Michael "Frosty" Beer

[Rant0r]

O'Keefe must have hit on Hilditch's daughter or something.

I'd be happy to concede if Beer does well. Having seen both Doherty and O'Keefe before Doherty was preferred, I was rather confused.

 

[andyc]

The selectors have obviously selected Beer by looking at him play and liking what they see. I certainly wouldn't have done the same, however I've seen SFA of him, whereas they, presumably, have had a few good looks at him and liked his game.

Seeing him live > Looking at his cricinfo page and passing judgment.

Thing is that they clearly went through the same process when selecting Doherty and it didn't really work out. We've clearly got no world beaters as spinners atm, so the best bet would be to go for the bloke with the good record.

 

[benchmark00]

Thing is that they clearly went through the same process when selecting Doherty and it didn't really work out. We've clearly got no world beaters as spinners atm, so the best bet would be to go for the bloke with the good record.

I'd say they went with the opposite rationale with Doherty i.e. Seeing he had taken a few wickets in domestic cricket lately, then in the ODI's then getting him in.

Doherty's selection was more based on recent stats and KP's 'troubles' with left armers, than actually liking his bowling.

 

[Ruckus]

Thing is that they clearly went through the same process when selecting Doherty and it didn't really work out. We've clearly got no world beaters as spinners atm, so the best bet would be to go for the bloke with the good record.

You have to do both imo. Watching someone alone isn't sufficient enough either. E.g. Ferguson looks pretty awesome when you just watch him, but he still has a mediocre record. Hilfenhaus looks better than his record suggests as well imo, but he just doesn't take that many wickets for whatever reason.

 

[Sylvester]

The selectors did do pretty similar when picking Krejza, and his debut certainly was an interesting one. Will see what happens with this one but how long will they keep faith in whatever they saw? He should get the series unless he has a McGain like disaster where he'll be put into the never again pile. What I don't get is how O'Keefe can go from the Aus A spinner and doing well to being behind Doherty and now Beer. Yes I know hes in 2nd 11 essentially, but so to was Hauritz when he was picked by the same selectors. The selectors saw something in O'Keefe to pick him, maybe through some injuries too, but his stats make for awesome reading atm and he did nothing wrong against England A.

 

[Redbacks]

Well there has been suggestions we resemble a pub team. This just takes things one step further.

 

[stephen]

Hilditch: Guys, we have to select a spinner. Smith isn't there quite yet and we need him to bat for us. What options do we have? We can't pick Hauritz because he didn't do great in that place where Warnie got smashed around. Hmmm speaking of Warnie, didn't he mention a spinner the other day?

Chappell: Yeah Warnie mentioned a guy named Beer.

Hilditch: Beer hey? Sounds like a great name. Let's pick him.

Chappell: But he's got an ordinary record and isn't a prodigy like Warnie.

Hilditch: Warnie says it, we do it. Don't you want him to announce his return in time for Melbourne?

Chappell: *sigh*

 

[Noble One]

The mismanagement of Australian spinners by the selectors has been truly poor. The selectors are not at fault for the quality of bowlers on the circuit, but some logic in selections would be fantastic.

Looking back to Bangladesh in 2006 when the selectors made the good call of selecting Dan Cullen. That was a forward thinking move, Cullen was coming off a massive 43 first class wicket season and looked a supreme talent. The selectors simply cut him off after the one Test he played. How about keeping him around the ODI setup? Four years later, and Cullen almost looks stamped as 'career over' at the age of 26.

The selection of Beau Casson at the time was questionable, and yet considering what has happened in the past month would pass as a good move today. They give Casson one Test match, he actually bowls quite well, and then they never select him again. Casson suffers from a complete loss of confidence and will now likely make the NSW team more for his batting than his bowling. At 28, another career looks destroyed.

They take White to India as the number one spinner. This is despite the fact that White has almost completely ceased bowling his leg-breaks. Is it a shock that White struggles to take a wicket?

Selecting Krejza was a brave move considering he had done little in his first class career other than show the ability to bowl a massive off-break. In a surprise twist, Krejza bowls out of his skin in India. They bring him back to Australia, and discard him after one Test. Surely he was worth persisting with?

McGain should have been persisted with for more than 1 Test. It was a terrible performance by him, but considering they gave North > 20 Tests to prove himself a failure, how about give the only consistent spinner in this country of the past 5 years more of a chance.

They select the completely underserving Hauritz and he proves to be a solid Test spinner. Discarded after one poor series in India (despite returning from a massive layoff). They select the promising Smith, he does better than many expected, and then the selectors have hardly shown interest again until today. They select the proven first class failure in Doherty based on 1 good first class game, and 2 good ODI games. It’s funny how the bowler with a first class average of 50 struggles to take a wicket at Test level.. Let's not forget they took Holland to India two seasons ago for the experience, and then never take a look at him again. They take O'Keefe to England, they select him for Australia 'A' and now don't want to touch him.

....and Michael Beer...WTF???????? I worry that Chris Simpson might return for Queensland and take three wickets and be selected for Australia. What is going on at the moment?

 

[Howe_zat]

Wow. 10 spinners. 10. They've actually made it into double figures. Of course, in that time, Warne, McGill, Hogg have all played, bringing that total up to an impressive 13. Lucky?

Over the same period, England have selected only four - Swann, Panesar, Giles, and Tredwell.

 

[Ruckus]

Hilditch: Guys, we have to select a spinner. Smith isn't there quite yet and we need him to bat for us. What options do we have? We can't pick Hauritz because he didn't do great in that place where Warnie got smashed around. Hmmm speaking of Warnie, didn't he mention a spinner the other day?

Chappell: Yeah Warnie mentioned a guy named Beer.

Hilditch: Beer hey? Sounds like a great name. Let's pick him.

Chappell: But he's got an ordinary record and isn't a prodigy like Warnie.

Hilditch: Warnie says it, we do it. Don't you want him to announce his return in time for Melbourne?

Chappell: *sigh*

I would not be suprised if that's similar to how these selections come about. It just screams of laziness. Hilditch probably made the decision over the phone while he was walking his dog along the beach again...

 

[Burgey]

The amazing thing about Crayfish getting punted was, iirc, it came after he bowled badly at Perth. Perth ffs!! At least he gives it a rip.

 

[NUFAN]

Agree with Noble One.

Jack, how would you rate Beer's batting and fielding?

His limited batting record doesn't look too good at all, Is he likely to bat at 11 if selected? Also how ahout his fielding, is he a specialist in any position?

 

[Bloody Hell]

You're very reliant on stats aren't you?

Have you watched Beer bowl?

I'm not defending his decision, as I've only seen him bowl for a little bit once, but judging your outrage purely on stats is pretty one dimensional imo.

He bowls darts?!?...who needs stats.

 

[Bloody Hell]

O'Keefe must have hit on Hilditch's daughter or something.

I'd be happy to concede if Beer does well. Having seen both Doherty and O'Keefe before Doherty was preferred, I was rather confused.

This is the thing that really gets my goat.

Why not pick the guy who has played 10 FC games, is averaging over 55 with the bat and under 25 with the ball???

Who played England this tour for Australia A and was probably the pick of the Aussie players with bat and ball???

Has shown composure and class at this level???

If only the Australian selectors have stated that a left arm orthodox bowler was what they saw as an intergral part of the future of the team....hang on

Obviously all the whining from the other states has forced a cap on the number of NSW players that can represent Australia. Guess they'll have to continue with the outright victories for the rest of the season thanks to guys like Khawaja, O'Keefe (with Smith's omission) and Copeland...(and Cameron if you think he's of test standard), while australia struggles to keep it's head above water.

Beer could yet come out and take 10 for the match - but considering his previous effort against England...can't see it.

Don't think I've had a selection in any sport/team piss me off as much as this one.

 

[Oscillatingmind]

I wish the best for Beer. But ****. everything has been said.

They clearly are picking purely on their personal belief in players, not what they've done, which I guess isn't wrong but at they same time they've showed their inept at picking the right guy anyway (Doherty). So following the shield as a form guide, seeing people get wickets (Copeland) and runs (Dussey) or maybe even some wickets and runs (O'Keefe) whatever might indicate something.

Beer...

"(Johnson's poor test after good shield performance) That exposes the difference between international and domestic cricket and it's something we have to deal with these players every day of the week," - Nielsen.

 

[Adamc]

Haha, this is fascinating. Is there any evidence he was even on the selectors' radar before Warne mentioned him? orthdox can't be too far down the pecking order now that we're apparently picking spinners based on club performances, anyway.

 

[pasag]

Might start picking people based on dev league form.

 

[andyc]

The mismanagement of Australian spinners by the selectors has been truly poor. The selectors are not at fault for the quality of bowlers on the circuit, but some logic in selections would be fantastic.

Looking back to Bangladesh in 2006 when the selectors made the good call of selecting Dan Cullen. That was a forward thinking move, Cullen was coming off a massive 43 first class wicket season and looked a supreme talent. The selectors simply cut him off after the one Test he played. How about keeping him around the ODI setup? Four years later, and Cullen almost looks stamped as 'career over' at the age of 26.

The selection of Beau Casson at the time was questionable, and yet considering what has happened in the past month would pass as a good move today. They give Casson one Test match, he actually bowls quite well, and then they never select him again. Casson suffers from a complete loss of confidence and will now likely make the NSW team more for his batting than his bowling. At 28, another career looks destroyed.

They take White to India as the number one spinner. This is despite the fact that White has almost completely ceased bowling his leg-breaks. Is it a shock that White struggles to take a wicket?

Selecting Krejza was a brave move considering he had done little in his first class career other than show the ability to bowl a massive off-break. In a surprise twist, Krejza bowls out of his skin in India. They bring him back to Australia, and discard him after one Test. Surely he was worth persisting with?

McGain should have been persisted with for more than 1 Test. It was a terrible performance by him, but considering they gave North > 20 Tests to prove himself a failure, how about give the only consistent spinner in this country of the past 5 years more of a chance.

They select the completely underserving Hauritz and he proves to be a solid Test spinner. Discarded after one poor series in India (despite returning from a massive layoff). They select the promising Smith, he does better than many expected, and then the selectors have hardly shown interest again until today. They select the proven first class failure in Doherty based on 1 good first class game, and 2 good ODI games. It’s funny how the bowler with a first class average of 50 struggles to take a wicket at Test level.. Let's not forget they took Holland to India two seasons ago for the experience, and then never take a look at him again. They take O'Keefe to England, they select him for Australia 'A' and now don't want to touch him.

....and Michael Beer...WTF???????? I worry that Chris Simpson might return for Queensland and take three wickets and be selected for Australia. What is going on at the moment?

Love this post to bits, agree totally. So nonsensical.

Also enjoyed this article. Like Adamc just brought up, and the article mentions, I'm positive that had Warne not mentioned Beer (and I doubt it was much more than a throwaway sentence in his column), the bloke wouldn't be this close to his Test debut.

 

[Xuhaib]

meh just another strategy to avoid coming to Pakistan.

 

[andyc]

Might start picking people based on dev league form.

Best thing to come out of this so far.

Edit: And Xuhaib's one above.