Hit-and-miss form sets selection precedent
The Age
Saturday March 13, 2010
OF ALL the statistics that indicated why Marcus North should not have retained his position in the Australian Test team, arguably the most damning is that he has failed to pass 10 in more than half of his international appearances.The left-hander averaged only 23 during the Test summer and has a top score of 29 in his seven Sheffield Shield innings since. His dismissal for eight against Queensland on Wednesday, shortly before his retention for the New Zealand tour was confirmed, dragged his average since the Tests down to 14.6.His golden duck yesterday left Western Australia stricken at 3-1, chasing only 106, and took the Warriors captain's post-Test record to 102 runs from eight innings €” an average of 12.8.North was rightfully lauded for scoring three centuries in his first 10 international innings, but his failures in most of his subsequent 11 innings have reaffirmed that, like at first-class level, his efforts with the bat are largely a feast or famine.The 30-year-old has scored 10 or fewer runs in 11 of his 21 international innings, or 52.4 per cent of his appearances. That compares unfavourably with the records of Australian batting teammates Shane Watson (31 per cent), Michael Clarke (27.7 per cent), Mike Hussey (25.3 per cent), Simon Katich (24.1 per cent), Brad Haddin (23.8 per cent) and captain Ricky Ponting (22.1 per cent).Even bowlers Mitchell Johnson (39.5 per cent) and Nathan Hauritz (33.3 per cent) fail less than North.That problem of North too often being vulnerable early in his innings has also been evident in his first-class career. While his first-class average of 40.3 is accomplished, he has failed to pass 10 in 54 of his 146 innings at that level €” 37 per cent of appearances. It is a trend chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch is well aware of, yet has ignored."His performances, I don't think he'll mind me saying, have been up and down at state level," Hilditch told Cricinfo last July.By comparison, Brad Hodge, the last specialist batsman to be dropped from the Test team, has a first-class average of 45.4 and a slightly better record of only failing to pass 10 in 32.3 per cent of his shield innings.At international level, the comparison between them on that measure is stark. While North's failure rate is 11 of 21, the rate of Hodge (now retired from first-class cricket) was only two of 11 (18.2 per cent). That does not indicate that Hodge should necessarily have been retained, but it does indicate that North was fortunate to have been.Since scoring a century at Headingley during the Ashes, North has averaged 20.5. Hussey endured a similarly barren spell last summer in Australia €” he averaged 23.8 in the home Tests €” but as well as being a more-established player, his one-day form throughout that period, crucially, remained very strong, giving selectors a crutch on which to support their decision.For a player trumpeted by selectors to be an all-rounder when brought into the team, North's bowling average of 60.7 does not reflect that status. Furthermore, he bowled only 21 overs this summer and was wicketless."I like the way he goes about his off-spin bowling; he's very certain about where he wants his fields, and is very certain about the way he wants to take his wickets," Hilditch said during the Ashes."But the end result is he is going to have to bat well."The selectors, in their defence, may already have decided that the untried Steve Smith, after scoring four centuries in his past nine shield innings, will come into the Test team, and that North is simply a standby batsman. But indications are the 30-year-old retains their faith €” not least due to the apparently high regard in which he is held by Ponting."Playing for your country is about form meeting opportunity, and on the occasion leading into South Africa form met opportunity and he seized it," Hilditch said of North in July.If North is selected for the two Tests in New Zealand, he may justify the faith of selectors by regaining the rich form he showed in his first tour of South Africa. Even if North does succeed, it does not change the fact that selecting a batsman who has followed up mediocre international form with even worse domestic form sets a bizarre selection precedent.SHOULD NORTH GO SOUTH?MARCUS NORTH: THE FAST FACTS– Averaged 23 in six Tests this summer, and 12.8 in eight subsequent Sheffield Shield innings since then.– Since Headingley Test in nine innings scored 225 runs at 20.5. Caught behind in four of 11 innings (36.4 per cent).– In Tests scored 10 or fewer in 11 of 21 innings (52.4 per cent) and in shield 53 of 145 innings (36.6 per cent).– While brought in as all-rounder in Tests bowled only 126.3 overs in 13 Tests and has six wickets at 60.7 (wicketless in 21 overs this summer).
© 2010 The Age
Share This