Are Australia risking the Ashes?
It would be an understatement to say that Australia have taken a few gambles going into this Ashes series. With no inclusion of a genuine allrounder, I am afraid that the Aussies could make their Ashes campaign a lot harder and more in favour of England.
Australia's Ashes squad consists of:
Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Camron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscombe, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazelwood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers.
I was surprised to see that Mathew Renshaw was not included in the side considering he last scored 184 in his last match in Australia. But I can understand the selectors' viewpoint in that he had simply not performed to a level of an international player during the Sheffield Shield matches earlier in the season. However, there is no shadow of a doubt that he will continue to get opportunities to wear the baggy green again in the future.
Based on the selection policy, "score runs you get in", I am absolutely not surprised to see the inclusion of Camron Bancroft into the team. The Western Australian opening batsman has been in sublime form, capping off this season with a glorious 228 not out against South Australia. I believe that his role in opening with David Warner will give a right-hand and left-hand opening combination to give a few more problems to the English bowlers.
However, I do see some issues surrounding the selection of Shaun Marsh in this team. The selectors and coach; Darren Lehman have hinted that Shaun Marsh may bat at number 6, which I think is going to be a decision that may backfire for Australia. Why is a someone who is a cemented top order batsman for his state suddenly batting at number 6? This makes very little sense, as opening the batting and batting at number 6 are completely different roles and have different added pressures. Examples of Hilton Cartwright are victims of this tactic of employing top order batsmen in the middle order. Cartwright is an established number 3 for Western Australia and suddenly he is thrown into batting with the tail. Hence, Australia needs to find someone who performs in the middle order on a consistent basis. Hence, names such as Moises Henriques, Marcus Stoinis and Jake Lehman are players who would add a bit of reliability to that batting order, with their ample experience in the middle order and batting with the tail-enders.
Furthermore, this sparks the debate as to "why was there no allrounder chosen?". I personally think that this ploy to not select a genuine all-rounder is a huge gamble. Australia's primary bowling attack is in sublime form and with no current issues at the moment. However, with a lack of an all-rounder, I fear that the English team are smiling. Spearhead; Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are extremely talented fast bowlers who are certain to cause some headaches for the English players. However, they are short spell bowlers, hence, their speeds and skills slowly lower as their spell length increases. Therefore, with a lack of an allrounder to share the workload and keep the main bowlers fresh, we will see bowlers like Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazelwood bowling too many overs at once. It is also important to consider that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood are injury prone, hence the more work they do over a long time is likely to spark another injury. And with a loss of a star bowler like those two is going to hurt the Aussies immensely as Australia's bench strength is not as strong as it could be. Therefore, I feel that Australia lack a bowler who has Ashes experience and can act a reliable seamer if injury where to strike the Aussie camp. Hence, I felt that Peter Siddle was extremely unlucky not to be included in the Ashes squad as his line length approach and consistent spells would have been a very valuable source for the Aussies. Moreover, if injuries were to occur mid-match to one of the fast bowlers, Australia has no options remaining. This is going to allow a fairly weak team like England to be able to take advantage of the bowling attack and pile up the runs. Therefore, the inclusion of a genuine allrounder would allow the Aussies to take care of their bowlers and provide some form of variety in a highly aggressive bowling attack.
Probably the most shocking inclusion in that test squad is wicketkeeper; Tim Paine who has been out o the test team for 7 years. I feel that Peter Nevill was to some extent unlucky not to be given the gloves for this series. But it was a norm for all wicketkeepers this Sheffield Shield season so far,
"no one has scored any runs". However, I feel that with the criticism placed on Tim Paine, may just see something special come out of his performances. For more analysis on Tim Paine's selection see the previous blog: "Australia "Paine" as English batsmen find the form".
The inclusion of South Australian fast bowler Chad Sayers has not been surprising considering the sublime form that he has been in over the last few years. Hence, I believe that his knowledge and skill will be utilised in this upcoming Ashes series, especially in the day-night test in Adelaide.
Hence, I believe that the Australian Test squad is somewhat consisting of a few risks and doubts however there are reseasons for certain players' selections. I do not particularly agree with some of the inclusions as they either weaken the variety of the team, the depth and the reliability.
Hence, the XI (batting order) that I would choose away from the selected squad that would take the field on the first test would look something like:
David Warner (vc), Camron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscombe, Moises Henriques, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Nathan Lyon, Jake Lehman (12th man).
Australia's Ashes squad consists of:
Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Camron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscombe, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazelwood, Jackson Bird, Chadd Sayers.
I was surprised to see that Mathew Renshaw was not included in the side considering he last scored 184 in his last match in Australia. But I can understand the selectors' viewpoint in that he had simply not performed to a level of an international player during the Sheffield Shield matches earlier in the season. However, there is no shadow of a doubt that he will continue to get opportunities to wear the baggy green again in the future.Based on the selection policy, "score runs you get in", I am absolutely not surprised to see the inclusion of Camron Bancroft into the team. The Western Australian opening batsman has been in sublime form, capping off this season with a glorious 228 not out against South Australia. I believe that his role in opening with David Warner will give a right-hand and left-hand opening combination to give a few more problems to the English bowlers.
However, I do see some issues surrounding the selection of Shaun Marsh in this team. The selectors and coach; Darren Lehman have hinted that Shaun Marsh may bat at number 6, which I think is going to be a decision that may backfire for Australia. Why is a someone who is a cemented top order batsman for his state suddenly batting at number 6? This makes very little sense, as opening the batting and batting at number 6 are completely different roles and have different added pressures. Examples of Hilton Cartwright are victims of this tactic of employing top order batsmen in the middle order. Cartwright is an established number 3 for Western Australia and suddenly he is thrown into batting with the tail. Hence, Australia needs to find someone who performs in the middle order on a consistent basis. Hence, names such as Moises Henriques, Marcus Stoinis and Jake Lehman are players who would add a bit of reliability to that batting order, with their ample experience in the middle order and batting with the tail-enders.
Furthermore, this sparks the debate as to "why was there no allrounder chosen?". I personally think that this ploy to not select a genuine all-rounder is a huge gamble. Australia's primary bowling attack is in sublime form and with no current issues at the moment. However, with a lack of an all-rounder, I fear that the English team are smiling. Spearhead; Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins are extremely talented fast bowlers who are certain to cause some headaches for the English players. However, they are short spell bowlers, hence, their speeds and skills slowly lower as their spell length increases. Therefore, with a lack of an allrounder to share the workload and keep the main bowlers fresh, we will see bowlers like Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazelwood bowling too many overs at once. It is also important to consider that Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazelwood are injury prone, hence the more work they do over a long time is likely to spark another injury. And with a loss of a star bowler like those two is going to hurt the Aussies immensely as Australia's bench strength is not as strong as it could be. Therefore, I feel that Australia lack a bowler who has Ashes experience and can act a reliable seamer if injury where to strike the Aussie camp. Hence, I felt that Peter Siddle was extremely unlucky not to be included in the Ashes squad as his line length approach and consistent spells would have been a very valuable source for the Aussies. Moreover, if injuries were to occur mid-match to one of the fast bowlers, Australia has no options remaining. This is going to allow a fairly weak team like England to be able to take advantage of the bowling attack and pile up the runs. Therefore, the inclusion of a genuine allrounder would allow the Aussies to take care of their bowlers and provide some form of variety in a highly aggressive bowling attack.
Probably the most shocking inclusion in that test squad is wicketkeeper; Tim Paine who has been out o the test team for 7 years. I feel that Peter Nevill was to some extent unlucky not to be given the gloves for this series. But it was a norm for all wicketkeepers this Sheffield Shield season so far,
"no one has scored any runs". However, I feel that with the criticism placed on Tim Paine, may just see something special come out of his performances. For more analysis on Tim Paine's selection see the previous blog: "Australia "Paine" as English batsmen find the form".
The inclusion of South Australian fast bowler Chad Sayers has not been surprising considering the sublime form that he has been in over the last few years. Hence, I believe that his knowledge and skill will be utilised in this upcoming Ashes series, especially in the day-night test in Adelaide.
Hence, I believe that the Australian Test squad is somewhat consisting of a few risks and doubts however there are reseasons for certain players' selections. I do not particularly agree with some of the inclusions as they either weaken the variety of the team, the depth and the reliability.
Hence, the XI (batting order) that I would choose away from the selected squad that would take the field on the first test would look something like:
David Warner (vc), Camron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith (c), Peter Handscombe, Moises Henriques, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Nathan Lyon, Jake Lehman (12th man).
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