With a long season of Test cricket to follow, a fascinating chapter awaits Steve Smith's team. © Cricaction
Every time a national squad is selected, howls of derision reverberate. In this day and age of social media, everyone can be a talking head ensuring beaten down selectors are essentially walking pinatas. This was once again the case when Australia's Test squad of Sri Lanka was announced on Tuesday (May 24).
Victorians were dismayed that none of their State players made the tour (James Pattinson and Peter Siddle both have back injuries) despite winning the Sheffield Shield. Compounding their woes, Victoria's arch nemesis New South Wales comprised more than half of the squad with eight representatives.
There were several left-field selections, highlighted by all-rounder Moises Henriques being selected after a prolonged period in Test wilderness. Nathan Coulter-Nile, the bustling but injury-prone paceman, was perhaps fortunate to have made the cut after a sub-par ICC World T20, 2016 and an Australian summer ravaged by injuries to yield just one First-Class match.
Of course, most of the scorn was directed at Shaun Marsh, a worn out punching bag after a long career that has mostly underwhelmed due to a rollercoaster ride at the crease. But if you tune out the white noise, and read between the lines, there are some intriguing cues from Australia's selectors over the team's makeup. Australia are in the midst of a Test sojourn, having not played since a decisive two-Test series victory in New Zealand in February. It culminated a highly successful Australian summer, where the team transitioned smoother than expected from the captaincy of Michael Clarke and the departures of a number of stalwarts.
After a six-month break from the long format, Australia will reset back into Test cricket in July against Sri Lanka, which starts an arduous 13 Tests over the following eight months, ending with a decisive series in India early next year. It might seem a while away but you sense Australia have an eye towards the tour of India, which has proven a wasteland for them for so many years.
It would be entirely disrespectful to state that Australia are using the Sri Lankan tour as a tune-up for the main draw-card of India, as that approach could spectacularly backfire considering their general ineptness in handling sub-continent conditions. But against a struggling Sri Lanka, severely handicapped without legends Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, Australia would consider it an opportune platform to tinker and experiment slightly in a bid to find some combinations that work in those terrains.
Australia only selected stalwart Nathan Lyon and Steve O'Keefe as their specialist spinners, surprising considering the expected turning pitches in Sri Lanka, but you feel this combination of off-spinner and left-arm orthodox intrigues Australian cricket chiefs. A lot of faith has been invested into O'Keefe, considering he has only played two Tests and is already 31 years of age.
After a highly impressive Indian Premier League following a breakout World T20, leg-spinner Adam Zampa was considered a strong chance of a berth but missed selection. It is easy to be swayed by his shorter format heroics, but a First-Class bowling average of more than 50 is a reminder that he has a way to go. Undoubtedly, the selectors couldn't overlook that eyesore of an average and had to resist the alluring 24-year-old. For now, anyway.
Another telltale sign of Australia's mantra is their preference of pace over spin testament of Henriques' selection over Glenn Maxwell, a hard-hitting batsman who can bowl handy off-spin although the 'all-rounder' label in the longer format is probably a stretch. Like Henriques, Maxwell has played all three of his Tests in the sub-continent and has not been sighted in a 'baggy green' for a prolonged period. Maxwell's non-selection is likely due to his susceptible bowling, with his wily off-spinners viewed as innocuous in the longer format.
But perhaps Henriques over Maxwell has more to do with Australia simply feeling more comfortable when armed with a bevy of quicks, even amid conditions not particularly conducive to pacemen.
Australia have always played their best when they are aggressive and intimidating - a manifestation of their bowling stocks - which could explain why Nathan Coulter-Nile has been given the nod despite being uncapped at Test level and struggling throughout the Australian summer with shoulder injuries. The West Australian is tall and broad-shouldered, sharpish with the ball and has a penchant for reverse swing - traits that should see him relish conditions in Sri Lanka if he is given an opportunity. Coulter-Nile will turn 29 later this year, hardly geriatric, but, much like O'Keefe, he's at a delicate juncture in his career. You feel the Australian selectors want to persist with him a bit longer and aren't ready yet to give the red stamp.
The rest of the squad was fairly predictable with the excitement over the impending return of spearhead Mitchell Starc negated by news that Pattinson and Siddle have been struck down by the injuries. It is a particularly cruel blow for Pattinson, who had a stellar start to his Test career in the Australian summer of 2011-12 before a slew of injuries has made him a walking question mark, much like fellow pace prodigy Pat Cummins.
The 26-year-old is out indefinitely, meaning his career once again is a great unknown. Frustratingly, Pattinson has only played 17 Tests since his scintillating debut against New Zealand in December of 2011 but, of course, that's still 16 more than the luckless Cummins.
Right now, it feels like the calm before the storm in Australian Test cricket. A fascinating chapter awaits Steve Smith's team.
No comments:
Post a Comment