Does Smith deserve to be playing?

[trueblue_91]

Does Steve Smith deserve his call up to the national side?

Personally I think he is a very good batsmen, but I guess it does annoy me how many people are saying he is the next Shane Warne.

Steve has a bowling average of 73 from 19 innings in the Sheffield Shield.

In Ford Ranger he averages 41 with the ball.

With statistics like these does he really deserve to be playing as Australias front line spinner?

 

[Ricketts]

1) He shows brilliant potential as a leg spinner.
2) There are no other good current spinners in the country.
3) There are no other promising young spinners in the country.
4) We rotate players and give opportunities to fringe players for 3 years, then win a world cup in the 4th year. It's how we roll.

 

[Level_Headed]

Probably not deserving of a spot with his bowling potential alone but his domestic one day batting average is 39 so when you chuck that into the mix he seems less like a complete gamble. He may not yet have the runs and wickets on the board but i like the idea that the selectors are trying new things in a dead rubber.

 

[JUBJUB]

2) There are no other good current spinners in the country.

Xavier Doherty ?
He's taken another 4 wickets today

 

[pinkus maximus]

did Shane Warne deserve his selection? Being a selector isn't about picking the guy with the most runs or the most wickets, it's about identifying players they believe have the talent and temperemant to succeed at international level

 

[Blue Dimension]

Xavier Doherty ?
He's taken another 4 wickets today

He's inconsistent. He's also never going to make it into the test arena (can't even get a game in the 4 day outfit for Tassie)

Would much rather go with Smith who has plenty of potential to grow into anything. He may not have amazing statistics but just by watching him bowl you can see that he has the potential to grow into something more.

did Shane Warne deserve his selection? Being a selector isn't about picking the guy with the most runs or the most wickets, it's about identifying players they believe have the talent and temperemant to succeed at international level

Spot on.

 

[The Master88]

2) There are no other good current spinners in the country.
3) There are no other promising young spinners in the country.

Xavier Doherty ?
He's taken another 4 wickets today

Yes Xavier Doherty is the best one day domestic bowler this season with 18 wickets this season.

He is a lot better than Steve Smith

 

[Exhale You]

One needs to look past numbers when judging young spinners in this country.
Also, when selecting teams ideally you should have one eye on today and one on the future.

For far too long the Australian selectors have lived in the moment and seemingly not given much thought to the future so i applaud their choice knowing the experience will do Smith the world of good.

 

[MAXIMUM GRUNDAGE]

Does Steve Smith deserve his call up to the national side?
Steve has a bowling average of 73 from 19 innings in the Sheffield Shield.
In Ford Ranger he averages 41 with the ball.
With statistics like these does he really deserve to be playing as Australias front line spinner?

Warne averaged 335.0 with the ball after the first innings in his third test. Smith will improve with experience.

Xavier Doherty ?
He's taken another 4 wickets today

He's inconsistent. He's also never going to make it into the test arena (can't even get a game in the 4 day outfit for Tassie)

Nathan Hauritz couldn't even get a game for NSW at the time he was selected for Australia.
That being said, Doherty isn't even the best spinner in Tasmania, let alone Australia.

 

[Ricketts]

Xavier Doherty ?
He's taken another 4 wickets today

Left arm orthodox should never rate a mention when selecting a specialist spinner for Australia.

 

[Bomber Bears]

His batting in both forms of the game has been excellent this season. Doesnt not deserve it on his bowling however, he has a fair way to go there.

 

[The Master88]

Left arm orthodox should never rate a mention when selecting a specialist spinner for Australia.

You have got to be kidding me

So do you not rate Daniel Vettori as a world class spinner

Just take a look at some of the world’s best Left arm orthodox blowers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-arm_orthodox_spin

 

[Ricketts]

As much as we all love Dan and he seems to do well against Australia, he still has a Test bowling average of 33.

 

[aussie1st]

Would have been better picked as a batter where he can command a spot but its all about giving him experience with a view to the future, not picking the next best spinner whose not on the radar for Test selection.

 

[Minimum Chips]

As much as we all love Dan and he seems to do well against Australia, he still has a Test bowling average of 33.

Not too many spinners playing today have a better average than that

 

[HSSB]

did Shane Warne deserve his selection? Being a selector isn't about picking the guy with the most runs or the most wickets, it's about identifying players they believe have the talent and temperemant to succeed at international level

Thankyou.

As some of you may know I am a huge fan of Smith, and he has potential, he took 2 wickets in the 20/20 game the other week, a 20 year old doing that isn't bad.

His batting is coming along nicely, read somewhere that his batting will probably drop off a little as he concentrates on his bowling more. Australia doesn't really need a great spinner at the moment anyway with all the all rounders we have.

 

[Chris25]

I can't help but think that Smith will be a victim of circumstance.

Australia is really lacking in young spinners at the moment, almost solely because of Cullen Bailey and Dan Cullen not developing how everyone expected them to. Doherty and Heal are good domestic spinners, but international level spinners? I doubt it.

With nobody else even on the radar, the selectors are pretty much forced to turn to a batting all-rounder in Smith (and he is a batting all-rounder). The pressure that this will put on him as a bowler, could ultimately damage his batting game.

Personally, I think Smith will develop into a Shahid Afridi at best. Otherwise, Australia will have another Cameron White on their hands (not that that is necessarily a bad thing). Having said that though, I think he deserves his spot in the team as a batsman.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

1) He shows brilliant potential as a leg spinner.
2) There are no other good current spinners in the country.
3) There are no other promising young spinners in the country.
4) We rotate players and give opportunities to fringe players for 3 years, then win a world cup in the 4th year. It's how we roll.

Aaron heal has been in outstanding form in the shortened versions - but never gets a look in

Number 3 is the answer - we are desperate to find a test spinner - so giving smith a go in a ODI or two isn't too bad an idea.

what worried me more was they had him on stand-by for the test team. ATM i'd rather pick north as a test spinner than smith.

 

[Spikey]

So do you not rate Daniel Vettori as a world class spinner

Just take a look at some of the world’s best Left arm orthodox blowers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left-arm_orthodox_spin

Nope.

Funny how everyone on here is always quick to point out how many wickets Murali has against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh, but ignore Vettori and how many he has - 47 against Bangladesh in 9 matches (and probably not counting his 4 wickets in this match) and 23 in 7 matches against Zimbabwe. You remove them from his stats and his average goes up to 37...

 

[JerryWexler]

Does Steve Smith deserve his call up to the national side?

Personally I think he is a very good batsmen, but I guess it does annoy me how many people are saying he is the next Shane Warne.

Steve has a bowling average of 73 from 19 innings in the Sheffield Shield.

In Ford Ranger he averages 41 with the ball.

With statistics like these does he really deserve to be playing as Australias front line spinner?

Smith, like Warne before him is the proof that statistics often mean jackshit unless it's at the end of a players career. You could see in the T20 match that he has a lot of talent and an enormous amount of potential. Like Wayne Carey, theres only one Warne, but Smith has similar traits at a similar stage of his development. Warne's figures early on weren't crash hot either but they persisted with him because people who know better than you or me could see the talent he could become. Once he gets his consistency together, Hauritz will be out the door.

 

[Bradesmaen]

Seen him bowl a few times and I don't see the potential in him. Strikes me as a Cameron White with a bit more spin, but not much more. Does not deserve his spot, let him develop his game at state level first. Everyone can mention Shane Warne all they like but that was just pure luck from the selectors and is unlikely to ever happen again.

 

[saj_21]

I think its great his getting a game, his batting has almost been good enough to warrant selection, coupled with the fact he can bowl handy leg spin gets him the nod over others such as birt, bailey etc.

Like it or not, the kid is going to get an oppourtinity infront of others such as bailey, klinger, birt, d.hussey becuase he can bow leg spin and is young. Whilst not bangin down the door with performances his performances have been good enough, coupled with his potential and age he play many games for Australia.

I would much rather see him play over Voges or Hopes.

 

[BACCS]

I would much rather see him play over Voges or Hopes.

That I do agree with. I also would like to see Christian taking over Hopes spot in the team in the near future. Better batter, better bowler and fielder, no brainer really.

 

[Smokey_22]

Years ago the poms threw everything they could to try to get this guy to play for them.
He captained his grade side at just 19 - those familiar with the sydnet grade system will know what an achievement this is. He is a leader. At one stage when he was 18 he was the top wicket taker and run scorer for the entire grade. This just highlights his enormous potential.

Obviously for a spinner its a big step up to domestic cricket and even more so to international cricket. Dougherty was the standout spinner in the u-19 WC but took years to stand out on the domestic scene. He will take time to develop, but he has an x-factor and confidence about him that players rarely have.
As a batsman I think he is already test ready.
He is the best slipper in the NSW team.

He will be an important player in the future. Enormous upside.

 

[Ricketts]

Aaron heal has been in outstanding form in the shortened versions - but never gets a look in

Refer to post #10