It is hard to recall a less experienced squad, in recent years at least, flying out of Australia for a Test tour. This is the first glimpse of how the team will look in the Steven Smith era
Brydon Coverdale14-Sep-2015The dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of the future. That’s how author Alvin Toffler defined his concept of “future shock” back in the 1970s. Next month in Bangladesh, Australian cricket might suffer from a case of it, for it is hard to recall a less experienced squad, in recent years at least, flying out of Australia for a Test tour.Test experience
57 – Siddle
46 – Lyon
33 – Smith
22 – Starc
15 – S Marsh
9 – Khawaja
7 – M Marsh
7 – Voges
4 – Nevill
3 – Maxwell
2 – Burns
1 – Cummins
1 – O’Keefe
0 – Bancroft
0 – Fekete
The table at right tells the story. It is a list of Australia’s 15 squad members for the Bangladesh series, ordered by number of Tests played. If those figures were on a scorecard, it would suggest an exceptionally long tail. It is a glimpse at the future of Australia’s Test team and through retirements, injury and workload management, the future is now.First, let’s consider who is there. Michael Clarke retired at the end of the failed Ashes campaign. So did Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin and Shane Watson. Ryan Harris pulled the pin before the Ashes even started. David Warner is absent with a broken thumb, and the selectors have chosen to rest Mitchell Johnson and Josh Hazlewood after a busy few months.Warner, Johnson and Hazlewood will return for the home Tests against New Zealand and West Indies, which will add much-needed experience. But otherwise this squad – plus men from outside the group such as James Faulkner, James Pattinson and Ashton Agar – is Australia’s future. This is the first glimpse of how the team will look in the Steven Smith era.And at first glance it is a squad with some promise, though with much to learn. The make-up of the top order remains undecided, but what is certain is that it will be raw. Joe Burns, Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh are all in the mix to open the batting and while it might be tempting to leave out the uncapped Bancroft, it may also be an error.Last summer Bancroft displayed his remarkable patience with a 13-hour innings of 211 in a Sheffield Shield match at the WACA and, oxymoronic as it sounds, that makes him an exciting prospect. He used his feet and the sweep to great effect against the Indian spinners in the recent A series and scored 150 in Chennai, and could be just the man Australia need in Bangladesh conditions.Burns was unlucky not to make the Ashes squad after scoring a pair of fifties in his second Test against India last summer, and his lack of runs in the one-day series against England should not be held against him – the format, conditions and opposition will be vastly different next month. Though he debuted as a Test No.6, Burns is an opener for Queensland.Whatever XI is chosen for the first Test in Chittagong, the batting order will lack Test experience. Of the batsmen, only Smith and Marsh have played more than 10 Tests, and it is far from certain that Marsh will even be in the starting line-up. The situation is clear from the fact that Adam Voges, who four months ago was uncapped, is suddenly the stand-in Test vice-captain.There is more experience in the bowling line-up through Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc, but Australia may yet regret leaving Johnson at home. Their attack was flaccid on the UAE pitches against Pakistan last year and Johnson’s pace through the air at least made him of some value in the first Test in Dubai.Bangladesh’s batsmen do not boast the sturdiness of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, but nor are they to be underestimated in their own conditions. They will be thrilled not to face the speed of Johnson; it might be left to Pat Cummins, in line for his first Test match in nearly four years, to deliver the extra pace that may rattle the local batsmen. If his body holds up to it.The selectors will also need to determine how to balance their attack, with the spin of Steve O’Keefe and Glenn Maxwell available as backup to Lyon. It is not the first time Maxwell has been viewed as a valuable all-round option in Asian conditions, but none of his three Tests in India and the UAE have borne out that belief.Undoubtedly the most surprising selection was that of Andrew Fekete, a 30-year-old fast bowler who has spent only two years as a first-class cricketer. One good Sheffield Shield season for Tasmania last summer led to an Australia A call-up and while his tally of five wickets in two first-class games against India A may not look much, the selectors liked his ability to find reverse swing.A debut for Fekete appears unlikely, but his very presence in the 15-man squad highlights just how much things have changed. Even among Australian cricket’s more serious fans, many would struggle to pick him out of a line-up. The fringe cricket watchers who emerge in the home summer would never have heard of him.Bangladesh’s only Test wins have come against Zimbabwe and a third-string West Indies team, so there are worse places to take a team this low on experience. But, weather permitting, anything except a 2-0 series win will be viewed as a failure. The pressure is on Smith and his men to ensure Australia’s tour of Bangladesh is more Dizzy Gillespie than dizzying disorientation.
