Australia axe Burns, Voges, Ferguson, Nevill and Mennie for third Test against South Africa

[Abdullah719]

The National Selection Panel have named the following 12-man squad for the third and final Commonwealth Bank Day-Night Test against South Africa starting on Thursday.

Steve Smith (C) - New South Wales

David Warner (VC) - New South Wales

Jackson Bird - Tasmania

Peter Handscomb - Victoria

Josh Hazlewood - New South Wales

Usman Khawaja - Queensland

Nathan Lyon - New South Wales

Nic Maddinson - New South Wales

Matt Renshaw - Queensland

Chadd Sayers - South Australia

Mitchell Starc - New South Wales

Matthew Wade - Victoria

The squad includes six changes from the side that lost to South Africa in Hobart with Victoria’s Peter Handscomb, New South Wales’ Nic Maddinson and Queensland opener Matt Renshaw all set to make their debut in the top six.

Commenting on the changes Interim National Selector Trevor Hohns said:

“Matt has established himself in a short period of time as one of the best young opening bats in the country. His form is currently very good and we see him as a very exciting prospect for the future.

“Peter’s form over the last couple seasons, and with Australia A, has been very consistent. He has a good all-round game and we think he is the type of player who could succeed at the next level.

“Nic is an exciting and talented young player and we feel now is the ideal time for him to be involved with the Australian team. He has the ability to break the game open and we think he will flourish in this environment.”

Tasmania’s Jackson Bird and South Australia’s Chadd Sayers come into the squad as the additional fast-bowlers.

“We consider Chadd and Jackson to be very good bowlers that also can bowl a large amount of overs in conjunction with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“Chadd bowls very well in Adelaide and Jackson is coming off a strong performance in his last Test match earlier in the year and both deserve their chance.”

Victorian gloveman Matthew Wade returns to the Test side having last played for Australia against India at Delhi in March 2013.

“Matthew has worked extremely hard on his keeping in the past few season and we consider it to have improved substantially. He is also a very valuable player with the bat and will add to the depth in our batting order.”

 

[Chrish]

Total knee jerk reaction

Bit sad really

 

[Ellipsism]

Don't know why Lyon is still there and Behrendorff being ignored again is peculiar considering he's arguably been the best bowler with the pink ball this season.

Don't think the long form is Maddinson's cup of tea. Always seems to throw everything away, a case of Akmal syndrome...

My XI would be:
Warner
Maddinson
Khawaja
Smith
Renshaw
Handscomb
Wade
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood
Bird

 

[msb314]

This squad is too young and inexperienced.

Will expect them to be handily thrashed this time - 3-0 is on the cards now.

 

[Ellipsism]

Total knee jerk reaction

Bit sad really

How is it a knee jerk reaction? Those players are in and out mediocre and have rightly been dropped.

 

[kingusama92]

Mennie should never have been picked.

Nevill doesn't deserve a spot over Wade.

Voges has a concussion.

Joe Burns has been woeful all year barring two innings in NZ.

Callum Ferguson got the short end of the stick. One match before getting discarded is something Pakistani selectors do.

 

[Chrish]

How is it a knee jerk reaction? Those players are in and out mediocre and have rightly been dropped.

You should never select players if you aren't prepared to give them a run. Mennie and Ferguson shouldn't have been picked in the first place but since they were, they should be allowed to at least finish the series.

This sends wrong message to players and reflects poorly on selectors

This is nothing more than desperation

 

[Ellipsism]

You should never select players if you aren't prepared to give them a run. Mennie and Ferguson shouldn't have been picked in the first place but since they were, they should be allowed to at least finish the series.

This sends wrong message to players and reflects poorly on selectors

This is nothing more than desperation

The change in selectors may have something to do with the cause.

 

[Chrish]

The change in selectors may have something to do with the cause.

He was made a scapegoat

 

[Ellipsism]

He was made a scapegoat

Who is "he".

 

[Chrish]

Who is "he".

The chance you are referring to

 

[Ellipsism]

The chance you are referring to

Ok.

Anyways, you're blowing this out of proportion, these Australian folks aren't mental dominos. There not international quality and that's the brutal reality, whether it is reasonable or not, the selectors have made a fair call and their choice is one that I for one respect.

 

[volcyz]

Wicktless Lyon still being picked lol

 

[Convict]

Don't know why Lyon is still there and Behrendorff being ignored again is peculiar considering he's arguably been the best bowler with the pink ball this season.

Don't think the long form is Maddinson's cup of tea. Always seems to throw everything away, a case of Akmal syndrome...

My XI would be:
Warner
Maddinson
Khawaja
Smith
Renshaw
Handscomb
Wade
Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood
Bird

Lyon is there because O'Keefe is injured.


Save for the Maddinson selection I am happy with this but as I said in the other thread the selectors would love an excuse to pick Maddinson

 

[Convict]

You should never select players if you aren't prepared to give them a run. Mennie and Ferguson shouldn't have been picked in the first place but since they were, they should be allowed to at least finish the series.

This sends wrong message to players and reflects poorly on selectors

This is nothing more than desperation

Rod Marsh stood down. The selecting panel now has good reason to change course without looking bad.

This was the whole point of Marsh standing down.

 

[Timewaster]

Wow they dropped Voges, after Warner and Smith he is the best batsmen in the country

 

[Slog]

Why was burns dropped

He's in decent form and just had one match

 

[Convict]

Tests

#  Player           Sta Age  Bat Bwl Mat  Runs  HS  Ave   100 50  Wkts BBI   BBM    Ave   5i  10m  Ct  St
1. DA Warner        NSW 30   LHB LS   56  4847 253  48.47  16 22     4 2/45  2/45   66.00  0    0  40   0
2. MT Renshaw       QLD 20   LHB OS   --   --- ---  --.--  -- --     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -
3. UT Khawaja       QLD 29   LHB RM   19  1314 174  43.80   4  5     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -
4. SPD Smith*       NSW 27   RHB LS   46  4212 215  57.69  15 17    17 3/18  4/83   51.58  0    0  55   0
5. PSP Handscomb    VIC 25   RHB --   --   --- ---  --.--  -- --     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -
6. NJ Maddinson     NSW 24   LHB SLA  --   --- ---  --.--  -- --     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -
7. MS Wade+         VIC 28   LHB RM   12   623 106  34.61   2  3     0 -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -
8. MA Starc         NSW 26   LHB LF   30   786  99  22.45   0  6   123 6/50 11/94   27.73  7    1  15   0
9. NM Lyon          NSW 29   RHB OS   59   586  40* 13.31   0  0   213 7/94 12/286  33.62  7    1  30   0
10.JR Hazlewood     NSW 25   LHB RFM  22   234  39  15.60   0  0    88 6/70  9/136  26.12  4    0   8   0
11.JM Bird          TAS 29   RHB RFM   5    15   6* 14.00   0  0    21 5/59  7/117  25.28  1    0   1   0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.CM Sayers        SA  29   RHB RM   --   --- ---  --.--  -- --     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  --   -

First Class*

#  Player           Sta Age  Bat Bwl Mat  Runs  HS  Ave   100 50  Wkts BBI   BBM    Ave   5i  10m  Ct  St
1. DA Warner        NSW 30   LHB LS   79  6813 253  50.46  23 29     6 2/45  2/45   75.00  0    0  53   0
2. MT Renshaw       QLD 20   LHB OS   12  1017 170  44.22   3  3     - -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  15   0
3. UT Khawaja       QLD 29   LHB RM  103  6772 214  42.06  18 33     1 1/21  1/21   98.00  0    0  76   0
4. SPD Smith*       NSW 27   RHB LS   95  8014 215  55.26  27 36    65 7/64  8/169  53.29  1    0 122   0
5. PSP Handscomb    VIC 25   RHB --   61  3854 215  40.56   9 24     0 -/--  -/--   --.--  -    -  93   4
6. NJ Maddinson     NSW 24   LHB SLA  59  3653 181  37.65   8 17     5 2/10  2/10   35.00  0    0  42   0
7. MS Wade+         VIC 28   LHB RM   99  4853 152  39.13   9 30     1 1/23  1/23   32.00  0    0 332  13
8. MA Starc         NSW 26   LHB LF   64  1261  99  22.51   0  7   232 6/50 11/94   26.87 11    1  32   0
9. NM Lyon          NSW 29   RHB OS  103  1184  75  13.60   0  1   322 7/94 12/286  37.52  7    1  42   0
10.JR Hazlewood     NSW 25   LHB RFM  53   541  43* 13.52   0  0   198 6/50  9/136  25.01  5    0  21   0
11.JM Bird          TAS 29   RHB RFM  57   504  39  10.29   0  0   233 7/45 11/95   24.64 11    3  21   0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12.CM Sayers        SA  29   RHB RM   47   665 39*  12.09   0  9   186 7/46 11/76   24.20 10    2  16   0

*Doesn't include Sayers current innings where he is 22* and SA are 9/317.

This is what I had to say about the players last night

In my view these positions are guaranteed.

1. Warner [NSW]
2. Opening Batsman
3. Khawaja [QLD]
4. Smith* [NSW]
5. Middle Order Batsman
6. Middle Order Batsman/Allrounder
7. Wicket Keeper
8. Starc [NSW]
9. Spin Bowler
10. Third Quick
11. Hazlewood NSW

There was the possibity of Khawaja getting moved up to open the batting but that appears unlikely now. Selecting Renshaw will be too attractive to the selectors and media pressure is building on them to pick a young gun and stick with them.

If O'Keefe plays (as a pink ball specialist - he has a great record with the pink ball) then he bats ahead of Starc.

Opening Batsman

Shaun Marsh is obviously injured so won't be considered. Joe Burns is the incumbent but after twin failures today and 18 runs in his last 6 first class innings he will be dropped.
Cameron Bancroft was set for selection and probably just needed a 50 and a middling sort of score but he failed twice and has been generally out of form this season.
Michael Klinger could have been an option if the selectors desperately wanted to avoid a whitewash but I think the selectors want youth now and in any case he's not in particularly good form.
Travis Dean made his debut for Victoria last season and had a decent season and scored a century against NSW (minus Starc and Hazlewood and Cummins) this round. He is a reliable sort but to me he's never going to quite be test class and I also think the selectors will ignore him.
Matt Renshaw is a very young opener for Queensland who is into his second full season. Topped Queenslands run scoring last year as a teenager with more than 700 runs at an average of over 40 and scored 94 against a strong South Africa A (Philander and from memory Rabada both played) this year. Just came back from injury for this shield round and scored a century and a fifty. I consider him a monty to get selected.
Alex Doolan is another who could be an extreme desperation move but I consider it unlikely while South Australia's Jake Weatherald and Queensland's Marnus Labuschagne are both promising. Marcus Harris is also called for by some. This is a laugh. Once every ten innings he reminds people of why he gets selected and then is mediocre for the other nine.

Renshaw is the guy they have to pick though.

Middle Order Batsmen

Voges is pretty much guaranteed to not play. He earned his selection and despite what [MENTION=132916]Junaids[/MENTION] says he was a much better player from 2013 to 2015 than earlier in his career. However it is exceedingly obvious that old age has caught up to him. Today in the papers he admitted to not even seeing the ball that took him out. Even purely for safety reasons he can't be brought in to play the pink ball at night against someone like Rabada.
Ferguson failed in the test and failed both times this shield run. On the other hand he was selected after several consecutive good shield seasons so I'd expect him to get a few more tests (until Shaun Marsh recovers).
Travis Head is highly talented and very highly rated and I think a century in the second innings might get him in because the way the selectors have treated him so far suggests that they want an excuse to pick him. I have some concerns about him, his way of batting to me just exemplifies everything that is currently wrong with Australian cricket. Its successful and when he can get on top of bowlers he will win you a match single handily but I don't think that is what we need. Jake Lehmann is someone who excites a lot of people for some reason. He has definitely made some nice scores so far in his career but to me he is just an inferior version of Travis Head.
Chris Lynn is injured anyway and I also don't rate him at all. The other Queenslander, Joe Burns will make a test return at some point and it will be in the middle order where he belongs. Jake Heazlett is another very young Queensland batsman I expect will play tests.
The two New South Wales guys in contention are Nic Maddinson and Kurtis Patterson. Maddinson in my opinion is the most talented batsman in the country. He is also the dumbest and has thrown away so many great starts in between some incredibly impressive innings. Like Travis Head I can see why they are excited about him but to me he's just going to contribute further to our problems.
Kurtis Patterson is a very reliable young batsman. I think he can be depended on but I don't think he'll ever be more than just a good test player at best. A lot of the other players named have higher ceilings but after a collapse I wouldn't find myself worrying that Patterson might do something stupid the way I'd expect Maxwell/Maddinson to do.
Peter Handscomb is a player I've been calling for to be selected for a while now and he has pretty much forced the issue with a well timed 200. Behind Smith he's quite possibly the second best player of spin in the country so the tour of India coming up helps his cause even more. Apart from that just insert my description of Patterson here with the addition of Handscomb being in great form. He isn't the best prospect we have but he is the player we need in the team.
Cameron White is a joke selection the Victorian media calls for every year for the last decade. George Bailey scored a century but once again he batted like it was a one dayer. Not up to test cricket. Marcus Stoinis is a solid batsman who bowls a bit so could fill in that 5th bowler role if they need a extra rotation to avoid overbowling Starc and Hazlewood. But I think he's already reached his ceiling and it is below test standard (that said I never expected him to become as good a shield player as he has become).
Maxwell just no. An inferior Nic Maddinson who bowls mediocre off spin.
Mitch Marsh has the talent to become a test player but needs an extended run at state level and is injured anyway. James Faulkner is not a good enough batsmen to bat in the top six. Ashton Agar is better served pushing for selection as a spin bowler and is starting to restart his career. Injured himself anyway so can't press for selection after taking ten wickets last shield round.
Ashton Turner and Hilton Cartwright are possible prospects for the future but not now. Turner is also highly rated as a leader.

Keeping

Peter Nevill is the incumbent and is good enough with the gloves to play but despite strong shield performances has not performed with the bat at test level. There will be some temptation to give him a few more tests because the most immediate contender is Matthew Wade who is a mediocre wicketkeeper. Sam Whiteman is younger than the other two and like Nevill is good enough with the gloves. Unfortunately he had a prolonged period of poor performance with the bat before scoring a half century and a century this shield match. Because of Whiteman showing his possible return to form I think they will stick with Nevill.
Handscomb and Bancroft get named by people who see cricinfo scorecards and think they can keep. They can't at any acceptable level to get selected as a specialist keeper.

Spin Bowler
Nathan Lyon is mediocre and has always been mediocre and will always be mediocre but has a good chance of retaining his spot. Steve O'Keefe should be the main spinner for the India tour and has had a lot of success with the pink ball and is a very useful and reliable lower order batsman so might get ahead of him. Ashton Agar has a slight injury which forced him out of this match after taking 10 last match which will prevent him getting selected. Unfortunately his disappointing season last year with the ball (he scored 1-2 centuries with the bat) will prevent him from contending on the basis of just one ten wicket haul.
Mitchell Swepson is a very interesting leg spinning prospect but not ready just yet.
Adam Zampa will never be good enough for test cricket.

Fast Bowlers
Hazlewood and Starc will obviously play and get rested this round. Joe Mennie also got rested which should mean that he will play but who knows (he shouldn't in any case but it would be odd to rest him).
Pattinson, Cummins, Paris, Coulter-Nile etc are injured. Billy Stanlake is a great prospect but can't really be selected. Bollinger is too old. Of the rest of the Victorian lot, Tremain to me is the only one who might be test class but I think he might just be a good bench player at best. Siddle is of course injured as well and with the frequency of his injuries at his age we should give up on him.
Jackson Bird really needed to play in Hobart and while he should be first in line for Adelaide both Jason Behrendorff who has a good record and an exceptional record with the pink ball and Chadd Sayers in his home ground should also be considered.
James Faulkner might get nominated by some but no.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Handscomb and Bancroft are Australia's best test prospects. Good to see Handscomb there.

 

[Abdul]

Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur unsurprised by Australian cricket bloodletting

Former Australian coach Mickey Arthur isn't surprised at savage reactions to the nation's Test slide.

Arthur, who was sacked in 2013 in favour of Darren Lehmann, says the side's 10-game losing streak, taking in Test and limited overs cricket, is unacceptable.

"I'm not surprised at the reaction. A country as good as Australia can't go the last five-six Tests losing, and the last five one-dayers," said Arthur, now coaching Pakistan in a Test series in New Zealand.

"They have had 10 games where they've lost on the trot and there's going to be questions asked, as I know all too well. We'll leave it at that."

South African Arthur was named Pakistan's coach in May this year - his third stint as an international head coach.

The Pakistanis arrive in Australia in December for a three-Test tour, with Arthur describing Steve Smith's five-Test losing streak as "interesting watching".

Australian chairman of selectors Rod Marsh quit last week, with Trevor Hohns called on to pick a side for the third Test against the Proteas in Adelaide from Thursday.

"There are still some very good cricketers in that Australian set-up," Arthur said.

"I think once they get a little bit of momentum and a little bit of confidence back into their game, and get that swagger back, they're going to be as good as anybody, particularly in their own conditions."

Pakistan lost the first Test in the two-game series to New Zealand by eight wickets.

http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cric...ian-cricket-bloodletting-20161120-gstell.html

 

[Junaids]

I fly into Adelaide on Wednesday.

Like Australia's new opener Matt Renshaw, I'm actually English, although unlike him I'm 47 years old and totally unfit.

But I'm staying at the team hotel, so I might take my kit with me, just in case I get called up into the Aussie team.

 

[Pantani]

Eww, Matthew Wade

 

[Rayyman]

I don't think they should've dropped Peter Nevill. He's a great wicket-keeper and not too bad with the bad.

 

[Hasan123]

If your going to put Wade in may as well stick with Nevile. Other than that the squad is good. Glad bancroft and handscombe are selected

 

[srh]

Only 1 player from Tasmania?

 

[Convict]

Only 1 player from Tasmania?

And a NSW import at that

 

[Square Drive]

Harsh on Ferguson.

 

[Khan12]

Hopefully we do the same with Wahab, Rahat, Asad, Younis ( if he doesn't perfrom) and Misbah is going after the AUS series. Hopefully we get new faces .

 

[moghul]

Can we borrow Australian selectors to get rid of some awful oldies from our team.

 

[Deewana]

Can't Ozs find a better keeper than Wade

 

[moghul]

Feel really bad for Ferguson. Has been performing for years and thrown out after he failed in one inning, was run out in other inning.