Posted by Always pick a spinner. Always.
When selectors are so sure about a pitch and feel that they ‘know’ what it’s going to be like, to the extent that they don’t even countenance the possibility that a spinner might be of use, we love to see them proved wrong.
Not just proved wrong, but ‘us appearing on TV demonstrating how to dance and look cool’ wrong.
How much more wrong could you be? The answer, of course, is none. None more wrong.
Irritatingly, Australia’s selectors don’t seem to be all that wrong so far.
Maybe Michael Clarke’s done another deal with the devil, though. Maybe that’s what happened to his hair.
Hear! Hear!
Speaking of spinners, wheres the report of Saqlain wanting to play for England? Would anyone pick him?
We sort of vaguely mentioned that Saqlain might qualify as English when he signed for Sussex in February last year. We figured that was sufficient coverage and that you’d all remember it.
Poor Bryce misses out again.
Supposedly some of the pitches had a few inches of the old kind of dirt (if not the same dirt) from the old WACA relaid on top, and this made them go wild and crazy. Others didn’t, including the one being used today. You would think the curator would tell the selectors which one they were using. But that wouldn’t be cricket, or something like that. And who would the fans rather see, Shaun Tait or Brad Hogg?
Saqlain may officially be 35 but his knees are 85. He might be brilliant as long as he doesn’t have to bowl more than two overs a match.
Actually, having read my last comment, it may be a bit harsh on Saqlain (not to mention wrong on Brad Hogg, in retrospect). Saqlain bowled quite well for Sussex last season, his best in years, when his knees weren’t acting up. Let’s hope he’s on his path to Vaughan-like recovery.
Speaking of spinners, India has big selection issue for the Adelaide test on whether to bring Harbhajan back. Adelaide is supposed to offer spin, which would suggest he be recalled to the side, but his replacement Irfan Pathan is undroppable after a man-of-the-match performance, as are RP SIngh and Ishant Sharma. The bold option would be to drop the out-of-form Wassim Jaffer, and play with five bowlers, two spinners and three quicks. Boldness would make sense since India needs to win the tie the series, but it raises the question of who would open with Sehwag. Irfan Pathan might be asked to pinch hit at the top, but I would go back to Dravid, even though he struggled in the first test as an opener. He did much better in Sydney, and I think he would respond well to having a dasher like Sehwag as his opening partner. Of course, who knows – there’s a good chance they will stick with the same team as Perth, or just replace Wassim with Dinesh Karthick.