As the debate about Mitch Marsh’s spot in the test team continues to rumble along, I have often wondered who would replace him.
I stumbled upon an answer whilst playing a cricket game. Out of a pure spell of chance, Faulkner caught my attention with a superb spell of bowling (8/47… how accurate games are…)
It struck me then, why not give him a go? After all, he has already felt the wrath of the selectors and the disillusionment that comes with being an Australian all-rounder. Glenn Maxwell has faced it, especially after the recent UAE tour.
The story is almost exactly the same, CA tells you to rest up ahead of a big tour, UAE tests for Maxwell and Champions Cup for Faulkner. The selectors decide, lets drop them because someone else has sprung up because we said they can’t play, and then for Faulkner, take his contract off him.
If we look purely at Faulkner’s stats, discarding form, Faulkner has decent stats.
Batting
Tests: 45 @22.50 from 1 Test (2 Innings)
ODI’s: 1032 @ 34.40 from 52 innings – 4 fifties and 1 ton
First Class: 2566 @ 30.91 from 95 innings – 15 fifties and 2 centuries.
List A: 1936 @30.25 from 94 – 10 fifties and 1 hundred
Now looking at those stats, an average of 30 is solid for an all-rounder, in fact, Mitch Marsh only average 32 in First Class cricket from nearly double the innings it should be noted. And his List A average sits at 37 from the same number of innings.
For good measure, we will add Faulkner’s ODI replacement, Marcus Stoinis. Somehow Stoinis looks a good deal younger than his 29 years, the same age as Faulkner.
Stoinis has indeed upstaged Faulkner with bat with an average of 43.73, but take away his monstrous 146* and you get an average of around 36. However, Stoinis hasn’t provided anything spectacular to the shield, averaging 32.
Now I would like to move onto the bowling side of the equation.
Bowling
Tests: 6 wickets from 98 @ 16.33 – BBI 4/51 (2 innings)
ODI’s: 96 wickets @ 30.85 from 67 innings – BBI 4/32
First Class: 192 @ 24.78 from 116 innings – BBI 5/5 – BBM 8/97
List A: 162 @ 30.36 from 116 – BBI 4/20
We can see that Faulkner has more of a strength in his bowling, with averages that some test pace-men would be happy to have. He fits the general rule of all-rounders having a lower bowling average than batting average.
Whilst his economy is around 5 in List A he has a decent economy of 2.92 in First Class. For an all-rounder that is quite impressive.
Now our comparison – Mitch Marsh is the lesser bowler by far. Marsh averages 42 in Tests and his First Class sitting at 31.05 of 119 innings. His ODI and List A averages with the ball are still quite high sitting at 35.54 in ODI’s and 30 in List A. Marsh therefore fails the all-rounder rule averaging less with ball than bat.
James Faulkner of the Stars (AAP Image/Richard Wainwright)
And need we bother with Stoinis? He probably is lucky to be considered an all-rounder with an ODI average of 52, List A of 39 and First Class of 43.56. These are incredibly high and in reality Stoinis should be considered handy with the ball, not great. (Though he hasn’t been too shabby against SA)
So, if we were to consider a serious seam all-rounder in the Test team, I say look no further than Faulkner. I am not saying drop Mitch Marsh by any means, whilst I am not a fan, I think he could bat 5 and Faulkner 6.
Marsh could focus on his batting a Faulkner can be relied upon to contribute some handy overs with the ball if needed and some solid batting if required.
By no means has Faulkner pushed a claim for the Test team with his last First-Class match being in 2017 and injuries haven’t helped, but he should definitely be considered for the Ashes if he can gather some 4-day practise.
I will leave my Home Summer team and my Ashes team with more to come soon!
Home
1. Matthew Renshaw
2. Joe Burns
3. Marcus Harris
4. Aaron Finch
5. Shaun Marsh
6. Mitch Marsh (VC)
7. Tim Paine (WK/C)
8. Pat Cummins
9. Mitch Starc
10. Nathan Lyon
11. Josh Hazlewood (VC)
Ashes
Paine (WK/C), M.Marsh (VC), Hazlewood (VC), Agar, Burns, Carey (WK), Cummins, Finch, Faulkner, Lyon, Renshaw, Siddle, Starc, S.Marsh, Smith, Tremain, Warner
Dicky M
Guest
Bit harsh on Whiteman Don..on his way back from injury..If Inglis wasn't playing so well he'd be straight back in the WA side..And I'd still put his keeping easily on par with Carey .
JamesH
Roar Guru
The problem with bowling allrounders like Faulkner and Pattinson (when they aren't injured) is that you can't justify batting them at 6, especially when the rest of our batting lineup has been so fragile. The only way they play is if (a) they hold down a spot on bowling alone, in which case they bat at 8, or (b) we have a keeper-batsman who can hold down the number 6 spot, in which case they bat at 7. Pattinson and Faulkner could potentially command a spot at 8 with some solid form under their belt, but neither would displace Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins or Lyon. And Paine is a reliable batsman but he's not a test number 6, meaning he stays at 7. The comparison to Mitch Marsh is flawed, too, since he got picked well before he'd earned the number 6 spot. You can't fix one mistake with another. A number 6 has to have the potential to average somewhere near 40 in tests and neither Faulkner nor Pattinson have demonstrated that they are capable of doing so. Maybe they will this summer, but it's unlikely.
Mario
Guest
A possible All rounder for the Ashes tour next year is the forgotten man of Australian cricket in James Pattinson. In his come back game for Victoria last week again south Australia he made 32 with the bat batting at no7. He was in a large partnership with Peter Handscomb. He also ripped through SA in the 2nd innings by taking the wickets of Ferguson, Lehman and Cooper. If his body can hold up for the rest of the season he can become a very handy all rounder for Australia going forward by batting at no 7 especially if Tim Paine can bat at no 6. His bowling could be very effective going forward. He would average under 30 with the ball and he would be capable of averaging around 30 with the bat. The big question can his body hold up? What a pity he has had a lot of injuries so far because we have missed out on seeing a great test fast bowling career that did not happen.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Thanks Glenn!! I completely forgot Uzzie when I was making my squads!! Shame on me! Definitely No.3!
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
What do you have against Usman Khawaja?
Dutski
Roar Guru
I wondered where he was at. A forgotten man for sure. I wonder if the recently mooted ‘character test’ would count against him, given his drunk driving charge some time ago in England? I think , as Don pointed out above, he’s sitting back in the order in tassie. Time for a move. I’d suggest winter in the uk against the swinging ball is in order.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
He'd have to do something in grade cricket to displace Tom Rogers in his state side and he'd have to stand in line behind Simon Milenko at Tassie too. Faulkner used to play...but he doesn't now. It's like calling for Sam Whiteman to keep for Australia or Joel Paris to open the bowling.
Ozibatla
Guest
Agreed. Faulkner had a good run at odi level. But he got found out as a one paced hitter who had few go to shots (primarily, the cross bat to mid-wicket) and abit of a one trick pony bowler who bowled non-varying seam up at 130ks with an out of the back hand slower ball. For a lack of a better term - teams figured him out!
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
If he gets in form I think he could be the man Australia needs to solidify that spot if no-one else can
Paul
Roar Guru
That's fair, because IF he come good, he's a match winner for sure.
Noah Barling
Roar Pro
Absolutely, I dont disagree there are so many others, but I would love to see Faulkner play FC and List A cricket again to see how he goes. No doubt his knee should be looked after, but if he is up to the challenge then let him have another crack.
Paul
Roar Guru
Faulkner was, I repeat, was an outstanding cricketer for Australia last WC, but that's no longer the case. There are plenty of options for selectors to choose from who are in form and playing good cricket. Faulkner is neither.