CA’s low bar for a baggy green
THIRTY is the new 50 in the convoluted world of Australian cricket.
Rising standards for the baggy green have been the catchcry ever since the sky fell in over in South Africa, but maybe not, it would seem, if you’re a batsman.
Cricket Australia yesterday released a bizarre statistical explanation on its official website as “rationale” for the selection panel’s controversial snubbing of Glenn Maxwell and others for next month’s Test tour against Pakistan in the UAE.
According to a story published on CA’s website, scores of “30 plus” have been identified as a “key metric” for a new-look squad trying to avoid batting collapses.
Perhaps most bewildering is this mediocre pillar seems to fly in the face of everything coach Justin Langer had been preaching for the initial 24 hours after the team was picked about how the bar needed to be raised and that hundreds were paramount.
Langer was emphatic, with Maxwell as his example.
“Take the name out of it, we’ve got to get back to a point in Australian cricket where it’s really hard to get into the team,” he said on SEN radio.
“Otherwise we’ll keep accepting mediocrity and that’s not what we’re about.”
In CA’s defence, scoring hundreds and performance under pressure were the two other key metrics cited.
However, the revelation there is now an emphasis on scoring 30s has many in the game shaking their heads.
According to Cricket Australia, Aaron Finch gets a “big tick” for his percentage of scores of 30-plus, as does fellow debutant-in-waiting Travis Head.
Maxwell on the other hand ranks lowly on the 30-plus count, and apparently this is more significant than the fact he averages 41 in firstclass cricket compared with Finch and Head who manage just 36.