|
Questions aplenty in Australian 30-man one-day squad
David Wiseman
December 2, 2002
The announcement of the Australian 30 man squad for the 2003 World Cup is
cause for the raising of an eyebrow.
The omission of Stuart MacGill is puzzling and he would have every right to
feel aggrieved by it. He is a world-class leg spinner. In his three One-Day
Internationals to date, he has taken six wickets at an average of 17.50 and
an economy rate of 3.50.
To stay that he is behind Victorian rookie Cameron White is suggesting a lot.
Brad Hogg's number make his selection intriguing. He has played seven One-Day Internationals and taken three wickets at an average of 72.66 and
economy rate of 4.43. Would the selectors prefer to play an average off
spinner along side a leg spinner for the sake of variety as opposed to two
quality leg spinners?
Why not select White in the Australia A squad instead of Hogg?
You would have thought that a place for Steve Waugh could be found in the
top 30 one-day cricketers in Australia. His experience of playing 325
limited overs games for Australia would be invaluable. He should have been
picked ahead of Justin Langer.
Like Mark Taylor before him, Langer has never been favoured in the shorter
form of the game. Not one of his eight limited overs game took place in
Australia. He has only made the team when part of the touring squad.
With dashers such as Mike Hussey, Greg Blewett, Andrew Symonds and Jimmy Maher also in the squad,
what was the point of naming Langer when he is next to no chance of being in
South Africa?
Such is the depth of Australian cricket that quality players couldn't crack
the top 30. Calibre cricketers such as Martin Love, Michael Kapsrowicz and
Jamie Cox.
In the last World Cup, Australia had great success with Tom Moody in the all-rounder's position. The pressure will be on Shane Watson, Ian Harvey and
Andrew Symonds to perform. Harvey and Symonds both failed last season in the
VB Series and were one of the primary reasons for Australia's failure to
qualify for the last year finals series.
From Australia's 1999 World Cup-winning squad, Brendon Julian, Tom Moody,
Paul Reiffel and Mark Waugh have retired. Steve Waugh and Damien Fleming
were omitted while Shane Lee and Adam Dale are injured.
Dale is the forgotten man of Australian cricket and is just making his first
steps back after undergoing major surgery to his right shoulder. Currently,
playing for the Queensland Second XI, Dale has his job cut out for him
trying to make the Bulls team let alone the Australian one.
© David Wiseman
|
