As Australia’s new panel of selectors prepare to name their squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand, All Out Cricket’s Australian correspondent Kirby Meehan says they have some hard choices to make.
The cracks in Australia’s Test line-up just seem to get larger and larger. Lulled into a false sense of security by success against a weak Sri Lankan side, a largely unchanged side went to South Africa and delivered a rather topsy-turvy performance; losing the Test they should have won and winning the Test they really should have lost, leaving the series at an unsatisfying 1-1.
After the spectacular capitulation in the first Test at Newlands, injuries forced Australia’s hand ahead of the second Test in Johannesburg, as Usman Khawaja came in for Shaun Marsh – who returned home with a back complaint – and a hip injury to Ryan Harris saw Pat Cummins drafted in. When fit, the injury-prone Harris has been Australia’s most reliable paceman in recent times but Cummins was nothing short of a revelation in what must go down as one of the most memorable debuts in the history of Test cricket.
Remember when an upstart young spinner from Melbourne walked onto the pitch at Old Trafford and stunned Mike Gatting and the rest of the England team? It was the beginning of an extraordinary international career. If extraordinary careers have extraordinary beginnings, then the 18-year-old is set for one hell of a career. Six wickets for 79 runs at a miserly economy rate of 2.72 – not to mention walking out to bat in a pressure cooker at the Wanderers, grinning from ear, and smashing the winning runs – was quite some start for the second youngest player ever to wear the Baggy Green.
While the wünderkind came in and stole the show, the series up to that point had been punctuated by discussion over the futures of the veterans in the side. Prior to the record run-chase Ricky Ponting had come under-fire as his dismal recent record continued with two ducks and the much-maligned Brad Haddin was receiving plenty of criticism for his batting and glovework. Australian fans and pundits alike were calling for their heads but both played crucial second innings knocks to put Australia within winning distance and leave the new selection panel with some difficult decisions to make ahead of the home two-Test series against New Zealand.
With Cummins, Khawaja and Nathan Lyon – who looks capable of finally ended the never ending spin cycle – in the set-up, the future looks bright, and on his recent appointment as Australia coach Mickey Arthur was keen to point out that the cupboard is far from bare. So, is it time to clear out the old wood and start building for the future, or is the influence of the old guard more important than ever as the youngsters bed in to international cricket?
With injury doubts over Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, new national selector John Inverarity and his panel are unlikely to cause further upheaval by calling time on the careers of Ponting and Haddin just yet but the process of transition from old to new will be one of the key talking points at their first meeting.
And what of the fledgling Australian captain Michael Clarke, who now sits on the selection panel? How long will he be content to straddle the gulf between old and new? Will we begin to see big changes in the Australian line-up or will this new group, like those before them, be content to simply paper over the cracks and hope for the best?
Kirby Meehan is a displaced Aussie who threw her weight behind the Australian team, for good or bad, when she started the blog Thoughts from the Dustbin. You can follow her on Twitter and on her Facebook page.
Click here to read why James Henderson thinks New Zealand have their best chance of beating Australia in recent memory.
Will Australia Continue To Paper Over The Cracks?
As Australia’s new panel of selectors prepare to name their squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand, All Out Cricket’s Australian correspondent Kirby Meehan says they have some hard choices to make.
The cracks in Australia’s Test line-up just seem to get larger and larger. Lulled into a false sense of security by success against a weak Sri Lankan side, a largely unchanged side went to South Africa and delivered a rather topsy-turvy performance; losing the Test they should have won and winning the Test they really should have lost, leaving the series at an unsatisfying 1-1.
After the spectacular capitulation in the first Test at Newlands, injuries forced Australia’s hand ahead of the second Test in Johannesburg, as Usman Khawaja came in for Shaun Marsh – who returned home with a back complaint – and a hip injury to Ryan Harris saw Pat Cummins drafted in. When fit, the injury-prone Harris has been Australia’s most reliable paceman in recent times but Cummins was nothing short of a revelation in what must go down as one of the most memorable debuts in the history of Test cricket.
Remember when an upstart young spinner from Melbourne walked onto the pitch at Old Trafford and stunned Mike Gatting and the rest of the England team? It was the beginning of an extraordinary international career. If extraordinary careers have extraordinary beginnings, then the 18-year-old is set for one hell of a career. Six wickets for 79 runs at a miserly economy rate of 2.72 – not to mention walking out to bat in a pressure cooker at the Wanderers, grinning from ear, and smashing the winning runs – was quite some start for the second youngest player ever to wear the Baggy Green.
While the wünderkind came in and stole the show, the series up to that point had been punctuated by discussion over the futures of the veterans in the side. Prior to the record run-chase Ricky Ponting had come under-fire as his dismal recent record continued with two ducks and the much-maligned Brad Haddin was receiving plenty of criticism for his batting and glovework. Australian fans and pundits alike were calling for their heads but both played crucial second innings knocks to put Australia within winning distance and leave the new selection panel with some difficult decisions to make ahead of the home two-Test series against New Zealand.
With Cummins, Khawaja and Nathan Lyon – who looks capable of finally ended the never ending spin cycle – in the set-up, the future looks bright, and on his recent appointment as Australia coach Mickey Arthur was keen to point out that the cupboard is far from bare. So, is it time to clear out the old wood and start building for the future, or is the influence of the old guard more important than ever as the youngsters bed in to international cricket?
With injury doubts over Shane Watson, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, new national selector John Inverarity and his panel are unlikely to cause further upheaval by calling time on the careers of Ponting and Haddin just yet but the process of transition from old to new will be one of the key talking points at their first meeting.
And what of the fledgling Australian captain Michael Clarke, who now sits on the selection panel? How long will he be content to straddle the gulf between old and new? Will we begin to see big changes in the Australian line-up or will this new group, like those before them, be content to simply paper over the cracks and hope for the best?
Kirby Meehan is a displaced Aussie who threw her weight behind the Australian team, for good or bad, when she started the blog Thoughts from the Dustbin. You can follow her on Twitter and on her Facebook page.
Click here to read why James Henderson thinks New Zealand have their best chance of beating Australia in recent memory.