Selectors to blame for Dhaka disgrace

WHAT happened in Dhaka was on one hand wonderful for world cricket and on the other embarrassing for a pack of overpaid prima donnas.

The wonderful part relates to the Bangladesh cricketers who scored their most significant victory in a 102-Test history that only began 17 years ago.

Hopefully it leads to it becoming a legitimate Test-playing nation in venues not just at home.

And then there are the prima donnas, otherwise known as the Australian Test team. I use that term because these are the same players who went on strike over their pay packets, ones that dwarf most professional sportspersons in this country.

So if you want to play that game, by heck you have to make sure you back it up in the field of play.

Losing to the Tigers, albeit in an entertaining Test match, is hardly doing that.

Actually, it’s not totally their fault because our Test selectors didn’t help by picking a side not best suited to the conditions.

Usman Khawaja is a perfectly capable Test No.3 on Australian soil, but taking him to the subcontinent is a waste of time.

In five Tests in those conditions he has made 21, 26, 13no, 26, 18, 11, 0, 1 and 1 – hardly compelling reasons to pick him.

This was after he was selected to tour India earlier this year but not chosen in any of the four Tests. They clearly didn’t think he could handle the conditions then so why was he chosen?

We also pick Ashton Agar ahead of Jon Holland because he is a far superior batsmen and fielder. But what about taking wickets?

Holland has been the most destructive domestic spinner over the past two seasons yet continues to be ignored.

And just to really rub it in, the player who has been flown to Bangladesh to replace the injured Josh Hazlewood is Steve O’Keefe, the 32-year-old who was fined $20,000 and banned from this year’s domestic one-day competition over drunken behaviour and offensive comments made at the NSW Cricket end-of-season awards night.

Victoria’s cricket hierarchy wants answers, particularly after Holland was selected ahead of O’Keefe in the training camp in Darwin before the Bangladesh tour.

Also under pressure is former Victorian captain Matthew Wade, who seems to favour being hit on the pads rather than his bat when facing spin, being out LBW on four of his last eight dismissals on the subcontinent.

He now averages 29 after 21 Tests, which was acceptable 40 years ago but was changed by Adam Gilchrist.