Selectors missing the point.

Given Australia’s increasingly patchy form in one-day internationals, there has been much navel gazing about the composition of the side moving forward towards the 2007 World Cup. A little more then twelve months out from the tournament, Australia seems to have no clear idea who is going to make up the bowling attack. Lee will take the new ball, and Brad Hogg will probably be the main spinner. Andrew Symonds is likely to play an all-rounder’s role. After that, well… your guess is as good as mine. McGrath is no certainty, given his increased age and the declining health of his wife.

And it is interesting to watch not just the selectors, but also the critics, miss a crucial point about selecting with this tournament in mind. The nature of the pitches in the West Indies will have a big impact, and yet so far as I can see, no one is paying it any attention at all.

Pitches in the West Indies have been generally low and slow for close to a decade now. Last time I saw a green demon of a pitch in the West Indies, Curtly Ambrose was squaring off against Steve Waugh. That was over a decade ago now, and times have changed. Yet selections have not.

Yet Australia is trying out every Tom, Dick and Harry that bowls a decent fast medium line and length, in a desperate attempt to find someone to bowl first change after Lee and McGrath. On the sort of pitches we are likely to see in the West Indies, the likes of Dorey, Bracken, Stuart Clarke and Shane Watson are probable cannon fodder.

The sort of bowler Australia should be trying to find is one that takes the pace off the ball. The ideal counterfoil for the likes of Brett Lee is someone like Adam Dale; smart line and length, subtle variations of pace, and hard to hit. And after that, the spinners come into play. South Australia has unearthed a very useful prospect in Daniel Cullen, a young off spinner who can take wickets and keep things tight. I’d wager he would be very difficult to get away in the West Indies.

New Zealand used to have a stack of military medium pacers who would do very well; Gavin Larsen, Chris Harris, combined with the spin of Daniel Vettori. If any nation is going to do what Sri Lanka did in 1996 and win from no-where, New Zealand could be the team to do it. They have a more conventional attack these days, but they play well in these tournaments, and the conditions will suit.

It must be said that Australia is not the only country to fall into this mistake. The West Indies themselves still pine for the glory days and try to find another Marshall, Walsh or Ambrose. England also seem to be placing all their eggs on their excellent pace attack. Given their new status as the masters of reverse swing, this may not be so dangerous, but England still won’t find bowling conditions easy.

It just surprises me that not only selectors but also writers fail to take into account the nature of the pitches as they make their final preparations. If the World Cup were in India, you would be sure all nations would be scouring the lands for new spin talent.