The squad for the Test series of India has been announced, with the Australians picking three new faces – which means three players who were part of the whitewash of Pakistan have been dropped.
Mitch Marsh has been recalled after being dropped for a lack of form.
Mitch is a great short-form player – an attacking batsman who can take a wicket when needed. However, in India, the best form of attack is defence, because of the amount of spin in the pitches.
A good replacement for Mitch Marsh would be Moises Henriques or James Faulkner, who add variety to the batting attack and whose work with the ball is better suited to the slow, low wickets.
Meanwhile, Mitch’s brother, Shaun, returns from injury.
This is a concern, as Shaun has not shown great form in the Big Bash League, resulting in limited time at the crease since returning from injury – and, as in any sport, players can practice, but nothing beats being out in the middle.
Hopefully Shaun’s experience on the subcontinent will help and he can post some big scores.
Glen Maxwell’s selection is controversial, as he has not scored a Sheffield Shield century in two seasons. He is a tidy bowler, but with Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon, that is too many off-spin bowlers.
There is no bigger test than keeping wicket to spinners in India, as the spin in unpredictable. Matthew Wade is a great aggressive batsman, however the Indian conditions are more suited to the gritty Peter Nevill. In Sri Lanka, when Steven O’Keefe had an injury, Nevill and O’Keefe batted for 90 minutes, facing 178 balls, knowing the game could not be won but they tried to save it. This is the kind of mental toughness needed to survive in harsh conditions.
Speaking of O’Keefe, he is a great all-rounder, who can bat and bowl over in tandem with Lyon. While he deserves to be there, he should be the all-rounder. The better option spin-bowling option would have been to take Fahwed Ahmed, as he has a lot of variety in his arsenal and was the leading wicket taker only two seasons ago in Sheffield Shield.
The big decision is how to fit both Shaun Marsh and Matt Renshaw in the same team. Also, with the heat, there needs to be one or two all-rounders, meaning only having four or five specialist batsmen.
tommyh
Guest
Orthodox*
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Ashton Agar is a left-arm orthadox spinner not an offspinner.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Stanley, I don't think the national selectors would seriously contemplate selecting a player for the Test tour of India if he has not played a single Sheffield Shield match this season. Despite being fit and available for selection, Fawad Ahmed has not been chosen in any of Victoria's five Shield matches this season. When a player has not played a red ball match for 10 months it is a bit of a stretch to think he should be selected for the Test team.
Garry Edwards
Guest
They lose me when they mention "MARSH" either one at any time.
Pedro the Maroon
Guest
You lost me at Moises Henriques.
BrainsTrust
Guest
You say there is going to be heat. It will be pleasant compared to the Australian summer and then there will be a rude shock in the last test match. I don;t have the slightest clue what pitch conditions will be like there either.
Greg
Guest
Being a cricket couch expert, I think the Indian tour selection will be a poison chalice for some players and a smorgasbord of excuses for the coach and selectors after they lose the series.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
No one has played FC for over a month so it wouldn't be that odd to prefer Fawad. Anyway that ship has sailed. By comparison Shaun Marsh is under done and Maxi seems to have been banned from bowling so selection remains selective.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
The big problem with Fawed Ahmed is he is not playing Sheffield Shield at the moment and his last game with March 2016where he was part of the Victorian Shield win. Has hasn't been played isnce then. While he FC of around 31 is in the top bracket of Australian spinners, if he can't get a run for Victoria he shouldn't be considered for the Test squad. He is also 34y.o. now so its not like he is a development player like Swepson or Agar who are early 20s.
Matthew H
Guest
The Aussie selectors appear to have no confidence in our bowling attack (not to mention roarers). When I look at the squad we have only selected 6 batsmen in the touring party, 1 wicket-keeper, 6 outright bowlers and 3 bowling all-rounders, for a total of 9 bowling options for 5 spots (with a core 5 from the summer having done a great job without injury) and only 6 batting options for 5 spots (with a youngster who has just been clobbered in the head and forced to leave a match and an injury-prone 30 something). The pace bowling battery, with the exception of Starc, are all primarily seamers (Haze, Bird, Marsh) with no specialist swing bowler. Only 2 of the 4 spinners have played test cricket recently. What makes it more strange in my opinion is the selection of so many bowlers, and in particular spin options, when the captain Smith has shown a clear preference for pace bowlers and for a core 4 doing the vast majority of the work. What are all these bowlers going to do? In any game we will have essentially 4 bowlers and 1 batsman miss out. Of all the all-rounders, who do we really want batting at 6 for the national team? Any of them? What happens if Starc breaks down?