Ashton Agar over Jon Holland in the squad for the Sydney Test. Shaun Marsh over Usman Khawaja on the subcontinent.
Chris Lynn and Mitchell Marsh over Glenn Maxwell in the recent One Day squad, Jhye Richardson picked largely on BBL form over Chadd Sayers for the South African tour.
The Australian cricket team has wheeled out more surprise selections than the Trump administration in the past year. And, with the willingness to arrogantly deflect valid questions about eyebrow raising selections and non selections, Trevor Hohns, Darren Lehmann and their group of merry men in the selection panel are beginning to act with the air of people who lack accountability.
Make no mistake, some of those selections have worked for them – Shaun Marsh made a couple of important half centuries without setting the world on fire in Australia’s 2-0 Test Series loss in India, and his brother Mitchell bashed his way to a big century in the third Test of the recent Ashes series.
(Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)
But, in the ongoing One Day series against England, things have started to unravel. Australia has looked like a team full of bit part players- one with no sense of identity, no plan.
England, in contrast, has looked like a well oiled machine- each piece gelling together to make a formidable batting line-up and an effective bowling attack. They seem well primed for the World Cup in 16 months.
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The problem with rogue selections is that it takes away the incentive to perform at state level, and understandably reduces the trust players have for selectors. Even Nathan Lyon, darling of the Test team, had some sarcastic words for the selectors regarding his non selection in white ball cricket, after another solid performance in the BBL.
The other night, Darren Lehmann sat in the commentary box uncomfortably as Glenn Maxwell – the man he and his deputy Steve Smith have repeatedly reprimanded publicly- played a sublime Big Bash innings, belting 84 from 47 balls for the Melbourne Stars against the Sydney Sixers.
Every great shot Maxwell played was met with red faced, understated praise from Lehmann, somewhere along the lines of “errr…wow..what a tremendous shot..terrific cricket by Glenn”.
It would’ve be more enviable to be a Sydney bowler that night than Lehmann.
The minute Ben Stokes threw a barrage of punches outside a bar, it was pretty clear that England’s Ashes campaign was a lost cause if Australia played even half decent cricket.
Perhaps this gave the selectors licence to gamble with some unusual selections. However, with a tough tour of South Africa coming up, and a World Cup in 2019, Australia will be under some real pressure, and the selectors will not get away so easily with off the wall selections that don’t go right.
The selection of Cameron White in the One Day team has proved to be a catastrophic failure, made to look even sillier by Maxwell’s excellent results in all forms of cricket he’s played recently. If the selectors were trying to make a point to him, it has backfired.
In addition, one would hope Australia do not go a pace bowler down in South Africa, as a rookie like Jhye Richardson may struggle against a competent batting line-up that has had no shortage of facing pace in the nets. If he is wayward, he may be meat and drink. The choice to not select Chadd Sayers could haunt them Australia.
With Lehmann’s tenure coming to an end some time in 2019, his results must be assessed honestly. He’s been a good coach without being a great one. He wasn’t close to winning in India, couldn’t win in Bangladesh, was beaten by South Africa at home, and thrashed by England abroad twice.
The perception of a boy’s club he’s creating in regard to selection is causing fans to scrutinise him more than ever. With the South Africa series, World Cup, and the away Ashes being his swan song, there will be nowhere to hide if selections don’t work out.
PeteB
Guest
Renshaw has been in awful form this summer. Of course he should have been dropped. Bancroft selection was justified but hasn’t worked to date. He would be out too by now but no other opener has put their hand up.
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Paine was definately preferable to Wade. Let's see how M Marsh goes in the future, on pitches that aren't flat. I still think they messed up with Renshaw, who could've been a great opener for years. Hopefully his confidence isn't too shattered and they haven't put a line through him.
Nudge
Guest
Least you’re honest Rohan. Fair to say the selectors nailed the Paine, Marsh and Marsh selections. Maybe a couple of minor blues for the white ball stuff but but the big stuff they got spot on.
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Hey Nudge, Would have picked Nevill for first test. Would have not dropped Renshaw as well, him or Bancroft could've batted in the middle order. I would have picked Maxwell instead of Mitch Marsh.
Nudge
Guest
Hey Rohan, would you have picked Tim Paine for the first test? Would you have picked S.Marsh for the tenth time for the first test? Would you have picked M.Marsh with his woeful test record after only just returning from a 6 month lay off with a shoulder reconstruction?
Paul
Guest
be careful about assuming things. I remember back when Bob Simpson was coach and it was agreed he'd be the spokesman for the side, as Border was not at all comfortable taking on that role. Taylor then came along and there was a fair old tussle about who'd be the mouthpiece and eventually Taylor won. Different captains and coaches will take on media roles. The issue with Lehmann isn't that he's the cricket front man, it's that he tends to avoid the tough issues with short, almost non-existent answers.
Paul
Guest
the issue with Warne is that he's guessing so I'd take any comments that come form this guy with a grain of salt. We don't know where the line in the sand was between Lehmann and Clarke. More to the point, neither does Warne. A win any where overseas would be a good result for any of the top nations. We were beaten in India, South Africa was beaten in England, England was beaten in Australia and India is getting beaten in South Africa. Try and work that out!
marfu
Guest
Yes I think our bowlers will be fine but fear our batting may not as there is, as you point out, a potential problem with our unconvincing openers. Warner can tend to be a flat track bully at home who may struggle away which will compound the problem if Bancroft fails too. Also I am not convinced that we have solved our middle order problems and will be keen to see how we go in SA. The selectors have sent confusing signals to the players by allowing their prejudices to affect their decisions which is untenable as they are paid to do a job that they are not doing and must be more accountable to cricket fans as we are the ones who indirectly pay them. It is no wonder justifiably aggrieved players (eg Sayers, Maxwell) feel the need to express their frustration with some of the illogical selections. I think Hohns and Chappell have now been too long out of ODI game which has evolved due to the influence and success of T20.
marfu
Guest
Good point about re SA v IND but my concern is more about our batting but hopefully I am just jumping at shadows as I think our quicks can do the job if they stay fit and hope we are not forced to test our depth in that area.
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Remember Lynn was still recovering from injury and could barely throw a ball when selected over Maxwell, arguably the best fielder in the country.
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Yet we unfortunately see and hear from Lehmann far too much. For someone who seems to think Maxwell is a show off, he loves putting his face out there.
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Thanks Marfu. I think Australia's bowling might fare OK in South Africa, but the uncertainty they have created at the top of the order has been unnecessary. Renshaw has a century and 3 half centuries in 10 tests, yet was dropped and seemingly hasn't been spoken of again. What if Bancroft fails in the first test? Does he go into the heap of openers discarded, along with Burns and Renshaw? They've created a dangerous precedent
Rohit Asopa
Roar Pro
Thanks for the reply Paul. Yes, communication is the thing that is lacking. I think Australia's results in England last time were disappointing. Warne even criticized Lehmann overriding his duties and unduly undermining Clarke's captaincy. A win England would make me see Lehmann in a more favourable light.
Brian
Guest
Selectors are corrupt, unaccountable and abusing their position of power. They are disrespecting the players and the fans, and need to be removed permanently after this summer of arrogance and stupidity. Smith also is to blame, for his input is clear. He should be turfed despite his test scores. His latest comments that Maxwell needs to" train smarter" is clear indication that he and the selectors are unapologetic, and intend on continuing their destructive and bullying self amusing ways.
Stephen
Guest
Khawaja should have played in india specially in the form he was last year, both maxwell and khawaja should be in the ODI side, Agar for limited overs side is a good selection and happy to see Holland being given a go though i used to love seeing both lyon and SOK bowl together
Simoc
Guest
The coach makes zilch difference to a test team. The coaches are media bunnies who the players have to say nice things about to get selected. Look at the difference they have made to when they were called managers. Absolutely no difference. Worse results in most cases regarding away from home results. Test cricket does not move quickly enough to make a coach worthwhile. The players are smarter and in the middle of the action. Its a monetary reward for groveling to the cricket Board who appointed you.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Guest
Don't think the selectors have got too much wrong this Summer apart from a couple of the selections for the one day team. A number of their selections for the Test teams were criticised but ended up being more than vindicated e.g. both Marsh boys and Tim Paine). I think their most glaring blunder is continuing to ignore Nathan Lyon for the one day team. They wanted to bring in Chris Lynn as a more aggressive batter in the middle order in preference to Maxwell (who has seriously under-performed in the one day format in the past 18 months) but Lynn succumbed to injuries. Unfortunately his replacement in Cameron White hasn't coming off. Perhaps Shaun Marsh deserved a spot in the one day team more than Cameron White but White had the runs on the board in BBL. Its not the selectors fault that Warner and Smith have failed so far in this series while Finch, Mitch Marsh and Stoinis have all been productive. In terms of the bowlers Richardson and Thye have performed better than the big 3 of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc whose bowling has been all over the shop. Apart from the Lyon non-selection I think the finger should be pointed at the poor form of the players that have been selected in this series rather than the selections.
Paul
Guest
don't forget about our pace attack. The South African batsmen have been less than convincing against the Indians. I suspect this might be a more even contest than you think.
DaveJ
Guest
Ps -I also disagree with how you describe Lehmann’s attitude to Maxwell when commenting? Thought he was very positive. And do we really know what his position was on the selection?
DaveJ
Guest
You still don’t get why they didn’t pick Khawaja for India? He couldn’t play spin, and had an abysmal record against spin (averaging near 20 ball for ball). It was even evident against second rate South African spinners on flat Australian tracks in 2016 - how else do you get out to a straight ball from Duminy on 97 in Perth? It’s hard enough winning at the best of times in India, without taking a passenger in the batting order. It started again in the Ashes - lbw to a straight one from Ali for 11 in the First Test. In a few other innings he looked like a potential Ali/Root victim but didn’t last long enough to really find out. But he played much better against Ali in the Fifth Test, even if somewhat breezily, so hopefully that’s a sign of better things to come. Otherwise I agree that the selectors have been inconsistent, though don’t think you can say that selection of White is a catastrophic failure based on 2 innings. I too would have plumped for Maxwell, but his last BBL innings was still worrying- despite brilliance most of the time just never fully in control of his shot play to avoid trying to over hit some balls, and thus dropped or nearly out a couple of times.