WHY AUSTRALIA’S CRICKET SELECTORS ARE GOING BATTY
Apart from one player, World Cup hopefuls aren’t grabbing their chances, Robert Craddock writes.
MATTHEW Hayden once caught a marlin fishing in the West Indies, but Australia’s selectors have dropped a line there and received just one bite. Selector Trevor Hohns could not have been more emphatic had he grabbed a top hat and microphone and hollered “Step right up …’’ as he announced the West Indies white-ball touring squad. With seven senior players resting due to bubble fatigue, Hohns declared any player who stood up on tour while the stars were out would be given a rails run in selection for the T20 World Cup in the UAE in October.
Deep down, you sense Hohns wanted them to stand up so he could send a message to experienced players if you skip tours you can and will lose your place.
But only one man – Mitchell Marsh – was truly roused by the memo, with an exceptional tour featuring innings of 51, 54 and 75 plus six wickets, an against-the-flow effort as Australia lost the first three matches and the series, before sneaking home in the fourth game.
The batting response, Marsh apart, has been underwhelming, to the point where Australia needs the likes of David Warner and Steve Smith to return so they can look formidable again. Apart from Marsh, no Australian batsman has scored more than Aaron Finch’s 93 runs and most have scored much less, spotlighting a batting problem much wider than just this tournament.
Australia is mystified why it cannot produce more decent batsmen in all formats, so it is trying some creative measures to flush out fresh blood, like leaving three spots open on its 20-man contract list in April, to reward those who improve throughout the season.
But so far, Marsh apart, the fish are not biting.
Of Australia’s 17 contracted players, only three were batsmen – Warner, Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – which was an unspoken statement by the selectors they were fed up handing out money for mediocrity.
Test great Greg Chappell puts some of the batting malaise down to constant changing of the formats, which require different stroke selection and can scramble the mind and muddy techniques.
A ball which you simply must play at in T20 cricket could also be the one you wouldn’t dare poke at on the first morning of a Test at the Gabba.
It’s confusing and confronting, and it’s why the admirably adaptable Warner, one of the few to truly crack the code, is an even better player than his distinguished record suggests.
“It’s harder for a young batsman to develop the basics of long-form cricket than ever before,’’ Chappell told Cricket.com.au recently.
Old-fashioned cricket coaching manuals may instruct batsmen to place their foot to the pitch of the ball, yet doing the polar opposite and clearing that front leg to enhance the hitting arc, has become an art-form.
During Australia’s T20 victory against the West Indies on Thursday, commentators spotlighted how adroitly Lendl Simmons managed to move his leg out of the line during a series of power-packed crunches, which gave two fingers to the textbook.
In bygone eras, Simmons’ moves would be deemed as irreverent as painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa. But the unconventional has become the acceptable.
Over the past three years, Australia has won just five of 13 T20 series, while struggling for continuity, a finisher and toporder fluency.
It has raised the question whether the Big Bash is overrated, delivering players who can biff and barge, but may lack the finesse needed to confront international bowlers.