In the good old days, there was once a ODI series involving Australia, England and Australia A.
In that year Australia and Australia A made the final, such was the depth possessed by Australian cricket.
In today’s day and age, the luxury of depth is not available to the same extent – but it is not as grim a situation as some people make out.
There are some good talents coming through, particularly batsmen, from the pathways program and the U17s and U19s cricket. Greg Chappell himself said that the quality of the batsmanship was really good in this year’s U17 championships.
Therefore, Australia should be well served into the future – which is especially great as batting has been a weakness recently.
What would happen today if we had an Australia A team play Australia in a three-Test series.
If I was fortunate enough to be a selector, I would choose the following line-ups.
Australia: Warner Renshaw Khawaja Smith Handscomb Maxwell Cartwright Shaun Marsh Wade Starc Cummins Lyon Hazlewood Bird
Australia A : Harris Bancroft Dean Burns Patterson Head Lehmann Stoinis Carey J.Richardson Swepson Behrendorff Stanlake NCN
This would be a good even contest in my opinion, with the bowling quality of Australia maybe the clinching factor. Yes Smith is there in the Australian squad but the batting seems to be even outside of him, such is his dominance with the blade.
Such matches and series should be a regular fixture in the pre-season as it would give Australia a true challenge and some genuine competition, rather than the current situation.
What do you think, Roarers? Would there be an appetite for bringing back the Australia versus Australia A series?
armchair expert
Guest
I just checked Johnno, Hughes played a couple of games in that series but Jones didn't.
Noel
Guest
Australia A as a touring side, or a warmup side for other nations, is a great concept. Australia A as a competitive first class side competing against Australia won't happen again. Simple reason being, apart from Mark Taylor's comments, is that you can't have the Australian public barracking against the Australian side. And we can't help ourselves. We see a sniff of an underdog getting up, and we love it.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Handscomb went over and played 9 first-class matches for Yorkshire this year, that surely will hold him in great stead for the 2019 Ashes in England. Handscomb has managed to play a whopping 24 first-class matches in the past year, too, which is a huge help to his development. A lot of Aussie domestic cricketers are lucky to play 10 FC matches per year.
Taurangaboy
Guest
I agree , Paul, to exposing promising Aussie players to overseas conditions. Many go to England already, but how about getting some to play for Indian States in the Ranji Trophy?
DavSA
Guest
Josh , are you saying that with the acknowledged best domestic league in world cricket and widely accepted as the most competitive that Australia is not producing great cricketers.I find that highly and statistically unlikely . Could there not be other problems . A tours generally are regarded by other countries , certainly in South Africa as a developmental process . Possibly I should rather have said "limited exposure to international cricket " . Something is up with regards Australian cricket not being able to identify its best team in all formats . To my eye at least it shows something of a lack of clear processes and thinking at admin level. This in all probability goes right down to junior level. South Africa places high value and always has on A tours . We also somehow continue to churn out world class cricketers despite having only a fraction of Australia's cricketing resources. Again could the embarrassment of riches in Aus not be part of the problem .Too much choice at all levels and not enough long term focus on talented individuals who should be identified and nurtured from junior level. A tours help a lot with that if used wisely.
Sillycowcorner
Guest
Yeah I was referring to the author's squad. Though it was tough on Sayers. Do you think Sayers best chance is the next Ashes in England?
Josh
Guest
That sounds incredibly ageist and impossible to implement, 'players who have yet to be exposed to international cricket', does that mean that as soon as a player has played once for Australia A they can never play again or only 5 games or until they get in the Australian team proper? If you want a younger team call it Australia u/21. Australia A existed because for a while there Australia had a stupid number of really good players, now they have a few really good players and a bunch of good players, like most other nations.
Basil
Guest
Unfortunately not even in this authors A team, Ronan. Maybe he needs to take more wickets like Stanlake?
Baggy_Green
Roar Pro
You make some good points mate.. I think we play far too little A cricket as also there are hardly any U19 tours This is the need of the hour. However the Aus-AusA tests in off season should be in addition to the A tours abroad .
Johnno
Guest
Dean Jones and Merv Hughes did play for Australia A in the 1994-95 World Series....
Mike Dugg
Guest
Yep every summer as a warmup the main side should play an unofficial test against the A side before the test series and then a couple of one dayers before limited overs start.
Paul
Roar Guru
they nearly did a couple of times, without Jones!
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Sayers was in the last Australia A squad
DavSA
Guest
I think BG that that recently cancelled tour of Aus A to South Africa was an opportunity lost .It allows up and coming players to get exposure to overseas conditions without pressure.But more importantly , those chosen to tour are given clear indication that they are in line for national duty .It is a big motivator and generally my experience of the A tours is that the players work really hard on their game while in the squad. The A side should not be the 2nd best team available but rather comprise of younger players who have yet to be exposed to international cricket.
armchair expert
Guest
The Australian A side would of beaten Australia in that series if the selectors hadn't refused to select Dean Jones for in even the A side political reasons.
Paul
Roar Guru
Mark Taylor was captain when they had the Australia A side and he said was it was a case of "damned if you do and damned if you don't". The Australian side was expected to beat the A side and it was a case of "ho, hum" when they did. If they had lost however, his guys would have been slammed by the media. Greater exposure to other sides through more tours is one answer. Placing guys who show talent into local competitions, not only in England, but in India, Sth Africa, NZ, etc could also work. At the end of the day, we should be aiming to create players who can hold their own in different conditions, so any option that's financially viable should be explored
Timmuh
Roar Guru
Not a fan, remember it was a one off quad series largely because Zimbabwe werected the other opponents and CA didn't trust those games to be competitive. Bring back the tour matches involving Australia A, by all means, but not competitive matches against Australia.
Sillycowcorner
Guest
Poor Sayers cannot even break into the Australia A side...
dan ced
Guest
Wade would barely make Australia C.
Targa
Guest
In that case South Africa should field an A side in the 2nd division too. NZ A tied with India A in a one dayer overnight. Young keeper batsman Glen Phillips scored 140 n.o. off 130 balls, while leggie Todd Astle (no relation to Nathan) took 4/20. Hopefully these guys these guys can push on to international cricket.