The gamble on Voges paying off

Supposedly, one of Adam Voges' nicknames is Kenny, so it seems appropriate to turn to history's greatest Kenny to sum up Voges' 2015. You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table. Wise philosophical words from old man Rogers, and not Chris. There will, he goes on to explain, be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done. For a 36-year-old in Test cricket, that could be any day.

So let's do the countin' for him. Voges has been a Test cricketer for 208 days, and already has 1028 runs from 18 innings. Among the 98 Australians who have scored 1000 Test runs only Don Bradman, Neil Harvey and Sid Barnes got there in fewer innings. Worldwide, only Michael Hussey has reached the milestone in fewer days. And only Voges, Mark Taylor and Alastair Cook scored their first 1000 Test runs in one calendar year.

Some more countin': more than half of Voges' runs have come against West Indies. Against them he has made 130*, 37, 269* and 102* for the outrageous average of 542. But after this summer, Australia's next Test series against West Indies is not for at least four years, by which time Voges will be in his forties. By then, the dealin' will be done for him.

Voges was also prolific against New Zealand last month, including 119 at the WACA, but as impressive as his overall numbers are, it must be acknowledged that his biggest runs have come against opposition that have failed to bring their best. It's a warm summer evening, and West Indies are on a train bound for nowhere. You know what their cards are by the way they've held their eyes.

It must also be noted that in Australia's biggest series of 2015, Voges struggled. He was picked for the tours of the West Indies and England due to his long first-class career and the experience he would bring, but during the Ashes he averaged 28.71. There came a time when he told himself to put away his drive, and he finished the series with a couple of fifties.

It was too late to impact the series, but enough to convince the selectors to stick with Voges for the tour of Bangladesh in October, and he was even named vice-captain to Steven Smith in the absence of the injured David Warner. That trip was cancelled, but it was a sign that Voges was the man to whom the selectors would turn to offer batting experience in a changing side.

And so, nine years after he was first called into the Test squad during the 2006-07 Ashes campaign, Voges played his first home Test. Against a slow-starting New Zealand at the Gabba he plundered an unbeaten 83, and followed up with his century at the WACA. When the pink ball nipped around in Adelaide he managed only 13 and 28, before beginning his festive feast against West Indies.

There was the world-record 449-run fourth-wicket stand with Shaun Marsh in Hobart, where Voges piled on an unbeaten double-century, and then his hundred in Melbourne. How much do those runs mean? More than some critics might argue. Remember that when he started his epic stand with Marsh, Australia were 3 for 121, and by scoring freely Voges dug Australia out of a minor hole and eased any pressure on Marsh.

In Melbourne, his 223-run partnership with Smith came after the hard work had already been done by Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja. This time West Indies really were just going through the motions. Towards the end of the partnership there were more men in the deep than you'd find on a scuba-diving trip. But then again, on debut in Dominica, Voges' 130 not out was truly important: nobody else passed 40 in that innings, and he prevented Australia's blushes.

In doing so, Voges became the oldest batsman to score a century on Test debut, and after a series of post-Ashes retirements, he is now the last remaining Australian Test cricketer born in the 1970s. If he is a cricketing relic, he is one that has only just been unearthed. The Australians hope that he can become the next old man Rogers (Chris, this time), the seasoned professional who can help steer a youthful batting order.

So, how to summarise 2015 for Voges? He had one bad series, and it was the most important one. Otherwise he has scored heavily, sometimes under pressure and sometimes not. That he has ended up with an average of 85.66 from his first year in Test cricket, scored four centuries and passed 1000 runs makes it a year of significant success, despite his disappointing Ashes.

Now, Voges needs to show that he can score big runs away from home, as he did on debut in the Caribbean. He has piles of Test runs on bouncy Australian pitches, but can he get them in seaming conditions in New Zealand in February? Or when the ball turns in Sri Lanka later next year? That is the big test for Voges.

After all, to return to the philosophical musings of the king of Kennys, if you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right. Why? Because every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser. For now, Australia's selectors hope they've found an ace that they can keep.