Lance Morris’s inclusion in the Test Squad this summer has been an exciting prospect for Australian cricket fans. His rapid pace (and a healthy dose of shiny ball syndrome) have Australian fans and team management salivating at the possibilities of what may be.
But until the growing push for his selection since Mitchell Starc busted the middle finger on his bowling hand, I had assumed it was merely an opportunity to give a young bowler some experience in the Australian setup (and a chance for the Aussie batters to face some wheels in the nets while preparing for Anrich Nortje and co).
It suddenly seems like he is the favourite to don Baggy Green No.465 in Sydney next week.
At just 24, with only 18 first class games to his name, parachuting Morris into the Australian XI ahead of any of Scott Boland, Michael Neser, Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson (long-form fitness concerns noted) seems a strange move for the Australian set-up.
Neser, the most frequent 12th man for Australia over the last four years, should clearly remain above Morris in the pecking order. Since the beginning of the 2017-18 Sheffield Shield season, Neser has taken 132 wickets at the incredible average of just 20.51. It’s an extended period of sustained excellence that very few have ever put together at first class level in Australia. Neser’s track record speaks for itself.
Not to mention, when he has been given the opportunity across his two Tests so far, Neser has excelled, taking seven wickets averaging under 17.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Yes, his two Tests were with the pink ball, and against struggling opponents England and West Indies (the 2021 version of England, that is!), but you can only play the opposition and match conditions presented to you, and Neser has delivered exactly what was expected of the man who came so close for so long to that elusive Test cap, while continuing to build his case with increasingly impressive Shield seasons year-on-year.
At 32, Neser is not as much of a long-term prospect as Morris, 24. But last I checked, this was the Australian Test side, and while one eye is always kept on the horizon, Neser’s age should not be held against him when he is in the best XI available (see: Usman Khawaja). Picking a player on potential, or to “have a look” seems incongruous with the obvious objective of winning every possible Test match.
With a World Test Championship final berth on the horizon, and tantalising tours to India and England in 2023, Neser in his prime is exactly the type of bowler Australia should be turning to in times of need. And with Pat Cummins no longer the batsman he was in the years after his extended back injury layoffs afforded him the opportunity to play grade cricket as a middle-order batsman, shoring up the lower order with a batter of Neser’s quality should never be left out of the conversation.
Morris is an exciting talent, and no doubt a future star. But the stars of the present – the bowlers with extended track records, Test experience, and the likely spearheads of a huge 2023 in Australian Test cricket – should be the first called upon for the third Test in Sydney next week.
The 2023-24 Australian summer, with Pakistan and the West Indies (again!) scheduled to visit, looms as a more appropriate time to start thinking about the next generation.
Johnb
Guest
That was the one. Sadly missed! You wonder how many people would front up and pay for it and whether the subs they do get make up for traffic (I assume) dropping off a cliff.
Flea
Roar Rookie
Cricketarchive.com! Every now and then you get a link from Google that lets you through the paywall for some reason, I haven’t been able to work out how to get it to work every time though. I’m this close to just fronting up and paying it, even if only for me to turn to every time a thought pops into my head during a test match.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Jhye Richardson is ahead of Boland and Neser now that he has overcome his heal bruising.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
It's interesting that Jhye Richardson is matching Morris' pace, bowling often at 150kph in his return to BBL. Richardson is the better bowler because of all the variety he has with the ball. Morris, however, deserves his spot. Both of them are likely to lead the test attack for many years.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
I don't know why people say "give Morris some time". He is into his 3rd season, has 59 First Class wickets and is leading the Shield wicket takers with 27 in half a season. Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood all debuted at test level with less seasons and less games under their belts. Must be a state based handicap system in place.
JohnB
Roar Rookie
When I did the original list there was a stats site that made it reasonably quick to do - that's since gone behind a paywall (I can't remember the name of the site by the way). There are certainly arguments either way - the only point I was trying to make was that historically selectors have been prepared to pick bowlers early if they see something in them without requiring multiple seasons of performance beforehand. No doubt they will sometimes get that wrong.
Flea
Roar Rookie
Great list (I started trying to compile the same and gave up, qudos!) Fair to say there’s arguments both ways from this. A lot of very brief/ordinary Test careers beginning after limited FC play, but fair to say most of the legends on this list started fairly quickly. I suppose something that’s interesting to look on in hindsight rather than something that helps predict the future. Thanks for sharing, love your work.
JohnB
Roar Rookie
A fuller list I did a few years ago - not updated over teh past few years but the principle remains the same: FC games before Test selection for pace bowlers first selected in the 90s up to late 2015: Paul Reiffel 36 Jo Angel 13 Brendon Julian 28 Glenn McGrath 8 Damian Fleming 41 (anything around there or more I’ll call “lots”) Michael Kasprowicz lots Jason Gillespie 16 Andy Bichel 20 Simon Cook 23 Paul Wilson 15 Adam Dale 20 Matthew Nicholson 8 Scott Muller 21 Brett Lee 16 Brad Williams lots Nathan Bracken 29 Shaun Tait 27 Stuart Clark lots Mitchell Johnson 22 Peter Siddle 12 Doug Bollinger lots Ben Hilfenhaus lots Clint McKay 20 Ryan Harris lots (but only 9 after moving to Qld and becoming fast rather than medium fast) Peter George 19 Trent Copeland 18 Pat Cummins 3 James Pattinson 9 Mitchell Starc 16 John Hastings 26 Jackson Bird 17 James Faulkner lots Josh Hazlewood 27 Pace bowlers first selected since I compiled that list are Joe Mennie, Chad Sayers, Jhye Richardson and Michael Neser. Nathan Coulter-Nile was picked as 12th man I think but never in a playing XI. I haven't checked but Mennie, Sayers and Neser would each have played "lots" of FC games before being selected. I'm not sure about the exact number of games for Richardson but he made his FC debut a little under 3 years before his test debut and would have only played around 11 Shield games before that debut.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Ashes is in the following WTC cycle :thumbup:
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Let Neser open the batting with Agar. If he gets double figures it'll be better than Warner, Khawaja and Harris. Then we won't have to take Warner or Harris so we can take two others who can open (say Renshaw and Bancroft) so we won't have to open the batting with Neser or Agar
Choppy Zezers
Roar Rookie
Yeah but we have a series against the 25th ranked England who will be Bazballing everywhere. Just aim for the top of off boys and it'll wobble a bit and let's see how Bazball goes.
Simoc
Roar Rookie
But was hopeless when the Heat was on to win the last T20 game. Came in and all he had to was back Munro. Wasn't up to it. Different format of course.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
No, can’t agree. He wouldn’t have learned a thing in Shield cricket. Yeah it was a steep learning curve, but he was still taking wickets. The only place to learn how to get test batsmen out is in test cricket.
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Lee is an example of why NOT to fast track. He had an extraordinary start to his career, taking 42 wickets from his first 7 tests at the phenomenal AVG of 16...but the next 5 years were painful. From season 2001 until season 2005 (inclusive) his record was poor. Hindsight shows he should have been fine-tuning his craft in the Shield, instead of learning it on the international stage. Have a look at his stats from seasons 2001 - 2005 compared to the rest. Take out the first 7 matches and his career was split neatly in two halves - 35 matches being ordinary, and 34 being very, very good. Seasons 2001-05 35 matches 117 wickets @ 3.3 per match Avg 38.88 SR 61.15 Econ 3.82 rpo Rest of career 41 matches 193 wickets @ 4.7 per match Avg 25.93 SR 48.59 Econ 3.20 rpo Neser's Shield contributions the past 4 seasons, and his suitability for the WTC and Ashes matches in England should see him in front of Morris for Sydney IMO.
Brett Allen
Roar Rookie
Throw in Shane Warne as well
Jeff
Roar Rookie
We can still finish third.
Flea
Roar Rookie
Thanks mate. Unsure on opening, I’d definitely believe it, but I know he’s spent a lot of his grade career at 4/5 in the middle order. Can handle the bat :thumbup:
Flea
Roar Rookie
Great shout re the brief FC careers of all those you mentioned :thumbup:
Short Arm
Roar Rookie
Thanks Flea, great first dig. I agree with you, poor old Neser has been carrying the drinks for ages & deserves to be first cab off the rank. Boland jumped the queue hopefully Morris doesn't as well. Neser's batting worth is very under rated, didn't he use to open the batting in clubland before his bowling took off?
JohnB
Roar Rookie
I wouldn't have any issue picking Lance Morris ahead of any of Michael Neser, Josh Hazlewood and Jhye Richardson. Fitness questions over the latter 2 and a different type of bowler completely from Neser who unfortunately for him is a backup to Boland, Hazlewood and to some extent Pat Cummins. It's tough luck for Neser but you don't get in the Australian side because it's your turn (or you shouldn't anyway). It's also notable that there hasn't been an issue with picking pace bowlers who look like they have something going for them despite them not having played much - Cummins of course had only played 3 Shield games when first picked. Mitchell Starc had played 16 FC games, Hazlewood himself was 27, which is not that many more than Morris has. You can go further back and keep finding more who bowled quick (at least when first picked) and didn't have to play a lot of FC games before being picked - prominent names are James Pattinson (9), Mitchell Johnson (22), Brett Lee (16), Jason Gillespie (16), Glenn McGrath (8), Peter Siddle (12) but there are others and if you extend it to fast medium it goes out to plenty.