A shoulder injury expected to sideline Shane Watson for the remainder of the summer's Tests against the West Indies and South Africa has thrown into turmoil Australia's plan to blood an all-rounder for the future.
Vice-captain Adam Gilchrist has voiced support for an all-rounder in the Test side because of the extra bowling option it provided during this week's 379-run drubbing of the West Indies, raising the possibility Andrew Symonds's fleeting Test career may be revived. But chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns last night said he and his panel would be forced to re-think the structure of the team for the next Test, starting Thursday week in Hobart. He suggested the all-rounder experiment might have to be put on hold until Watson's return.
Symonds made a chanceless 163 for Queensland against South Australia on Sunday, but Hohns would not speculate on his chances of adding to his two Test caps. "There is no doubt he must have played very well," Hohns said.
The selectors face an uncommonly complex decision after such a comprehensive victory when they meet today to choose a squad of 12 or 13.
Justin Langer, who may have further damaged his cracked rib during a fitness test in Brisbane last week, remains in doubt, suggesting Michael Hussey will be retained as either a replacement opener or a middle order bat and perhaps present a bowling option with his useful seamers.
Hohns said it was too early to say whether Stuart MacGill was likely to partner Shane Warne at Bellerive, but both MacGill and Nathan Bracken would at least remain in the squad. Instead of picking an all-rounder, the selectors may go for a spare batsman such as Brad Hodge.
Gilchrist said: "Given the direction we were going with our team and the structure, he [Watson] was going to be given every chance with bat and ball. It's very sad for him."
The option of playing five bowlers is seen as only a remote possibility, and has not been tried since 2003 in the Caribbean.
"I'm not sure which way we're going to go," Gilchrist said. "I'd say his [Symonds's] name was probably in the ring anyway prior to yesterday ? I don't want to sit here and push his case more than anybody else's but I think he is definitely a viable option and he's in good form, too."
James Hopes, the Queensland all-rounder who was picked to replace Watson on a one-day tour of New Zealand earlier this year, has also injured his shoulder. Watson today will have surgery after partially dislocating his shoulder and said he would miss at least two months of cricket and aim to be fit for the one-day series against South Africa and Sri Lanka.
The injury, sustained when he dived to stop an on drive from Ramnaresh Sarwan on Sunday, is a huge setback for the 24-year-old, who was being given time to bloom despite batting at No.7 and gaining only limited opportunities to bowl his fast seamers.
"I landed on my left elbow and it just stopped," said Watson, whose career has been marred by stress fractures. "It was a terrible noise, I just keep replaying it over in my mind. I was actually thinking that can't be my body ? [fortunately] it wasn't the right shoulder otherwise it could have been a lot longer."
The selection dilemma might end up being academic given the West Indies' rudderless performance in Brisbane. But Gilchrist said Bracken's ability to make the old ball reverse, without the mints he last month intimated were widely used to change the state of the ball in English county cricket, would make him an asset at Bellerive. He would play if Australia returned to its traditional four-man bowling attack, or experimented with five bowlers including MacGill.
"The ball down in Tasmania and in Adelaide really goes a bit reverse or scuffs up on their surfaces and Bracks is a wonderful exponent of reverse swing bowling, so he's given himself every chance to remain in the side," said Gilchrist after Bracken's four second-innings wickets, including that of Brian Lara's.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/cricket/...reddie-stand-up/2005/11/07/1131212005140.html
