The Curious Case of Fawad Ahmed

When Fawad Ahmed first came to national prominence six years ago, he was widely seen as the answer to Australia’s spin bowling prayers. Now on the verge of being without a state contract for next season, is his fading light due to a complete oversight by national and state selectors or has he just not put the figures on the board to demand selection?

Much was made at the time of Cricket Australia and the Federal Government pushing through his claim for permanent residency in late 2012, after which he was rushed into the Victorian team and subsequently the Prime Ministers XI that took on the West Indies. In July 2013 he was granted Australian citizenship, allowing him to play for the Australian team.

His entire international career was then squeezed into 19 days in August and September 2013, when he played three ODI’s and two T20’s at the tail-end of the Ashes tour in England. He has not been chosen since, though he did tour the West Indies and England in 2015 as the second spinner behind Nathan Lyon.

What happened in the time between when he was given express service to ensure he received residency and then citizenship so he could represent Australia, to those few games he was given to show his wares? Why did the water turn from hot to cold so quickly? Did his insistence on not wearing badges of sponsors that belied his religious beliefs come into the decision making? Was there any other behind-the-scenes issues that marked his card on being selected again? There is no evidence of this being the case, but why would someone who had been so obviously fast tracked for this role then go to never being selected again?

Prior to Fawad gaining national selection there had been question marks on Nathan Lyon’s ability to do a job in the Australian team, and whether he was the match winner the team needed. Though he was dropped at the start of the 2013 Ashes in England he came back in the subsequent series in Australia and did well enough behind the dominant pace attack that the spin fears of the team seemed to calm, thus probably halting any need to rush in a new option. Lyon’s growing confidence both on the field and within the team clique probably closed the door on Fawad getting a look in for the Test team, and once the World Cup in 2015 was won with extreme pace and part-time spin options his pathway to the shorter forms of the game probably closed as well.

Fawad forced the selectors’ hands with his Sheffield Shield season in 2014/15 when he topped the bowlers aggregate with 48 wickets at 24.85, including a Shield Final best of 8/89 from 40 overs. He made the Ashes touring squad but never got a sniff of playing a Test. This was his best season, and since then he has had a battle to even be selected for Victoria as Jon Holland’s rise has created a battle within itself.

His first class career record stands at 196 wickets at an average of 31.74. In 2017/18 he played seven matches and took 27 wickets at 37.74. At 36 years of age he has been usurped in the race for the Test team by Queensland’s Mitchell Swepson who toured India and Bangladesh last year. Swepson’s Shield figures for 2017/18 almost mirror Fawad’s, with 32 wickets at 36.96.

To watch Fawad bowl is a treat. He bowls the leggie, he has a terrific wrong ‘un and can bowl the flipper as well. At Big Bash level with the Sydney Thunder he has been a revelation, and the way he sets up the batsmen before dismissing them is a masterclass for leg spinners young and old. He rarely seems flustered and continues to come back even if he is being flogged around the park.

If taken on just figures alone, many would argue Fawad has not done enough to force his way into the Australian side on merit since his brief stint five years ago. Figures don’t always tell the whole story, but no selection panel over that time frame has felt strongly enough that he should be in the national side. I think that is a shame. Perhaps if he had been given a chance at Test level he may have bombed, but he may also have stepped up to the challenge and not only succeeded but improved by being at that level. We’ll never know.

Though Australian cricket may be the loser in the long run, Fawad’s career since his asylum here has been a revelation. If his first class career is to end then he has given a lot of people enjoyment from watching him bowl (myself included) which is something he can be proud of.

Backyard Cricket Will Be More Relevant Than "The Hundred"

The news of the brave new initiative of the ECB to introduce a fresh approach to cricket with their “The Hundred” domestic competition in the English summer from 2020 has missed the real opportunity to bring in ‘backyard’ rules that would actually draw regular people to the game.

While Director of Cricket Andrew Strauss and current English Test Captain Joe Root have been positive in their belief that this will be a good thing for cricket, many others have suggested that as a marketing ploy it has little to offer.

With the concept still in its infancy, the fact that it has been announced this week seems to indicate that the ECB plans to move forward with the proposal as it tries to offer an eight city-based team competition that will stand apart from the other domestic T20 competitions around the world, such as the Indian Premier League, the Big Bash and the Caribbean Premier League. The announcement has brought a varied and proportional response from cricket lovers around the world.

At the heart of the concept is that both teams would face 100 deliveries, made up of 15 six ball overs, and a final over of ten deliveries. Of course there is no chance this will be a 100-balls-per-side initiative, because the number of wides and no balls that come with the one day game will ensure that number is never achieved. There are also possible rule tweaks that include abandoning LBW dismissals and allowing a change of bowlers in the middle of the final ten ball over.

The ECB chief executive Tom Harrison believes "This is a fresh and exciting idea which will appeal to a younger audience and attractnew fans to the game," while England captain Joe Root has been quoted as saying "It's going to appeal to a completely new audience, and I think that's great,” and that mums and kids would be drawn in by the ‘new’ concept.

If the ECB is serious about creating a new competition format for cricket which would bring in the mums and the kids as well as new people who have not been regular followers of the game, then instead of borrowing heavily from the T20 cricket format that already exists, why wouldn’t they design a game that revolved around the type of cricket that everybody already knows and participates in, such as backyard cricket rules?

Who wouldn’t be excited about seeing domestic cricketers playing a game under rules such as can’t get out first ball, hitting the ball over the fence is six and out, and batsmen can be caught out on the ‘one hand one bounce’ rule? What about bringing in the automatic wicket-keeper? Or put in the garbage bin at silly point, and if you hit it on the full you are out caught? If you want real excitement, let’s play under the ‘hit and run’ rule. How about bowlers who claim they have two balls to go in their over, even though they’ve been bowling for twenty minutes?

These are the kinds of changes to cricket that might draw in the Mums and the kids in a different way from the current cricket formats, not just another shortening of the overs being faced by each side and then a fancy multi-ball over to finish off the innings. Better yet, open up the discussion to the public as to what rules they actually want to see in a new cricket competition, and not just give the game a quick polish and pass it off as ‘new and exciting’.

Selectors Eye World Cup in New Contract List

The probable direction for Australian cricket for the next twelve months, with a home series against India and then leading up to the 2019 World Cup and away Ashes series, appears to have been set by the announcement of the new Cricket Australia contract list, with a couple of winners and some notable losers standing out amongst the names announced yesterday.

The list appears to be heavy on current one day specialists, highlighting not only the emphasis on what will be an important twelve months leading up to the World Cup, but also on the dearth of immediately obvious candidates to take up positions in the Test team over the same period.

Neither Jackson Bird nor Chadd Sayers, who have been the number one support acts behind Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins this past summer in the Test squad, have been offered a contract, which suggests that the selectors have decided that are not the answer should injury knock down one of the ‘Big Three’, and that they will be looking elsewhere in the future.

It’s a huge comedown for both men. Bird has been the faithful 12th man for most of the past two years, only gaining a match on the stark and desolate road at the M.C.G. in December, while Sayers finally got his chance in the baggy green in the final Test in South Africa, but now looks as though he will join fellow Redbacks in Joe Mennie and Callum Ferguson as ‘One Test Wonders’.

The other major casualty of the new list is the casting aside of Adam Zampa, leaving his World Cup chances in great danger. He has been in and out of the ODI team over the past twelve months and while his results haven’t been startling he has shown good aptitude in difficult circumstances. It would appear that the selectors are siding towards the big hitting Ashton Agar and part-time spin options like Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell for their World Cup team, which squeezes Zampa out of the equation.

Coming in to World Cup consideration are the fast bowling Richardson pair of Jhye and Kane, and the economical trickery of Andrew Tye. All three will be looking to book places in the squad behind the ‘Big Three’, with Tye probably the favourite at the moment. Having toured South Africa as a back-up paceman, Jhye may already be considered as the next in line for a Test place as well given the fate of both Bird and Sayers.

There was also recognition for Marcus Stoinis who will be a major factor of that ODI squad and in some people’s eyes will also be looked at for the Test squad.

Tim Paine and Alex Carey are the nominated wicket-keepers at the expense of Matthew Wade, and Paine will no doubt have received a hefty increase given his rise in stature following the departure of Steve Smith and David Warner. Whether he captains the ODI team as well as the Test team, or that duty is given to Aaron Finch is yet to be seen. Also given Carey’s excellent debut in the T20I team in February, he may well retain that role in the future as well.

Shaun Marsh returns to the contract list, which not only suggests he is still well and truly in the Test match frame, but may also make a surprise return to the ODI team as Finch’s opening partner in place of Warner. Marsh has good statistics as an opener in one day cricket, and retaining the left/right combination at the top of the order would be a bonus.

The glaring deficiency in the contract list is for the next line of Test batsmen. It reveals that the selectors have about as much idea as to whom will be in the team as every armchair selector in the country. It should be a signal to every batsman in Australia that big early runs in the Sheffield Shield, much like Cameron Bancroft did last season, could be the springboard to a Test cap.

Those not on the contract list are not finished. All can be added at a later date should their form and selection warrant it. But as an initial look at what the selectors are thinking for the Smith/Warner/Bancroft-less twelve months ahead, it is an interesting landscape ahead for the Australian cricket team.