The PlanetCricket View: How much more sweeping can the Aussies do?

[PlanetCricket]

Article by Sylvester -

How much more sweeping under the carpet can the selectors do before the mess under the carpet is too much? That is the question which the Australian selectors will have to answer for the Boxing Day test.

Hilditch and cronies have left the new selectors in a tough position. By failing to move along some of the older out of form players, we have now come to the point where our batting is a complete and utter mess. The team now has young guys that are struggling to find their feet at the top level, coupled with experienced guys who are failing in the same innings far too often.



In the past two years there are 7 innings where the team has scored less than 200 including 3 innings where the team has scored less than 100. Now if we take a look into these scores:

150 v West Indies Perth 16 Dec 2009 - Watson, Katich, Clarke, Hussey, North, Haddin (Top score Watson 30)
127 v Pakistan Sydney 3 Jan 2010 - Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Hussey, Clarke, North, Haddin (Top score Johnson 38)
88 v Pakistan Leeds 21 Jul 2010 ? Watson, Katich, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, North, Paine (Top score Paine 17)
192 v India Mohali 1 Oct 2010 ? Watson, Katich, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, North, Paine (Top score Watson 56)
98 v England Melbourne 26 Dec 2010 ? Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Smith, Haddin (Top score Clarke 20)
47 v South Africa Cape Town 9 Nov 2011 ? Watson, Hughes, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Haddin, Marsh (Top score Lyon 14)
136 v New Zealand Hobart 9 Dec 2011 ? Warner, Hughes, Khawaja, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Haddin (Top score Siddle 36)

In this period we have dumped North hoping he was the problem. The Boxing Day Test against England showed this problem was not solved. So Smith and Katich were dumped in the hope they were the problem. Then came the lowest point in Australian cricket when they were reduced to 9/21, quite clearly this problem was still not fixed. A lack of replacement batsmen meant this problem was swept under the carpet by the old selectors. Inverarity and his new selectors were spared the hard decisions when Marsh and Watson were ruled out however this didn?t stop the team being rolled out by NZ and losing to NZ for the first time on Aussie soil in 26 years. We can keep playing musical chairs but it is clear the core of the problem lies with the players that keep appearing in these collapses.

In less than half of these innings the batsmen has been top score, and only in one occasion did the batsmen pass 50. Now if we extend this onto the second innings of the Hobart test, taking out Warner?s knock, the next highest scorer in this innings was Khawaja with 23. Where are the experienced batsmen? That is a minimum of 8 innings where all the experienced batsmen have not contributed in the same innings in the past 2 years and there could be more that I have missed. This is a major reason why we have seen these collapses over the past 2 years.

In comparison the number one ranked side, England, has been rolled under 200 in two test matches in both innings giving a total of four with these coming against Australia and South Africa. India has been bowled out for under 200 in only two occasions against SA and England. And the last of the top three, South Africa has been bowled out three times for a score under 200 in the past 2 years which have come against Australia, India and England. It is understandable that teams will get bowled out for a low score at times but what this shows is Australia is getting bowled out for a low score at double the rate compared to the top 3 sides. And when these sides are bowled out cheaply, it is occurring against the best ranked sides not against teams ranked 6th, 7th and 8th. And lastly only South Africa has a score below 100 and they ended up winning that match. Australia on the other hand has three scores under 100 in this period.

If these stats weren?t worrying enough then the fact three guys are over 34 and all three are under pressure to retain their spots should be. So if the selectors choose to sweep this latest debacle under the carpet, in a year or so when Ponting, Hussey and even Haddin call it a day, then the batting lineup will have three new faces in it. ?One can only hope the new guys in Warner, Marsh and Khawaja have established themselves at this level by that time.

The other issue which has also stalled the rejuvenation of the batting lineup is the failure of the youngsters to step up. A lot has been invested into Philip Hughes and Usman Khawaja making the step up. Hughes started with a hiss and a bang before being dropped for technical issues. He came back into the side when he was in a form slump however things appeared to be looking up when he made three hundreds in three matches including the Sheffield Shield final and against Zimbabwe A making it easier for the selectors to give him first crack at the vacant opening role left by the shock axing of Katich. While he made runs in both the SL and SA Test series, the Marcus North like consistency coupled with another technical issue leading to b. Martin c. Guptil should see Hughes being made the first scapegoat for the loss to NZ. Khawaja on the other hand does not have the technical issues of Hughes; however he also hasn?t got the conversion stats like Hughes. In a more settled lineup, Khawaja would probably be given a few more tests to establish himself, however in this lineup it appears he will be the next one off this sinking ship.

Warner and Marsh represent the success stories of the youngsters to date. However it is still too soon to tell on this front. Warner is only into his second game while Marsh continues to be injury prone. For the sake of Australian cricket, one can only hope both of these guys go on.

So what changes can be made for Boxing Day? If Watson and Marsh prove their fitness they will obviously be in the best 11. However those who think Watson will fix the problem only need to look at the stats I have shown where Watson has been a part of 6 of the 7 collapses. Marsh may add some stability if he can get through the match. Hughes would be one that makes way; the other is between Ponting and Khawaja. Khawaja has failed to cement a spot in the side, in particular this series where he has got starts. Ponting made another 50 at the Gabba but the end looks nigh for him and he hasn?t made a hundred in two years. Brad Haddin is also the last thing this batting lineup needs, in the 47 all out he played the most ridiculous shot and in the Hobart test his shots weren?t much better. Matthew Wade is waiting in the wings and Peter Nevill is starting to make a name for himself. Hussey?s runs in SL will give him the first 2 test matches against India pending results, failure in those could seem him out the door.

If the worse should happen with Marsh and Watson or the selectors decide to give Ponting and Khawaja the flick then we need to take a look at the options at domestic level. Below are the leading run scores for this season.

Peter Forrest 581 runs from 11 innings at 58.10 with 3 hundreds
Michael Klinger 538 runs from 11 innings at 48.90 with 4 fifties
Wade Townsend 502 runs from 11 innings at 50.20 with 1 hundred
Chris Rogers 492 runs from 11 innings at 44.72 with 2 hundreds
Daniel Christian 475 runs from 9 innings at 59.37 with 2 hundreds
Peter Nevill 472 runs from 11 innings at 67.42 with 1 hundred

Other batsmen of interest
Ed Cowan 578 runs from 11 innings at 64.22 with 3 hundreds (Includes Australia A game)
Matthew Wade 369 runs from 7 innings at 61.5 with 1 hundred
Callum Ferguson 320 runs from 11 innings at 29.09
Chris Lynn 119 runs from 6 innings at 23.8
Nic Maddinson 276 runs from 6 innings at 27.6

As we can see the guys that top the run tally this season are guys that aren?t really in test contention. Christian was on standby for the Hobart match but this was more due to him being an all-rounder than his batting alone. While he has been excellent this season, it does remain the only season where he has averaged over 50 and hence his overall FC average of 30. Cowan is the other guy who might be a chance at sneaking in a Boxing Day test as he is the form opener in the competition. He vales his wicket which could be very useful for the present Aussie lineup, if he has the technique to stand up to the next level, remains to be seen. I mentioned earlier that the youngsters haven?t stepped up and as we can see here none of the youngsters that have been identified as prospects have stood up to apply serious pressure on the struggling incumbents. Ferguson has been having a dreadful season, likewise Maddinson while Lynn has only returned but also struggled.

I wish there was a quick solution to our problem but the mess which the previous selectors have left us in coupled with the loss of form from the experienced guys and the youngsters not stepping up makes it a tough decision whichever way the selectors decide to go. ?Khawaja remains the most interesting decision if we do decide to ditch Ponting. Do we hope he comes good or do we go with someone like Cowan? Personally I am mixed on what we should do but as I have banged on about in this article, we cannot sweep this problem under the carpet any longer so some changes must be made to the core of the problem i.e. Haddin, Ponting and Hussey.





More...

 

[sifter132]

Chris Lynn is a guy I'd like to see in there soon. I hope he makes some big runs for QLD and bangs down the door.

The trouble is that it's hard to make the big changes right now. Haddin and Ponting have made 2 50s recently, and both were valuable in the field this series. Hussey had been batting very well up until the last few matches. The only really droppable guys are Hughes and Khawaja and they are very likely to be replaced anyway by Watson and Marsh. So I think for the first couple of Tests of the India series there won't really be any big changes, unless Ricky retired or something.

And that kind of makes sense, if Australia had won this last Test they would have had 3 very decent series results in a row: win in SL, draw in SA, win vs NZ, and there wouldn't have seemed like the need for such drastic changes.

I think after the summer's done the long term questions will definitely need to be asked, and that's when the axe might fall heavily - like it did for Katich last year.

 

[aussie1st]

The thing is the same logic could be applied to Hughes. He scored the last hundred out of the players under pressure. He also made an 80 in SA. In the past year Hughes averages 24, Ponting 22, Haddin 24 the difference is Hughes has a hundred. Just like Hughes, it is what they are doing between these matches where the problem is. I do agree it is hard to make changes for the reasons mentioned in the article, and all I can say is good luck to the selectors.

The problem with keeping them is if they make runs it will be even harder to move them on unless they retire. Then we are essentially sweeping these collapses under the carpet again and worrying when our next collapse is.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

you could maybe blame cricket australia if the domestic comp was slipping in standard in a way that was avoidable (which I think it was in the mid 2000s with pitches getting easier and the piling up of guys in their mid 30s) but I don't see how you can blame the selectors when the problem seems to be, in a nutshell, no one's good enough.

what were they supposed to do when you're blaming them for letting the side get too old? which players should they have been playing that would be holding the batting order together right now? players like hussey and trott were able to score runs pretty much from their entry into test cricket, if there's a good 30 year old that should been blooded back in 2005 why not just pick him now?

because they don't exist. (although phil jacques probably should have returned to the side)

problems at domestic level might be the cause and the board should take some blame but you can't blame the selectors for not picking sub-standard youngsters over older players that were consistently winning.

There is absolutely no reason ponting and hussey should be performing so poorly, their age is no excuse, look at Kallis, Chanderpaul, Misbah Al-Haq, the indian trio.

 

[aussie1st]

North was the start of the problem. If the selectors wanted a time to pick Smith then the NZ series was it, he was at the peak of his form. If his career would have ended up any difference we will never know but if it didn't then what we know for certain is he wouldn't have been in the 2010 Ashes. Khawaja and Ferguson were also ripe for the picking.

Then you have Hussey who was lucky to survive the 09 Ashes campaign. Leading into that series he had averages of 35, 17, 22, he then finished the Ashes with an average of 34.5. The only scapegoat from that Ashes series was Stuart Clark. There was the time we could have got rid of Hussey and brought in someone else. Shaun Marsh and Ferguson both of whom were in the ODI setup and doing well and backed it up with good FC figures were ripe for the picking.

So yes they do exist.

 

[Sedition]

Well I made a long-winded post in the Border-Gavaskar thread, probably should've put it here instead.

I wouldn't mind Watson being moved down the order, but I don't have any problems with him opening. Warner, Cowan, Marsh, Watson does look better than anything with Ponting.

I'm not entirely ready to axe Khawaja either, but considering his main competition at this stage is probably Ponting, he will miss out. The way I see it, we can keep carrying Ponting and then have him retire, or we can carry Khawaja instead and give him the opportunity to cement his place. He's really done no worse than any other batsmen, yet because he's the least experienced, he'll be dropped first.. I'll take the young guy averaging 29 over the old guy averaging 27 in the same time.

 

[aussie1st]

I'm not entirely ready to axe Khawaja either, but considering his main competition at this stage is probably Ponting, he will miss out. The way I see it, we can keep carrying Ponting and then have him retire, or we can carry Khawaja instead and give him the opportunity to cement his place. He's really done no worse than any other batsmen, yet because he's the least experienced, he'll be dropped first.. I'll take the young guy averaging 29 over the old guy averaging 27 in the same time.

This brings up another point I haven't added. If you look at what we have done in the past few years and what the batting has done, what has it all been for? The slide down to 5th in the Test ranking, being bowled out three times under 100, and yet for all that we still will have to rebuild once Haddin, Hussey and Ponting go. So we still have more of this to look forward to. That is why while Hussey has partially repaid the selectors, we could have instead had say a Marsh, Khawaja 2 years into their test careers instead of being as green as they are.

 

[sifter132]

The thing is the same logic could be applied to Hughes. He scored the last hundred out of the players under pressure. He also made an 80 in SA. In the past year Hughes averages 24, Ponting 22, Haddin 24 the difference is Hughes has a hundred. Just like Hughes, it is what they are doing between these matches where the problem is. I do agree it is hard to make changes for the reasons mentioned in the article, and all I can say is good luck to the selectors.

The problem with keeping them is if they make runs it will be even harder to move them on unless they retire. Then we are essentially sweeping these collapses under the carpet again and worrying when our next collapse is.

I think the difference is that this time it feels like we lost. In SA a drawn series is like a win, but at home vs NZ a drawn series is basically a lost series. Hughes I guess does have a slight case for retention-very slight... but the great thing is someone is going to need to be replaced if Watson and Marsh are fit. Hughes and Khawaja has to be the choices there, they can't drop Warner after a century. And Ponting scored more runs than either Hughes/Khawaja in the series so it would be brave selection indeed to keep one of those 2 over a legend.

With the players on the hot seat doing JUST enough to hang on, it will be after the summer that any sweeping changes are made, and they will be with an eye on 2013 Ashes. Hussey and Ponting will be in the firing line, I don't see how they can be relied upon for 2013, with form and age big question marks. Ditto for Haddin. So I think the WI tour of Mar-Apr will be where a new team might get rolled out, and it will probably be where we see Watson head down the order (much as I won't like it)

 

[Sedition]

In the second innings against NZ, I feel like Hughes basically played 3 innings - 0, 20* and 0 again. He needed to have played Warner's innings and vice versa to have a chance against India.

 

[aussie1st]

With the players on the hot seat doing JUST enough to hang on, it will be after the summer that any sweeping changes are made, and they will be with an eye on 2013 Ashes. Hussey and Ponting will be in the firing line, I don't see how they can be relied upon for 2013, with form and age big question marks. Ditto for Haddin. So I think the WI tour of Mar-Apr will be where a new team might get rolled out, and it will probably be where we see Watson head down the order (much as I won't like it)

I do hope that is the case but I fear if they each make a century the selectors won't have the courage to make the changes and we continue on our merry way.

And we really need to avoid looking at the results regarding changes. This was one problem that came from those lucky wins against WI and Pakistan on our own backyard, instead of changes being made had we lost those games, we did more sweeping which eventually came to this point.

 

[sifter132]

Was just reading this morning that Phil Hughes is going to play at Worcestershire this winter - GREAT STUFF Phil Was suggesting this just a few days ago in a post. Work hard at your game and improvements will be found lad.

 

[aussie1st]

That should be good for him, some of the tracks found in Shield cricket have been quite flat and the bowling depth of late hasn't been where it should be due to injuries. Should find more spicy tracks in England and might come across some international class bowlers.

 

[swacker]

I haven't got any idea why Katich has left out. He had proven his ability of scoring runs under pressure but I don't get the point of replacing him. Taking over him, Hughes has struggled thoughout the year, perhaps averaging under 30 which is actually low for any Test cricketer. If he would have scored some runs last test, he would have been in the squad for the India series. Cowan looks to be a good player, in my opinion because he's being in great touch and if he performs well in the warm game, I am sure that he will be picked for the test.

I know the collapse that the Australians made, must of them where on a flat pitches which were not for the batsmen, if I remember correctly. There is no point that every team looks for a good line-up but you can't make a mistake. It appears to be that the side which haven't made a mistake, haven't tried anything new. I think Justin Langer hasn't done much with his technique, perhaps that is why the team looks to be uneven. Ponting looks to be the man who is going to be left out soon, but I don't agree with that. I think the form has really struggled him, not only him but also Haddin, Hussey and Johnson.

Some may say that it's the age that made them lose confidence, as many said Hussey took the advantage to the Ashes where he scored more runs for Australia in that particular series. He's certainly a great player and if he performs the same he did as the Ashes, he would be the stand out batsman. I Apparently think Ponting shouldn't be playing at number four. I know Clarke wants the youth to perform well or to make him annoying or something else, isn't that Ponting's place where he scored must of his runs? I want him to be back at number three where he should be. I have nothing against the youth but I want Ponting to make the must of his ability to stay the squad. Where is Marcus North, by the way?

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

North was the start of the problem. If the selectors wanted a time to pick Smith then the NZ series was it, he was at the peak of his form. If his career would have ended up any difference we will never know but if it didn't then what we know for certain is he wouldn't have been in the 2010 Ashes. Khawaja and Ferguson were also ripe for the picking.

Then you have Hussey who was lucky to survive the 09 Ashes campaign. Leading into that series he had averages of 35, 17, 22, he then finished the Ashes with an average of 34.5. The only scapegoat from that Ashes series was Stuart Clark. There was the time we could have got rid of Hussey and brought in someone else. Shaun Marsh and Ferguson both of whom were in the ODI setup and doing well and backed it up with good FC figures were ripe for the picking.

So yes they do exist.

I was thinking about this, but khawaja is in the team now? do you think he would have been better had he come in earlier? Phil Hughes suggests otherwise, he was a young player scoring runs brought into the side with a view that he would improve and he hasn't. India are similarly going through these problems with their number 6, young players have been given chances, but few have actually looked liked getting better merely through playing tests.

you only get better working on your game, as far as I know Callum Ferguson is still selectable, so why blame the past selectors for the problems with the batting line up? Surely it should be the current selectors as they're not picking the players you think would improve the team.

 

[aussie1st]

I was thinking about this, but khawaja is in the team now? do you think he would have been better had he come in earlier? Phil Hughes suggests otherwise, he was a young player scoring runs brought into the side with a view that he would improve and he hasn't. India are similarly going through these problems with their number 6, young players have been given chances, but few have actually looked liked getting better merely through playing tests.

Maybe, maybe not. One thing for certain is we would have known either way as instead of being a 5 match veteran he would have been 15 matches. If Kallis or Tendulkar were judge on their first few matches they would have been dropped too.

you only get better working on your game, as far as I know Callum Ferguson is still selectable, so why blame the past selectors for the problems with the batting line up? Surely it should be the current selectors as they're not picking the players you think would improve the team.

The current selectors only came into place for the series against NZ. The previous selectors were in charge of the 9/21. The previous selectors were in charge of 6 of the innings I mentioned above. How can you blame the current selectors when they weren't in charge?

Ferguson picked the wrong time to have a mini form slump. Just like the guy you are advocating in Jaques who has been performing worse than Ferguson. Players have these slumps just his one along with a few others this season have picked the worse times to have them.