Australia: The Way Forward

There can be no doubt now that Australia's period of world dominance is over. Having lost their first series on home turf in nearly two decades, to one of their traditional rivals (and some might say whipping boys) South Africa, following its loss to India abroad, Australia's seemingly endless period of victory after victory, with barely a loss to be seen, has ended. Finding itself down 2-0, with one more test Australia needs to not lose in order to save its number 1 world ranking, the result brings to the forefront a boring and tired side, and changes that selectors must make in order to give Australia any chance of coming back.

The only thing stopping one from saying that Australia is not the best cricketing country in the world anymore is the selectors' obvious mistakes. They persisted with an out of form Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds, and even picked the latter through injury which ruled the all rounder out of bowling his medium pacers, and hampered him in the field. Their unresponsiveness to the problem of Australia's pace attack is also worrying. From their pathetic performance in failing to bowl South Africa out for less than 400 in the second innings, the selectors' only change was to replace one mediocre off spinner with another (Jason Krejza out for Nathan Hauritz).

Meanwhile in domestic cricket, the top 3 runs scorers for the Sheffield Shield are all currently or have been opening the batting, with Michael Klinger on 900+ runs already after half a season, the ever consistent Chris Rogers still scoring runs for what must be the 5th season in a row, and 19 year old excitement machine Phil Hughes doing magnificently in a poor NSW side. All 3 are capable of replacing Hayden, so one wonders why the selectors have not only left him in the side for the 3rd test, but even went as far as to say that they didn't expect him to retire, rather they felt he could play a role in the future. Furthermore, the selectors' continual recycling of Andrew Symonds can only be interpreted as either incompetence or a need to please sponsors putting Symonds' mug on their products in regular ads during the cricket. Symonds' selection after a handful of games in domestic cricket for Queensland, of which he failed to score a single 50 and had an average only a bowler would be proud of, was wrong enough in itself, but his continual waste of chances and the selectors' failure to respond is just as bad. Even injured ahead of the Boxing Day test, the selectors left out an in form Shane Watson for Symonds.

On the bright side, selectors have brought in a new face to the team, with Symonds finally unable to take his spot, in comes Victorian Andrew McDonald, a genuine all rounder who averages 46 with the bat and 24 with the ball this season. McDonald, at 27, has been named in extended World Cup and Champions Trophy squads, but his selection is almost as surprising and sudden as it is deserved. A key part of Victoria's undefeated season this year, it is pleasing to see selectors finally select an inform 'youngster' rather than recycling older players.

Another key inclusion to the squad is Doug Bollinger, who was unlucky to play no cricket on Australia's tour of India despite being in the squad throughout, who will battle with Ben Hilfenhaus for the spot vacated by Brett Lee's injury. One hopes that the selectors will persist with one of the two swing specialists ahead of Lee, whose recent form has been poor, pace down and penetration almost nonexistent. Meanwhile there are other options too, such as the inform Dirk Nannes, whose breakthrough county season for Middlesex has been followed up with him the leading wicket taker for the Shield, despite missing one match through injury, and being taken out of the attack by umpires for an entire innings after bowling three consecutive full tosses (two of which were beamers). Nannes is almost a slower Jeff Thomson or even Shaun Tait, reckless and unafraid to hurt batsmen, but also picking up wickets. Nannes even knocked out batsman David Bandy with a lethal bouncer just last week.

Australia's key to success from here on lies with its selections. Australian selectors can no longer afford the luxury of giving veterans 'just one more chance' to perform. If Australia does not respond accordingly, it will find itself blown out of the water, and perhaps even lose the Ashes in 2009. A new year dawns, and with it a new era of cricket. Can Australia survive atop the world rankings? Only time, and selectors, will tell.

To spin or not to spin: The Australian selection dilemma

Australia's spin department is cursed one might think. Ever since the king of spin, Shane Warne retired, a horror run with injuries, retirements and losses of form has left Australia with the unsavoury decision of whether to throw in an uncapped spinner against the world's best players of spin, India, or turn to the power of a promising pack of pacemen, led by Brett Lee and Stuart Clark, on the world's biggest turning pitches.

With both of Warne's initial replacements, Stuart MacGill (who walked out mid-series due to debilitating injuries) and One Day specialist Brad Hogg both retiring within a year of making their long awaited returns to test cricket, Australia's hopes now lie in the hands of the talented Tasmanian Jason Krejza, and Victorian batting all-rounder Cameron White, one of the country's most talented young batsmen, but certainly not so in the bowling department. Their First Class bowling averages are 50 (Krejza) and 38 (White) respectively, which shows how desperate Australia have become for a wild card to emerge from the pack.

Interesting is Beau Casson, the second choice spinner (who played after MacGill retired) in the West Indies, now seeming to be on the outer, merely because he's a left arm spinner, especially when Bryce McGain, clearly the best spinner in Australia, fell to injury and was forced out of the tour, White's inclusion ahead of Casson seemed an interesting bet.

While it can be said that White's batting will come in handy, it is still a mystery as to whether his bowling is good enough to trouble the Indians. White is as unorthodox as they come, his stock ball is a wrong un, he doesn't extract much turn, and he relies more on changes in pace, and often just being slogged at the wrong time, to take his wickets.

Krejza on the other hand is capable of getting good turn, and decent flight too, but he has never taken a 5 wicket haul, and would seem more of a future project than someone ready to be playing test cricket.

It seems that Australia has the choice of either sending in a raw, and perhaps unprepared spinner, or to play four pacemen instead. With Lee, Clark and Mitchell Johnson are all shoe-ins, so the question is whether Australia will use batting all-rounder Shane Watson as their fourth paceman, and then use either Krejza or White as the 5th bowler, or whether they will use one of the country's most exciting bowlers, Peter Siddle, already earmarked as part of the future after a breakthrough season for Victoria, or New South Wales' Doug Bollinger, a more experience option, though one that did not play in the Aussies' tour game.

It seems most likely, however, that the Aussies will stick with Krejza, despite being belted around the park in the tour game (he conceded over 6 an over across the match, and took no wickets) with logic dictating that a good spinner is required to win test matches in India, but it certainly seems that with the spinners' track records, Siddle or Bollinger would be a better option. To spin or not to spin? That is the question.