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Since 2005 the Australian Test team has been on the search for a genuine all-rounder. Andrew Flintoff has one good series and the Argus Report suggests we dump our history and pick as many all-rounders as possible.
Guys like Shane Watson, Andrew Symons, Andrew McDonald, Mitch Marsh and others were bought into the team to be the mythical fifth bowler that would save Australian cricket. None of them managed the feat.
So if picking an all-rounder is un-Australian, then what is the Australian way to select a Test side?
Allow me to explain. In relatively simple terms the Australian way to play cricket is to select people who deserve to be in the team based on elite skill. You can either earn your place as a batsman with an average over 40 or as a bowler with an average under 30.
Batsmen are selected based on position. You have two openers, one scores quickly the other works the strike, and a number three who is a fluent all-round batsman capable being an extra opener if an early wicket falls.
Number four a dashing showman who is usually the team’s best player of spin, followed by a strong willed defensive number five who will stop any collapse and help lower order batsmen score runs effectively. Positions 7-11 are reserved for your keeper and bowlers. So what about number 6?
Traditionally that position has gone to the best young batsman in the country as a way of giving them Test experience in order to prepare them for a future position in the middle order. By choosing to select all-rounders with no hope of holding down a top five spot Australian cricket has essentially mortgaged its future for some terrible batting and average medium-pace.
Right now we are paying for it with the shakiest batting line-up since the 1980s. The place to test all-rounders is limited overs cricket where they are required (one or two in ODI and two or three in Twenty20). If they prove effective as batsmen then they deserve a shot at Test cricket. If not they stay as short-form players.
Selectors must move away from the all-rounder experiment and resume Australia’s traditional line-up.
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