Revisiting my XI non-bold predictions for Australia's summer of cricket

Now that Australia’s summer of cricket has finished – along with that immensely forgettable one-day series in New Zealand – it’s time to look back on my prognostications and see how well I did.

Considering these selections were deliberately of the ‘low-hanging fruit’ variety, anything less than seven out 11 would be poorer form than Matt Wade’s with the gloves.

Speaking of, is now a good time to mention Peter Nevill’s Sheffield Shield form? No? Fair enough. Let’s just get on with it then.

1. Shaun Marsh will tease with his potential
Marsh scored 63 runs in the first innings of the first Test against South Africa, played at the WACA. He looked very good, as he and fellow opener David Warner put on 158 runs for the first wicket.

He then broke his finger in the field – yet another injury in a very long list of them – and was not seen in the Test team for the rest of the summer. I’d say that qualifies as Marsh once again teasing with his potential.

Verdict: correct

2. The ‘Ugly Aussies’ will become a faux big story
Maybe all the festive celebrations have erased my memory, but I can’t really remember this narrative being big this summer.

Unless you’re referring to Australia’s batting during the South African series, there was little ugliness for certain members of the press to turn into a story – faux or not.

Verdict: incorrect

3. Pat Cummins will break down
Yes! My reverse jinx worked!

This prediction was made with the intention of being wrong, and that’s exactly what happened, as the often-injured young quick survived the summer without suffering a major setback.

Here’s hoping he can now put a number of summers (and winters) together.

Verdict: proudly incorrect

4. At some point, there will be an extremely embarrassing Test loss by Australia
I may give myself two points for this one.

Though Australia bounced back to defeat Pakistan 3-0, the first Test series of the summer against South Africa was not so promising.

In the first Test, Australia was 0-158 in reply to South Africa’s 242. Yet in the blink of an eye, they were all out for 244, losing ten wickets for 84 runs.

Not content with that epic collapse, they then bowled plenty of tripe, as South Africa knocked up 540 runs, declaring at just eight wickets down.

Australia fared better with the bat in their ‘chase’, but were still dismissed for 361, losing the Test by 177 runs, after once being in a very commanding position.

If only that was the low point of the summer.

Worse was to come in the second Test, as Australia were rolled for a disgustingly paltry 85 and 161 in their two innings in Hobart, losing the match by an innings and 80 runs.

The back-to-back embarrassing losses caused the selectors to wield the axe for the third Test, so I’m definitely taking a victory here.

Verdict: correct

5. Holly Ferling will replace Ellyse Perry as the face of Australian women’s cricket
Sadly, Ferling played just four matches for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash, before being ruled out of the game against the Melbourne Stars due to a concussion.

She then missed the remaining ten matches due to a right elbow injury, which required surgery.

She’ll be a household name in the future, but it certainly didn’t happen this summer.

Verdict: incorrect

6. Michael Clarke will upset someone
It might be an easier task to compile a list of the people Michael Clarke didn’t upset this summer.

Whether it was his book or his commentating, Pup continued to rub people the wrong way, thus providing me with possibly my easiest prediction.

Verdict: correct

7. An ‘expert’ will pronounce the 50-over format dead
There were a number of people who raised this point over summer, but whether they’re an ‘expert’ or not is probably up for debate.

Ironically, and what I didn’t see coming, was the number of cricket pundits who claimed that Test cricket was the format really under pressure, primarily due to the success of the Big Bash League.

Australia’s T20 competition continues to go from strength to strength, with attendance and TV ratings once again very impressive. This led to a number of people suggesting it was killing Test cricket.

Let’s sincerely hope not.

Verdict: kind of correct. Shall we give it three-quarters of a mark?

8. Shane Warne will viciously and publicly attack someone, seemingly unprovoked
Let’s revisit this comment from Warne, while commentating for Channel Nine:

“Steve Smith is more of a fast bowler’s captain as well, a bit like Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. They were more into the fast bowlers than anything else as well, especially Steve Waugh. He wanted to bowl first all the time as well. Fast bowlers, fast bowlers, fast bowlers. Spinners were an afterthought.”

A nice little backhander to one of Warne’s favourite targets, Steve Waugh.

I’m sure there were others that Roarers will share, but I’ll take another tick here.

Verdict: correct

9. The Australian XI for the first Test versus South Africa will look very different from the Australian XI for the third Test versus Pakistan
Australia’s XI for the first Test against South Africa:

Dave Warner
Shaun Marsh
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith
Adam Voges
Mitch Marsh
Peter Nevill
Mitch Starc
Peter Siddle
Josh Hazlewood
Nathan Lyon

Australia’s XI for the third Test versus Pakistan:

David Warner
Matt Renshaw
Usman Khawaja
Steve Smith
Peter Handscomb
Hilton Cartwright
Matt Wade
Mitchel Starc
Steve O’Keefe
Josh Hazlewood
Nathan Lyon

That’s a whopping five changes to the team, including a new opener, wicketkeeper and all-rounder.

Verdict: correct

10. James Brayshaw will be missed from the Channel Nine commentary team
I’ll pull out one of my favourite Australian sayings for this one: “Yeah, nah”.

Verdict: incorrect (but the tongue was firmly placed in the cheek to begin with)

11. Glenn Maxwell will throw his wicket away
This was lazy, even by my standards.

Verdict: correct

Final synopsis: 6.75 out of 11

Considering I was hoping to be wrong on one (Cummins), and knew I’d be wrong on another (Brayshaw), I’ll happily take 6.75, as it isn’t a bad score when it comes to making predictions.

It’s not great for a Test batting average though.