PlanetCricket
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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Sylvester -
That should be the message sent out to the Australian selectors after hitting an all time low with their selections. The headlines should have been about Johnson walking back into the side with only a handful worth of net sessions. Instead they read ‘Australia desperate, but Beer not the answer’, ‘Border bamboozled by choice of Beer’, ‘With series on line, selectors resort to Beer’.
Just when you think the selectors are heading in the right direction with the ‘dropping’ of Mitchell Johnson after the 1st Ashes Test, they epitomize the old adage of “one step forward, two steps backwards”. In picking Michael Beer, they have officially lost the plot. This move along with bringing Mitchell Johnson back after doing nothing for a week, could well be the beginning of the end for the selectors. These two selections will come under huge scrutiny if they turn out to be absolute shockers.
Michael Beer may well turn out to be a good spinner, but after only 5 First Class matches, not to mention debuting only two months ago, Beer has been well and truly thrown under the bus. Should Beer fail at the WACA, one of the hardest places to debut for a spinner, then his career could well end up like Daniel Cullen, Beau Casson and host of other failed spinners whom the selectors have tried over the past few years.
Stephen O’Keefe must be sorry he ran over Andrew Hilditch’s dog as it makes next to no sense how he has been overlooked if the selectors are desperate for a left arm orthodox bowler as Hilditch stated, “(But) we think a left-arm orthodox spinner is the right thing both for the Ashes but also for our future.” O’Keefe was the Australian A spinner who got overlooked for the First Ashes Test in favour of latest spin discard, Xavier Doherty. Now he have been overlooked again, this time for another spinner who apparently was on the verge of playing for Australia A instead of O’Keefe. However, O’Keefe was picked for that match and took 4 wickets in his only innings and grabbed himself a 50 in the process. How that performance translate to dropping back in the queue, I will never know.
Onto the other story which should have been the main talking point. Western Australia are currently playing Queensland in the Sheffield Shield match. Mitchell Johnson on the other hand is putting his feet up and drinking some complimentary beer from the selectors after another magical net session. One has to wonder how effective a few net sessions will be, especially considering the bowling coach had a few months to sort this issue out which has been present for a long time. The ironic thing having Johnson rested from the Shield match, is the fact the selectors have stated Johnson needed more match practice during his horror start to the Ashes last year. Now they feel he is better off without match practice and a few magic net sessions is all he needs.
The selection of Beer might have been a distraction from picking Mitchell Johnson who has done nothing since being dropped. Time will tell when the players run out onto the WACA. Good luck to Beer, he will need it and for Australia’s sake I hope he does well.
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That should be the message sent out to the Australian selectors after hitting an all time low with their selections. The headlines should have been about Johnson walking back into the side with only a handful worth of net sessions. Instead they read ‘Australia desperate, but Beer not the answer’, ‘Border bamboozled by choice of Beer’, ‘With series on line, selectors resort to Beer’.
Just when you think the selectors are heading in the right direction with the ‘dropping’ of Mitchell Johnson after the 1st Ashes Test, they epitomize the old adage of “one step forward, two steps backwards”. In picking Michael Beer, they have officially lost the plot. This move along with bringing Mitchell Johnson back after doing nothing for a week, could well be the beginning of the end for the selectors. These two selections will come under huge scrutiny if they turn out to be absolute shockers.
Michael Beer may well turn out to be a good spinner, but after only 5 First Class matches, not to mention debuting only two months ago, Beer has been well and truly thrown under the bus. Should Beer fail at the WACA, one of the hardest places to debut for a spinner, then his career could well end up like Daniel Cullen, Beau Casson and host of other failed spinners whom the selectors have tried over the past few years.
Stephen O’Keefe must be sorry he ran over Andrew Hilditch’s dog as it makes next to no sense how he has been overlooked if the selectors are desperate for a left arm orthodox bowler as Hilditch stated, “(But) we think a left-arm orthodox spinner is the right thing both for the Ashes but also for our future.” O’Keefe was the Australian A spinner who got overlooked for the First Ashes Test in favour of latest spin discard, Xavier Doherty. Now he have been overlooked again, this time for another spinner who apparently was on the verge of playing for Australia A instead of O’Keefe. However, O’Keefe was picked for that match and took 4 wickets in his only innings and grabbed himself a 50 in the process. How that performance translate to dropping back in the queue, I will never know.
Onto the other story which should have been the main talking point. Western Australia are currently playing Queensland in the Sheffield Shield match. Mitchell Johnson on the other hand is putting his feet up and drinking some complimentary beer from the selectors after another magical net session. One has to wonder how effective a few net sessions will be, especially considering the bowling coach had a few months to sort this issue out which has been present for a long time. The ironic thing having Johnson rested from the Shield match, is the fact the selectors have stated Johnson needed more match practice during his horror start to the Ashes last year. Now they feel he is better off without match practice and a few magic net sessions is all he needs.
The selection of Beer might have been a distraction from picking Mitchell Johnson who has done nothing since being dropped. Time will tell when the players run out onto the WACA. Good luck to Beer, he will need it and for Australia’s sake I hope he does well.
More...
Absolutely correct from start to finish, and well-written to boot. Just one pedantic quibble - with the title: I would've thought something like "Beer And Test Selection Don't Mix" was simply begging to be used.
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) have any integrity, of course...
