Copyright theage
Ask one of the selectors what is trickiest about selecting the team for this Ashes series, and they point back to the moment, about a year ago, when Cameron Green was ruled out of the summer against India due to a back stress fracture that required surgery. Green and those around him are now confident that the surgery will allow him to bowl with his former venom not just this summer but for years to come. But the fact he has bowled just four red-ball overs in more than a year, then had to rest again with side soreness, has added complexity to the selection of the whole team. When Green was ruled out of the Border-Gavaskar series a year ago, his absence prompted the selectors to reshuffle the batting order. Initially, they called up South Australian captain Nathan McSweeney to partner Khawaja, with Mitch Marsh expected to do more bowling. Neither move worked. McSweeney was omitted for Konstas after three Tests, and Marsh lost his place to Webster after four. Both Konstas and Webster contributed significantly to the 3-1 win over India. Now Green is back, but what kind of role he can play is unclear. If he is fit to deliver a reasonable number of overs as a fifth bowler, Green can be expected to slot into the middle order, with Webster missing out. In turn, the rejuvenated Labuschagne can return to his pet batting spot at three, while the selectors are at liberty to choose a proactive opening partner for Khawaja: one of Weatherald, Renshaw or Konstas. But if Green cannot bowl much or at all, Labuschagne most likely returns to opening, Green stays at No.3, and Webster keeps his spot at six to provide that fifth seam option. There is no room for a new opener. What is not in much doubt is that Labuschagne will resume his Test career after missing three matches in the Caribbean. That time out was not because the selectors thought he was done. Rather, they decided he needed time out to clear his head and refocus on what has made him such a prolific batter at his best. “When you go out of the team, you don’t go to the bottom of the pile,” Bailey says. Selling the summer, but not the selectors One thing all the selectors are adamant about is that they do not let the choices of the marketing department influence their teams. If they did, Konstas would be just about the first player picked. In digital advertising and billboards, plus broadcast ads for the team’s new major sponsor Westpac, Konstas has been ever present. But one of the strengths of the Australian system since the mid-1980s has been the formal separation of cricket decisions from commercial concerns. There had been an awkward period between 1979 and 1986 where Kerry Packer’s PBL and the Australian Cricket Board ran two parallel contract lists; PBL’s was for players deemed most marketable. In another lamentable episode influenced by commercial interests, the early unveiling of a 17-man squad for the 2010-11 Ashes caused confusion and insecurity among players. “The Poms would have been laughing their heads off,” Ricky Ponting said later. So while you may have seen a lot of Konstas in Cricket Australia and related advertising, that has nothing to do with whether he is keeping his spot. “Do I like the theatre [the passionate public focus on selection]? Yes, I do,” Bailey says. “We’re lucky to have it. “There are a lot of moving parts, and we understand we are the domino that allows a lot of other things to fall into place. “But you don’t want that to be at the detriment of actually getting your process and decisions right.” News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
