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The forgotten 'second chance' policy

Roar Rookie
22nd November, 2016
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Australian cricket could come to a halt if a new pay deal isn't sorted. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Rookie
22nd November, 2016
16

Callum Ferguson has seen the highs and lows of being a professional sportsman in one short week.

Brought to Hobart as possible injury cover, he was thrust into the Australian Test team, made little impression and is now dropped. And all the sentiment seems to indicate that he has had his moment in the side.

This doesn’t seem to be the way the Test side used to operate. The memories of my formative years watching the Australians is that players, in particular batsmen, were selected and get a few Tests in the side. Maybe they score some runs, but eventually they hit a rough patch of form and find themselves out of the team. The next step is to go back to Shield level, work on their game and flourish after being selected for the Test team again.

From memory, this process seemed to work pretty well. Is my memory playing tricks on me? Let’s look at the facts.

The birth of the modern Australian cricket Test team occurred when Bob Simpson started working with the side during the 1985-86 season. Geoff Marsh, Merv Hughes and Bruce Reid all made their debuts in the first Test versus India in 1985 and Steve Waugh debuted in the second Test. All four would make meaningful contributions to Australia’s Test team over the next 20 years.

From that point on, the following batsman came into the side, and were dropped before coming into the side as a permanent fixture:

David Boon – debuted 1984, dropped 1987, recalled 1987. 7422 Test runs.
Dean Jones – debuted 1984, dropped 1988, recalled 1988. 3631 Test runs.
Steve Waugh – debuted 1985, dropped 1991, recalled 1992. 10927 Test runs.
Mark Taylor – debuted 1989, dropped 1993, recalled 1993. 7525 Test runs.
Mark Waugh – debuted 1991, dropped 1992, recalled 1992. 8029 Test runs.
Damien Martyn – debuted 1992, dropped 1994, recalled 2000. 4406 Test runs.
Justin Langer – debuted 1993, dropped 1994, recalled 1998. 7696 Test runs.
Michael Slater – debuted 1993, dropped 1996, recalled 1998. 5312 Test runs.
Matthew Hayden – debuted 1994, dropped 1997, recalled 2000. 8625 Test runs.
Ricky Ponting – debuted 1995, dropped 1996, recalled 1997. 13378 Test runs.
Simon Katich – debuted 2001, dropped 2004, recalled 2008. 4188 Test runs.
Michael Clarke – debuted 2004, dropped 2005, recalled 2006. 8643 Test runs.
Steve Smith – debuted 2010, dropped 2011, recalled 2013. 4212 Test runs.
David Warner – debuted 2011, dropped 2013, recalled 2013. 4847 Test runs.

That’s 14 players, all dropped and recalled at some stage in their careers, who scored at least 3500 Test runs and average above 40.

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Since Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Glenn McGrath’s retirements signalled the end of an era in early 2007, Australia has seemed to reverse that trend.

Yes, the late Phil Hughes, along with Shaun Marsh, Usman Khawaja, and the aforementioned Smith and Warner, have got second chances in the top six. But the extraordinary thing about the list above, and the period between 1985-2007, was hardly any Australian batsmen failed to get a second chance.

Even the ones who didn’t make it seemed to get dropped, recalled and then dropped for good. Those who were dropped and recalled who are not on the list above include Greg Ritchie, Mike Veletta, Tom Moody, Michael Bevan, Greg Blewett, Darren Lehmann, Matthew Elliott, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Phil Jaques and Brad Hodge.

The only batsmen to get a chance in that 1985-2007 period, get dropped and never to return to the team were Wayne Phillips (the Victorian opener) and Stuart Law.

Since 2007, batsmen who had been in the Australian Test team for only one period of matches, then have been dropped only to never appear again (so far) include Cameron White, Andrew McDonald, Ed Cowan, George Bailey, Alex Doolan, and now probably Callum Ferguson. Two in 22 years, followed by six in eight years.

So perhaps the Australian selectors’ greatest error is a lack of patience.

There have been some great top seven Australian batting orders that have endured, from Marsh-Taylor-Boon-Border-Jones-S Waugh-Healy, to Taylor-Slater-Boon-M Waugh-Border-S Waugh-Healy, Slater-Blewett-Langer-M Waugh-S Waugh-Ponting-Gilchrist, to finally Langer-Hayden-Ponting-M Waugh-S Waugh-Martyn-Gilchrist.

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The common link between nearly all those batsman listed was their time inside and outside of the team. Now we just seem to be much more willing to put lines through names, no matter how useful a Cameron White or Ed Cowan may have been at different times.

Ferguson may not get back in the side. He may never have deserved to get into the side in the first place. His is a specific individual example.

But Alex Doolan scored a double-hundred on the weekend. Cameron White is in form, and has always been an outstanding catcher at first slip. George Bailey would add leadership and tactical nous to a team that sorely lacks it.

Let’s hope in turning over a new leaf the Australian selectors go back to an old leaf. And if players like Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb don’t become overnight sensations and struggle at times, that they are afforded the same chances that worked so well for the likes of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke.

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