MY FIRST TEST XI
THE Australian Twenty20 side kicks off a group of four games, starting tonight on the Gold Coast against South Africa, followed by three games against India before the real stuff starts in Adelaide on December 6.
Is anybody watching? Does anybody care?
The Test series against India is 20 days away and the make-up of our first Test lineup is still very much unknown.
Sadly, it appears he who puts his hand up highest over the next few days may earn the right to wear the baggy green cap.
The stench after Cape Town remains and this new crop of players has plenty of work to do to win back the hearts of the Australian public.
Will Shaun Marsh, after repeated failures, retain his place after a well-made oneday century last week? Or has his meter expired at Test level?
Can his younger brother Mitch finally fulfil his potential and lock away his position as the Test all-rounder?
Will Usman Khawaja be fit and ready?
Should Aaron Finch stay at the top of the order or move down into the luxury seats in the middle?
Will our quick bowlers be match-hardened and ready to take on the dangerous Indian batting line-up?
Who will make up the middle-order? So many questions, not many answers.
It will be easy to piece together how the selectors will most likely lean after this round of Shield matches, so I’ve decided to pick my Test 12 today based on the evidence we have, rather than waiting until next week when the picture will be clearer.
It will be a lengthy selection meeting no matter what happens over the next few days. These selection decisions are crucial to allow us to move forward as a team.
I’m assuming Khawaja will be fit and therefore play the next game of Shield cricket or at least a second XI game — oops, sorry I meant a Futures League game! — to prove his fitness for the first Test.
He can open or bat at three, but I’m going to place him as our rock at No.3.
His stoic efforts in the UAE silenced a few of his critics, of which I have been in the past away from home.
I’m staying with local boy Aaron Finch to open in Adelaide, because he can get us off to a positive start and put pressure on the Indian bowlers.
If he gets in, he will score heavily and I’m backing him to do so this summer.
It’s his time to shine right now. He has done the hard yards and his fruit is ripe for the picking.
His opening partner will come from Queensland pair Matthew Renshaw and Joe Burns, or perhaps my choice is adopted West Australian, now Victorian, left-hander Marcus Harris.
He and coach Justin Langer didn’t part on friendly terms when he left Western Australia no matter what you read, but Langer will see the rough edges polished and the grit in Harris.
He reminds me a lot of Langer in stature and technique — we can only hope the same in performance.
Forgotten Test player is Tasmanian Alex Doolan. He is a man of rock-solid character and also a highly competent craftsman, with a good temperament.
He could be the bolter as he is the best-performed batsman in the early part of the Shield season at the top of the order.
The middle-order is flaky at best but I believe Travis Head, who has really struggled in the short version, is best equipped to bat at No.4 or 5 — but I’m not so sure the selectors will feel the same.
Surely they will not even contemplate Mitch Marsh in this position again.
He appeared to have vertigo in the UAE. Let’s lock Mitch in at No.6 and let him play.
The other middle-order spot is up for grabs and no doubt the selectors will hotly debate Shaun Marsh once again.
I think he’s a good player but my patience has run out at Test level.
I’m pulling the biased Big V hat on and reinstating Peter Handscomb. He has been scrutinised to within an inch of his life about his technique.
He has ticker and has managed two Test hundreds with an average of 43 before being moved out.
He also averages more than 40 in first-class cricket with 12 centuries.
Handscomb is a leader in the group that we so desperately need, and for that reason he gets my last position in the batting line-up.
The bowling line-up is straightforward and picks itself if all the NSW crew stand up over the next four days.
If any of them fall, then Michael Neser, Peter Siddle or the man most worthy based on numbers, Chris Tremain, will sneak into the line-up.
Personally I believe, as previously written here, that Fawad Ahmed is the best legspinner in the country and in Adelaide I would have him in my 12.
It will not happen but it’s what I honestly believe.