The fourth Test was beyond awful for Australia. What made it worse was the lack of a big, fat excuse to justify the poor performance.
Whenever Australia gets thrashed by England we like to have something to blame – World Series Cricket, South African rebel tours, Bodyline, Greg Chappell not going, doctored pitches, etc.
On this one all we can really blame are the players.
Okay, and maybe their wives.
And the coach and the selectors and Pat Howard and James Sutherland and the batting order and players earning too much money and hubris and the Duke ball and Boof’s joke of the day getting tired and…
Come to think of it there’s always an excuse.
But tomorrow is another day and we can still recover, if we make some changes.
I’d like to propose five ways Australian cricket could move forward
1) Pick two all rounders or pick none
Darren Lehmann seems to have got it in his head that one of the reasons we lost the fourth Test was abandoning our five bowler policy – despite losing the first and third Tests this way, despite losing against Pakistan in UAE this way and despite losing 4-0 against India in India this way.
Here’s the thing with all rounders – you’ve either got to play two or none at all, otherwise you fatally weaken either the batting or the bowling.
(Flintoff’s achievements in 2005 were so memorable because they were such an aberration.)
England have finally realised this and are enjoying a lot of success playing Moeen Ali in tandem with Ben Stokes.
If we want to play Mitchell Marsh at six – at from the sound of things that’s where they’re headed – then pick an all rounder at eight to compensate for his batting.
A proper all rounder, not a pretend one. We’ve got plenty – James Faulkner and Glenn Maxwell are in England right now. Dan Christian and Steve O’Keefe are also in good form.
2) Do not play Mitchells Johnson and Starc at the same time
They are both lusty late-order batsmen, erratic bowlers who can either win you a game in a session or lose it just as quickly.
Both are great players who will be looked upon as legends. But it’s too risky to bowl them in tandem.
Fast bowling is the one area we’ve got decent depth in, with James Pattinson, Jackson Bird, Gurinder Sandhu and others waiting.
There’s no need to double up on Mitchells.
3) Pick batsmen who average more than 40 in first class cricket
Why is this so hard to do? The stats are there for everyone to see. It’s not rocket science.
Yet over the past few years the selectors have persisted in promoting a series of thirty-somethings – the Marshes, Doolan, Bailey, Quiney – as top six options.
They did pick Joe Burns – who rewarded them with two half centuries – and was rewarded in turn by being overlooked for the Ashes.
Shaun Marsh is 32 and still averages under 40 at first class level. Does anyone blossom into a consistent Test class batsmen after that?
I know batting resources aren’t as rich as twenty years ago but there are still several decent batsmen who average over 40 at first class level: Burns, Chris Lynn and poor old Mark Cosgrove. Usman Khwaja has dipped below 40 but only just.
I should also mention David Hussey is still playing and still averaging over 50).
It is ridiculous that Burns wasn’t in England.
Sometimes you wonder if selectors wouldn’t be better off just reading the scorecards.
4) Consider persevering with Adam Voges
Voges has been a disappointment on the tour, no doubt about it.
I think the selectors were banking on him to bring some old grey haired experience to the middle order, like Chris Rogers did with Dave Warner, only it hasn’t really panned out.
And I know I want Voges to succeed so badly in part because it’s such a lovely fairytale, him getting a chance after so many years.
And yet a half century in the last Test was promising.
And 35 isn’t that old – he took that great catch, and Rogers did so well coming into the team late.
Surely he’s more likely to produce a big score over the next twelve months than Shaun Marsh?
Also Voges – the Western Australia captain – is an old hand with a lot of experience.
The Australian side under Clarke has always had a silly/immature feel about it – kept in line when Clarke had a rugged deputy, like Ponting or Haddin, but prone to blow up – like homeworkgate, or in those endless collapses we have overseas.
Ideally you’d like to think that an Australian team should have five or six potential candidates for vice captain.
Now Haddin’s Test career seems to be over, can anyone think of one?
Warner? The Marshes? Johnson? Lyon? Even Rogers looked like a goose recently with that ticket scandal.
Peter Nevill probably will be one down the track, but he’s too new now.
The leading candidate would be Voges.
Age or not, I’d love for the Aussie selectors to give him an extended go in the side, at least for another summer.
They can always chuck him after another failure – but if he works out, he brings badly needed experience and wisdom that seems very, very thin on the ground on the moment.
5) Ask Rogers to postpone his retirement
Australia has several promising openers – Silk, Bancroft – but none are knocking down the door right now.
Why not ask Rogers to stick around for another season? No guarantees and all that, but it can’t hurt to ask. He probably could do with the money.
He is clearly good for Warner and the two are an effective team. Their partnership was one of the few bright spots on a disappointing tour.
Solid opening partnerships are so vital.
And a change in partner can badly affect an opener’s game. Mark Taylor struggled without Michael Slater and Geoff Marsh; ditto Shane Watson without Simon Katich.
Who knows what a new partner could do to Warner?
Another year of Rogers could help at a time when our batting has never been weaker.
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