If the World Cup picture got any clearer for the Australian selectors after this weekend, that would have been ‘clear as mud’.
David Wiseman09-Dec-2002If the World Cup picture got any clearer for the Australian selectors afterthis weekend, that would have been ‘clear as mud’.With three runs from 15 balls, have Andrew Symonds chances of going to SouthAfrica gone?Has the previously unfancied Michael Hussey nudged his name ahead of thepack after his unbeaten 44 and fine run out?With the depth of Australian cricket so great, there are more people who canbe left out then picked. Such being the case, if Australia do not defendtheir crown in South Africa next March, expect a lot of finger pointingtowards Jolimont Street.The hot seat at the moment in the Australian one-day side is No 7.Gilchrist opening the batting allows the selection of an extra player,ideally an all-rounder. One who can make runs if they are called for andrequired to get through 10 overs.This gives the side more versatility and means the chances of part-timebowlers such as Lehmann, Bevan and Martyn being called upon are less.It was the failure of both Ian Harvey and Symonds in this role last yearwhich saw Australia became unstuck and miss out on the VB Series Finals.When Harvey played, the side appeared short a batsman. When it was Symonds,Australia looked a bowler short.In front of Australian audiences, Shane Watson is untested. This VB Seriesis going to be his baptism of fire and ‘make or break’ time for him. In hiseight One-Day Internationals to date, he has eight wickets at 46 with arespectable batting average of 34. So, he seems to bemore of an all-rounder in the Symonds mould.If Watson comes unstuck against England and Sri Lanka, that’s when it getsinteresting.There is no doubt you need an all-rounder of some sort to be competitive inODIs. It’s ironic that the Australian Test side are so flexible while their pyjama colleagues are not.Probably not knowing it at the time, the whole notion of having differentTest and one-day sides was sown when the administrators made it a 50-overgame with five minimum bowlers. In Test cricket you had your four primarybowlers. Now another one amongst the top six had to be found to bowl 10overs.The better one-day sides in history have been those where they had playersto pick from who were naturals at both batting and bowling such as ImranKhan, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and Steve Waugh.In the 1987 World Cup, Waugh took 11 wickets at 26. With Australia fieldingan average wicket-keeper in the shape of Greg Dyer, it was imperative thatthey make up for it elsewhere. It was Waugh’s incredible performances inthis World Cup which saw them win it.It was the bowling of Tom Moody which got Australia home in 1999. Histournament matched Australia’s in that he had a slow start and only began tohit his straps at the business end of things.The fact that Waugh doesn’t bowl anymore and is therefore a batsman rather thanan all-rounder conspires against him. If he will not bowl, there is no waythe Australian selectors can pick him. The void for him to fill is that ofthe all-rounder. That’s it. In Bevan, Lehmann and Ponting, Australia have arguablythe finest middle-order in the world. After that triumvirate and Martyn they need an all-rounder.One person who didn’t do his chances any harm in the Australia A game wasGreg Blewett. He batted nicely before being dismissed by a superb catch andbowled seven tight overs of medium pace. After playing the last of his 32one-dayers, four years ago he might be worth another look.His inclusion would add some steel to the batting and his bowling is thetight, wicket-to-wicket proposition which could be successful on theSouth African pitches.Australian coach John Buchanan and captain Ricky Ponting have a lot tothink about between now and February. Are they as adept bowling first tobatting first and vice-versa? Because if not, that will shape thecomposition of the team.When you play well, cricket is an easy fun game. When out of form, she canbe a tough torturer of body, mind and soul.Will it be elementary for Dear Watson?This will be the first of many questions to be answered between now andMarch 23.