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Selectors show Jhye hopes trump persistence in pace stakes

Jhye Richardson celebrates dismissing Glenn Maxwell. (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
Roar Pro
23rd January, 2018
26

What’s slight-framed and wiry, yet fast and fiery? Dale Steyn comes to mind. But Jhye Richardson, the young West Australian fast bowler, hopes to become a household name too.

Richardson looks up to Steyn, the Proteas statesman. Throughout his junior cricketing years, Richardson was told time and time again that maybe he should reconsider fast bowling.

“What about spin?” They said.

“No way,” thought Richardson, as he charged in again.

The young man regularly clocks speeds in the mid-140s, as he showed at the Gabba during his ODI debut last week. Now, Richardson finds himself with a spot in the Test squad for South Africa.

Richardson is raw. He’s only played five first-class games, though impressed during the early part of the season, claiming 17 wickets in four Sheffield Shield fixtures. He also proved to be a slippery customer in the preceding one-day series, topping the wickets list with 13 at 27.

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It seems that the selectors continue to ride their luck after their offbeat decisions during the summer, such as Tim Paine, paid off. Their rationale is based on feel more than anything.

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Richardson’s piercing pace is what saw the selectors go with him over the medium-fast options in Chadd Sayers or Chris Tremain. So it seems potential outweighs consistency. Intuition rules over function.

What message does this send to Australia’s aspiring fast bowlers? Perseverance doesn’t appear to be a valued quality, yet it is one of the key ingredients of a great quick.

Yes, rapid pace can be a frightening proposition, even on the most placid and docile wickets, but what about nous and swing and seam? What about Glenn McGrath, Chaminda Vaas and James Anderson? They found success with a different skill set.

Richardson may still succeed, but what’s the harm in letting him hone his skills a little longer? What’s the trouble with selecting someone based on consistency over a number of years?

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