Australian cricket selectors Rod Marsh, Darren Lehmann, Mark Waugh and Trevor Hohns continue to disappoint cricket lovers across Australia. They have regularly defied logic by selecting and dropping players willy nilly.
Shaun Marsh and Peter Siddle will miss the second Test against South Africa due to injury, and Adam Voges is in doubt with a hamstring injury. Voges’ injury is a blessing in disguise, and I’m hoping the Western Australian ‘flat track bully’ won’t return to the Test side!
The future of the Test side isn’t in the hands of older players like Voges. We need to blood some youngsters and plan for the future rather than patching up a leaky test side full of holes. The selectors must play an upcoming young batsman at six. It’s the perfect way to unearth the next Ricky Ponting.
Callum Ferguson has been named in the Test squad for the second Test match starting on Saturday in Hobart. The 31-year-old is uncapped at Test level but has 30 one-day internationals to his name.
Ferguson posted a century in the opening round of the current Shield season, a duck in the second round and averaged 61 in this year’s Matador Cup.
In the 2015-16 summer, he was restricted to just five matches but averaged 53.11, and averaged 52.25 in 2014-15 and 56.50 in the 2013-14 Shield season. Across those three seasons, he’s scored 1,879 runs with six hundreds in 22 matches at 53.69.
Ferguson has clearly been a good player for a long time but why has it taken so long for the selectors to select him for a test match?
Players like Ferguson and Michael Klinger have been plundering runs (comparatively to other batsmen) at Sheffield Shield level for years, and they have never been given the chance to debut for Australia.
It seems that certain selectors (Rod Marsh I’m talking to you) are basing their selection more on ‘feel’ and the ‘look’ of a player rather than numbers. Knock down the door long enough at domestic level, and you deserve a chance to wear the baggy green.
Ferguson’s first-class average of 40.23 from 101 matches isn’t amazing, but we no longer have batsmen like Michael Bevan and Brad Hodge averaging close to or above 50 during their careers in first-class cricket. Ferguson is effectively the best of an average bunch.
Below is a table displaying the statistics of the best young batsmen that are playing domestic first-class cricket in Australia. The best players from the table and next in line for test selection are Nic Maddinson, Kurtis Patterson, Cameron Bancroft, Peter Handscomb, Hilton Cartwright and Jake Lehmann (all in bold).
Cameron Bancroft is the only non-Test player other than Ferguson to have averaged above 45 in each of the past two seasons of the Sheffield Shield. Bancroft has had one chance for Australia at T20 level but could be a chance at the top of the order or at number six this summer if Shaun Marsh’s injury woes continue and Joe Burns fails to cement his spot.
Another Western Australian in Hilton Cartwright topped the averages last year in Sheffield Shield with 409 runs at 68.16, while Victoria’s Peter Handscomb has struck 1579 runs at 47.85 since the start of 2014-15.
Matthew Wade is a great batsman, but his glovework is second-rate. If his wicketkeeping improves enough, he should replace Peter Nevill as the wicketkeeper-batsman in the Australian team. Yes, keeping is important but your wicketkeeper must be a genuine batsman these days and Nevill is far from that.
The second round of the Sheffield shield wrapped up on Monday, November, 7. From the below table the young batsman that made runs during the round included:
Centuries:
Jake Weatherald
Jake Lehmann
Nic Maddison
Half centuries:
Peter Handscomb
Kurtis Patterson
Marnus Labuschagne
Sam Heazlett
Hilton Cartwright
Clearly, many of the young guns are in form!
| Player | Age | First class matches | Innings | Runs | HS | 50s | 100s | Average |
| Nic Maddinson | 24 | 58 | 102 | 3614 | 181 | 17 | 8 | 38.04 |
| Kurtis Patterson | 23 | 32 | 56 | 2171 | 157 | 13 | 5 | 42.56 |
| Cameron Bancroft | 23 | 44 | 79 | 2792 | 211 | 9 | 7 | 37.22 |
| Peter Handscomb | 25 | 60 | 99 | 3639 | 137 | 24 | 8 | 38.71 |
| Travis Head | 22 | 47 | 85 | 2772 | 192 | 20 | 3 | 33.39 |
| Sam Whiteman | 24 | 47 | 71 | 2227 | 174 | 14 | 2 | 34.26 |
| Ryan Carters | 26 | 41 | 73 | 2483 | 209 | 11 | 5 | 36.51 |
| Chris Lynn | 26 | 40 | 69 | 2708 | 250 | 12 | 6 | 44.39 |
| Matthew Wade | 28 | 98 | 149 | 4847 | 152 | 30 | 9 | 39.4 |
| Jake Lehmann | 24 | 18 | 29 | 1322 | 205 | 4 | 5 | 48.96 |
| Travis Dean | 24 | 15 | 26 | 851 | 154* | 4 | 3 | 35.45 |
| Matt Renshaw | 20 | 11 | 21 | 863 | 170 | 2 | 2 | 41.09 |
| Sam Heazlett | 21 | 10 | 19 | 700 | 129 | 6 | 1 | 38.88 |
| Marcus Stoinis | 27 | 37 | 61 | 2193 | 170 | 16 | 4 | 37.81 |
| Jake Weatherald | 22 | 6 | 10 | 442 | 135 | 3 | 1 | 49.11 |
| Hilton Cartwright | 24 | 13 | 18 | 717 | 139 | 4 | 2 | 47.8 |
| Marcus Labuschagne | 22 | 14 | 26 | 796 | 112 | 5 | 2 | 31.84 |
Australia has this strange obsession with playing an all-rounder when we don’t have a world-class all-rounder. It is ludicrous.
If we had a Jacques Kallis or Andrew Flintoff prototype I would understand, but we have Mitch Marsh. Gerard Whateley put it perfectly during the first Test against South Africa ‘the idea of Mitch Marsh is very different to the reality.’
Mitch Marsh is a second-rate international cricketer who doesn’t have the technique, temperament, or talent to succeed as an all-rounder at Test level. He has failed to produce for Australia at Test level time and time again. He has had more than nine lives and deserves to be relegated to Shield cricket to hone his clearly dysfunctional game.
Marsh needs to post some solid numbers with bat and ball before he is even considered again. Marcus Stoinis and Moises Henriques are better all-round options for Australia at the moment but they both have to continue to perform at domestic level to earn their place.
The selectors need to be strong enough to take a gamble on a young batsman. Allow him to acclimatise to Test cricket while batting at six just like the great Ricky Ponting did.
As we don’t have a world-class all-rounder we must play with six specialist batsmen. The Australian selectors need to give themselves an uppercut and start to reward past and recent form, begin to blood some young batsmen and use some bloody common sense.
Andrew Wild
Roar Rookie
I agree that Maxwell has a phenomenal eye. He doesn't however have the mental capacity for the longer form of the game. He is a short form cricketer and always will be.
Andrew Wild
Roar Rookie
I couldn't agree more Craig. The time is right to blood some youngsters.
Craig Swanson
Guest
Could Australian cricket be at a lower ebb?. Yes we could lose all six home tests, We are in a parlous state so I say out with those embarrassing Australian cricket. Time for the next generation. Forget that they are green and rookie status. Other countries gamble on youth and more often than not it comes off. So I propose that young players such as Cameron Bancroft, Hilton Cartwright, Kurtis Patterson should be brought into this Baggy Greens side now... rather than later.
Rob
Guest
On the list of potential players for Test cricket Jake Lehman and Hilton Cartwright look the best prospects at present. Matt Renshaw is a real smokey and could be a star of the future considering he's 20 and just come on the seen. He also opens the bat with the Gabba as his home ground.
Rob
Guest
Pick Maxwell and give him some security that he doesn't have to prove himself in 1 Test match. Give him a full series and I'm sure he will reward the selectors in spades. Look at others like Marsh, Clarke, Mark Taylor have been afforded in their careers. He's no different to Warner in hand eye ability and looked at what he is now doing.
richo
Guest
he may be good but do we really want a player named Hilton Cartwright in our national cricket team???
Andrew Wild
Roar Rookie
Mitch Marsh has never been good enough. You either have to be an elite bowler or batsman and bloody good at the other discipline to be a test quality all rounder. Faulkner isn't an elite bowler or batsman and neither is Marsh.
Will Graham
Guest
Just to be clear- Faulkner's FC average of 31.96 from 86 innings, "isn't good enough" despite the fact that Mitch Marsh continues to be picked, with an average of 29.50 from 110 innings?
Andrew Wild
Roar Rookie
I do like Travis Head but I have concerns over Lynn’s ability to transition into test cricket. He hits the ball very cleanly but I think he is too focused on the shorter forms of the game. I agree Head must continue to score runs (and big hundreds rather than 50s- he has scored 20 fifties and only 3 hundreds) consistently to be a chance to wear the baggy green. I agree that Moises isn't good enough but he is a better alternative to Marsh. Just don't play an all rounder when we don't have one that is good enough. Lehmann is a jet!
Andrew Wild
Roar Rookie
Faulkner is a better bowler than Marsh. His bowling average of 24.36 at first class level is great. His batting is the issue. An average of 31.96 and only one hundred from 86 innings isn't good enough. I do like Travis Head but I have concerns over Lynn's ability to transition into test cricket. He hits the ball very cleanly but I think he is too focused on the shorter forms of the game.
John
Guest
Good article it's a shame Lynn keeps getting injured as he might be worth a look. Travis Head still has work to do I believe and needs a couple more first class seasons to get more consistent. Moises Henriques should not be considered for a test spot his first class batting average is just as poor as Mitch Marsh. I'm a big Lehmann fan keep an eye on him.
Spencer Maphophe
Guest
The australian team is a shadow of its former glory,winning the game with the tongue has helped the side win many games, I just feel the more conservative approach from steve's captaincy is just the opposite,from a south african point of I enjoyed the banter,and that's the australian way.south africa to win 2_1 its obvious australia will win the dead rubber match #goforthekillSA.
Brendan
Guest
Head and Lynn are 2 candidates who could easily translate across to the longer form of the game. What ive never understood is why James Faulkner has never been given a shot at the Test All rounder spot? He takes more wickets than Mitch Marsh and has stood up in clutch situations more times than Marsh with the bat. Surely a better all rounder option than Mitch?