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Yesterday was the 36th anniversary of Australian captain Greg Chappell telling his younger brother Trevor to bowl underarm in the third ODI against New Zealand at the MCG.
The Kiwis required six to win when Trevor’s ten-pin bowling action was blocked by Brian McKechnie, before he threw his bat away in disgust.
It was a low moment in international cricket history, and not the sort of decision Greg Chappell would normally make.
Also yesterday, Greg Chappell was involved in selecting the Australian T20 squad to meet Sri Lanka in a three-game series this month.
Unavailable were captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood who will be in India for a vital three-Test series.
The most popular T20 selection was Michael Klinger who has been a quality red and white ball batsman for 18 years, and thoroughly deserved national recognition long before yesterday.
He becomes the oldest Australia debutant in the T20 format at 36 years and 227 days.
And to put his selection into perspective, Klinger was a tick over six months old when Greg Chappell made his infamous decision.
But Chappell, along with Mark Waugh, Darren Lehmann, and acting chairman Trevor Hohns settled on Aaron Finch as captain, Klinger, Travis Head, Chris Lynn (if fit), Moises Henriques, Ashton Turner, keeper Tim Paine, James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Adam Zampa, Andrew Tye, Jhye Richardson, and Billy Stanlake as the 13-man T20 squad.
A good side, but there were three glaring selection omissions.
There’s no better T20 selection criteria than the recently completed Big Bash League where Ben Dunk was the leading run-getter, and Sean Abbott the leading bowler, but both missed selection.
Adelaide Striker Dunk cracked 364 runs at 52, while Sydney Sixers paceman Abbott snared 20 wickets at a miserly 16.15 apiece.
No reason was given for Dunk being overlooked, but Hohns gave the most extraordinary reason why Abbott wasn’t selected – “His economy rate was too high at 8.72”.
Would someone please tell Hohns about Abbott’s real stats – a tournament high 20 wickets at 16.15 apiece – so who gives a stuff about economy rates?
The glaring third omission was Marcus Stoinis after his stunning 146 not out that almost pinched the first ODI against the Kiwis last Monday at Eden Park against all odds.
If Josh Hazlewood hadn’t been stupidly run out at the bowler’s end backing up too far with just six runs to win, Stoinis’s explosive dig would have won the day.
Having smashed 11 sixes, there was a fairly good chance Stoinis would have sealed the victory with a 12th maximum some 20 rows back.
That was after his 3-49 off 10 to become the best performed Australian all-rounder in the same ODI.
So he should have been first picked in the T20 squad, unless there’s a hidden agenda within the selection panel.
Could it be they have Stoinis in mind to replace Mitchell Marsh for India if his shoulder injury hasn’t improved?
That selection would make a lot of sense, but it could only come from Greg Chappell, Mark Waugh, and Darren Lehmann.
Marcus Stoinis would snugly slot into the missing Test all-rounder number six batting berth, and we’ll never hear about Mitchell Marsh nor Glenn Maxwell ever again in baggy green.