Young West Australian Cameron Bancroft has made himself a serious contender to replace Chris Rogers in the Test team after impressive showings for Australia A on their tour of India.
On dusty pitches in Chennai, which made batting difficult even for India A, the 22-year-old opener scored almost twice as many runs as any other player in the series, finishing with 224 runs at 75.
He was the only player to register a century, stroking 150 from 267 balls in the second match to be the bedrock of Australia’s first innings.
Bancroft reportedly was assured and fluent in his countering of India’s spinners, which included the highly-rated Pragyan Ojha, who has 113 wickets at an average of 30 in Tests.
More than his impressive haul of runs it was the circumstances in which they were earned which will have left a mark with the Test selectors.
Australia’s Test team repeatedly has floundered with the blade in these kind of conditions, on parched pitches against a unit of tweakers.
Bancroft has already shown in the Sheffield Shield that he is well suited to neutering quality pace bowling on lively surfaces.
Based at the WACA, he has displayed the ability to weather torrid spells against the new ball.
This was evident time and again last season as Bancroft emerged as arguably Australia’s best batting prospect under the age of 23.
The third highest runscorer in the Shield, he cracked 896 runs at 47, including three centuries.
Now he also has given the selectors an indication that he has the kind of versatility required at the highest level.
Bancroft’s showcasing of his skill against spin could not have come at a better time.
Not only is Chris Rogers just weeks away from retiring, but Australia’s next Test series is in October in the spin-friendly conditions of Bangladesh.
An improving Test team, Bangladesh surely will believe that slow bowlers are the key to challenging Australia.
Were Bancroft to join David Warner at the top of the order, Australia suddenly would have a top three which is accomplished against spin. This will be in the selectors’ minds.
The other factor working in Bancroft’s favour is that his two main rivals for the Test opening berth, Shaun Marsh and Joe Burns, are falling out of the race to an extent for different reasons.
Marsh looks set to replace Adam Voges in the Australian middle order and would likely stay there rather than making another shift in the order to open once Rogers is gone.
Burns, meanwhile, is in a form trough after consecutive prolific Sheffield Shield seasons and impressive cameos in his two Tests last summer.
In seven county games for Middlesex this season, he scored just 320 runs at 29. After leaving England to join Australia A in Chennai, Burns batted only once, being dismissed for eight while Bancroft was at the other end compiling a big ton.
Bancroft’s grafting style, not too dissimilar to that of Chris Rogers, would complement the cavalier approach of David Warner.
We may just see them paired up in baggy greens in two months’ time.
Clavers
Guest
Why the heck are we talking about a replacement for Rogers when in this series he's scored more runs than Clarke, Voges and both the Marsh brothers combined? He is batting better than ever, while the overall team is just about batting worse than ever. We should be figuring out how to get another five years out of Buck.
Clavers
Guest
Unfortunately Usman is also averaging less than 40 in First Class cricket. So puzzling that, according to the traditional metrics, we have almost no-one knocking on the door of the Test team with his batting performances.
Deep Thinker
Guest
You make that claim, but without merit or justification. Your argument that elite and sustained performance does not matter at test level is ridiculous, incoherent, irrational and and outright unpersuasive. There are plenty of batsmen in the history of the game with a first class averages in the high 40s. Most of them do pretty well at test level. If the objective is to select cricketers with FC averages in the mid-30s, Australia is in very, very good shape. Better shape than you could possibly imagine. Given that the objective is to reward mediocrity, I hereby appoint you chairman of selectors.
Andy
Guest
Agree 100% Phil
Eski
Guest
and I have never said elite and sustained does not matter much I have pointed out your criteria for fc averages , claim about other nations talent pools and talk ALL test batsmen should have a baseline average of 48 is ridiculous and unachievable
Eski
Guest
Deep thinker Let's not get away from the fact your baseline is 48 The fact Australia had one decade in its history that there were numerous batsmen outside the test side averaging over 48 it has not happened before or since There are no stats showing any other country does have or has had numerous batsmen outside the test side with fc average of over 48 Yet u still think that decade is the norm U have have also claimed other countries have numerous young batsmen averaging over 48 yet not stats to back this up U have put links up proving my point how about some links to prove yours
Eski
Guest
DEEP THINKER YOUR baseline was averaging 48 not mid 40s MY argument was no side in history has had 6 batsmen that have averaged over 48 now you have put up a link to show I am right the standard test side has two/three guys average over 48 and the others average mid to low 40s THANK YOU for putting that link up You have proven my point that no side has 6 batsmen averaging over 48 and no country has numerous young batsmen outside the test team averaging over 48
Phil
Guest
Yeah i agree Don, i think we will see some good things from Khawaja, he was the best batsman in the matador cup last year before getting injured and i just hope he gets a full series this time to show what he can do rather then 1-2 games which is what he got under Arthur. Him and Hughes were always my 2 favorite batsman and i hope we get him in soon. Aside from Khawaja's 73 yesterday i saw Coulter Nile take 3 wickets and he bowled beautifully, i expect to see him in national colours very soon too.
Don Freo
Guest
Khawaja is not being ignored. He has been injured. He'll get a go . He is very classy...just needs some steel and age has probably given him that. A lot like Shaun Marsh. Pure class and just needed things to fall into place. We will see some good stuff from Ussy in the next few years.
Phil
Guest
Yes i think so too pope, remember that Khawaja was first off the block before his injury due to being the highest run scorer in domestic one day cricket, and got man of the match yesterday too so he is not too far from being picked.. I also think we will see Coulter Nile in the Aussie setup very soon
Phil
Guest
And not only did Khawaja open, he got man of the match in the first one dayer yesterday, Coulter Nille was on fire too
Phil
Guest
CT take a closer look at the India series. He got 44 not out in the second test and was out to a poor lbw decision in the first innings which you can see in the CA highlights. Yesterday he got man of the match with a 75 against a strong South Africa A side which had 2 spinners in it, he is a much improved player against spin and handles it better then most of the domestic players now.
Phil
Guest
Noticed Khawaja got man of the match in the first one dayer against South Africa A, he is now averaging close to 50 in domestic one day cricket and can't be ignored for too much longer. Lets not forget he has been the leading run scorer in domestic one day cricket for the last 3 years
Deep Thinker
Guest
This is Kallis's last test (against India) in 2013-14: http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2013-14/engine/match/648667.html?view=averages 8 out of the 12 batsmen in the test meet the criteria. 3 of the other 4 are averaging 44 or above. That is the required standard for test cricket. It is not just about the Australian era as you put it. This is clear and definitive. A policy of blanket denial on your part does not override that fact - you have put no facts on the table other than blanket assertions with no supporting evidence. A lot of those players you pointed as under ave 48 reflects their end of career stats and does not reflect their averages whilst in the test team. Also, some of them turned out to be top class players, while many of them were solid but unremarkable international players. The fact that you felt the need to point out that these guys for England were good enough beat the likes of India and Australia highlights the fact that India and Australia were the benchmark teams, and England were a lesser team whose best was good enough to beat them in a couple of series. It shows they could not sustain that standard for very long apart from a brief period when India, South Africa and Australia dropped their standards in about 2010. It is bizarre that you deny that at the elite level, elite and sustained performance does not matter very much. I am sure that is why you are suggesting Bancroft is a test class batsman in waiting despite his average. Don Freo - you're right that context behind stats is important. It makes it hard to judge our fast bowlers in FC cricket who are all doing really well because of the serious lack of talent emerging in our batting ranks. That imbalance is concerning.
Don Freo
Guest
Even if a nation had a nass of batsmen averaging over 60, it doesn't mean they have a good programme. It could mean they have a real problem with bowlers. Numbers,without context, indicate nothing.
Eski
Guest
Cook, Strauss, Trott, Bell, KP, Collingwood, Prior not one of these players averages over 48 in fc cricket yet they played in a test team that beat india in india , embarrassed Australia in Australia and made it to number 1/2 in test cricket, again showing your criiteria that everyone has to average over 48 to be above 4/5 best team in the world is ridiculous
Eski
Guest
Deep thinker Once again put evidence on here that today's standard is horrible there are lots of eras not 100 years ago to compare it to , how about the 70s and 80s from what u have put up it must be easy to find 20 fc batsmen from that era who r averaging 48 or higher U have said today Australia's talent pool is dramatically less and other countries have numerous young players averaging over 48 I asked u to put up evidence u couldn't , U said Australia should be developing about two quality test players a year I have asked u to put evidence of any country who has achieved this u couldn't not all these quality test players being developed can play test at the same time so once again put evidence that other countries have at least 10 young players averaging over 48 Your lack of evidence that any country has achieved this or any other australian era outside the 90s early 2000s puts to the fact your criteria is completely unachievable
Deep Thinker
Guest
You're right about one thing. This era is terrible by historical standards, which is why Bancroft is even being mentioned. We are talking about an era that started in the early 90s and ended at about 2010. That's a 20 year span characterised by improvements in bats, protective gear, flatter pitches and shorter boundaries. Not much has changed on any of those fronts - the pitches were perhaps a bit too bowler friendly a couple of years ago. But now there is no excuse with pitches on the Australian domestic circuit. If you want to compare a batsman now with 100 years ago, so be it. In my opinion, that's not a valid comparison given how far the game has evolved in favour of batsmen.
Eski
Guest
Deep thinker U have looked at one era of australian domestic cricket and decided that was the norm it isn't if it was there would be so many players present now and from outside that era it should be incredible easy for you to prove your point by putting there stats of players and their country on here Also if it was the norm there would be countless players with averages of 48 or above there isn't , mid to low 40s to dramatically more consistent statistic in majority of countries and eras
Eski
Guest
Once again what I actually said was he have two players one averaging 42 the other 46 should get their shot at the test team not Bancroft u called Bancroft USELESS I defended him comparing him with other young talented players in other countries . you have also said other countries have numerous young players averaging over 48 but can not back this up , you have said other countries have dramatically more talent than OZ and that Australia should be unearthing about two quality batsman per year . Based on that it should be easy to find close to 10 young batsmen from outside the test set up from south Africa , England and New Zealand that average over 48 in fc cricket All the players you have named have essentially come from the same era in Australian cricket that should tell you something , but in any case in any generation if a young player averaged 48 in a shield season he would be marked as a possible test player which is all that has happened to Bancroft