Australian test selection 2018/19

[stephen]

Btw I don't get the Stoinis love in red ball cricket. Batting average of 33/ bowling average of 42.

The guy makes Mitch Marsh look like Botham by comparison. Better to use Head and Maxwell to bowl your part time filth.

 

[stephen]

Handscomb wasn't a problem. He deserved to be there a hell of a lot more than your boy Renshaw

Did I say Renshaw does deserve to be there? Burns should have opened. Renshaw should have played in the uae.

Handscomb hasn't done much since he was dropped and hasn't fixed his dodgy technique (tbf he kinda tried in the Sydney test).

 

[stephen]

Victoria are a lot like Queensland were in the 90s. They were winning shields left and right but they're more of a champion team than a team of champions. Other than Harris, Maxwell and Pattinson not many of the others are really demanding to be selected.

 

[the big bambino]

It's one thing to say Marsh isn't any good and it's time to drop him based on the last year. It's another to claim only rank incompetence would pick Marsh/Head/Hanscombe over Stoinis/Maxwell/whatever when their records are basically the same and none of them play much FC cricket

Marsh hasn’t performed and is deteriorating. He’s averaging 25 and it’s getting worse if you look at his record since the UAE. It makes sense to drop an aging mediocrity, that is getting worse with a younger player who may yet have potential to be something better. I confined my comments to Marsh. I don’t think your /Handscomb/Head response is relevant. Even so the merits of each player you mentioned can be discussed on more than just their stats. So you could place a premium on technique and mark down Handscomb. Or temperament and drop Head. Or potential and pick Pucovski. This is what you have to do when their stats are much the same and you still have to pick a side. The alternative is to pick Marsh. Which is the doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

 

[the big bambino]

I’m not really sure that Wade would be a good pick anyway guys...don’t want to burst any balloons though

Maybe not but neither is his opposition much better. He’s made runs on a hard pitch so he’s rightfully in the discussion.

 

[mr_mister]

Coming into the summer, Shaun Marsh was actually one of the easiest selections. He made runs in shield, did well last summer and provided valuable experience.

He wasn't the problem. The problems were:

Finch at the top of the order
Handscomb
M Marsh
Labaschagne

In any one test half our batting lineup didn't deserve to be there based on performance.

The other half of the problem wad that the guys who needed to step up - Khawaja and S Marsh in particular - both went missing.

S Marsh should be dropped not and he rightly is. But he should have played India for many reasons.

Don't forget he'd had like 7 test single digit scores in a row though leading up to the Aussie summer

That's pretty damning

 

[stephen]

Don't forget he'd had like 7 test single digit scores in a row though leading up to the Aussie summer

That's pretty damning

That's true but that can be ignored a little bit due to the circumstances.

The fact is, liking objectively coming into the first test, Shaun Marsh was the second batsman picked based on a number of factors.

Yes in hindsight a different batsman would have been better, but at the start of the summer he was the form shield batsman and had a great summer last season.

Now I think he's declined permanently due to his age. Which sucks because I'm basically his age. The thought of not being able to get better than I could have at a younger age is a strange and sad feeling.

 

[stephen]

'Test snub does not make a lot of sense' - Wade | ESPNcricinfo.com

Wade makes a lot of sense here.

If the selectors are coming out and saying that they only pick batsmen who bat from 1-4 for their state, we're limiting our potential selections to 24 players (potentially 30, but really, you shouldn't be picking players who wouldn't make their state's first XI), many of which are now 32+. There are journeymen who shouldn't be picked due to their age... Cooper, Bailey, Doolan, White etc... who are clogging up a large number of spots in the available 24 players. The system absolutely needs such players because they strengthen the whole competition. Here are the players who are potential selections based on the requirement (and the last round of shield cricket):

Test players:

MS Harris
UT Khawaja
M Labuschagne
SE Marsh
TM Head
PSP Handscomb

Shield players who batted top 4 in the last match, ranked by the difference between their first class batting average and their age:

WJ Pucovski (ave 49, age 20) 29
KR Patterson (ave 41, age 25) 16
MT Renshaw (ave 38, age 22) 16
JS Lehmann (ave 40, age 26) 14
JA Burns (ave 41, age 29) 12
DP Hughes (ave 40, age 29) 11
GJ Maxwell (ave 41, age 30) 11
HWR Cartwright (ave 36, age 26) 10
NJ Maddinson (ave 36, age 27) 9
J Weatherald (ave 33, age 24) 9
M Labuschagne (ave 33, age 24) 9
TJ Dean (ave 32, age 26) 6
JR Doran (ave 28, age 22) 6
JC Silk (ave 32, age 26) 6
MR Marsh (ave 32, age 27) 5
CR Hemphrey (ave 33, age 29) 4
BR McDermott (ave 27, age 24) 3
MC Henriques (ave 34, age 31) 3
NCR Larkin (ave 30, age 28) 2
AJ Doolan (ave 34, age 33) 1
CJ McInerney (ave 24, age 24) 0
KR Smith (ave 21, age 24) -3
DJM Short (ave 24, age 28) -4
JW Wells (ave 23, age 30) -7

Actually there really aren't that many players over 30 are there?

There are few who average 10 higher than their age, which is depressing.

 

[stephen]

For reference, Wade would slot in just below Cartwright on that list.

And here are the current test bats age/fc ave:

TM Head (ave 37, age 25) 12
PSP Handscomb (ave 39, age 27) 12
UT Khawaja (ave 44, age 32) 12
MS Harris (ave 36, age 26) 10
M Labuschagne (ave 33, age 24) 9
SE Marsh (ave 41, age 35) 6

 

[Red]

Putting their age into that formula really doesn’t make any sense at all.

 

[GotSpin]

Wade is right in one sense but I’m guessing the selectors just didn’t want to pick him again because he stunk up the place and felt that publicly marking his card was too harsh

 

[stephen]

Putting their age into that formula really doesn’t make any sense at all.

The idea behind it is to get into the selectors minds. To get a high score you need to have either put up the numbers over a long period of time or show potential.

And I got Wells wrong. He should have been -7, making him last on the list.

 

[stephen]

Honestly we really shouldn't be considering anybody with a gap of less than 10 unless they've had previous international experience that we think is valuable, or they bring something else to the table (Wade as all rounder, MMarsh as specialist vice captain).

 

[stephen]

Wade is right in one sense but I’m guessing the selectors just didn’t want to pick him again because he stunk up the place and felt that publicly marking his card was too harsh

I also think his reputation as being a bit of a sledger and hard man goes against the family friendly image they are trying to portray since Newlands.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Never jumped on the Wade for Tests bandwagon, he was dropped for underwhelming batting last time and I see no reason why he would be significantly better if recalled. Personality is a complete non issue imo, my opinion is entirely based on his cricket

 

[stephen]

Never jumped on the Wade for Tests bandwagon, he was dropped for underwhelming batting last time and I see no reason why he would be significantly better if recalled. Personality is a complete non issue imo, my opinion is entirely based on his cricket

You haven't watched him bat recently have you? He's a much better bat these days (I guess getting away from the national coaching setup will have that effect). Good enough to pick for batting alone, especially in ODI cricket (though he really should keep there).

 

[stephen]

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/mar...lanka-test-series-hohns-wade-paine/2019-01-16

Player who never should have been picked but was anyway praises selectors.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

You haven't watched him bat recently have you? He's a much better bat these days (I guess getting away from the national coaching setup will have that effect). Good enough to pick for batting alone, especially in ODI cricket (though he really should keep there).

I have watched Wade bat a fair bit and agree he deserves a recall to the ODI team. But for Tests, I am still very much unconvinced

 

[Red]

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/mar...lanka-test-series-hohns-wade-paine/2019-01-16

Player who never should have been picked but was anyway praises selectors.

Sickening sycophant
Exactly the sort of bloke Langer would love ?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Wade should be in the ODI side for sure. Has much more value in high-scoring games which is what ODIs are now. I've been underwhelmed by Carey tbh. Looks solid but not exceptional, and doesn't look capable of the kind of innings' that Wade can be.