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New blood to invigorate Australia's ageing Test squad

Chris Rogers has announced his retirement from first class cricket at 39. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Roar Guru
18th July, 2015
9

We’re almost halfway through an enthralling Ashes series and things could not be tighter between the two old enemies.

There is, however, almost a feeling of a farewell tour to many Australian players. The team features several seasoned veterans from Chris Rogers to Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson. With Chris Rogers having announced this tour is likely to be his finale, I wondered how many others may follow suit.

I would suggest that the following four could be playing their last Test cricket: Chris Rogers, Michael Clarke, Adam Voges and Mitchell Johnson.

In batting order I complied a potential replacement who may get the call up for the New Zealand and West Indies Tests. I tried to keep them under 35 with a view towards giving the team a long-term future.

I excluded the likes of Brad Haddin and Shane Watson because I feel long-term replacements in the likes of Peter Nevill and Mitchell Marsh are already in place having played the second Test at Lord’s.

Cameron Bancroft to replace Chris Rogers
It seems wrong that after a magnificent 157 at Lord’s, Chris Rogers is seemingly going to call time on his career. However, it has been a long career which has yielded 73 first class hundreds, an impressive feat by any means. I was going to put Joe Burns here but I preferred his balance in the middle order.

Cameron Bancroft is a young top order batsman out of Western Australia and had a break out Sheffield Shield season as the third leading run scorer with 896 runs at 47.15.

Bancroft is one of a number of young Western Australian cricketers who could find themselves gracing the Boxing Day Test in years to come and is more than deserving. He has a cool temperament matched by his all-round game and has showed his becoming a batsman, which is a step above the Sheffield Shield.

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One could easily put Michael Klinger from Western Australia at the top of the order and it would be more than deserved given his consistency over the past decade at state level.

Alternatively, Cricket Australia could put their favourite son in and Shaun Marsh could have a recall. Marsh has the game to be a success story and has shown versatility to bat anywhere in the top six.

However, too often he ends up injured or quickly out of form. Bancroft does represent an investment and at 22 years of age and perhaps the world needs to see a couple more seasons to prove his consistency at the top of the order.

However, its an investment with the potential to reap rewards and given his involvement in the Australia-A set-up, one selectors may well make in the upcoming series.

Michael Clarke replaced by Joe Burns
It’ll be a sad day when Michael Clarke calls time on his illustrious career, given he has become such a fixture in the Australian line-up. With Steve Smith likely to take over the reins when that time comes, yet a batsman will still be tasked with the daunting challenge of replacing Clarke.

Once again, Klinger or Marsh could feature instead of Clarke and both would be good replacements. Marsh has experienced the Test environment with some success while Klinger seems to make runs wherever he goes.

I’d really like to see Joe Burns get another run at Test level following his debut against India a few months ago. At 26 he’s the right age to be a long-term fixture within the team.

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He has been fairly consistent at Sheffield Shield level for Queensland. He has been their leading run-scorer for the past couple of years, with no let-up last season, scoring 793 runs at 52.86 with 2 hundreds and 4 fifties.

Burns showed against India he could balance defence with attack, showing skill especially when driving and cutting. He also showed that given an extended run in the team he could be special scoring two fifties in two matches. Burns has also featured in the Australia A set-up for an extended period in both the four-day and one-day format.

A former Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, Burns is sure to feature in Australian set-up at some point.

Adam Voges replaced by Callum Ferguson
This is another position which could be filled by Shaun Marsh or Michael Klinger such is their versatility. Other youngsters include Peter Handscomb, Travis Head or Nick Maddinson – but they need a few more years at Shield level before they stop being potential and start being the real deal and serious Test contenders.

Voges to his credit probably deserves an extended run in the Test team to prove his wares, especially after that extraordinary Shield season in which he averaged over 100 and scored over 1000 runs.

Nevertheless, at 35, time is not his friend and looms as a short-term fill only.

Not so long ago, Callum Ferguson was a player on the up, seemingly the darling of Cricket Australia and the long-term replacement of Michael Hussey. A series of injuries saw him lose his place in the team and the pecking-order.

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Despite this however, Ferguson has managed to comeback and be a solid contributor in a dark period for South Australia. Ferguson scored 836 runs at 52.25 last season and would bring a mature outlook to a side looking to continue its recent success.

An adaptable player capable of grinding out a score or blasting attacks to all parts, it seems hard to fathom how Ferguson has not seen more exposure at international level.

Mitchell Johnson replaced by Sean Abbott/Peter Siddle/James Pattinson/Pat Cummins
This one is perhaps the most unlikely retirement of all given Johnson has only started to come into his own some 18 months ago. However, it’s not impossible with Johnson having hinted towards it pre-Ashes.

The emergence of Mitchell Starc gives Australia a more than capable replacement and he’s already in the side. So it throws an interesting conundrum up should Australia’s current fifth most successful bowler pull-up stumps.

Darren Lehman has stated he wants all fast bowlers able to bowl above 140 km/h and Nathan Lyon making the spot as Australia’s number one spinner his own. These factors rule out many Shield bowlers and last year’s most lethal bowler in Fawad Ahmed.

Peter Siddle was seemingly inches away from playing the Lord’s Test until Mitchell Starc recovered from his ankle injury.

Siddle was once the leader of the Australian bowling attack yet in recent years his pace has diminished while retaining his trademark line and length. This ensures Siddle should remain at the forefront of selector’s minds for now.

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James Pattinson and Pat Cummins are other potential choices for the position and they are able to bowl fast and accurate. Both have been at Test level and both have shown glimpses of potential when given the opportunity.

It says a lot about Australia’s bowling depth that two quality bowlers cannot break into the side, though that is more down to injury than anything else.

Sean Abbott looms as an impressive prospect in years to come, having taken 23 wickets at an average of 27.21 with a best of 6/14 against Queensland.

Currently, Abbott is classified as an all-rounder but his ability with the ball stands out more than his ability with the bat at this stage. That may be subject to change and whether Australia could carry with it two all-rounders in Marsh and Abbott at the expense of a frontline bowler is questionable.

However, should he’s bowling continue to develop he may become a very good bowler who is handy with that bat, making him an attractive prospect to selectors.

The preference currently lies with Peter Siddle, given his experience and record at First Class level.

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