With Ben Cousins currently dominating the back pages of the Australian press it’s hard to believe that there’s a fairly significant cricket Test match to begin tomorrow in Perth. And such as Cousins is perhaps lucky to be playing his chosen game, jack-in-the-box off spinning sensation Jason Krejza should be counting his lucky stars if he plays in Perth.
I had an interesting debate with my editor Jonathan Green this morning. Jonathan agrees with Australian captain Ricky Ponting who according to The Australian believes Krejza’s selection is warranted on the basis that your best four bowlers should play.
“I’ll just have to have a look tomorrow (today) but if we think that Siddle and Krejza are in our best four bowlers then that’s the way we’re going to go. You can’t afford to think about the experience thing,” said Ponting.
“If it’s going to be a good wicket, Krejza will come more into calculations because if the match goes five days we’re going to need a spinner later in the game.”
The thing about Perth’s legendary WACA wicket is that it has historically been something of a graveyard for spinners. A quick look at the leading wicket takers in Tests at the WACA makes interesting reading.
Of the 20 highest wicket takers in the history of WACA Tests only two are spinners — Shane Warne and Bruce Yardley. Warne is incomparable and would take wickets on water; Yardley, a Sandgroper, knew the WACA better than probably any spinner to have played the game West of the Nullarbor.
So will Krejza buck these historical trends and literally turn a game against the tide for Australia? Should Shane Watson play in his place having recently taken seven wickets in an innings for Queensland?
It’s hard to remember a series in Australia recently where the tourists had such an opportunity to win the series. And the First Test in Perth will be crucial in deciding the series outcome.
Which makes Krejza’s potential selection all the more interesting.
8 Comments
Yeah, you know what would happen though. Let’s say you’re right, Watson takes a bag in Perth: Then of course they won’t drop him for the rest of the series. He goes on to be ineffective in Melbourne and Sydney while Krejza sits on the sidelines. That’s the trouble with horses for courses policies – they never get fully implemented. At least in sticking with Krejza in Perth (and the rest of the series) they’ll get it right for two Tests out of three.
Excellent point Mark — it’s the first time in a long time that Australia will have a spinner not in the same class as a Warne or MacGill against an opposition who have a legitimate claim to beat Australia at home.
I hope that if Krejza plays, he bowls well — and is not targetted by the Proteas on a pitch that will not assist him like in India.
Destroying the confidence of Krejza may go a long way to winning this series for South Africa.
If he doesn’t play in Perth — he should be a monty for Melbourne and Sydney.
I don’t always believe in “horses for courses” but it was much easier to shun that philosphy when you had SK Warne in the team.
The thing about saying Krejza isn’t in the class of Warne or MacGill is we just don’t know yet. Warne, if I remember correctly, averaged in the 50s in first class cricket when he made his test debut and went wicket less. Spinners in Australian domestic comps always have pretty average first class records unless they play a lot on the SCG because of our pitches and the fact that don’t always get selected to play every match so they don’t get a chance to experience trying to bowl on pitches that aren’t spin friendly. Warne eventually come good and was always selected to play so he got to learn how to bowl on pace friendly pitches. If we give Krejza or even Hauritz the chance to play more than 1 match in a row and on pitches not suited for spin we may just find another Warne/MacGill.
Having said all that I think it’s obvious my view is that Krejza should play whenever he is fit. If he doesn’t progress bring in Hauritz or even Casson. We’ve got to give these guys more than 1 game at a time.
Very good point too AV.
I will be as pleased as anyone if Krejza (or indeed Hauritz) succeeds.
Besides Warne, Benuad, O’Reilly (and to a lesser extent Mallett and MacGill) Australia’s track record of picking and leaving a spinner in a team for a long time is quite poor.
Anyone remember Colin “Funky’ Miller? I have a DVD of the time Australia smashed the West Indies and he was bamboozling them.
Absolutely — and Test Player of the Year too during Steve Waughs most consecutive Test wins.
What a champ!
I think the “2 spinners in the top 20 wicket takers” stat is skewed by Warne having monopolised that position for so long. For over a third of the time that tests have been played at the WACA, only Warne had a chance of getting into the list.
That is not to say that the WACA doesn’t better suit quick bowlers than spinners, because clearly it does. I am happy to see Krejza in the team though. I might think differently if Australia had 4 really good quality quicks.
Is 375 enough on this pitch? The ‘bonus’ runs from the tail helped, but i think it is below par on this pitch. South Africa will probably need a healthy lead after the first innings, as batting 4th could be difficult as the cracks open up and the bounce becomes a bit variable.