Australia's unlucky XI

Whether it’s who’s going to the World T20 tournament, who’s going to New Zealand, who lost Usman Khawaja’s phone number, or how Channel Ten selected the menu in the jungle for Shane Warne’s arrival, the topic of selection is just so controversial at the moment.

I’m not going to go over old stuff. Every man and their Michael Clarke has had their opinion on such important topics.

However, the recent discussions did get me thinking.

Selection is subjective. Over the years, names like Khawaja and Shaun Marsh haven’t been the only ones to cause significant debate.

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Given the current climate, it’s the perfect time to give a shout out to a few unlucky cricketers who, for one reason or another, have not enjoyed the rub of the green when a group of men sit down to decide who is best suited for any particular match.

Therefore I give you my Unlucky XI.

1. Martin Love
Love finally earned himself an opportunity at Test level and scored his maiden century in only his fifth match. His reward? Never to play for Australia again!

2. Mark Cosgrove
Poor old Cozzie, he’s been discriminated against for years by the national selectors. They even made him go on a diet with the fake hope of an opportunity of getting a start with the national team.

3. Jamie Siddons
A stalwart of the South Australian team, year after year, Siddons was pounding runs down at the Adelaide Oval but could only get himself the one measly ODI.

4. Brad Hodge
Hodge was dropped from the Test side after five Tests with an average of 58.42 and a double century against South Africa. He managed to only play one further Test, even after year upon year of dominating all attacks in the domestic competition.

5. Michael Bevan
Bevan was the one-day specialist, a key ingredient to the success of the limited overs side for ten years. However, he was unable to nail down a spot in the Test team.

He was well and truly mistreated. His ability to bowl half trackers and full bungers with those left-arm chinamans was unprecedented. If only he was a right-hander, bowled leg breaks and drank plonk, he would have been a long-term inclusion in the Test side!

6. Stuart Law
Law is up there with the most unlucky cricketers. He scored over 27,000 first-class runs, but only played the solitary Test. He was unlucky there as well, not even earning a Test average after finishing on 54*, while also being declared on before he could get a hundred and outshine Cricket Australia wunderkind Ricky Ponting!

7. Phil Emery
‘Philthy’ was extremely unlucky. He played only one Test for Australia, where he took six dismissals, but what was even more unlucky was that he was from New South Wales.

Players from this state are immediately given a baggy green on state debut, for the inevitable time they are pitchforked into the national setup, but at the time of Emery’s debut, Cricket NSW was waiting on its baggy green order. Therefore, he unfortunately missed out.

8. Nathan Hauritz
Poor old ‘Haury’ was extremely unlucky that he wasn’t… Well, Shane Warne. He found himself on that crazy carnival ride that existed after Warnie’s departure. It was a merry-go round that involved every first-class spinner in Australia getting a taste of the wheel, only to be jettisoned back to grade cricket.

9. Andrew Bichel
Bichel worked illegally for years around the Australian team. The selectors’ treatment of him was criminal. For years he worked without an RSA among the side, enduring Test match after Test match with the apron and tray duties as the long-term 12th man.

10. Jason Gillespie
‘Dizzy’ somehow found himself dropped from the Test team after taking three wickets and scoring an unbeaten double-ton in his last game.

11. Bryce McGain
Possibly the unluckiest man going around. Firstly, he didn’t make his debut until the old age of 36, and secondly, he simply made his debut. South Africa took a liking to the Victorian’s bowling and selectors were just as quick to evacuate him out of the ground. Not unlike a lot of his bowling in his Test debut!