As supporters of the game, how do we want the selectors of any cricket team to decide the final XI?
The answer is very simple: pick the players who are making runs and taking wickets.
There is no real mystery to it, yet logic never seems to prevail.
The Australian cricket team at this moment and time have a player in Mitchell Marsh who no doubt has massive potential. Anyone who can bat at six and bowl overs at a decent pace is a valuable cricketer.
But, let’s be honest here. He hasn’t exactly set the world on fire back at Sheffield Shield level which didn’t prepare him for the tough nature of Test cricket.
Everyone who follows the Australian cricket team believes he should never have been put in the team due to the fact he was still finding his way back at first-class level and the fact he hasn’t contributed enough during his 19 Test matches.
So, if we take anything from Marsh’s case, the public of Australian cricket want you to earn your spot through the means of domestic cricket by making runs or taking wickets.
As we know, Peter Siddle has broken down and isn’t available for selection for the second Test at Hobart against the Proteas.
South Australian fast bowler, Joe Mennie, was on standby at Perth and will more than likely make his Test debut come Saturday.
Here is a man who was one of the outstanding bowlers of the Sheffield Shield competition last season with 51 wickets, yet I hear people claiming he isn’t the player Australia should be looking to bring in.
Just imagine that. The majority of the Australian public want players to earn their spot through domestic cricket, but Mennie with 51 wickets shouldn’t be in the squad according to some.
This man has earned the right to play a Test match for Australia with his outstanding bowling last season. He’s a player who hasn’t just been given an opportunity for the sake of it. He put in enough consistent performances to warrant a chance and he will be doing everything it takes to make it count.
Anyone who wants to sit there and suggest he doesn’t deserve it is kidding themselves. Here is a case where the selectors actually got it right.
Far too often we see players picked on reputation or potential only.
It really does baffle me that someone who has taken 51 wickets in a season doesn’t deserve to play for his country.
He hasn’t started this Sheffield Shield season too poorly either. From two games, he has taken six wickets which shows he is looking to back last season up.
Perhaps Mennie’s call up to the ODI squad back in South Africa was a slight shock. His strength certainly is the longer form of the game, which is why his inclusion in Hobart should come as no surprise to anyone if included in the XI – which does look very likely.
He perhaps didn’t have the success in South Africa he would have liked, although it would be unfair to judge him off that particular series. It really was only his first ODI that saw him struggle with figures of 0-82, but he did bounce back with 3-49 in his second ODI.
If his debut doesn’t go to plan then so be it, but the whole idea of Sheffield Shield cricket is to showcase your talent to give yourself the opportunity to represent your nation.
Mennie has done that and the whole of Australia should be right behind him when he makes his likely debut. Here we have a player who has done the hard yards to wear the baggy green and that should be respected.
Alan Tickle
Guest
Mennie gets top class batsman out with deliveries that beat them. He has a high percentage of bowled and LBW. He can bat and an athletic fielder. Having had a bit to do with him in sides up to age 19 before he went to the big smoke I know he would also have impressed with his work ethic and ability to get on well with team mates. He is good in a team atmosphere and deserves all that comes his way. Bird is an attacking bowler and a back up strike bowler but Mennie is tight, at the batsman and does plenty off the deck as a foil for the likes of Starc. The assessment of the partnership with Sayers is spot on and he Mennie can also play that role with Starc and Haze.
davros
Guest
couldnt have said it better Dan ...i watched the a series in brisbane recently and mennie was outstanding with 2 five wicket hauls and scored 50 with the bat against phillander and rabida...he knocked over elgar and bavuma as well as phillander and others ...if you google or u tube " 2 nasty ones and a peach " check out what he did to phillander lol, ...only funny if its not you ...i reckon he deserves a crack ! Also i take your point about him and sayers ...they feed off each other ..ive seen sayers bowl well and go almost wicket less and mennie get 7 ...they bowl in a pack !!!...if mennie performs in hob art ...pick him and sayers at adelaide ...you could do a lot worse !!
JamesH
Roar Guru
I don't have a problem with the selection of Mennie as a test cricketer and I am looking forward to his debut. I do have an issue with him having jumped Bird in the selection queue, however. Mennie was the leading wicket taker in the Shield last season, yes, but Bird: 1. finished last season with a better average and strike rate than Mennie (from 8 games vs 11) 2. together with Sayers, was picked ahead of Mennie to play in the NZ test series (taking a 5-for) 3. together with Coulter-Nile, was picked ahead of Mennie to tour Sri Lanka 4. has had a slightly better start to this Shield season than Mennie, despite playing for a poorer team If we want to use logic as a basis for selection then Bird simply has to be next in line. Batting be damned - they're bowlers.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
I would pick Sayers having come off an 11 wicket haul a couple of days ago.
dan ced
Guest
Even in Sayers dominant seasons a couple of years ago Mennie as his bowling partner played a bigger party in Sayers success than most would recognise, he was not far off.. even they are very different as bowlers. He was in the ODI side to see what he was like gelling with AUS players on tour, how he fit in with the group and stuck to team plans. They already know he can bowl, the put him in the AUS A side on the back of his shield dominance and he delivered against a star studded SAFFA A team, he bounced back from a luckless ODI debut where EVERYONE got toweled to knock over Faf and Amla's stumps in game 5. He's done everything the selectors have asked, and passed all their tests. Wearing a Baggy Green in Hobart will be his reward, I hope he does well. P.S. That being said.. I hope "The Chadd" gets a run in the day/night test, even if it's at the expense of Mennie. I also have high hopes for Dorf if he stays uninjured.
Basil
Guest
Totally agree. Fact is that state bias amongst supporters does exist. He plays for SA. If he played for our most populous state it wouldn't be questioned. I also hear people up in arms about Bird. Last I checked Sayers was the form bowler in the comp. Im not pro-SA but want to see the best get selected. So far Mennie was the best last season, and Sayers the best this season. They're long term records back up also.