After hearing recently about Brad Haddin missing for the second Test match due to personal reasons, it got me thinking. As bad as it is for Haddin, if he has to be rested for personal reasons than it is the right thing to do.
Your mind needs to be clear for a gruelling five-day slog and I would imagine it would be tough to play with off-field issues on your mind.
Having said that though, Haddin’s own personal form would also have been a concern, with thoughts perhaps creeping in that age is against him.
Haddin’s form hasn’t been great for a while now and I was surprised he got selected for the Cricket World Cup this year. Meanwhile, there is a reserve wicketkeeper that would have been disappointed to be overlooked for the Ashes this year.
This poor man’s name is Chris Hartley, and he has been doing very well in the past few seasons in the Sheffield Shield. But the selectors refuse to even give the poor man some praise for his hard work and he never gets acknowledged.
Hartley is another left hander who is a grafter and stroke player fitted for the number seven slot. Not only that but he is the best wicketkeeper at state level.
I would be happy to see Hartley get his chance, even if it had been in the circumstances of Haddin’s omission for the second Test.
Australia, over a long period of time, have never seemed to reward older wicketkeepers who constantly do well at state level.
The funny thing is that Hartley isn’t even 37, yet it looks like Cricket Australia are more than happy for him to never represent his country. A similar thing occurred with Chris Rogers, who waited a long time between his first and second Tests.
I find it funny that the selectors only look as far as New South Wales to select another wicketkeeper at Test level. They need to wake-up and look at the entire Australian landscape, instead of one section.
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