Tag Archives: Carey

Head-Less is Best

2021 Aus in S Africa, , ,

The Australian selectors have included Travis Head in the 19-man squad to tour South Africa. This makes no sense.

Twice in the past two years, Head was dropped from the Test team in the middle of a big series because he wasn’t performing. He was left out after the fourth of five Ashes Tests in England in 2019 after making 191 runs at 27.29, then excluded again after the first two Tests against in India after making 7, 38 and 17. In both cases, he was judged by the selectors to be performing unacceptably. They were right in their assessments.

The selectors axed Matthew Wade after he failed to make good after repeated opportunities. Fair enough. This is Test cricket, not tiddlywinks, and the middle order is horribly brittle.

So what makes Head different from Wade? The fact that he is younger and ‘might’ improve? He’s already had 19 Tests to make a case, and his performances are getting worse, not better. In his last 11 Tests, Head is averaging only 30.63, so his nominal Test average of 39.75 is flattering him.

Head just isn’t good enough to bat at No. 5 for Australia and doesn’t deserve a recall.

One can’t blame the selectors for giving players a chance and then cutting them if they fail. They did it with Joe Burns and Matt Wade, and they should do it with Head. They have kept Moises Henriques waiting in the wings for ages – they might as well give him a chance or release him to go back and play for NSW. Henriques turns 34 on 1 February so he’s not a long-term option, but who knows – maybe he’ll grab the late-career opportunity as Tim Paine has and help win the Ashes.

As noted in past posts, I think Alex Carey should play as a specialist batter at No. 6 (pushing Cameron Green up to No. 5) until such time as Paine retires. At least Carey is now in the Test squad.

But picking Travis Head again is simply illogical.

So Is Wade Any Good?

2020-21 India in Aus, , ,

Is Matthew Wade good enough to hold his position in the Australian Test team?

Frankly, it’s hard to tell.

The selectors have rightly weeded out players like Joe Burns and Travis Head who have failed to score Test centuries against good teams in demanding conditions when their team really needed them.

Wade, meanwhile, has been around for a little while posting acceptable but hellishly inconsistent scores. He was the only batsman other than Steven Smith to score a century against England during the away series there in 2019 (in fact, he scored TWO). Given that few Australian batsmen other than Smith (not even Warner and Labuschagne) seem able to score hundreds against the best teams (i.e. England and India), Wade’s feat is not to be sniffed at. Unfortunately, scores of 1, 6, 1, and 0 in the same series meant he finished the five Ashes Tests with an average of only 33.70.

In the 2019-20 home summer when he played two Tests against Pakistan and three against New Zealand, he posted scores of 60, 38, 12, 17, 38, 30 and 22 for an average across five Tests of 43.40. On the numbers, not a bad result. However, his opportunities were curtailed in both series, crimped by huge scores by David Warner (154 in the 1st Test against Pakistan and 335* in the 2nd Test) and Marnus Labuschagne (185 in the 1st Test against Pakistan and 162 in the 2nd, then 143 in the 1st Test against NZ and 215 in the 3rd Test). In both series, then, Wade performed adequately, but how well might he have done if the top order had failed in the face of a good attack and he was called upon to save the team? We’ll never know. I’m not saying he couldn’t have done it, I’m just saying….we’ll never know.

In six innings across three Tests against India this summer, Wade has posted scores of 8, 33, 30, 40, 13 and 4 for an average of 21.33. For four of those innings, he was called upon to open the innings, which was not his usual position, so you’d have to say he did about as well as any other opener Australia had in reserve. He was freakishly and unluckily run out for 33 in the second innings in Adelaide when Australia’s victory was already beyond doubt, so that one doesn’t really tell us much. In the second innings in Sydney, he got a ripsnorter of a delivery which he edged behind, but I can’t really blame him too much for that one, either.

But Wade threw his wicket away needlessly in the first innings of BOTH the Melbourne AND Sydney Tests trying hit Ashwin, then Jadeja, over cow corner when there was no need to play such an aggressive stroke. One thing is clear: if Wade throws away his wicket with a rash shot one more time, he’s likely to give the selectors enough cause to drop him. If he doesn’t, I suspect they’ll retain him for the forthcoming tour of South Africa if for no other reason that compelling alternatives are few. Moises Henriques is waiting in the wings to take Wade’s spot, having scored two centuries for NSW in the first three Sheffield Shield games of the 2020-21 season. But Moises will turn 34 on 1 February (making him 11 months OLDER than Wade), so he’s hardly a long-term solution to any problem, and his first-class average of 35.96 trails Wade’s 40.85.

If Wade can’t demonstrate an ability to go on once he has reached 40, his middle-order spot for the 2021-22 Ashes will be thrown wide open to whoever can perform in the back half of the 2020-21 Shield season. Moises? Alex Carey? Glenn Maxwell? Other names like Ben McDermott and Nic Maddinson get bandied around in the media, but neither have proven themselves worthy of Test selection.

Shuffling a Weak Hand

2020-21 India in Aus, , , , , , , ,

Australia’s batting is very poor, and the cupboard is pretty darn bare.

Marnus Labuschagne is really the only batsman who can hold his head up after two Tests against India, and even he has only managed 129 runs at 32.25 in four innings. Cameron Green looks promising, but it’s too early to tell, and we should give him another few Tests at least before we draw conclusions.

So what does Australia do now?

Burns must go. It was obvious before the series began he was not up to the task, and his half-century in the second innings in Adelaide really should be discounted as it was made under little pressure. Now even the TV commentators seem to agree he won’t play in the Third Test. Dear Justin Langer, loyalty to your players is very sweet, but denial is not a river in Egypt.

So let’s assume Burns is a goner.

Marcus Harris should come in. True, Harris’ first nine Tests were uninspiring (385 runs from 17 innings at 24.06) but his form in the Sheffield Shield this season has been good (355 runs at 118.33 including a double ton and a 71) and he made scores of 35, 25*, 26 and 5 against India A and India in the touring party’s warm-up matches. Not the sort of numbers that make you do backflips, but better than what Burns offers. The selectors wanted Burns to succeed so they could persist with a LH/RH opening combination, but the right-hand batsman isn’t doing you much good if he can’t last past the first or second over, and that’s how poor Burns’ technique has been. Yes, folks, we’re picking openers (i.e. Harris) who stand a chance of getting to 30. That’s how low we’ve sunk.

There is still a suggestion that David Warner will be unavailable for the Third Test. If so, Will Pucovski should be given a chance. At almost 23 years of age, he’s still pretty green with only 23 first-class games under his belt (1,744 runs at 54.50), but he has 6 centuries and 5 half-centuries in that time, including two double tons so far this Sheffield Shield season oh please God let him be successful we so desperately need a decent opening batsman.

So if this all pans out, Wade drops into the middle order and Travis Head should be dropped. Head was given 19 Tests to make an impact, and his average is getting worse, not better.

But if injury strikes Wade, I would suggest the selectors give Alex Carey an opportunity, probably moving Green up to No. 5.

Carey has been pigeon-holed as a white ball specialist, but I see no reason why he can’t play Test cricket. For a start, he has a genuinely good batting technique, and is not merely a bash-&-crash merchant like certain other white ball sloggers who’ve been picked for the Test team in the past (e.g. Aaron Finch, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell). Carey has a first-class batting average of 34.13, but his recent form suggests he is performing above that level. He played only four Sheffield Shield matches in the 2019-20 season due to his white-ball duties for Australia, but made 386 runs at 55.14, with two centuries and a 73 in seven innings. Since then, he made 106 in an ODI against England in September 2020. The selectors obviously suspect he can play red ball cricket, because they gave him a chance for Australia A vs India in a practice match prior to the First Test. He made 32 and 58 in that game.

And it would be nice if Steve Smith found some form. It’s difficult to be too hard on him because he has supported the entire top order for the past five years and one would think one of the other batsmen should step up for a change.

Swap Burns for Wade

2020-21 India in Aus, , , , , , ,

It’s no longer up for discussion. The Australian selectors cannot afford to retain Joe Burns as opening batsmen for the First Test against India in Adelaide on 17 December. After scores of 4, 0, 0 and 1 in practice matches against India A and India – and 57 Sheffield Shield runs across five innings this season at an average of 11.40 – Burns has demonstrated his confidence is shot and his technique sadly lacking. With an average of 38.30 and only 4 centuries across 36 Test innings, Burns has never been a world-class opener, and at 31, he’s not going to start getting better.

With David Warner and Will Pucovski absent due to injury and concussion respectively, Marcus Harris has been drafted into the squad. With scores of 35, 25 not out, 26 and 5 in the practice matches, Harris hasn’t shot the lights out, but he’s more convincing than Burns. And with scores of 239, 71 and 45 in his three Shield games this season, his recent results suggest he’s learned a thing or two since his first 9 Tests led to 385 runs across 17 innings at 24.06. With openers dropping like flies, he’s a reasonable selection.

But if Burns is jettisoned – and he should be – who will open with Harris?

I don’t like the idea of shoe-horning Labuschagne into the opening position. He’s not in the team as an opener and I think messing with his position in the order could be damaging.

Bring back Shaun Marsh? I suppose it’s not the worst idea, only because Marsh – with the pressure off him now he’s left the Test team – is churning out runs in the Sheffield Shield with scores of 31, 110 not out, 6, 115, 88 and 135 so far this season (485 runs at 97.00). But Marsh is 37 and right at the end of his career. It would hardly be a forward-looking move to bring him back.

I think the best option is to elevate Matthew Wade to open with Harris. Yes, it’s true Wade doesn’t normally open in red ball cricket, but he faces the new ball in white ball cricket, so it’s not as if the role is completely unfamiliar. And although I’m sceptical of picking Test batsmen on their white ball form (remember Aaron Finch and George Bailey?), Wade is an incumbent member of the Test team and has been in good form with the bat in white ball cricket. Moreover, his two Shield games this season have yielded 83, 57 not out, 10 and 59. It’s far from a perfect solution, but with openers thin on the ground and Burns doing his best to drop himself from contention with a string of low scores, it’s difficult to think of a better one.

The only other possibility might be to draft in Alex Carey to open the batting, which wouldn’t be utterly crazy only because Carey is Paine’s heir-apparent and some time in the Test team might be useful for him. But Carey is not a red ball opener either, and his inclusion would mean either Green or Wade would miss out in the middle order. So not a great idea, really.

Justin Langer likes to show loyalty to players and can be blind to their failings (Mitchell Marsh, anyone?), so it wouldn’t surprise me if he retains Burns to open. I hope, though, that he concedes Burns is not up to the job.

Here’s my preferred team for the First Test:

  1. M Wade
  2. M Harris
  3. M Labuschagne
  4. S Smith
  5. T Head
  6. C Green
  7. T Paine
  8. Cummins
  9. Starc
  10. Lyon
  11. Hazlewood
  12. Pattinson

Got That Right

2017-18 Ashes in Aus, , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the eyes of cricket fans, the selectors can doing very little right. The howling noise over the selection of Tim Paine and Shaun Marsh for the Ashes was deafening.

Now, with Australia 2-0 up in the series, it seems fitting to give the selectors a pat on the back not only for the selection of Paine and Marsh, who have played well, but for the contenders they did not pick.

Many felt Matthew Renshaw was hard done by when discarded in favour of Cameron Bancroft, but the truth is it was an excellent call by the selectors. In the first five games of the Sheffield Shield this season, Renshaw has scored 111 runs in 10 innings at an average of 12.33 and with a top score of 19. At 21, he is young enough to work on his game and regain his Test spot at some point, but he has a lot of work to do.

None of the prospective wicketkeeper candidates have shown they should have been picked over Paine. Peter Nevill has scored 221 runs at 31.57 in 8 innings, with a single half-century. Matthew Wade’s form with the bat has not improved appreciably; he has 154 runs at 22.00 in this year’s Shield, with only one half-century (72 not out in Round Five). Excluding that innings, he has not passed 30.  Alex Carey scored his maiden first-class ton (139) in Round Five, and has 301 runs at 43.00 so far for the season. Promising, but more evidence is required. Jimmy Pierson scored an 82 not out in Round Five but has scored only 156 runs at 22.29 in 8 innings.

First, top order contenders: Hilton Cartwright was considered for the Ashes but has done poorly in the Shield; he has scored 216 runs at 21.60 this Shield season, suggesting the decision to omit him from the Test squad was the correct one. Nic Maddinson was not seriously in contention for the Ashes, and a good thing, too, with only 177 runs at 17.70 so far this season. Why his name gets mentioned for a Test recall is a mystery to me.

Middle order contenders Kurtis Patterson (260 runs at 28.89) and Jake Lehmann (336 runs at 37.33) have not demonstrated that they should have been selected over Shaun Marsh. Lehmann in particular has seen his scores fall away after his scores of 103 and 93 in Round Two nearly got him a Baggy Green. Since then, his scores have been 13, 24, 1, 17, 43 and 26. Good call, selectors.  Marcus Stoinis has only batted five times this season and has only 103 runs at 20.60. Again, well done, selectors.

Travis Head is not far away, with Shield scores of 67, 80, 132 and 65 so far this season. He has scored 421 runs at 42.10 and must remain in contention but is probably slightly behind Glenn Maxwell in the race for a Test spot in the middle order (see ‘Zombies Live!’).

All in all, the selectors deserve some credit as much for the players they didn’t pick as for those they did. But they probably won’t get it.