Kingaroos... & A Few Joeys

Australia’s final 11 for the big matches in the World Cup is far from clear. The injury to Shane Warne and the selector’s decision to forget the Waugh twins has left them in a dilemma. To solve the problem, they’ve decided to go the all-rounder route and selected Andrew Symonds, Brad Hogg and Shane Watson. All are useful enthusiastic cricketers, but none of them pass my all-rounders test and that is, they must be good enough to hold down a spot on one skill alone. Too often all-rounders are chosen because they can bat and bowl a little, and it’s hoped this will be enough to warrant selection. Unfortunately, it very rarely is and when the crunch comes these "all-rounders" are found wanting.

As I see it, Australia have only nine players who are certainties for the final 11: Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann, Michael Bevan, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie, Damien Martyn and Glenn McGrath. Not a bad group to build on and one you could confidently face Test matches with. The white ball and probable seaming wickets may pose a problem and expose some batting frailty, particularly with Mr Reliable Steve Waugh missing.

Which is why I had hoped Australia had gone past the bits-and-pieces players. We dabbled with this after being beaten in the final of the 1996 World Cup and almost immediately our 65 per cent winning ratio of the previous ten years was down to 45 per cent. Even in the preliminary round of the 1999 World Cup, we persisted with this and at one stage it appeared as though we’d miss out on the final Super Six round. Fortunately, sanity prevailed, Australia returned to our normal tried-and-proven tactics of going with seven batsmen, including Adam Gilchrist, and the rest is history—Australia beat Pakistan to win the final.

As it has been for some time, the strength of those victories, particularly in the finals, lay with the bowlers. There is a tendency, particularly in the subcontinent, to consider bowlers as second-class citizens and rely on batsmen to win matches. I personally think these are dangerous tactics, and full of pitfalls. For proof, we only have to look at what happened to the Indian team in New Zealand. Certainly the pitches were stacked in favour of the new-ball bowlers with the ball seaming all over the place. Certainly they weren’t easy to bat on, but the conditions are equal for both sides.

Certainly, the New Zealand batsmen are more used to such conditions. But surely the Indian batsmen are more gifted than their opponents. And just as certainly the New Zealand bowlers are doing a better job and herein lies the difference between the two teams. There is nothing new or startling about this for it is the bowlers who win matches, even in one-day matches.

History will show that the team bowling the opposition out, rather than scoring more runs and restricting their opponents to a lower score, wins more matches.

A fully fit Australian side has the most potent bowling attack in the world and that is why they hold the World Cup and are the best Test team. This doesn’t mean they will go into every game with five slips and a gully. It does mean, however, that they will seek wickets at all times, even if this has to be done by drying up the scoring rate and forcing batsmen to attempt the impossible to unshackle the chains that contain them. No one does this better than McGrath, Warne and Gillespie.

I believe Australia will use the early rounds to sort out their final 11. I have no doubt that Brett Lee will be instructed to go flat out and could be used as much as possible to gain more accuracy with his blistering pace. Bowlers like Lee must go flat out, for their style and action is not effective if they just try to keep it accurate. Lee and Andy Bichel will tussle it out for the third fast bowling spot. Bichel has had to play second fiddle to Lee this season but when called on hasn’t let Australia down. He is a very experienced bowler. He may well be the surprise packet on the South African trip. Conditions there will suit him. If I was a betting man, I would be tempted to spend a few Rand on him being among the top three wicket takers in the tournament.

The top six batsmen select themselves: Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Lehmann, Martyn and Bevan. My only real worry about this line-up is that they are all strokemakers. On flat tracks, this is not such a worry, but on bowler-friendly surfaces you need at least one solid player who can hold up one end. The final composition of the team will lie in what the philosophy of the selectors is. In choosing three all-rounders, they are obviously looking for one of them to hold down the number seven spot. I have reservations about this based on my thoughts on what it really takes to be an all-rounder.

My thoughts are twofold. Go in with four main strike bowlers—McGrath, Gillespie, Bichel and Warne—and do some fiddling with Lehmann, Ponting and Martyn to use up the extra ten overs, thus leaving a spot for Jimmy Maher or go in with five front-line bowlers, the ones mentioned above plus Brett Lee. Of the two, the seventh batsman has the greatest appeal. My main concern about using five bowlers is that it would mean using Shane Warne at number seven. That is just a little too high for him and the remaining batsmen/bowlers do not fill me with confidence.

On paper, I expect Australia to at least reach the final. I have really one major concern and that is fielding. I never ever thought I would convey these thoughts about Australian cricket, for fielding has always been its pride and joy. We have led the world almost unchallenged for the fifty years I have been involved in the game. Occasionally, the Australian team will still bring off a wonderful catch or force a thrilling run-out. As I write though, I can’t think of the last time Ricky Ponting hit the stumps for a run-out, something he used to do a year or so ago in almost every second match.

This concern, unfortunately, is not just a recent occurrence. It has been going on now for about two years. Fortunately for Australia, it has been masked by the brilliance of their bowling attack, for inevitably they have been able to conjure up another opportunity for the fielders to redeem themselves and the situation. The recent Sydney Test against England proved costly with several English batsmen going on to big scores after being missed early. Misses in odis are more often than not fatal for you just don’t have the time or opportunity to remedy the situation.