Nic Maddinson smashed 95 and 105* for Victoria to continue his extraordinary Sheffield Shield form and press his case for a Test recall on the upcoming tour of Bangladesh.
The dominant batsman in Shield cricket over the past two seasons, Maddinson has piled up 1211 runs at 86 in that time, including five tons from just 11 matches.
His success hasn’t been limited to matches in Victoria either, with Maddinson churning out 422 runs at 60 in away fixtures.
While Australia’s top six is quite settled on the back of a commanding 9-2 win-loss record in their past dozen Tests, Maddinson is keeping Joe Burns, Travis Head and Matt Wade honest.
What makes the left-hander especially appealing, particularly as a squad member to tour Bangladesh, is his versatility. Maddinson made his Test debut in the middle order and has batted everywhere from Nos. 1 to 6 in the order across his 83-match first-class career.
When the 28-year-old shifted from NSW to Victoria at the start of last summer he made 162 as an opener in his first Shield innings. In his very next match, he was shifted down to No. 4 and peeled off 108 against Queensland.
Later that season he made a double of 136 and 61 batting at No. 4 against an excellent Tasmania attack. This summer Maddinson kick-started his season by crunching 224 as an opener, then two matches later he was shunted down to No. 5, where he made 69 and 22 in a very low-scoring game on a Hobart green top.
In his next two Shield matches he was back to opening before moving down to No. 3 for his latest match, in which he made 95 and 105*.
Most batsmen would be left in a spin if they were continually pushed up and down the batting order like that. The fact Maddinson has continued to destroy Shield attacks is incredibly impressive.
Although he has had significant success in the top three these past two seasons I still feel he is best suited to the middle order at Test level.
(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Maddinson is a daring stroke-maker. He is at his best when he trusts his instincts and takes on the bowlers. His ton against NSW yesterday came off just 85 balls and his strike rate over the past two Shield seasons is swift at 65.
Very few Test batsmen are successful batting with this kind of aggression against the new ball at the top of the order. It is an approach that is typically more profitable against an older ball in the middle order. That’s why Maddinson looks like a No. 5 or 6 batsman in Tests.
Head and Wade have those two spots locked down for the moment and Kurtis Patterson is waiting in the wings. But Maddinson is back in the mix seven years after he first emerged as a major talent.
In mid-2013, when Maddinson was just 21 years old, he appeared to be on the fast track to Test selection. He had made 1864 runs at 41 in first-class cricket and was fresh from a dominant run for Australia A. Across four matches for Australia A in the UK and Africa he piled up 528 runs at 75.
That included a double of 90 and 88 against a very strong South Africa A attack featuring four bowlers who went on to play Test cricket: Kyle Abbott, Marchant de Lange, Simon Harmer and Beuran Hendricks.
What made that effort by Maddinson even more impressive was that the rest of Australia A’s batting line-up flopped. Shaun Marsh, Aaron Finch, Glenn Maxwell, Alex Doolan, Mitch Marsh and Tim Paine collectively contributed just 112 runs at an average of nine in that match in August 2013.
With Australia’s Test batting unit struggling in the 2013 Ashes in the UK, and a dearth of domestic batting talent, Maddinson was suddenly a serious candidate to debut in the 2013-14 Ashes.
The youngster was in career-best form. He could have slotted nicely into that Aussie top seven, which otherwise bulged with experience thanks to the presence of veterans Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson.
Instead, the selectors decided to plump for another old head in George Bailey. The Tasmanian was an odd choice given he had made just 331 runs at 22 across his past two Sheffield Shield seasons. Despite Australia destroying England 5-0 in that series, Bailey laboured, averaging just 26. He never played another Test.
Maddinson, meanwhile, had to wait another three years before earning a baggy green. Like Bailey before him, Maddinson was a curious selection at that time. Outside of the Aussie selectors, no-one had him on the radar for Test duties, even Maddinson himself.
He had averaged just 28 across his past two Shield seasons. Maddinson was battling just to keep his spot in the NSW side when he was plucked to debut against South Africa under lights.
In his three Tests he batted four times, made 27 runs and then was hurled on to the scrapheap. That experience seemed to dent his confidence as he had awful Shield seasons back-to-back in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
He fell so far that Maddinson was axed by NSW only slightly more than a year after playing his last Test. Victoria swooped, Maddinson accepted this fresh opportunity and ever since he has run amok.
Maddinson might have ready for Tests in 2013-14, definitely was not prepared in 2016-17 but now looks primed for a comeback.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
You can interpret it that way if you like. I don't.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I'd hardly call it semantic. He'd be pretty happy that he bowled well and picked up some wickets, and he'd probably be especially pleased because two of those wickets were the best batsmen in the opposition team. But that's all. Maybe Patterson having recently played those two tests and being really unlucky to be dropped having done quite well in those might elevate his status slightly. But if you said someone picked up the wickets of 3 test players, I'd be thinking who of the current test team did he get out?
badmanners
Roar Rookie
A bit semantic Chris, have a look on cricinfo and against their names it lists their test records. Good bad or indifferent they played tests which I reckon if I was a 17 yr old making my first class debut and I'd knocked them over I'd be pretty chuffed about.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I don’t know it’s entirely true to say that attacking openers don’t really succeed in test cricket. Sure, Warner and Sehwag are more outliers, but even the likes of Hayden and Slater very much liked to open the batting by imposing themselves on the attack from early on, taking advantage of the field being up to hit some early boundaries. So I think if he’s good enough for test cricket he can quite possibly do that opening also. One of the big issues I see with it though is fitting in with the team. Really, we are looking for a partner for David Warner. So we already have the “dasher” in the opening partnership. So even if Maddinson could potentially play that “dashing” opener role, it’s really the “grafting” opener that we are looking for. It’s no accident that Warner’s best opening partnership has been with Chris Rogers, a batsman who complemented Warner’s strengths really well. So whether or not Maddinson could make it as a test opener is one question, but the other is whether a Warner/Maddinson opening partnership could work. In the end though, if he’s the best available player for a position then pick him. But the most I can see at the moment is he’s a chance of being a backup on the Bangladesh tour. Being someone who can bat anywhere in the top 6 could make him an attractive proposition for a backup batsman. Burns and Head are really the only 2 under any real pressure for their positions at the moment, Burns is under more pressure than Head, meaning the opening spot is still the most undecided position in the top 6.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Especially funny as prior to last season he's generally done better in white ball cricket than Shield cricket!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
That's a stretch saying "knocked over 3 test players" though. Patterson has played one test, Henriques played a couple several years ago, but for the most part has been a long way from the test team, and Copeland also has only played a couple of tests, and is a bowler. It's not like he knocked over established current test stars!
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Not necessarily. Just because someone won't turn down the offer doesn't mean that the offer should be made. I suspect it's been his dream since he was young to play test cricket. If you offer him that at a time when taking it will likely completely destroy him he will still probably take it, not turn it down based on not being in a good place. That's where the selectors need to be on top of these things. Both to do the best thing by the team and the player. Nic never should have been selected last time. He was in really poor form. The chances of him suddenly turning his form around in test cricket were extremely slim. It doesn't matter how much "potential" a batsman has, if you pick them when horribly out of form they are unlikely to show you that potential! At least this time around he is showing good form. But test cricket cranks up the pressure over Shield cricket many times over. So the ability to make that step up is often as much about mentally being able to perform under pressure as it is about having a technique to combat better bowlers armed with detailed video analysis of your technique. So, while having recently had a break to deal with mental health issues doesn't automatically mean he's someone not able to handle that pressure. It's something that would make you want to really be sure, have discussions with the player and those around him and everything and really assess how they are going.
JamesH
Roar Guru
It's definitely a rarity, but then if Maddinson is going to succeed as an aggressive batsman in test cricket then he'll already be a rarity. For me, it's more a question of what a batsman prefers to be facing. Maddinson strikes me as someone who really loves pace on the new ball so he gets full value for shots. While he's shown versatility in the last 18 months, he's very much been a specialist top order player throughout his career.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
Don’t confuse unusual technique with poor technique. They are very different things. Someone can have a technique that looks very classical, but they keep edging balls to the slips. The likes of Smith and Labushagne have developed very good, effective techniques. Just because you don’t find them in a textbook doesn’t mean they aren’t good techniques. Others have techniques where they look good and can score runs in good conditions against ordinary attacks but face a bowler moving it around a bit and the technique falls apart.
DTM
Guest
I guess the point I was trying to make is that astute judges may well have been critical of Smith's technique early on in his career. None of them would dare to try and change him now. I haven't watched Maddinson closely (and I'm not sure I qualify as an astute judge anyway) but he may well have an imperfect technique. As you say, results should be what you are judged on although I would add context. For example a 150 in the third innings at the MCG on day 4 of a dead shield match may not be worth as much as a 70 on a seaming deck at Bellerive against an attack including Hazelwood, Starc and Cummins.
Dutski
Roar Guru
I know that I'd like a crack at the big time again. Just trying to think like a selector.
badmanners
Roar Rookie
Wil Parker playing for the Vics picked up Patterson, Henriques,Solway and Copeland for the match. Great stuff! And I'm cheering for the other side!
Tanmoy Kar
Guest
Unfortunate Nic Maddinson, he should get a chance this time around against a weak Bangladesh side.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Who was that?
jameswm
Roar Guru
He apparently struggles against spin
badmanners
Roar Rookie
The Vics played well though, always handy to win the toss in Sydney. Great to see a 17 year old leg spinner knock over 3 test players on debut!
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The cultural advance in being able to talk openly about mental health is good but the stigma to remain silent is still there if a player's history with the struggle is cause for a reservation. Maddison's great game this weekend comes in the same month he took a break. That's how it should be. If he is picked for Oz and has a dark episode, let him withdraw and pick the next cab off the rank. No different to the player with the crook finger or influenza. When he's fine, let him return.
Rob
Guest
Very weird few months for Maddinson. Killing it in Shield cricket, BBL comes around and he channels his inner McGrath and forgets how to bat. BBL comes to an end and its business as usual in Shield cricket.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Smith might fidget, but he doesn't look unconvincing at the crease, he looks like a master in complete control of his craft. If you watch Nic bat, there is no way you'd feel the same way about it. But I do agree with the sentiment - it doesn't matter how you long, results should be the only thing you're judged on.
Christopher Wright
Guest
Any player who is a part of the Melbourne Stars set up has a questionable mental game at the moment.