Roar Rookie
Joined October 2014
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On paper, Doolan's a dud. In practice, Doolan's little better. We're told that on promise, Doolan's due. Ignore the spin - however you cut…
Consider this: Hughes has a higher test average at number 3 than Doolan’s first class average at number 3.
Not only has Hughes done enough to earn the spot in his own right, Doolan’s not done enough to earn his spot in the first place. Cut your losses – persisting with him is lunacy.
Ignore the hypocrites, Hughes must replace Doolan
The thinking seems to be that Hughes is a confidence player, and putting him in too early will dent his confidence and stunt his performance. Picking him for a home series seems to be the preferred tactic to give him the greatest opportunity to come out of the gates with a bolt.
Take the confidence story at face value for a second.
The problem is that for every tour they don’t pick Hughes (as a way to “protect” him), they are denting his confidence against those opposition, in those conditions. If he’s being told he needs to be coddled and cooed until such time as his precious self is ready to win tests for us, but not against those guys, or not on that pitch, what’s that doing for his confidence in the meantime?
By not selecting Hughes to “protect” his confidence, they’re denting his confidence. It’s a strategy in need of a page one rewrite.
Ignore the hypocrites, Hughes must replace Doolan
Hughes is broadly expected to occupy the opener role when Rogers retires, so we may soon see a time when Hughes is in that position. But no player deserves to be in the team if they have someone waiting for a berth who’ll perform better than them.
If we’re expecting Hughes to come in as opener anyway, and in the meantime we have him on the benches while our number 3 fumbles around (Doolan, by the way, is “not exactly adept at playing spin” either), what’s to lose from having him come in early?
He gets the experience of playing spin in different conditions earlier than otherwise. He gets a crack at the new ball at pace. And Australia gets a real first drop. Unless Hughes does not factor into the team’s long-term planning, then his omission is unfathomable.
Ignore the hypocrites, Hughes must replace Doolan
If Hughes is better than Doolan in Australian conditions (a point borne out by the stats and both men’s track records), and just as terrible as Doolan in turning conditions (which, for the sake of argument, seems to be your point), why isn’t he number 3 already? Are you suggesting that we pick Doolan, who’s sub-par all the time, instead of Hughes, who you think is only sup-bar some of the time?
Ignore the hypocrites, Hughes must replace Doolan