With the first Ashes Test sewn up so handsomely on Monday, the Australian team’s focus for the second in Adelaide and beyond is to simply not let up.
The pressure is firmly on England now, with the annual day-night fixture to begin at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon. Lose this Test, and their grip on The Urn will slip even further as the series moves to Perth.
In just two seasons, the pink-ball Test has become as anticipated a cricket event as the first ball of the summer and Boxing Day, and indeed, the seven-wicket win over South Africa last summer represented the first big step forward for much of this current Australian playing group.
The first win in an Ashes series is a new high-water mark for the group now, and while the motivation for the playing group couldn’t be easier, it’s a bit different on the periphery.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the people under the most pressure this time last week were the national selectors. Chairman Trevor Hohns, Mark Waugh, coach Darren Lehmann, and interim selector Greg Chappell rolled any number of dice in pitching Cameron Bancroft, Shaun Marsh, and Tim Paine into the First Test, particularly in the cases of Marsh and Paine, where neither selected player was so far and away a better option than the incumbent or the widely touted alternates.
Bancroft, Marsh, and Paine all had very good matches in Brisbane, but that doesn’t make their initial selection any less contentious. Depending on whether you choose to give credit where credit’s due or not, the performance of the three either justifies their inclusion, or it doesn’t change a thing.
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Given the selectors can only live and die by the scorecard and the final result, I’m happy to give them their dues.
In picking Marsh and Paine in particular, they’d have known the possibility of public meltdown was very real had either player had an ordinary week at the ‘Gabba.
I like Shaun Marsh as a cricketer, and even though I wouldn’t have picked him myself and had moved on some time ago, I could understand the reasoning the selectors gave. Like plenty, it still wasn’t that hard to poke holes in their logic around their stated need for “valuable experience [in] the batting line-up” – especially given their jolting shift toward youth this time last year – but I could see where they were coming from.
Likewise, though Paine hasn’t done a lot of First Class wicketkeeping in recent seasons, the fact he was the incumbent Australian Twenty20 ‘keeper meant he was always on the radar. And his ‘keeping has generally always been very good, so again, it was hard to argue with the view that he was the best gloveman in the country.
But now that these three players have all made excellent contributions to the First Test win, helping deliver some serious series momentum to the home side, the selectors’ biggest challenge will be in keeping their powder dry.
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Rightly or wrongly, good luck or good management, the Australian selectors have unearthed a well-balanced side that, with everything going on in and around the England camp now, could go a long way toward regaining the Ashes.
As tempting as it might be to parachute Glenn Maxwell after the Victorian’s outstanding double hundred against NSW last week, the selectors need to hold firm.
Barring injury, the ideal scenario should see all three players play out this series, particularly if the series is decided well before Sydney. Having backed them to start the series, the selectors have to be of the belief these players can be part of an Ashes-winning side.
South Australian seamer Chadd Sayers – in whom I’m hoping by now my former Cheap Seats Podcast colleague Ryan O’Connell is better-versed – was included in the squad for the first two Tests with a view to playing in Adelaide, but after the way the English lower order was bounced out in Brisbane, I think even that move shouldn’t be rushed.
Manage the training and preparation loads of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, and Josh Hazlewood between now and Christmas. Pull out the old climate-controlled cryogenic chamber that used to get Ryan Harris from one Test to the next; just do whatever has to be done to ensure the three first-choice quicks go deep into the series.
So the challenge for the selectors is not to do nothing more for the rest of the Ashes series, but to ramp up their discussions in motivating the fringe players.
The hard job of selecting the side is done; the harder job now is to keep talking to Matt Renshaw and not forget about him. Maxwell needs to be told that his highest First Class score was excellent, but a fifty or a hundred in both Sheffield Shield games between now and the Big Bash would be even better.
(AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
Paine needs to know that more runs will solidify his spot, rather than more catches and superb stumpings, but the likes of Peter Nevill and Alex Carey – and Matthew Wade, to be fair – need to know how close they were to being in Brisbane themselves.
A casual chat with the injured Sam Whiteman wouldn’t be a bad move either, particularly given what Paine has gone through to return to Test cricket, and noting that Whiteman and Paine have spoken since the WA ‘keeper was ruled out for the entire summer back in August.
Sayers just needs to keeping swinging the ball, and like Jackson Bird, keep taking wickets and bowling well. The selectors probably need to identify their preferred second spinner and have the same conversations ahead of Sydney.
Communication, not gut feel, is the selectors’ best tool for the time being. Having gone down a new road this summer, the selectors’ best work for the rest of the series shouldn’t be done in the papers, but on the phone and in coffee shops and at net sessions.
Their most important conversations over the next few weeks shouldn’t be with the players in the team, but the players lining up to get in.
AREH
Roar Guru
Definitely. After all, Pat Cummins was the third highest scorer in that innings. Not knocking Cummins' batting for a second, because it has improved out of sight and he dug in brilliantly, but he's also the number 9. In that innings he scored more than Bancroft, Khawaja and Handscomb combined.
AREH
Roar Guru
J Richardson looks like test quality for sure, and will probably bolt past a few in the queue soon enough.
JamesH
Roar Guru
I agree that there is only one way for a batsman or bowler to respond (runs/wickets) but that's a separate issue to non-selection in the first place, particularly in the case of dropping a guy who had done okay. As you indicated yourself, it doesn't answer any questions about why he missed out. That's where some clarity is needed. Of course, with reasons like 'we picked Joe Mennie over Jackson Bird for his batting' or 'we picked Matthew Wade because he is noisy behind the stumps', it's not a shock that the selectors keep their cards close to their chests.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
And now Moody's out for six months,or did you know?
El Loco
Roar Rookie
Comments that this is a settled team are way off. So far it's one win on the trot with the Adelaide day/night challenge to come, those night sessions are a massive leveller. Let's get some more momentum before writing all these guys in for Sydney. Of Bancroft and Paine, no problems there. Renshaw was unlucky but just seems completely out of touch. There was no clearly viable keeper so why not the second in line for Tasmania (or 3rd or 4th or whatever he's considered). Marsh remains the bee in my bonnet and a gritty 51, while valuable, was the typically just enough contribution he gives. I'd love to have seen his stock value if he'd rubbed out Starc for the series instead of just calling for a bandaid.
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
I particularly liked the calm fashion that they ticked off the runs,with Bancroft at the end going from 60 to 82 in the blink of an eye
Doctor Rotcod
Guest
Except Kelly,Moody,Richardson,Holder or Mackin, you mean? And Cam Green ,when he's a bit older
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Although, the conditions Warner and Bancroft did so well in were the same ones that England had just been rolled out for under 200 in. So they probably need to to be focussing on themselves.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
People talk about Nevill like he was included in the test team because he was considered the best pure gloveman around. But he was selected because out of the first class keepers he had the best batting average, while being a relatively decent keeper. If he was selected just because they decided to go with the best gloveman and considered him that, he'd have probably got more leeway averaging in the low 20's. But he wasn't, he was picked for his batting and didn't deliver on that. While Paine scored a couple of half-centuries, to an extent he's been picked because none of the keepers are batting well, so they may as well go with the guy they think is the best actual keeper, so they went for Paine. As such, while it would be very good to get some decent batting output from Paine, the fact they've pretty much been getting few runs from any keepers of late, so they just went for the best keeper, regardless of batting, probably buys him a lot more leeway on the batting side of things until a keeper comes along at Shield level who starts piling up the runs.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Not sure our depth is looking all that great actually. Bird, Sayers, Tremain. That's about it as far as any bowlers who look like potential test quality. It looked a lot deeper before the season started. We had Pattinson fit also, and all this talk about the depth of quality quicks in WA. But Pattinson is going for extreme surgery to try to have any hope of a continued career, and WA seem to be struggling to get any of their much vaunted collection of quicks onto the park. They're dropping like flies.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
They both could have played in the Shield game if the SA v Tas match had started the day after the test started like the other two games, rather than the same day. I don't get why they would schedule them like that. Why not all start on the same day, the day after the test starts. Then any players included in the test squad as backups who don't play can get back to their state teams in time for the Shield round.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
If 5 can't do the job you might have the wrong 5, but that may be because the right 5 doesn't exist. I don't think anyone is disagreeing that having a genuine allrounder in the team is a serious bonus. Just that they actually need to at least have the batting side of the genuine allrounder equation covered. The issue with Mitchell Marsh was never his bowling (see my first comment on this article) but the fact he averaged less than guys like Starc and Cummins who bat at 8 and 9. Not exactly #6 material. But he still looks the most likely player in first class cricket in Australia to be able to turn themselves into that genuine allrounder who can do well with the bat at 6 and bowl some more than useful overs also. But he's not there yet. His batting still needs work. Hopefully he can get there, because Australia would definitely benefit from having a genuine allrounder in the team.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
That's pretty clear isn't it? Maxwell is always thought of as a bit of an X-Factor, meaning he can do awesome things, but doesn't do them all that often. They want someone more consistent, someone like *cough* Shaun "Mr Consistent" Marsh, who would never surround the odd really good innings with lots of failures! But being more serious, I suppose the point is, that if you are a batsman, the answer always is, just go back and score lots of runs, be consistently scoring runs, go big when you get a start. And if you are an allrounder, try to get some bowling in too. That may not answer the question of how close he was to getting selected and what in particular made them go for Shaun "Mr Consistent" Marsh over him, but regardless of what the answer to that question is, the response required from the player is still almost certainly the same, just bat well, score lots of runs, consistently, and go big, as often as possible.
Bring Back...?
Guest
Agreed Ronan - when the fish that John West rejects are Bird and Sayers, you'd have to think our bowling stocks are pretty strong at the moment.
EGC
Guest
Yes, Agar was injured on tour (India). He has been picked for this coming WA v Vic shield match.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Brett I also wondered whether having Sayers as 12th man was to allow Bird the chance to be playing in the Shield, instead of stuck on drinks duty in Brisbane, with a view that Bird would be next man in if there was an injury. I hope Bird doesn't get passed over again like he was last summer with Mennie, he's been such a reliable performer whenever Australia have called him up.
Brett McKay
Expert
And since the line itself doesn't matter a jot, only that some part of the batsman is behind it...
Brett McKay
Expert
Yeah, this is a really good post, RL. We're probably all a bit guilty of letting Smith's 141* gloss over the rest of the first innings. Add Marsh's 50 in there and it gets worse, like you point out. I've no doubt England will thinking the same way you are, and they'd be right to, of course they would. Anderson under lights on dusk... eek!! Could be really hairy... :eek:
Brett McKay
Expert
Cheers Jordan - gotta say, after ten months of rugby, I'm learning about cricket writing again myself!
paul
Guest
these are fair comments, rl, we should not get carried away by the First Test. All of the batting has either had one good innings or one chance to bat. Hopefully things will become clearer after Adelaide.