With no consideration of reality, Marcus North has already been tipped as a future captain this summer, and this fantasy paints him as Australia’s bowling saviour
Peter English at the Gabba29-Nov-2010Marcus North must be the first name in the XI for Adelaide. If he’sdropped for the trivial issue of an absence of runs, how else willAustralia get a wicket? With no consideration of reality, North hasalready been tipped as a future captain this summer, and this fantasypaints him as Australia’s bowling saviour.Don’t be so narrow to focus on North’s single on Friday or his string ofbatting failures over the past year. The crucial moment for Australia overthe second half of the first Test was Andrew Strauss’s stumping. Who wasthe bowler who delivered the poster ball? That teasing, flighted, wide,drifting, spinning, deadly offering? It was Australia’s No.6.The series is only five days old but already these are desperate times forthe locals. Anything is worth a try after seeing how the attack performed.Peter Siddle said before the game the aim was to show it was the best inthe world. It wasn’t even the most successful in Brisbane. They’ve got toask for more from the North star.Australia’s selectors think loyalty to specialist spinners is over-rated,so hand North the role and pick another batsman. On this performance itlooks like Australia will need the extra runs over the next four Tests. Atail-ender who makes a century every four games and removes theopposition skipper is invaluable. Let North come out and publicly targetStrauss for the rest of the series; let Mitchell Johnson concentrate onaiming for the pitch.The surface at the Gabba over the final two days provided excellentpractice for what should be a similarly barren wicket in Adelaide fromFriday. If you’re a brave Australian, peek at the scorecard and see thatNorth excelled with 1 for 47 from only 19 overs. Ignore the second-inningstotal of 1 for 517 declared and search for the positives. Like Coke in theearly 1980s, North is it.Spinners are meant to take wickets in the latter stages of Tests and Northgot his brilliantly planned breakthrough in the middle session of thefourth day. England were only 188 way back then. Some players, like DougWalters and Mark Waugh, have that North-like knack of breaking up apartnership before it ruins team morale. Sure, he couldn’t repeat thesuccess during the 329-run stand between Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott,but he only got seven overs today.The most trouble Xavier Doherty, the left-armer on debut, created was whenhe hit a crack two balls in a row before lunch. Sadly, the person indanger was the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. Well, he would have been if he’dmoved down the legside. He didn’t and the eight byes added to his 17 forthe innings. It was sloppy all-round for the hosts, with five missedchances – some were hugely difficult – and a slew of sundries.In the eyes of the selectors, Nathan Hauritz became a worse bowler when hewas barely used in domestic games in the lead-up to the series. Hauritz’sTest reputation has been enhanced by his non-selection. He could besatisfied if it meant he would be considered for a quick return, but theconservative panel would not countenance such a severe back-flip.Ponting pushed for Doherty, his Tasmania team-mate, and the move showedthe captain’s desperation to have a bowler who would follow his orders.Hauritz and Ponting clashed over technique and method in India last monthand the spinner lost his place. North will also do whatever his leaderwants. In his fragile position he has to.Doherty had Ian Bell caught in the deep when he was hitting out in thefirst innings and also removed the No.10 James Anderson. In the secondinnings, he was as damaging as an indoor plant, returning 0 for 107 off 35overs. Of the nine spinners who have been trialled since Shane Warneretired, Doherty sits in the lowest bracket along with Cameron White andBeau Casson. Solid state bowlers don’t help teams win urns.Hauritz has been the most successful of the “Not-Warney Nine” and has anenviable home record of 38 wickets at 29.65 in nine Tests. But Hauritzisn’t going to be in Adelaide and North isn’t going to be dropped, so makeNorth the 10th specialist and get on with it. Best to get some use out ofhim.North not only out-performed the specialist spinner, he out-bowled therest of Australia’s attack when the game was in the balance. When you lookat a glass it can be half-full or half-empty. In this dream, see North’swicket, not his run.
