Before Australia’s disastrous tour to Sri Lanka, Adam Voges would have been one of the first Test players picked.
The Western Australian put together a summer of tremendous cricket, smashing the New Zealand and West Indies bowling attacks all over the place.
After the summer, Voges had a fantastic Test average of 95.50 – officially ranking him as the second best batsman in history.
At this time there was no talk that Voges, despite being well on the wrong side of 30, could be dropped. He looked certain to keep his Test spot until he decided to retire.
But then came the Sri Lanka tour. In Sri Lanka, Voges struggled against spin and was out to spin bowling in five of the six innings he played. While Voges was certainly not the only Australian to struggle in the series, his experience and leadership would have been useful in avoiding the whitewash.
During last year’s Ashes he didn’t perform when Australia needed him to, his only decent scores came in the final two Tests, when the series was already lost.
The sad truth about Adam Voges is that he is that he is a flat track bully, he can perform in home conditions, but struggles in unfamiliar conditions. After his poor form in Sri Lanka, Voges shouldn’t go to India.
If Voges isn’t going to be picked for India, it would make sense for him to be dropped now and his position given to a younger player to give them some experience.
What do you think Roarers? Does a man labelled ‘Bradmanesque’ just a few months ago deserve to be dropped? Or will Voges come good for the Aussies?
adam
Guest
The side should be : Bancroft Warner Smith Finch Bailey Stoinis Wade wk Starc Cummins Zampa Lyon/hazlewood
JohnB
Guest
Seems pretty obvious doesn't it. The next series coming up is the most important one, and that is what they have to pick a team to win. Pick a team based on possible conditions for a series 3 down the track and you risk each series before that.
ak
Roar Guru
He has struggled against Sri Lanka. And he is surely going to struggle against a great bowler like Ashwin and his comrade Jadeja.
Andy Hill
Roar Pro
So don't drop him now. Give him one last series against SA then let him retire "on his own terms" to allow for someone like Handscomb or Patterson to bed in at no.5 in the Pakistan series before the big test against India. Surely the selectors can tap him on the shoulder and politely ask him to move aside?
JohnB
Guest
The 37 year old who only started playing test cricket at 35 is always going to be only a couple of poor tests from scrutiny, and fair enough. In Australia though he has looked like one of the best players in the world, and Australia is playing in Australia, not the sub-continent, against Sth Africa who still have a good attack (and on paper a very very good one) and Pakistan (who were No 1 in the world up until last week, based largely on their bowling) with a batting lineup that still doesn't look the finished article. It would be a very big call to drop him now.
Ches
Guest
And reversing Swing. Come think of it any "good" swing bowling.
Ches
Guest
Exactly. Pretty much everyone failed or played below their best on that SL tour except Starc.
Ches
Guest
Your suggestions are?
Andy
Guest
If you have to go back more than a series to make your argument work, dont.
The Bush
Roar Guru
This is a big summer for a few guys to be able to break in to the Aussie side. Voges may not survive another year and the inevitable thrashing we'll cop in India means guys like Burns and Khawaja could find themselves back out of the side again... If there was ever a shield season to average 50, this is it...
jameswm
Roar Guru
Nudge I reckon in tests Smith and Warner are top 2, and Voges and Khawaja next 2 (except in the subcontinent!)
jameswm
Roar Guru
I believe Bancroft has scored a lot of runs against spin in A tours, and Handscomb is supposed to be good against spin. If Handscomb is close to being picked as a specialist bat, how much worse is his keeping than Nevill's? It's all about timing though. Bancroft is the next top order bat on the horizon, but he needs to be scoring runs and putting himself at the front of the selectors' minds if and when Burns goes off the boil.
matth
Guest
I would think he stays on. Surely he earned enough credits last summer to survive one poor series, when the entire top 7 was equally poor? If we need a horses for courses in India next Feb, then replace him with Bailey at that time.
The Bush
Roar Guru
I think they'll just go with the same line up we saw last summer: 1. Warner 2. Burns 3. Khawaja 4. Smith 5. Voges 6. Marsh 7. Nevill 8 Starc 9. Hazelwood 10. Lyon 11. To be determined fast bowler Australian selectors have always been conservative and I don't see them changing anytime soon. In terms of replacing him, it depends on what path the selectors are actually going to go down. There was talk of "horses for courses". With that in mind perhaps Bailey might be a go - he had a good season last season, he played well in Sri Lanka and he is considered good with spin. But his selection would be a short term plan to try and perform in India next year. Shaun Marsh would be a similar pick. If instead we're looking for a long term prospect, I've come round to the idea that perhaps you can pick someone like Bancroft and play them down the order to find there feet. That way if Burns doesn't work out, we have someone who can step up to opener. At the same time, plenty of great batsmen started their careers off as openers and ended down the order.
The Bush
Roar Guru
"He rarely fails in Australia" None of them do Nudge, so what's the point? We don't need him to win in Australia and he doesn't help us win overseas, why not move on from him?
Don Piper
Guest
Bushy, who is your XI for the first test mate? very keen to find out
Don Piper
Guest
Who would replace him then?
Nudge
Guest
I think they will keep him until next years ashes. In my opinion he's still in the top 3 batsmen in Australia. He rarely fails in Australia. Keep him around until the ashes
The Bush
Roar Guru
Yes he should go. I am all for having older heads around and that sort of thing, but if they're going to fail just when you need them, then their experience isn't worth a thing. We don't need him around to help us win at home and if he's not going to help us win away, what is the point?
The Bush
Roar Guru
Yes but if we're accepting a flogging, may as well send young guys who can gain experience from it. The entire point of Voges is that his experience was meant to mean he would do better in tough conditions. Instead he performs as badly as the rest of them. The difference is that at his age, there's no room left to improve and he won't be around to tour these places again (and hopefully build on the experience).