T20 must take the blame

Australia got bundled out for an almost historically bad 47 runs in the second innings at Cape Town. In response, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth about our team not having the levels of concentration, shot-selection and maturity required to succeed over five days.

More telling was that, on Tuesday, respected former selector John Benaud told The Age he feared Australia's modern selectors couldn't even judge which young players might have the steel for Tests because the calendar was so jammed with shorter form slugfests that the dust didn't settle long enough for a serious innings.

"We're talking a good game at the moment, but to me there doesn't seem to be much substance attached to it," he said. "To me the cricketers just don't have that tough David Boon, Geoff Marsh, Mark Taylor-type grit about them."

It used to be that a Test prospect had to seriously do his time in the Sheffield Shield and maybe even English county cricket, to be considered for our five-day line-up. Think of Mark Waugh's long wait for a baggy green, or Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden's time in the first-class waiting room. When these players finally got the nod, they were mature, hardened long-form cricketers. How things have changed in less than a decade.

In the first innings against South Africa, and in the previous series against Sri Lanka (with a nod to Mike Hussey's efforts there) one Australian batsman has looked very much like a genuine Test batsman: captain Michael Clarke who, it might be noted, some time ago turned his back on Twenty20, on all the riches of the IPL cashed-up circus and similar temptations as he decided to dedicate his career to being the best Test batsman he could be.

It was Clarke who held Australia's fragile batting together on day one at Cape Town, making 151 of the team's 284, but then watched resistance fall away with all the resistance of a balloon in a hurricane as he failed in that second dig.

So what to do as the Second Test looms? Shaun Marsh's sore back ruled him out of the team and a replacement was needed from Australia.

Enter, stage left, Dave Warner, swing-from-the-ankles fan favourite of Twenty20 and one-day cricket fame, making his way to the airport. Seriously! A knock of 148 against South Australia (off 185 balls, only the two sixes) in a Sheffield Shield match was enough to see him on his way.

The chances are that Usman Khawaja will get the nod to replace Marsh at No.3 in the batting line-up ahead of Warner. A left-hander with more of a Test match technique, you would hope he gets the nod.

But it's astonishing that Warner could be in the frame for Marsh's spot, especially after the immature, non-Test-like, swing-happy batting of that second innings disaster. To paraphrase Benaud: Warner's style does not exactly conjure the word grit.

At Cape Town, Australia's bowlers didn’t cover themselves in glory, especially in the fourth innings where Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla scored centuries to win the match – this after the South African team hadn't played any form of cricket longer than a one-dayer in 10 months going into Cape Town (true story).

Australia's likely solution for this next Test? The fast-bowling debut of Pat Cummins, 18 years old and boasting a grand total of three career first class matches for New South Wales. Apprenticeship? The worry is that, with a record like that, Cummins might be over-qualified.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond Sport.

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