North to the future
Robert Craddock in the Herald Sun writes that there may be debate over who is Australia's most over-rated cricketer but the most under-rated is no contest - Marcus North.
Brydon Coverdale
25-Feb-2013
Robert Craddock in the Herald Sun writes that there may be debate over who is Australia's most over-rated cricketer but the most under-rated is no contest - Marcus North.
North is a shamelessly old-fashioned player who has quickly built a reputation for being robust under pressure at Test level. For much of his career he has greatly admired Steve Waugh and Justin Langer and his fighting spirit is cut from the same cloth as those Test warriors. As a youngster he got his father to drive him to club grounds in Perth where Mike Hussey was batting to view the player who at the time was making massive scores in local cricket.
In the Weekend Australian, Peter Lalor wonders why the selectors bothered with Andrew Symonds for all those years, when North was waiting in the wings.
Unfortunately, for much of the time, he was held out by some very heavyweight cricketers. And more recently, by Symonds, a cricketer who promised a lot but delivered less. North is playing his eighth Test at the Gabba this weekend, Symonds played 24. North has scored three centuries for his country. Symonds scored two. Somewhere, someone, must be asking why they bothered with all the drama and histrionics.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here