When he was first picked for Australia, he had been around for about 5 years and was obviously well regarded, but he averaged 30.5 for NSW and all things considered, he simply struggled for wickets on pitches which both teams scored many runs on. He got 3 games and got turfed because of course the fitness of McGrath, Gillespie and Lee was what got him a game in the first place.
Test selection may have set the wheels in motion. In the following season, he took 43 wickets at 18.8, including a career best 7/4 and following the axings after the Ashes of 2005, he got a look in for two non-sequential Tests, in which he took 6 wickets at 25.7. Hardly worthy of being dropped when you consider what performances keep Mitchell Johnson in the team, but his competition that summer was in fact not a fast bowler at all, it was Stuart MacGill, as Australia looked to combat flat wickets with an aggressive array of spin.
However, when the selectors looked to seaming wickets in South Africa, Bracken was not offered a place in the side, in spite of an additional spot due to Glenn McGrath pulling out of the tour. To compliment Brett Lee, the selectors opted for Kasprowicz, Clark and Tait, with Clark becoming a key figure in McGrath's absence. Entering the ensuing whirlwind tour of Bangladesh, Kasprowicz and Tait withdrew, but the inclusions were Jason Gillespie, a selection that proved remarkable for unexpected reasons and Mitchell Johnson. Stuart Clark also succumbed to injury before the 2nd Test and finally Bracken was called in as cover ahead of the ODIs, but so too was Dan Cullen, who took part in a rare spin-trio. Neither Kasprowicz nor Gillespie returned to the Australian fold, though.
Since his last Test, Bracken has taken 32 wickets at 19.3, impressive numbers if it were a single season, but from 8 matches in 2 and a half seasons, one realises that Bracken, like Brad Hogg or Michael Clarke, suffers the ODI specialist's bane. Such players are cursed by their own prowess in limited overs, and never able to match the Noffkes or the Hodges when it comes to sheer quantity of figures. Of course, that's not entirely relevant if you're a Symonds or a Johnson, but for most players, it is the only way to press your case.
