Krejza continues to soar

Jason Krejza (crazy name, crazy guy) continues to enjoy his debut Test, taking five more wickets this morning to finish up with eight for 215 in his first innings.

To add to the impressive names of Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag on Day 1, he now has dismissed Ganguly and Dhoni. If only Tendulkar hadn't twice been droppped off his bowling he would have had the full set of Indian greats and possibly the best bowling figures by a debutant. Only five other men have taken eight wickets in an innings on debut.

Yes, it was an expensive debut - only two men have conceded more than 200 runs in their debut innings (Omari Banks being the other) - but Krejza sent down 44 overs in conceding his runs and he benefited from Ricky Ponting understanding that sometimes spinners have to buy their wickets. It does show up the pointlessness of Cameron White, however, who was only trusted with ten overs of his leg spin.

Krejza has kept Australia in a game they need to win, but you have to assume that their batsmen must make more than 500 to have a chance after India reached 441. Krejza will have some more bowling to do on Day 4, and perhaps he can start to dream about matching Narendra Hirwani's 16-wicket debut.

Continuing the theme of yesterday, charting Krejza's pursuit of Shane Warne's record haul, he has now moved up to 156th place in the all-time Australia wicket-taking league (matching Victor Trumper's haul and Shane Watson's) and is now their 51st most successful spinner.

Comments

[Peter McGuinness]

Yes John.

Most ridiculous bolwing attack ever selected for Australia. Sorry, Mohali was worse.

Clark dropped for Krejza. Therefore Watson, White and Krejza are better bowlers than Clark. White bowls 10 overs, so is therefore in the team as one of the 7 best batsmen in Australia. This logic chain is only the tip of a ludicrous iceberg of abject stupidity and wastefulness by Hilditch, Cox and Hughes.

These new selectors are so caught up in Pommy-style 'combination theories' and arcane 'player-type' processes, that they have completely ignored the simple methodology that has served Australia's (still) prodigious talent pool so well in the last 15 years under the selction auspices of Hohns, Marsh, Boon, Border, Buchanan, Simpson et al.

'Pick the players who get the most wickets and score the most runs.'

Getting all tricky with selections has been a disaster for Australia in India, with 7 of the countries best 10 bowlers sitting at home, not even on tour.

Lee is sick. Johnson should not be used as a stock bowler, but must be, for want of another top-liner. Yes, Krejza got the wickets (at a colossal cost), but it is not what happened, but what may have happened with even partially senesible selections that should be the focus.

CA needs to act urgently to redress the acute inadequacy of the current selection panel, prior to the Ashes. The side needs to be selected properly and settled within the course of the next 6 Tests. There is no longer any time to indulge the idiotic pride of selectors who are using the Australian Test Team as some sort of bizarre laboratory for their personal experimentation.

[Peter McGuinness]

Yes John,

This is by far the most idiotic series of selections I have ever seen in Australian cricket. This assessment includes the very long period of time during the 80s when we were being routinely thrashed by the likes of NZ.

Hilditch, Cox and Hughes (selectors) have concluded that Watson, White and Krejza are better bowlers than Clark. They have also concluded that Watson and White are amongst Australia's best 7 batsmen.

There are at least 15 specialist batsmen ahead of both White and Watson and at (the very least) 15 specialist bowlers better performed and more capable than Watson, White and Krejza.

It is utter insanity and a ridiculous commitment to their own foolish pride, that they cannot admit their own failings and return to picking the Australian team based on performance. At present the Aussie team is being selected based on arcane theories and complex 'plans' in a similar way to the oft ridiculed English selection ethos.

Years of hard work and selection methodology built by Hohns, Border, Boon, Buchanan, Marsh et al are being undone here. Attention: This is so far from being Australia's best Test Match team, that CA needs to urgently redress it's problems on the selection panel.

The fact that Clark made way for Krejza is deeply worrying. Having picked Krejza to tour in the first place, he obviously should have been given a go. But at the expense of Clark?!! Given that he bowled 10 overs, it is clear that White is ipso facto in the team as a batsman. Not that he is really a bowler either. This is only one ludicrous detail of many.

Australia's new selection panel have created such a complicated labryinth of justifications around their purely speculative decisions that they have completely lost all sense of basic cricket logic.

Australian cricket has ceased being a strict meritocracy during this tour. Selections are embarrassingly bizarre, conceited and panicky. I can assure Poms that this is far, FAR from the side that should be contesting the Ashes.

The problem, is that it is becoming obvious that Hilditch, Cox and Hughes are fully intending to perservere with their current experimental nonsense. And with every inntelectually impoverished decision they make, precious confidence slips a little further in Australia and builds a little more in England.

It is all so infuriatingly unnecessary. Select a side on performance, not on 'player type' and 'balance theory'. The lack of talent is in the stands and meeting rooms, not on the fields.

Yes, Krejza got 8 for 215. Good on him, gutsy effort. However, had the team had 2 other specialist bowlers around him, he would not have, nor would he likely have been so astronomically expensive. It is not about what Krejza did per se. It is about what did not happen thanks to surreal bowling line-up that continues to be fielded.

[Johnmc]

Is Stuart Clark injured or do Australia really think they can win the game with an attack including an out-of-sorts Lee and Cameron White. Can't knock Krejza though - a tremendous effort and Ponting clearly had more faith in him than White. Have Australia borrowed the England selectors for this tour and is it too late to get Darren Pattinson a game?