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- Jan 13, 2010
Article by Sylvester -
A lot in the media have been talking about the 17 man Ashes squad that the Australian selectors have named for the first Test which is bigger than the entire English touring party. Some have said it shows the indecisiveness of the selectors but really their sole purpose of naming such a large squad was to please the media while avoiding some early flak for not picking inform ‘x’ player. The thing that seems to have gone largely unnoticed is the selection of Xavier Doherty over Stephen O’Keefe the Australian A spinner, that there is? indecisiveness.
When it comes to spinners the selectors are completely at sea and if it came to choosing one of them to prevent the world from exploding we probably would be all dead! If the number of spinners that have come and gone wasn’t enough to show this, then their latest selection most certainly does. In picking Doherty, the selectors have once again shown their liking to strong ODI performances or in the case of Doherty one strong ODI performance. O’Keefe was picked as the Australian A spinner which indicates he is second or possibly third in line for the spinners spot since the selectors have a fascination with Steven Smith as a spinner. So in selecting Doherty which I would say was on the back of his ODI debut, he has jumped past O’Keefe into the number two spinners spot.
Doherty has done very well since finally cracking the Tasmania Shield side with 12 wickets at 24 from 3 matches last season and 9 wickets at 28 from 2 matches this season. So it’s not like he has been chosen sole on his form in the limited overs format, he has also performed in the first class arena. But going back to the Australian A selection. If Doherty was being looked at as backup for Hauritz then surely he should have been picked in the Australian A side.
What is not on Doherty side is his overall record as a spinner. In 34 first class matches to date, he has 82 wickets at 48.8 with a strike rate of 84.8. The selectors picking spinners with those sorts of stats isn’t uncommon as Steven Smith was also picked with a first class average in the 40s. Such is the state of our spinners stock and the desperation of the selectors to find the replacement for Warne, the standards for picking a spinners has slipped drastically to the extent where a couple of 5-fers will see you grabbing your first Baggy Green cap.
The man who should feel aggreived by the selectors indecisiveness is Stephen O’Keefe, who has done nothing wrong apart from being not the greatest limited over bowler and playing for NSW. In his only match this season he has 7 wickets, last season when given the opportunity he picked up 15 wickets at 31 from 5 games, which for a spinner is considered good. His overall record reads 33 wickets at 25 with a strike rate of 49 from 9 matches which makes for very impressive readings, the best sort of figures we have seen from a spinner in a long while. Admittedly they aren’t from many matches and there are still questions to whether he will succeed at the next level, but that record certainly didn’t deserve him going from the potential backup spinner to missing a place in the extended Ashes squad.
The problem here is not so much with Doherty but more with the indecisive selectors. The selectors have a history for making players lose confidence, the prime example of Beau Casson who performed solidly before his Test debut where he was again solid. Then out of nowhere he was dropped because he was a Left-arm Chinaman bowler. Now you have O’Keefe suddenly dropping out of the picture for reasons which still remain unknown. According to the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, “One of the biggest decisions we will need to make is whether we go into the first Test in Brisbane with a right-arm offspinner or with the variation of a left-arm orthodox bowler.” Last time I checked O’Keefe was a left-arm orthodox bowler.
I know we shouldn’t read too much into the squad as it seems to be a lucky draw at times with our selectors, however it makes no logical sense in picking a player for Australia A and then completely overlooking him when he has done nothing wrong. The question remains, would Doherty have been picked if he didn’t make his ODI debut or if he didn’t take his 4-fer on debut?
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A lot in the media have been talking about the 17 man Ashes squad that the Australian selectors have named for the first Test which is bigger than the entire English touring party. Some have said it shows the indecisiveness of the selectors but really their sole purpose of naming such a large squad was to please the media while avoiding some early flak for not picking inform ‘x’ player. The thing that seems to have gone largely unnoticed is the selection of Xavier Doherty over Stephen O’Keefe the Australian A spinner, that there is? indecisiveness.
When it comes to spinners the selectors are completely at sea and if it came to choosing one of them to prevent the world from exploding we probably would be all dead! If the number of spinners that have come and gone wasn’t enough to show this, then their latest selection most certainly does. In picking Doherty, the selectors have once again shown their liking to strong ODI performances or in the case of Doherty one strong ODI performance. O’Keefe was picked as the Australian A spinner which indicates he is second or possibly third in line for the spinners spot since the selectors have a fascination with Steven Smith as a spinner. So in selecting Doherty which I would say was on the back of his ODI debut, he has jumped past O’Keefe into the number two spinners spot.
Doherty has done very well since finally cracking the Tasmania Shield side with 12 wickets at 24 from 3 matches last season and 9 wickets at 28 from 2 matches this season. So it’s not like he has been chosen sole on his form in the limited overs format, he has also performed in the first class arena. But going back to the Australian A selection. If Doherty was being looked at as backup for Hauritz then surely he should have been picked in the Australian A side.
What is not on Doherty side is his overall record as a spinner. In 34 first class matches to date, he has 82 wickets at 48.8 with a strike rate of 84.8. The selectors picking spinners with those sorts of stats isn’t uncommon as Steven Smith was also picked with a first class average in the 40s. Such is the state of our spinners stock and the desperation of the selectors to find the replacement for Warne, the standards for picking a spinners has slipped drastically to the extent where a couple of 5-fers will see you grabbing your first Baggy Green cap.
The man who should feel aggreived by the selectors indecisiveness is Stephen O’Keefe, who has done nothing wrong apart from being not the greatest limited over bowler and playing for NSW. In his only match this season he has 7 wickets, last season when given the opportunity he picked up 15 wickets at 31 from 5 games, which for a spinner is considered good. His overall record reads 33 wickets at 25 with a strike rate of 49 from 9 matches which makes for very impressive readings, the best sort of figures we have seen from a spinner in a long while. Admittedly they aren’t from many matches and there are still questions to whether he will succeed at the next level, but that record certainly didn’t deserve him going from the potential backup spinner to missing a place in the extended Ashes squad.
The problem here is not so much with Doherty but more with the indecisive selectors. The selectors have a history for making players lose confidence, the prime example of Beau Casson who performed solidly before his Test debut where he was again solid. Then out of nowhere he was dropped because he was a Left-arm Chinaman bowler. Now you have O’Keefe suddenly dropping out of the picture for reasons which still remain unknown. According to the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, “One of the biggest decisions we will need to make is whether we go into the first Test in Brisbane with a right-arm offspinner or with the variation of a left-arm orthodox bowler.” Last time I checked O’Keefe was a left-arm orthodox bowler.
I know we shouldn’t read too much into the squad as it seems to be a lucky draw at times with our selectors, however it makes no logical sense in picking a player for Australia A and then completely overlooking him when he has done nothing wrong. The question remains, would Doherty have been picked if he didn’t make his ODI debut or if he didn’t take his 4-fer on debut?
More...
