The averages

Michael Clarke is Australia’s luckiest captain in 25 years.  Not since Graham Yallop was thrust into the role as captain in 1978 has Australia’s anointed been so lucky.

Yallop was forced into the captaincy when Kerry Packer annexed the world’s best players for his rebel World Series Cricket (WSC) troupe.

Clarke is captain because there is no other logical choice.  He is captain because of his longevity, ingenuity and his Test average.

 

In any other era, it is doubtful Clarke would captain Australia.

 

He would’ve been a great deputy, but wouldn’t have been selected over Allan Border, Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting or either of the Chappell brothers.  In Clarke’s favour, he might’ve shaded out Kim Hughes.

 

Unfortunately for Clarke, he’s a great batsman in an era of struggle.  The days of Australia’s top order being filled with batsmen who averaged between 40 and 50 is over.

 

The days of true grit and class are over, too.

 

Australian cricket has regressed to a dreadful era that lasted about six years, from 1983 to 1989.  Back then, Australia set a modern day record of six consecutive Test losses.

 

The current side is comparable to that team of the eighties, when Australia was routinely hammered, not only by the West Indies but by England and New Zealand.

 

Consider the following bowlers who represented Australia in the eighties:

 

 

 

Does anyone remember Dave Gilbert opening the bowling for Australia?  Some may remember Chris Matthews’ calamitous Tests, when he was shockingly overwhelmed by the occasion and disrespected by the West Indies and England.

 

The rest of the bowlers listed above are spinners.  Taylor and Bright were off-spinners while Sleep, Holland and Hohns were leg spinners.  None of them made a significant impact on Australian cricket.

Unfortunately for the bowlers listed, their averages would be great if they were batsman.  It seems a miracle that Gilbert played nine Tests with such an appalling average, but it highlights how bereft of talent Australia was in the eighties.

 

Ray Bright, with 53 wickets from 25 Tests is regarded as a clever bowler, but his average is similar to Mark Waugh’s batting average.

 

With the exception of Bob Holland, the bowlers in the list averaged two wickets per Test.  Most bowlers aim for five wickets per Test.  Back in that dreadful era, few of these bowlers were capable of dominating a Test, hence their relatively short careers.

 

But the bowlers need not carry all the blame.  Consider the list of Australian batsman from the eighties:

 

 

 

The averages above aren’t bad, in bowling terms.

 

Marsh, Dyson and Hilditch were openers.  How Dyson played 30 Tests while averaging 26.64 is mystifying, but it is another example of how shallow the talent pool was.

 

Wellham hit a century on Test debut against England.  Of course, he made a duck in the first innings.  Never again, in a Test, did he score a half century. 

 

Ritchie seemed a better player than his average suggests, but the stats don’t lie.  Nicknamed fatcat for obvious reasons, he was a throwback to a less disciplined era, and it didn’t work in a transitional era.

 

Zoehrer and Phillips were wicket keepers often employed as batsman.  They didn’t excel at either job.

 

It is no wonder the side kept losing, but it forced Allan Border’s threat to quit.  The threat was rebuffed, for two reasons.  Border was the incumbent, and there was no one else qualified.

 

Australia kept losing, so it didn’t matter who was captain.  But change was underway.  When Australia lost the Ashes 3-1 in 1986-87, Border sought council from three hard men, Dean Jones, David Boon and Geoff Marsh.

 

They resolved to end the routs.  The side needed mongrel.  Players would be picked on determination, spirit and toughness.

After six years of mediocrity, earning a Test cap would once again be a privilege, reward for hard work, runs or wickets.

 

Two years later, Border led those same hard men to England and brought the Ashes home.  The turnaround was amazing, given Border’s team was described as one of the worst ever to tour England.

 

Ashes dominance would last sixteen years.  When Border retired, he left Australian cricket in better shape than when he inherited it.  The team, under Taylor, played with courage and relentlessness.  As the years went on, Taylor, Waugh and Ponting played uncompromising cricket as captains.  Records were set, competitors bested, and the accolades flowed.

 

Border was Australia’s last reluctant captain.  By necessity, grew into the role.  Michael Clarke coveted the captaincy for years.  By necessity, he must grow into the role.  Unlike Border, Clarke doesn’t have men with the grit of Boon, Jones and Marsh.

 

When Border retired, he was 38.  Steve Waugh was the same age.  Ricky Ponting was 37, while Mark Taylor retired early at 34. 

 

Clarke has already suggested he won’t be playing cricket, that he’d be gone from the game long before he turns 37.

 

That leaves Clarke, two, maybe three years, or thirty Tests, to stamp his legacy on his team.

 

Right now, his job is safe, because there is no one else to take over.  Australia can keep losing and Clarke will still be captain.

 

It is hard to imagine any of the current players being appointed when Clarke retires, or if he is sacked.  Shane Watson will be gone, as will Ed Cowan and Brad Haddin.

 

Can anyone seriously see Phil Hughes, Usman Kawaja, David Warner or Steven Smith as captain? 

 

Given Australia has never appointed a bowler as captain, they can all be ruled out.  That’s not to say bowlers are silly, but their job is hard enough without the burden of captaincy.

 

Consider the averages of Australia’s current Test bowlers:

 

 

 

 

If Harris and Pattinson could stay fit, Australia would have a formidable bowling line up.  Their averages are good, but they keep getting injured.  Pattinson has youth on his side, but Harris, at 32, is running out of time.  He might play 20 Tests, if he’s lucky.

 

If Australia is lucky, Pattinson might play 50.

 

Siddle is Australia’s best bowler.  He’s a reminder to Merv Hughes, in terms of stamina, dependability and his average.  Hughes was generally accurate and always aggressive.  Siddle he has more control.  His aggression is subtle, but he doesn’t open the bowling.

 

That doesn’t make too much sense. 

 

Starc seems a poor man’s Mitchell Johnson.  He can be devastating but is prone to wild inaccuracy and erratic batting.  If Mitchell Johnson was in England and Starc in Australia, there’d be no controversy.

 

Our spinners hardly induce fear and loathing.  Agar’s career is too young to make a judgement, and Lyon’s career is too old to keep getting dropped.  If Lyon wants to be Australia’s best spinner, he needs to do it.  Getting dropped for a 19-year-old must’ve stung.

 

The bowlers, though, don’t make up the bulk of Australia’s problems.  Consider the averages of Australia’s current Test batsmen:

 

 

 

Aside from Clarke, how many of those men would’ve played under Taylor or Waugh?  Only Clarke averages above 50, and Warner is the only batsman to average more than 35.

 

It’s no wonder Australia’s batting is brittle.  The order is bereft of experience and, in most cases, notable talent.

 

Only three players listed above have played more than 30 Tests.  No wonder coach Darren Lehman is inviting former cricketers to offer tips at training.

 

The presence of Waugh, McGrath and Warne, however good intentioned, must be intimidating.  Those men had few limitations.  The current side is riddled with limitations.

 

Of the list above, it is doubtful that Watson, Cowan and Khawaja will ever extend their averages beyond 40. 

We need cricketers coming into the side with first-class averages of 50, as it used to happen.

 

Australian cricket is rebuilding.  The fans are asked to remain patient, but how long for?  And how long do underserved players keep getting Tests matches?

 

As it was in the eighties, they’ll keep getting them until someone else demands their spot, because the averages highlight how easy it is to get a game for Australia right now.

 

Just as it was in the eighties…

 

 

 

 

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