David Hussey, former Australian player and Melbourne Stars captain, has asked the selectors to weigh the performance of a player, rather than just the potential factor, as he thinks that performance in domestic cricket is the ultimate key to success.
“It’s a hard one, the landscape’s changed so much. When I first started, (the Sheffield Shield) was the best first-class competition in the world.
“You had to earn your right, you had to make lots and lots of club run just to get a game (at domestic level).
“Once you got a game, you had to kill it in order to stay in your position in the team.
“Now, if I was an outsider looking in I’d be thinking, ‘they’re just trying to pick the most talented kids and if they make a few runs, let’s get them in there and see if they can sink or swim.’
“Personally, I’d like to see players earn their stripes a little more in Shield cricket before they end up playing for Australia,” HussEy told cricket.com.au.
Though he also praised selectors for few of the recent picks, considering the likes of Matthew Renshaw and Peter Handscomb.
“Full credit to the selection panel for picking Renshaw, I think that was a great selection.”
“I think highly of (Sam) Hazlett, (Jack) Wildermuth. I think Hanscom, Stones are going to be fantastic cricketers.
“I always joke with Pete saying, ‘Every time I see you play, you’re a 50 Test player, you’re a gun, you’re a wonder’.
“I keep saying the same thing to Marcus Stoinis. I actually believe it but it’s also about trying to give them a lot of confidence as well.”
Australian selectors have made some surprising decisions in past few months by picking up players like Billy Stanlake and Hilton Cartwright, who possess talent but do not have enough numbers in the bag so as to justify their selection. As a result, Cartwright has already lost his place in the national side. Stanlake, though, has been selected in the Australian squad for the T20I series against Sri Lanka to be played later this month. He is capable of bowling consistently at a pace of more than 140 kph.
The T20I series between Australia and Sri Lanka will be played from February 17 to February 22 whereas, at the same time, the Australian Test squad will be in India to participate in the four-Test series.