By Adrian Meredith
MELBOURNE, Australian (TheSportsNEXT) October 30, 2012: The first Test match between Australia and South Africa is starting in Sydney from November 2, 2012 and TheSportsNEXT.com’s Adrian Meredith has come up with a list of problems that the Australian selectors made in announcing the 12 men to play in the opening Test match.
Ed Cowan:
The guy has a test batting average of 29.83 - as an opening batsman! He has played 7 test matches, and that simply isn't good enough. The other batsmen in the side all average over 40 - most over 50 - so he is really letting the side down by being 10-20 points behind the others. It is not like he has a rip roaring FC average behind him either - he averages only 40.27 in first class matches. And he isn't in form either! His last FC matches has seen him score 42, 16, 35, 17, 8, 19, 16, 8 and 1 - 162 runs at an average of 18! That is his average in the past 2 months! He is a huge risk. And the alternative - to go in with Shane Watson - who has success opening the batsman at test level - and then have another middle order batsman - probably a choice of George Bailey or David Hussey - seems obvious. Why is Cowan there? What does he offer? He is out of form, has an average FC record overall - so no big potential - and a terrible test record. This seems to be a very dumb decision. I hope that selectors are quick to swing the axe if he fails once more. At a bare minimum, if he is playing, he should know that he can be dropped at any time. If Cowan wasn't going to be dropped, then why were George Bailey, David Hussey and Peter Forrest being groomed for future test selection? Just to replace Ponting? It should have been about Cowan too, as Ponting has actually been in good form, unlike Cowan. Oh - Cowan did score 74 in this week's ODD match - but that was chasing a huge total and was in a one day game - easy runs basically. It shouldn't be enough to have seen him keep his test spot.
Nathan Lyon:
Why are we playing a spinner at Brisbane? We made this mistake in the 2010/11 Ashes, when Xavier Doherty, in spite of being in rip roaring form, failed in conditions that don't suit spinners. Surely we have learned our lesson not to play spinners on pitches that don't suit them. Isn't that what we've all been talking about for the past month? It is not like Lyon is in form anyway. His recent FC returns are 2/131, 2/42, 0/97, 1/83, 1/45, 0/47, 2/101, 1/62, 1/65 and 4/115 - 14 wickets at an average of 56! That is since the last test match! And the 4/115 return, which at least is promising, was almost immediately after the last test match! The guy is out of form - not horribly out of form but not doing particularly well. Sure, so he took some wickets at Brisbane last year but it would be very unlikely if he repeated the dose this time. Not to mention that he said himself that he was out of form, due to being "overloaded with suggestions". There is no way that he should be in the 12. Indeed, I'd be tempted to play all pace at all venues this season, as we simply don't have a competent spinner. Lyon should be considered for Adelaide; but probably shouldn't make the cut. He should not have been in the squad for this test. We should have had 5 pace bowlers fighting for their spots - or else been deciding which of Bailey or David Hussey to pick. He is just taking up a spot. I really hope that he doesn't play.
Ben Hilfenhaus:
Anyone who thinks that Hilfenhaus should play is not aware of just how out of form he is in. He hasn't played a first class match since the test against West Indies - so we have to rely on his ODI and T20 form. In his last 9 matches combined he has taken 8 wickets at an average of 26.25. That might seem okay but most of them are T20s and most decent bowlers average better than 20 in T20 matches. He hasn't taken more than 2 wickets in an innings in any of those matches either. He just isn't bowling very well. The only reason to consider him is because Ryan Harris is still out injured and they want an attack leader. But Mitchell Johnson is in some kind of form, and Johnson is more experienced than Hilfenhaus - not to mention being left handed - and a better batsman. Hilfenhaus's inclusion isn't quite as terrible as Lyon and Cowan being picked but it is pretty bad just the same. The fact that it is apparently a choice of Lyon vs Starc for the last spot - rather than between Hilfenhaus vs Lyon - surely is just because Hilfenhaus is more experienced, having played all of 24 test matches over 3 years.
Brad Haddin:
Okay so Brad Haddin didn't get the spot. Thank God for that. But he was in such terrible form that he shouldn't have even been in the mix. Peter Nevill should have been considered before Haddin - and indeed Haddin will have trouble holding his New South Wales spot with Nevill coming through. Chris Hartley should be the other one to consider if they don't want Wade. Paine is still recovering from injury, and, heck, Haddin has an injury right now! Haddin scored one century - yay - his only score in double figures in the past year in FC matches - and suddenly everyone is talking about him being back in the team. Wade did nothing wrong and doesn't deserve to lose his spot. Yes, they picked Wade, well done; but that should have been such an obvious decision and all that this exercise has done is to breed instability. It makes Wade think that he has to look over his shoulder all of the time. Maybe they want that so that he can play to his best; but it really isn't a very fair situation.
But we have a 12 and there isn't much we can do to bring the likes of George Bailey, David Hussey or Mitchell Johnson back into the mix now. So now all that I can hope for is for the right one to be dropped.
So who would I most like to be dropped?
Nathan Lyon
I think that Cowan is the weakest link but I don't think it is a good idea to play only 5 batsmen. I just hope that if Cowan fails again that they dump him immediately, is all that I can say. I don't want a repeat of the Shaun Marsh debacle - or the Phillip Hughes - or the Peter Forrest - or the Marcus North - debacles. Let's not make the same mistake 5 times in a row.
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