Cricket Musings.doc

The Failures of Australian Cricket’s National Selection Panel (2007 – Present) by Ben Batting • First of all, I'd like to say that whilst the concept of hindsight is a wonderful thing and at times can give us 20/20 vision into the analysis of past events, the analysis outlined in this document did not require 20/20 vision, hindsight or foreknowledge to write In fact, it could have even !een written point !y point, even as the events were unfolding at the time "ll it required was a little !it of logical application and common sense • #he principle of picking a test match team is efficiency and specialisations, $ust like in society In society, different people specialise in difference skills to create a more efficient society I'm sure there is a name for this !ut I $ust can't think of it at the moment #he reason that specialisation works is that !y focusing a person%s energies and devotion on to one su!$ect matter, it allows that person to really e&cel at a particular trade or profession and o!tain levels of mastery which an ordinary $oe cannot reach #his allows higher levels of e&cellence in that trade wh ich can then !e ' traded off' for other high levels of e&cellence from different individuals #his then creates efficiency in a team in the way that !y trading off high levels of skills !etween one another !atsmen and !owlers(, the team can achieve an overall high level of skill #he thing to note here is that each person is contri!uting a )I*) level of skill • In that sense, traditionally a good cricket team particularly a test match team( consists of + people who specialise in !atting, wicket keeper and - persons who specialise in !owling #his has !een well documented and practised for over 00 years of the sport #he mechanics of such a team means that the + people who specialise in !atting shoulder .. percent of the responsi!ility due to their specialist skills( to score a very good total, whilst the people who specialise in !owling shoulder . . of the responsi!ility to take 0 wickets in an innings #he dynamic here is that you will notice that the !atsmen are responsi!le for making the runs and !owlers are responsi!le for taking wickets #his e&cludes the possi!ility of !owlers !eing responsi!le for making runs and therefore !eing selected or not selected on this !asis( and it also e&cludes the possi!ili ty of !atsmen !eing responsi!le for taking wickets and therefore !eing selected or not selected on this !asis( #herefore it is only a !onus if there arises a situation in which a !atsman can take wickets or !owlers make a few runs, as this is not their primary specialisation In the same way, a doctor should not !e fired from his $o! $ust !ecause he/she is not a!le to fi& a motor vehicle #his is !ecause over 00 years of e&perience and wisdom this is the correct or !est ratio of !owlers to !atsmen in a team in order to !alance making a good total versus taking 0 wickets It is the reason wh y we don't go nuts and pick 0 !owlers in a team or pick 0 !atsmen in a team • o where does the concept of an all rounder sit in then1 In my opinion a player should !e assessed on this criteria, "re they either one of the + !est !atsmen in the country1 or "re they one of the - !est !owlers in the country1 If the answer is no to !oth these questions, then the player should !e e&cluded from selection #his goes !ack to the

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Cricket Musings.doc