For those supporters of Nic Maddinson, many a heart sunk today when the bowling of Yasir Shah clipped his off stump.
Unfortunately for Maddinson, it seems more and more probable that will be the death knell for his immediate future in the Australian Test team.
So does that open the door for Hilton Cartwright or does it provide the selectors an opportunity to bring in a proven performer?
That proven performer is Tasmanian all-rounder James Faulkner, who as his statistics will confirm, is far more than just a limited overs player. Faulkner has undoubtedly been one of Australia’s more valuable one-day players in recent times.
He has this happy knack of picking up key wickets and scoring crucial runs at just the right time for his country.
Yet his first-class figures also make for impressive reading which one might think may warrant consideration by the Australian selectors.
Faulkner has one of the better first-class bowling averages in Australian cricket taking 186 wickets at 24.54 runs per wicket. Then with the bat that form does not dissipate with a total of 2,516 runs at an average of 32.67 and two first-class hundreds.
In his only Test during the 2013 Ashes series, Faulkner far from disgraced himself as a genuine all-round option. In the first innings of that match, he scored 23 batting at number eight and took four wickets for 51.
In the second innings, he was promoted up the order to number three scoring 22 from as many balls, as Australia sought quick runs. He finished that match with six wickets, picking up two of the four English wickets to fall in the final innings.
As that match and his record in one-day cricket shows it is his versatility with bat and ball that should put him front and centre as an all-round option for the Sydney New Year’s Test match. With debate continuing about whether Australia needs a fifth bowling option, Faulkner is more than capable of fulfilling that role.
In fact, his ability as a bowler means he can be more than just a fifth bowler. Past performances indicate he can be another weapon in the Australian bowling arsenal.
His change of pace is particularly damaging and would be a handy addition for Sydney and the tour of India. The way he bats also offers the opportunity for Steve Smith to bat Faulkner at number 7 and Wade higher up the order.
Faulkner has shown with his feats helping Australia chase down totals at one-day level that he is ready made to be a dynamic number 7 in Test cricket.
Faulkner has the power and guile to accelerate the run rate in the lower order and his recent Sheffield Shield century for Tasmania, to save the match against New South Wales, demonstrates he can knuckle down and grind as well.
By selecting him to bat in that position, it allows wicket-keeper Wade to play more like a batsman at number 6.
This could help the mindset of Wade at the crease as it somewhat correlates with when he bats at number 4 or 5 for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield, as mentioned by former Australian captain Michael Clarke in commentary today.
Like Maddinson, Wade is under pressure to perform. Since returning to the Test team against South Africa in Adelaide, his keeping has again drawn criticism and a lack of runs does not help his case.
However, unlike Maddinson, Wade has the added advantage of prior experience at Test level, where he has proven with the bat especially, that he can make big scores. Two Test centuries supports that argument.
While there is evidence to suggest that the wicket-keeping still needs improvement, one could argue that it is at a level that the selection of Wade as a wicket-keeper who can be a proficient number six batsman can be justified. In turn, this enables selectors to pick Faulkner to replace Nic Maddinson.
Although Hilton Cartwright has immense potential and has performed admirably with the bat over the last 12 months, James Faulkner has the international experience coupled with his relative youth at age 26 to fill the all-rounder role required at the present moment.
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