THE BURNING QUESTIONS FACING OUR TEST TEAM
SURELY IT’S TIME FOR A BOWLING CHANGE? DOES MARCUS STOINIS DESERVE A BAGGY GREEN OPPORTUNITY?
SHANE Warne isn’t the only cricket great championing the cause of the highly talented all-rounder. Former selector Mark Waugh pencilled in Stoinis for the first Ashes Test, ahead of Mitchell Marsh. On numbers alone Stoinis wins the battle hands down. Both he and Marsh, his West Australian captain, have played four Sheffield Shield games this summer. Stoinis has 298 runs and four 50s; Marsh has 264 runs, most coming in the 151 he made at the start of the summer. He hasn’t passed 50 since then in any form of the game. Stoinis has 10 wickets to Marsh’s six too. Then there is Stoinis’ Big Bash form, with 146 runs at an average just under 50 and four wickets. Marsh has scored 11 and three in his two games. If national selectors are willing to suggest three one-day games against South Africa was enough opportunity for Chris Lynn — who was dropped for the series against India — then surely 31 Tests with just five scores over 50 is enough to cast Marsh aside. Stoinis has to get an opportunity against Sri Lanka.
IS SHAUN MARSH DONE?
SO many times selectors have given the frustrating left-hander one more chance. But he has also been dropped seven times in his career. If Marsh were given another chance against Sri Lanka, despite passing 50 just once in his past 19 innings which has included 10 single-figure scores, he could get a big one and justify the selectors’ long held faith in him. Or they could drop him again and open the door for someone who isn’t 35 and hasn’t continually failed to live up to expectations. That new person may also be found wanting against the Sri Lankans. But as one commentator said, Marsh is a known quantity, he’s reliably unreliable. Maybe they could try someone like Victorian wunderkind Will Pucovski. He’s only 20, but has two centuries, including one score of 243, in eight Shield games.
IS THERE ENOUGH HEAT ON THE SELECTORS?
CRICKET Australia’s official policy is that selectors talk publicly only at the release of any squads, with a smattering of quotes from selection chairman Trevor Hohns in press releases, as was the case with the one-day squad released during the Sydney Test. Ashton Agar, dropped for the series against India, said communication with selectors was “pretty vague”. Fast bowler Nathan CoulterNile was left out because Hohns said he had a back injury. That was news to the West Australian quick who said the news was communicated “really poorly”. Consider also that in dropping Chris Lynn and D’Arcy Short from the ODI team Hohns, in that press release, said the two leading scorers in the most recent domestic one-day competition “had opportunities to cement their spots”. Both have played four ODIs. Lynn played all three against South Africa last November, faced 89 balls, and scored 59 runs. Short got one hit and made a second ball duck. Does that constitute “opportunities”? Only one of the top-five wicket takers in the JLT Cup, spinner Adam Zampa, was picked. But Peter Siddle, who hasn’t played an ODI since November 2010 and hasn’t played any 50over matches since November 2017, was selected as “great reward for his professionalism and strong leadership qualities”. Hohns and Greg Chappell, both believed to be contracted until after the Ashes this year, select the teams with coach Justin Langer. When the squad for the Sri Lankan Test series is announced later this week, it will be Langer answering the hard questions. And there are plenty.