The 2015 Ashes series has been an unmitigated disaster for Australia. With one more Test match to come, at The Oval, and the imminent farewell of a number of senior players, one cannot be blamed for having one eye on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh and indeed our very own Australian summer.
The new world order of the baggy green, and more specifically its batsmen, is about to arrive but what does it look like?
Rags-to-riches story Chris Rogers is set to say farewell at the end of this series. The 37-year-old fought hard to get back in to the Test line up and his level head and dourness will be sorely missed at the top of the order.
So who replaces him?
Cameron Bancroft, the 22-year-old opener from Western Australia, seems to have the best claim. 896 runs including three big hundreds in the last Sheffield season plus a very impressive 150 against India A is proof that the man they call ‘Bangas’ is one of our brightest prospects.
It has been a while however, since the selectors opted for somebody so young and they seem hesitant to give younger players an extended run. But there are plenty of experienced openers doing the rounds as well.
Queensland pair Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja have both been lucky enough to receive a coveted baggy green. Just last summer Burns enjoyed a fruitful pair of Test matches against the Indians before not even being picked to tour England. Although he batted at 6 in those games the 25-year-old has opened the batting at domestic level and has been confirmed as David Warner’s opening partner for the upcoming ODI series.
Usman Khawaja was an unfortunate victim of two losing Ashes campaigns and then a knee reconstruction. He is no doubt in the selectors’ minds, being chosen to captain Australia A is proof of that. For the Pakistani-born left-hander to force his way back in to the Test side he will need to score mountains of runs for the Bulls, something that is certainly not beyond him.
As far as the middle order is concerned, we say goodbye to over eight-and-a-half-thousand Test runs and 28 Test centuries in the form of Michael Clarke. Adam Voges will be lucky to be given another chances. The Shaun Marsh experiment appears over, so it is time to look elsewhere for middle order ‘glue’.
In 2009 current Test batsman Chris Rogers moved to Victoria from Western Australia to help progress his chances for more cricket in the baggy green. In 2011 Marcus Stoinis followed in his footsteps and it looks like history could soon repeat itself. The 2014-15 Sheffield Shield season yielded 785 runs at just under 50, which included nine half-centuries. Those figures, combined with a more than honest One Day Cup, has seen the Northcote Cricket Club all-rounder selected in Australia’s upcoming ODI tour of England and Ireland.
Averaging over 40 seems a rare feat in Sheffield Shield cricket these days but Queensland enforcer Chris Lynn has managed to score his 2340 first-class runs at an impressive 45.88. At 25, Lynn has already developed an international reputation through T20 cricket, playing for Australia and in both the Indian Premier League and the Caribbean Premier League. He is a ready-made Test number five and would relish any opportunity.
South Australian veteran Callum Ferguson has also thrown his hat into the ring with an impressive 2014-15 season. Seemingly on the cusp of selection for a number of years now, Ferguson has never been able to land that killer blow, with a short run in the ODI side at the top of the decade all the classy right-hander has been able to muster. At 30 he has experience on his side, a trait that is a proven favourite of the Australian selectors.
It is important for Cricket Australia not to go back to the future when it comes to picking the next crop of Test batsmen. Players like Ed Cowan, Alex Doolan, Shaun Marsh and Rob Quiney must not be revisited. Destined to be serviceable first-class players, those men must make way for the new world order of Australian Test cricket.
October 9 is the date of the first Test against Bangladesh. The last time we played there the squad included players like Dan Cullen and Mark Cosgrove. What will it look like this time around?
13th Man
Guest
i'd be looking at this lineup for Bangladesh Warner Bancroft Khawaja Smith (c) Burns Nevill M Marsh Agar Johnson Starc Lyon we need two spinners for Bangladesh so Agar should be the second, has performed well in India and out-bowled O'Keefe and Fawad's been terrible in the tour matches. Agar can bat as well. For the summer i would bring in Cummins as third quick.
13th Man
Guest
i'm with you but i would pick Johnson over Starc personally. I think Starc is the premier one-day bowler but in test's he doesn't get it right enough. Johnson for me has still been our most consistent bowler this series. Starc's had his moments and Hazelwood has been a disappointment.
13th Man
Guest
pedro, Have you looked at Bancroft's stats from the last 12 months? He had a slow start to his career but is now flying. Also he is a old-fashioned Rogers like opener. I'd rather the selectors gambled on a young guy like Bancroft instead of trying old has beens again and again!
Phil
Guest
Khawaja top scored again in the final for the Aus A game, surely he should come in at 3 if Smith comes in at 4. Smith should be playin at 4, playin at 5 would be too late, yes there is a problem whos goin to be no3 but Khawaja can succeed there if given a proper chance. Of the current young test batsmen root, kohli, williamson, smith is the best just watch at his records in all countries he has played in on howstat.au and compare it with others ull get the ans,
James T
Guest
Is Lynn Watson 2.0, seems to get a lot of starts for not many hundreds. Going on past selections I'll be surprised if marsh isn't opening in Bangladesh. Probable team: 01 Warner 02 marsh 03 burns 04 smith 05 Voges 06 marsh 07 Neville 08 Johnson 09 Pattinson / agar 10 hazlewood 11 Lyon If carriers, Lynn, Bancroft etc start shield season well bring them in for Aussie summer where I expect the pitches to be absolute highways
Andrew
Guest
Khawaja top scored for us in the final yesterday for Aus A, get him in quickly
dt290192
Roar Rookie
I think for this summer khawaja must be the obivious choice to open along with warner then burns at 4 and lynn or maddinson at 5.
Rob JM
Guest
Cough "Steve Smith" Cough!
jamesb
Guest
Whilst Jake Doran is the one that is getting all of the plaudits, the one player I want to see is Jhye Richardson. They reckon he's pretty quick and can bat as well
Rellum
Roar Guru
I'd be sending this squad Jordan Gauci (NSW), Caleb Jewell (Tas), Sam Harper (Vic), Jake Doran (Tas), Patrick Page (SA), Will Pucovski (Vic), Tom Healy (Qld), Jonte Pattison (ACT/NSWC), Jhye Richardson (WA), Henry Thornton (NSW), David Grant (SA), Liam Hatcher (NSW), Sam Grimwade (Vic), Arjun Nair (NSW), Ben Taylor (ACT/NSWC) Let the rest battle it out in the shield for the honour of wearing the baggy green.
Bert
Roar Rookie
Agree on Lynn. He doesn't do too much wrong technically just bad shot selection occasionally.
deccas
Guest
Reckon you're dead wrong on Lynn, I think he'll be a safe bet for runs coming in at 4 for a while to come yet. His debut was a calm and defensive effort under pressure, and he has a few long innings to back it up. He just has the aggression and timing to do well in the hit and giggle stuff.
deccas
Guest
its a bit of a furphy that smiths technique is poor. Unconventional? Sure, but poor? He knows where off stump is and protects his stumps well, his forward and backfoot defense has a nice straight bat and he plays it toward where it came from. He gets to the pitch of the ball to play his drives. Even the way he moves the ball into the leg side isn't technically poor, unusual in terms of where he does it from, but he doesn't do it with a closed face generally so I wouldn't call it technically poor.
Jameswm
Guest
Not permanently though I don't think... By the way how is accuracy different to line and length? Are they two different things?
jamesb
Guest
I reckon with Stoinis, he should used as a batsman who bowls part time, rather then classify him as an allrounder. And in a way, if another batsman bowls part-time, eg Smith, then maybe there isn't the need to pick an allrounder.
Paul Semertzidis
Roar Rookie
Bancrofts stats include a slow and below par start to his first class career. The excitement stems from the fact he is only 22, his current form his fantastic, just seems to be getting better every time he steps out to the crease. Excitement warranted I think.
AREH
Roar Guru
The point about Burns' run-scoring behind the wicket is very astute...if you look at those innings against India last summer, even when scoring those well-compiled 50s, there were a lot of shots behind the wicket, especially at the start of his innings, and I know he has said the nerves get to him before batting, so maybe that is something to do with it
Pedro the Maroon
Guest
Not sure about this love for Bancroft. His stats are very very average - worse than the forgotten men, Quiney and Cowan. Or are we picking people solely on technique? If that's the case, then Steve Smith should never have been given a start - he has the worst techique of any test #3 in the world. Perhaps in all of first clas cricket. But he has great feet, a wonderful eye and usually finds a way to flat bat a lot of runs.
Paul Semertzidis
Roar Rookie
Know the hunch well! Stoinis FC bowling stats leave a little to be desired, cleans up with the ball at district level but maybe that aspect of his game not up to scratch. To be honest I can see him playing as just a batsman with the vics and maybe eventually with in the Baggy Green.. I did forget Matthew Wade, tour to the West Indies not too long ago where he was made to look silly by Sunil Narine was the last real crack he has had but with a FC average of 40 could he warrant selection without the gloves??
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Possibly, but then, unless you've been around the grounds watching Shield cricket I'm guessing that all that you've seen of him batting, like myself, is in coloured clothing against a white ball, where he needs to give it more of a whack. The fact that he hits the ball hard in 50-over and 20-over cricket doesn't mean he can't bat well in long form cricket also.