By Adrian Meredith
 |
| Australia are nurturing fast bowlers to keep their sights at ICC World Cup 2015 |
MELBOURNE, Australia
(TheSportsNEXT) October 24, 2012: It has been commented recently by Shane
Warne, Australia's last decent spinner, that right now Australia should
consider all-pace in most conditions. This is coming from a spin bowler! And
that says enough for me.
So let's look at the current options, to see how it stacks
up:
Spin bowlers:
Nathan Lyon has
done well enough in tests, averaging around 27, and is probably Australia's
best test spin bowler. But he has recently commented that he is overloaded with
advice. The fact that he isn't being used in ODIs or T20s suggests that perhaps
his time in the test team is limited.
Michael Beer
somehow got a game at Shane Warne's insistence and has a terrible record, both
in tests and in first class matches, averaging around 50 in both formats.
Plucked from obscurity, like so many others, as with most others he has stunk.
Xavier Doherty
was actually the form spin bowler in the Australian domestic circuit when he
was picked for the ill-fated 2011 home Ashes series, playing in conditions not
suited to spin bowlers. He still gets a game in ODIs and T20s but in tests he
is seen to be surplus to requirements. A bit unfair, given his domestic form;
but the numbers at test level don't look good.
Jason Krezja took
12 wickets on debut - but went for so many runs that it cost Australia the
match. Since then, he got injured and others jumped ahead of him. Has a worse
domestic record than anyone else in consideration, though he does do well
bowling in partnership with Doherty.
Nathan Hauritz
was doing reasonably well in the test arena, after being plucked from
obscurity, before being dumped, getting injured, and then staying dumped, in
spite of being in huge form. I am not sure exactly what happened to him but it
seems that the selectors got sick of him for one reason or another.
Fast bowlers:
Mitchell Johnson
is a left arm bowler with some serious pace who a couple of years ago won the
ICC player of the year award. He is a form bowler who is up and down, but when
he is hot he is the best bowler in the world. The kind of shock bowler that
scares oppositions, he is someone that you want to have in your squad, even if
you don't always play him. He can also bat fairly well on his day, has a test
century and may benefit from playing the role of the bowling all-rounder.
Ryan Harris is in
great form, with one of the best international bowling records of anyone in the
world - other than perhaps Vernon Philander. His big problem is his tendency to
get injured, so he has to be managed well. But so long as injury isn't
bothering him he is definitely Australia's best bowler.
Peter Siddle has
hardly any domestic matches behind him, yet is already almost 30, having gone
through strings of injuries through his youth. In tests he is a real trier and
plays above his domestic record. He rarely fails and is a great bowler to have
to support some of the more erratic bowlers.
Ben Hilfenhaus
had a poor start to his domestic career but in recent years has come good in a
very big way, had an amazing start to his test career, is amazing in England,
and is just so steady. He did lose form at one point and whether he has truly
regained it is a big question mark. Provided that he is in form, he is a very
steady bowler who can bowl forever and really drains an opposition team.
Doug Bollinger
has such an amazing record and was the foil for Ryan Harris but then in that
ill-fated home Ashes series in 2011, he was quoted as saying that he "hit
the wall" and hence has been banned from playing tests - or really much
else internationally - since then, in spite of being in great form. A real line
and length bowler, similar to Stuart Clark and Glenn McGrath, Bollinger has
developed McGrath's fabled intimidation factor as well. A pretty good bowler to
have outside of the team, as backup.
Mitchell Starc is
probably the best of the new bowlers who have recently been discovered, yet a
few times didn't even make the starting line up. He trained with Wasim Akram
and is deadly dangerous in all formats. A left arm quick with control and
variety he is a real danger and not just a star of the future - he is a star
right now.
Justin Pattinson
had a pretty ordinary domestic record, albeit after just a handful of games, before
he was plucked from obscurity to play tests, and has done remarkably well. He
has now done remarkably well in both ODIs and T20s, and, unlike some of the
other young fast bowlers going around, hasn't succumbed to injury. Very
consistent with his bowling and is also a real fighter with the bat as well.
Pat Cummins had
that fabled amazing debut against South Africa, then promptly got injured and
has been nursed very delicately since then, though his performances at times
have been ordinary.
Clint McKay was
the form domestic bowler before getting his ODI debut a couple of years ago,
doing amazingly well, and also incredibly well in T20s, but then, in his only
test, he had bad figures; so is known as a limited overs bowler only. A bit
unfair really, especially considering his domestic record, and perhaps in time
the selectors will consider him for tests again. A pretty good bowler to have
in reserve, who has variety and real skill in getting batsmen out.
John Hastings
came in to the team at much the same time as McKay, though didn't do quite as
well, didn't play a test, and was off injured. He is still an amazingly good
bowler though and, while he is probably a fair way down the pecking order, he
isn't a bad bowler to have in reserve.
So compare these. At best we have Nathan Lyon or Nathan
Hauritz as spinners, who both average around 30 in tests, though that is only
in helpful conditions. In the fast bowling stakes, we have an array of a dozen
or more bowlers who average around 25 - or under - in tests - in all
conditions. Not to mention that we are often playing spinners who average 50+.
In my opinion it is a choice of:
A) Pick a spin bowler only when the pitch absolutely suits
spin bowling, and only when the opposition team are weak against spin (i.e. not
against India).
B) Never pick a spin bowler no matter what the conditions.
We have an array of different kinds of bowlers. We have the
steady bowlers like Siddle, Hilfenhaus, Hastings and McKay. We have the attack
leaders like Ryan Harris and Bollinger. We have the shock bowlers like Johnson
and Cummins. We have the young tearaways like Pattinson and Starc. Not to
mention that we have left and right, swing and true fast bowlers. Get a good
mix, get the right, in-form fast bowlers playing and they would be deathly
good.
I can't be sure who to pick. I would personally pick Starc,
Pattinson, McKay and Johnson; but I can't be sure if that is the right mix.
What I am sure of, though, is that playing a spinner, especially on a fast
bowler's paradise like Brisbane is (the venue of the first test), is stupid.
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