If you were to ask me what I thought of a major international team selecting a batsman who has yet to play a first class game for his state, I would have thought we were talking about Pakistan or Sri Lanka maybe. Instead the Aussies have pulled David Warner out of the hat as a 20/20 player on the back of some eye-catching one day performances. In England, this would be the equivalent, roughly, of sticking James Benning in our 20/20 team on the back of his 180 odd against Gloucester a couple of years ago.

 

However, Australia are held up as the beacon of world cricket even if Andrew Hilditch is currently doing his best Ted Dexter impersonation. Therefore questioning such bravery is not for the likes of your humble correspondent who believes, to some degree, that our Antipodean friends are starting to lose the plot. Hilditch appears to be getting a ton of stick for his selection policies (rotating spinners, not dropping over the hill openers) and eye-catching left field selections are one way to capture the imagination.

 

The upshot of this latest selection round is the omission of Matthew Hayden. He has been dropped from the One Day team before, but came back stronger than ever, but this time the feeling is the door has been firmly shut. Hayden himself isn’t giving up, it seems. Look, I despise the bloke more than most but let’s not kid ourselves here – we’d much rather not face him in the Ashes this summer than see him come out as an opener, hence the almost manic lust for him to be dropped ignominiously by the Australian selectors. The fact he’s still there, and backed by Ponting, shows how much Cricket Australia wants him to be an experienced anchor in England. Ponting doesn’t fancy being number 3 to a Jaques / Katich opening combo if Hayden is not finished. And in essence, why should he be finished? A bad series or two on the bounce is nothing uncommon to Cook, Strauss or Bell, and they keep their places. Plenty of great players played very well at 37 years of age, and he’s still a decent slip fielder.

 

Australia’s consolation win at Sydney will have revived a bit of confidence, especially without Brett Lee or Stuart Clark in the bowling line-up. Siddle bowled very well at the SCG, but no-one is seriously believing that Bollinger is going to be a better man for this team than Lee come July (although some numpty on the radio this morning put him up as some sort of superstar who will run through England – 0/78 and 2/53 scares the bejesus out of me). However, come the tour to South Africa, Australia are going to need Siddle and Bollinger to support Johnson (I’m not sure how much longer the really impressive Stuart Clark is out for) and necessity may bring its rewards. With Symonds hoping to be back (and Watson out of the picture for the time being) the team still looks vulnerable to the worrying lack of form from Hayden and Hussey, and hence, in the case of the former, the patience Australia are showing. Jaques injury takes the main taxi off the rank for the time being, while the noise in the background is for NSW’s Philip Hughes to lead into a bright new future (the New York Yankees had the same name posted for great things last season – the burden can be a great one).

 

It is sure to be an interesting transitional time for the Australians and their progress, or otherwise, will be monitored on this blog, that’s for sure. I may hate their team, but I love watching their cricket and to watch a fading giant maintain its place is almost as fascinating as watching a young team evolve. As the West Indies showed, the fall can be a very great one.