Scott Boland has averaged of 73 with the ball in his ten limited overs matches for Australia.
Yet, somehow, he’s keeping rampantly in-form leg spinner Adam Zampa out of the ODI side.
Surely this cannot be the case for today’s tri-series final against the West Indies in Bridgetown. The fact Boland is even in the Australian limited overs setup is baffling, considering his modest domestic record in the shorter formats – bowling averages of 36 in List A cricket and 28 in T20s.
It boggles the mind that Zampa was omitted so Boland could take the field. In Australia’s last match in this tri-series, the West Indies selected two specialist spinners, Sunil Narine and Sulieman Benn.
That pair were the Windies’ two best bowlers, proving hard to get away as they conceded just 4.8 runs per over from their 20 overs, compared to 6.3 runs per over from the 30 overs of pace.
Meanwhile, Australia went into that match without a specialist spinner, and resorted to bowling rank part-time tweaker Aaron Finch. The selectors decided to drop or rest or rotate or rejuvenate Zampa in order to let Boland keep his spot. The Victorian seamer gave up seven runs per over from his ten-over spell and, yet again, did not look in the same league as his Australian pace colleagues.
Boland was a shock selection to make his ODI and T20 debuts last summer, and even came close to earning a Test berth. His performances in first-class cricket this past summer were brilliant, and justify him being in the frame to don the baggy green.
But he looks a long way short of being an international limited overs bowler. Boland’s control is not impressive, nor are his variations. He does not swing the ball consistently, or operate at high pace. His sole attribute is his ability to extract lift from the pitch.
Not once, in his 10 matches for Australia, has he looked truly comfortable at the highest level. Boland appears well out of his depth and, at 27 years old, he hardly is a project player. The same cannot be said of Zampa who, at 24 years old, is an infant in wrist spin terms, and who has absolutely thrived on the greater challenge and pressure of international cricket.
In his 12 limited overs appearances, Zampa has snared 17 wickets at a fantastic average of 23.
Even with Mitchell Starc back in the team, Zampa still has been Australia’s leading wicket taker for the tournament, with nine wickets at 19 from four games, compared to Starc’s eight wickets at 17 from four games.
Zampa is, in my opinion, the most exciting limited overs player to emerge for Australia since Starc debuted almost six years ago. He looks capable of being a match-winning spinner in the shorter formats, something Australia have not had since Brad Hogg played his last ODI in 2008.
Australia have remained a dominant team in those past eight years despite continually having a major weakness in their spin stocks. With a world-class spinner in their team – something Zampa can become, and quite quickly – they could go to another level in the coming years.
So why waste time sitting Zampa on the sidelines in favour of a player in Boland who never looks likely to succeed in coloured clothing for Australia? Stand-in Australian coach Justin Langer told the media Zampa was dropped because “Marlon Samuels thrives on spin bowling”.
Then Samuels went ahead and made 125 against a pace-dominated Australian attack in their last match. The West Indian veteran had hit Zampa for four sixes in their previous encounter. But, amid his figures of 2-60, the leg spinner also took the crucial wickets of well-set batsmen Darren Bravo (39) and Johnson Charles (48).
The Australian selectors must back in Zampa and come to peace with the risk-reward balance that comes with wrist spinners. The young leggie has shown a mouth-watering ability to take wickets in the middle overs of ODIs, something every team covets from their spinners.
The selectors must accept that, every now and then, a batsman will get after him like Samuels did. That acceptance needs to start today, with the reinstatement of Zampa to the Australian XI for the tri-series final. Zampa has shown time and again that he is a fiercely self-assured young man.
He would relish the challenge of Samuels and co. coming after him today.
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
I can see Adam Zampa is a future Shane Warne in the making, hence he should be given maximum opportunity in all formats. At present he is the best Australian spinner, and certainly the best Leg-spinner in the world.
danno
Guest
Zampa wasn't dropped. Its the rotation policy on tour.
Kapowie
Guest
Thankfully, commonsense prevailed. Boland supplementary to the squad and finally Faulkner has paid for his inconsistencies of late. He has a lot of work to do to crow bar his way into the best XI. The thing keeping him on the periphery is the injuries to cummins, Pattinson and Richardson. Lack of form has cost sandhu too. He would have been a handful with his cutters. NCN must have photos of the selectors
Ajay
Guest
And Bailey as well. He hasn't done anything since wc. Travis head should get his place for Sri-lanka's tour, especially champions trophy is less than 12 months away. What about NCN? looks garbage today. Now, A-series is an interesting one Paris, Lynn and Handscomb have a great Chance. Watch out for Cummins.
dan ced
Guest
I think Boland's selection is a joke in general, so very bland to watch in the shield final. Seems a nothing bowler. I think they need to have Klinger in all short form squads, he has the experience but with the reliability someone like Bailey does not have. Klinger won't get in the test team as long as Voges is there.. but his T20 and ODD form should be enough to get him in those two formats for AUS. Happy that Zampa has taken hold of his opportunity at international level.. next step is more penetration in the longer form.
Perry Bridge
Guest
Boland is actually a top notch Yorker exponent - and has been identified as a player worth developing. The selectors do that as best they can - there are only ever 11 spots in the side so getting games into the fringe players in varying conditions etc is always a challenge. 'List management' is what it's called in AFL circles. You don't always go in with you best possible team on the day - there's a balance to be achieved and there's always a few unlucky folk missing out.
Tom from Perth
Guest
Baffling
AREH
Roar Guru
Spot on.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I'm with you, I don't think Smith knows much about using spinners. The 20/20 world cup showed that in spades. His captaincy was very ordinary.
Bakkies
Guest
He's another Mick Lewis
Matth
Guest
It should be obvious to the selectors. No limited overs side should be without a specialist spinner.
Dutski
Roar Guru
That and the fact that it's winter here in Australia... Plenty of cricket articles over the warmer months.
ak
Roar Guru
Cricket is so boring these days. No one follows much. Quality is at historical low. That is the reason why many people are away from cricket. The extremely less number of comments on articles here proves it.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Zampa is a bloke on the rise. CA earmarked him for bigger things back in 2010 when he was a member of the world champion U19 side under Mitch Marsh. He has matured rather slowly but now appears to be on the improve. Ok he does go for runs.. most spinners do even the best. Remember Shane Warne's early test figures?
Craig Swanson
Guest
How Boland made the ODI squad is beyond me. Why do our selectors pick blokes for one format on the form of another format. namely Boland's fine shield season. Red ball form does not mean you will be successful in white ball cricket... and vica versa. In fact he had a fairly ordinary BBL as well apart from one game from memory.
Bob Sims
Guest
Agreed, Ronan. Boland strikes me as one of that group of players who is quite capable at Shield level but simply doesn't have what it takes to go that one final level. Zampa, on the other hand, can be a match winner in the right circumstances.
Sanjay Poojar
Guest
India wil take it.
BurgyGreen
Guest
The selectors are STILL clueless about spin. Zampa gets dropped at the first sign of leaking a couple of runs, whereas pace bowlers can get smacked around three matches in a row and still get picked. It's like the selectors are constantly looking for an excuse not to pick him. Being an Australian spinner is a tough gig. And Boland? Why was he ever anywhere near the team in the first place?
Sideline Comm.
Guest
That's a good point nudge; I'm not sure if it has something to do with him being a "failed" spin-bowler himself, or maybe Boof's influence in an over-reliance on pace, but he does ignore the spin sometimes. As to the article, completely agree; absolute joke. If they pick Boland over Zampa in the final it just proves that Australia are not taking this series seriously.
Nudge
Guest
Spot on Ronan. I think the problem could be with Steve Smith though. While Smith's captaincy has been as good as what you could expect from a young captain, the one area he has struggled in, is when to use his spinners. Who can forget in the T20 World Cup, smith only bowling Zampa for one over in one of our losses. I think he went for 4 in that over. I reckon he only bowled him for 2 overs in another match and at a complete guess his figures were 1 for 12. It's not just the coloured clothing though that he struggles to know when to bowl Hus spinners. Their has been times in tests that he hasn't brought Lyon on early enough. Teams have been 0 or 1 for 80 off 30 odd before Lyons had a crack. Lyon can bowl with a lot of over spin which produces bounce so if nothing's happened in the first 10 or 15 overs he should be given a crack with the new rock when that bounce is more exaggerated. The last part of Smith's captaincy is to learn when to bowl his spinners and more importantly have complete faith in them. After all, both Lyon and Zampa are world class spinners. He needs to realise that.