- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
Welcome to selection day. By 11am, we will know the team who are going to try and take Australia to Ashes glory.
The XI has likely changed many times in the last month, yet, even today it’s still uncertain who should really be in the team to take on England at the Gabba.
When reports emerged that Tim Paine was in the race, almost all Australian cricket fans would have been surprised. Sure, the selectors need someone who is scoring runs, but Paine?
The Tasmanian 32-year-old hasn’t played a Test since 2010, and he’s only played four at that, holding a first class batting average of a tick under 30 throughout his career.
Sure, he’s scored a half-century against England last week and another for Tasmania in his first Shield game of the season against Victoria in the last few days, but the very notion we are talking about Paine playing Test cricket shows you exactly where we are.
It’s not a knock against Paine. He is a classy player, but there were three candidates at the start of the summer and another in Cameron Bancroft has thrown his hat in the ring since. Somehow though, the selectors have got another name, one who is unlikely to do a better job than any of the rest with the bat or the gloves.
It makes little sense, but that’s the way the Australian squad is shaping up. To most, this squad, whichever way it’s named, is going to make little sense.
Two slots up for grabs at the start of the summer quickly became three with Matt Renshaw’s failings, while others of the top seven in any other ordinary start to the summer would be under intense pressure.
David Warner scored a streaky 80 against the pink ball and has barely found the middle of the bat since. Peter Handscomb’s six Shield innings have brought little joy – albeit more than Renshaw.
But, because other candidates aren’t putting their hands in the air with any consistency and we already have three spots up for grabs, it’s almost like how to deal with it has become too hard, so bury our heads in the sand and hope someone will start scoring runs.
Even Steve Smith was out of form, although some runs in the last two rounds have alleviated the pressure he was under.
Yesterday has only thrown up more confusion. From Tim Paine’s runs, to a not out finish in testing conditions for Glenn Maxwell, things are more confused now than they have been for most of the summer.
(AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Really, the key decision the selectors have to make is how they play Cameron Bancroft. There are four possible ways they can use him in the team – as an opener, a wicketkeeper, middle order batsmen or the slightly left-field and extremely difficult option of wicketkeeper-batsman.
The problem is a lack of replacements. There is no other keeper in the land – Paine included – worthy of taking the gloves, yet, the same problem persists at the top of the order.
What you can’t possibly do is bat Bancroft at the top of the order and keep him. However, you could drop him a couple of spots and shuffle things around so that he is still in the top order.
Australia are fortunate that first drop Usman Khawaja can open if need be, and that they do have options who are in some sort of form for the No.6 spot – certainly better form than the keepers anyway.
So, if Bancroft were to bat up the order, but low enough to give him a break after keeping, does it leave the option to play two allrounders?
Potentially, we are clutching at straws here, but it’s an option for Bancroft to bat in the middle, not pick a specialist opener as a replacement and get the extra bowling option.
(AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
As much as you don’t want to mess with a inform No.3, Khawaja can handle the new ball. He has done it before, and there is little difference between opening and No.3. If you are batting first drop, then you could be facing the second ball anyway, so it could be a good option to bite the bullet and make that call on a number of fronts.
Glenn Maxwell, after scoring another 45 not out yesterday should have secured his spot, especially given the form of Hilton Cartwright has been up and down at best. He finished yesterday with seven solid overs for 17 runs after finishing with 18 in Western Australia’s second innings.
The hype surrounding Jake Lehmann for a middle order spot has died in a week after scores of 13 and 24 not out, although the push for Shaun Marsh has gathered momentum.
A half-century in testing conditions during the second innings at the WACA meant he was included in the same reports that suggested Tim Paine was going to get a run last night.
I just can’t make a case for either of them. Paine, as mentioned doesn’t have the Shield form, consistency or runs behind him in the last couple of years, while Marsh has been given chance after chance, which has proven he doesn’t have what it takes at Shield level.
Again, the fact the pair are being mentioned shows where Australia are at right now. A lot of underperforming and out of form players make this Ashes squad a lottery.
Jake Weatherald and Marcus Harris could both become options later in the summer. Harris scored a century in the first innings, but Weatherald is this week’s revelation scoring 152 and 143 in South Australia’s two innings at the WACA.
He guided them to victory in the second innings, and while he isn’t going to be picked today, his name will spring up in conversation if the runs keep flowing and the Australian top order flounder – particularly if someone like Bancroft or Marsh are selected to open.
In other Shield news from around the country, Alex Doolan made a huge double hundred for Tasmania, George Bailey scored 59 and Callum Ferguson, who was dropped after one Test last summer, made 88 in the middle order for the Redbacks.
Confusion reigns on selection day. I’d go as far as to say you’d have an easier job picking the Ashes squad before the first Test than you do now. Even today, I genuinely don’t know who the selectors will pick despite the reports that emerged last night.
And it’s even more confusing when you’re not sure what the best XI really looks like.
It’s worth noting England have finally found some form as well. Their final tour match in Townsville is off to a strong start, with Chris Woakes taking six wickets to reduce them to 250.
They then turned around to be 3 for 337 at stumps, with Mark Stoneman scoring a century, Alastair Cook adding 70, Joe Root on 62 and David Malin 57 at the end of play.
Of course, an attack led by Gurinder Sandhu and Harry Conway, with all due respect, isn’t really going to prepare you to face Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins. Regardless, you can only deal with what’s in front of you, and right now, England are doing it well.
Be sure to keep it locked in to The Roar all day as we bring you the best reaction to Australia’s Ashes squad announcement at 11am (AEDT).