S. Marsh: Theres been doubts1:26
Cricket: Shaun Marsh chats about his test selection.
NSW bowler Jackson Bird told he didn’t make Australian team because he’s not a good enough N0.11 batsman
LAST summer Jackson Bird was too slow. Now the hardest done by bowler in Australian cricket has been told he’s not a good enough No.11 batsman.
As a consistent performer who averages a wicket every 24 runs he concedes in Shield cricket and knocked over seven New Zealand poles in his last Test match for Australia in February, Bird would have every right to feel disillusioned by the selection process.
South Australian bolter Joe Mennie’s place in the Australian 12 man squad might be completely unexpected, but it’s not completely unreasonable either, and in all likelihood it will be veteran Peter Siddle rounding out the attack at the WACA next week anyway.
However, what doesn’t stack up is chairman of selectors Rod Marsh’s explanation that Bird missed out because his batting isn’t good enough.
“I talked to Jackson again (on Friday) morning. I said to him the thing that probably cost him a place was his batting,” said Marsh.
“You’re probably well aware we’ve got to get runs at the bottom of the order as well, particularly against a pretty good attack.”
Australia does need runs, but should Bird be paying the price for other blokes in the order whose job it’s to make hundreds?
Bird is no Glenn McGrath when it comes to his status in the Australian set-up but an inability to hold a bat never seems to have been a problem before when you’re a bowler who can bowl.
Marsh could have justified Mennie over Bird, but not in this way. No one will be talking about Mennie’s five-first class fifties if he can’t take a wicket.
Although that said, Marsh did later clarify that he never meant to imply that he thinks Bird is a better bowler than Mennie.
'I was a bit shocked'1:32
Cricket: Joe Mennie speaks after being named in Australia's side for the first Test against South Africa.
Last summer Bird was overlooked in an Australian squad for Nathan Coulter-Nile who had not played a first-class match all season, all because he didn’t hit the 140km/h mark on the speed gun.
But when Bird was finally given a Test crack in New Zealand, he took seven wickets in Christchurch as Australia clinched the No.1 world ranking. He was then taken to Sri Lanka and didn’t get a chance to play.
Shaun Marsh’s two hundreds in his past two Tests were enough to see him oust Joe Burns at the top of the batting order.
But when it comes to Jackson Bird the same rules never seem to apply.
Originally published as Genuine No.11 brushed over batting