There was a sign erected at the WACA ground during a one-day match between Australia and the West Indies in January 1997. It was the summer Australia missed the Carlton and United One-day series finals, which eventually led to the sacking of Mark Taylor as limited-overs captain, and the initial foray into having separate squads for the two different forms of the game.
The sign read:
“Lost: The Plot. If found please return to the Australian dressing rooms. Ask for Tubby.”
One wonders whether or not the gentlemen who erected that sign still has it, and whether he might bring it out again next week during the third Ashes test. Only one change needs to be made. Replace “Tubby” with “Digger”, and they may have it spot on.
Chairman of selectors Andrew “Digger” Hilditch announced Australia’s Test squad for Perth last week. In it appeared the name Michael Beer, the tenth Australian spinner to be selected for Australia since Shane Warne’s retirement. Ten since January 2007.
Can you name them all?
Take a deep breath because it will take awhile. Stuart MacGill, Brad Hogg, Beau Casson, Cameron White, Jason Krejza, Nathan Hauritz, Marcus North, Steve Smith, and Xavier Doherty all have been used as Australia’s number one spinner in Test matches since Warne’s departure.
To put that into perspective, English Premier League club Newcastle United just named Alan Pardew as its manager last week after sacking Chris Hughton. Pardew is the eighth manager to take charge of the giant Tyne-side franchise since January 2007. In that time they have bounced from the Premiership, to the Championship, and back to the Premiership. They are currently the laughing stock of English football.
If Beer plays in Perth on Thursday he will be the least credentialed of all nine spinners named, which by the way is no mean feat, having played just five first-class fixtures for a return of 16 wickets at a cost of 39.93 apiece.
Cue Hilditch.
"Michael is a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground," Hilditch said.
We’ll ignore the fact that the Chairman had to describe Beer as “a left-arm orthodox spinner” just in case anyone listening did not know.
Very impressive at domestic level this season? Just 16 wickets at an average of 39.93 with a best of two three wicket hauls is Beer’s return. Does that mean that Wade Townsend’s 202 runs at 28.85 for Queensland with two half centuries have also been very impressive?
He took wickets against England in a tour match earlier this summer? He did, with figures of 3 for 108 from 24 overs and 2 for 99 from 16.4 overs. The wickets included Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen, and Paul Collingwood. They are reasonable figures. However fellow left-arm orthodox Aaron O’Brien claimed match figures of 3 for 112 against England for South Australia, and New South Wales left-arm tweaker Steve O’Keefe took 4 for 88 in England’s first innings against Australia ‘A’.
We expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground? So Beer has been picked because he knows the conditions well? He’s played three first-class games at WACA. They are two of just six first-class or grade matches he’s played in Perth having moved from Melbourne during the winter to begin a first-class career at age 26.
O’Brien, O’Keefe, and Xavier Doherty have all played more cricket at the WACA than Beer.
So why is he in the XII? Because Shane Warne mentioned his name in a newspaper column?
It is not Beer’s fault that he has been selected. Every Australian fan will hope he performs well should he play. But on recent record, getting selected to play for Australia as a specialist spinner is like getting a knock on your door from the Grim Reaper.
Beau Casson took three wickets on test debut in Bridgetown, June 2008, in the third test against the West Indies. He then wasn’t selected for the following tour of India, as White, McGain, and Krejza went instead. Since then he has played nine Shield matches for NSW, taking just nine wickets at 78.44 per scalp, as well as being pulled from the attack in a match at the Gabba for two high full tosses in an innings. He was last sighted collapsing in Sydney Grade cricket trying to make a return from the debilitating illness Chronic Fatigue syndrome.
Cameron White played in Casson’s place throughout the 2008 tour of India. He claimed just five wickets at 68.40. Since then he has scarcely bowled in first-class cricket having claimed just six wickets in two and a half domestic seasons. He is now trying to push his case as a batsman.
Jason Krejza took a stunning 12 wickets on test debut. He then missed the next test match Australia played because the Gabba strip called for four seamers and no spinner. Krejza then injured an ankle in the lead-up to the second Trans-Tasman test against a weak New Zealand batting line-up. Hauritz filled in before Krejza returned to take on a mighty South African batting line-up on freeway at the WACA. The Proteas chased a monstrous 414 to win in the fourth innings. Krejza finished with match figures of 1 for 204. Brett Lee and Peter Siddle also only claimed one wicket for the entire test. The two quicks retained their place for Melbourne, and Krejza was banished back to Shield cricket where he has since struggled to retain a regular place for Tasmania.
Marcus North played as the sole spinner in his first two tests in South Africa, scoring a century as well as taking a wicket in each victorious test. He missed the third due to illness and opened the door for Bryce McGain’s inclusion.
Debuting ten days before his 37th birthday, McGain went wicket-less in 18 overs that cost 149. His career was over before the test match concluded. McGain has since claimed six wickets in last year’s Sheffield Shield final but at 38 is seen to be clogging up the system.
Nathan Hauritz was given the most extended run of any spinner tried, and was the most successful as a result. Yet ironically, his first-class record was worse than the part-timer North when he was selected. Hauritz was ineffective in India recently, taking just six wickets at 65. But he’s not the first and won’t be the last to suffer on the sub-continent. Warne averaged 50 with the ball in the famous 2001 series in India.
Two bad tests theoretically should not end a career. Xavier Doherty has averaged 103 with ball in hand as the replacement for Hauritz, yet the Queensland –born New South Wales off-spinner feels so disenchanted that he gave away his test clothing at garage sale. Although he wouldn’t require it if recalled due to a change of CA sponsorship, the symbolism of the gesture, and his quote: “I don’t play for them (Australia) anymore”, suggests he’s been told in no uncertain terms that he is no longer an international cricketer.
Doherty has gone the way of McGain and Krejza before him. Tried, failed, and discarded.
One fears for Beer as well. But his first-class career has barely got off the ground. So what happens if his test career ends in one or two innings like those before him?
Steve Smith on the other hand would have to do a lot wrong to be treated like the nine aforementioned spinners. He has been anointed as a long term project. But his selection as a batsman is baffling. A first-class average of 43.77, with four centuries, in just 20 matches puts him ahead of the likes of Shaun Marsh and Callum Ferguson on record alone, but unlike those he’s hardly batted above six for New South Wales. Very rarely has a Test batsman been picked having not been a top-four regular for their state. He has just recently moved to four for New South Wales. His Shield average this season stands at 32 without a century.
If Smith averages 35 with the bat and 42 with the ball after 21 Test matches, will he be dropped like North? You would hope not, but few would disagree with North’s axing.
What happens next is anyone’s guess.
But hear this in mind. Shane Warne’s first four bowling efforts in Tests amounted to a 1 for 337, and six opposition players scored centuries with Ravi Shastri scoring a double.
Last question Mr Hilditch. If Shane Warne had debuted under your Chairmanship, what would have happened?
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