevill, Chris Rogers, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Adam Voges, David Warner, Shane Watson.