The Bat-off: Phil Jaques and Phillip Hughes

January 30. This will be put down as the most important date of the next couple of months for Hughes and Jaques as they will bat-off to help their cause in becoming the next Australian Test opening batsmen.

Simon Katich will generously let Hughes and Jaques open in the Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in Newcastle starting on January 30. Katich will move down a place or 2 in the batting order to allow Jaques and Hughes to bat in their natural positions as they will do their utmost to be selected for the upcoming tour of South Africa.

"I will still be at the top of the order and see the new ball. The way I view things, that will have the least disruption on the team. Those two obviously open, last year I batted at No. 4 and having batted all around, I am comfortable moving down the order." Katich told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Jaques is returning from back surgery this weekend to play in a Sydney club game. Jaques scored a hundred in his last test in the West Indies, to go along with his strong record since being selected permanently. Jaques has had a few strong seasons for NSW and fully deserved his selection, and he didn't let the selectors down either hitting an even hundred in his first Test match as a permanent Australian Opening batsmen.

Meanwhile, Mark Waugh has pushed for the selection of Phillip Hughes saying the selectors should take a risk in picking the young batsmen. Hughes, 20, has had a fantastic second season in domestic cricket scoring 658 runs at 59 (third top run-scorer in the 08/09 Sheffield Shield) to go along with his first season records of 559 runs at 62.

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Beaten by pace

One look at the top Pura Cup wicket takers for the 07/08 season isn’t a pleasant sight for selectors looking for our next spinner. 9 out of the top 10 wicket takers are pace bowlers with the only spinner in the fast bowling club is McGain, a 35 year old leggie who has 20 wickets. Sounds like a great prospect, just a shame he’s nearly the same age as MacGill and Hogg. He’s the only spinner who has been dominating the domestic scene this year, with Test Match quality pace bowlers dominating the bowling cards.

Surely Australia must have a decent experienced spinner in the queue to play for Australia? Ever heard of 26 year old Queensland spinner Daniel Doran? I wouldn’t blame you if you haven’t heard of him. The leg-spin bowler took 15 wickets last year in his debut series at an average of 28. This leggie has the ability to spin the ball along way, and if he can learn to put the ball in the right spots and trouble batsmen over the next few years he might find himself in contention.

What about Cameron White? Nah, who are we kidding? Cameron White has turned into more of a batting all-rounder over the past few years. His spin bowling is average at best and should concentrate on his batting.

Dan Cullen, 23, is my favourite. The off spinner from South Australia has the ability to bowl a good doosraand can spin the ball nicely with his stock ball. Has had a slow start to this season, but most Offies have.

25 year old off spinner Nathan Hauritz has played a bit of Test Match cricket before picking up a 5 wicket haul in India but I’m afraid to say he’s seems to have just gone backwards over the past few years. His One Day bowling for NSW has been good but he has struggled to keep his position in the 4 day game. Hopefully he can mature in the next few years and then he might be a good chance.

22 year old Cullen Bailey has had a good start to his career and could be the next man in the job. But he still has a lot to learn and like Hauritz probably isn’t ready.

Chinaman 25 year old Beau Casson is the long shot for the job. He’s got a lot to learn about his stock ball and his variations and getting on top of batsmen.

As you can see, the main spinners in the domestic scene apart from McGain are only 22-26 with the best option 23. In 2 years time Cullen with be 25, probably still 3-4 years away from his best but I think he will be the top of the spin bowlers on the Australian Domestic scene.

I’m just glad I’m not a selector. Have fun with this task boys.

Who's going to put the spin on India?

With the Australia vs India test series coming up in just 16 days time the selectors are left with a big choice; Who will be the spinner?

There is 2 options for the selectors to take, play 4 quicks or find a spinner who is good enough to pressure the likes of Tendulkar, Ganguly and many more. Johnson, Tait, Clark and Lee are 4 pace bowlers who are all worthy of a position in the team. 3 of those can bowl over the 140km mark and Clark is a McGrath junior. These 4 paceman will be a handful for the Indian batsmen top order and Australia could always bowl Symonds and Clarke for some spin. With games in Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney pacemen will get the most out of those pitches for all those tests, barring Sydney.

Of course, realistically we could still be living in the past thinking to much of the old bouncy pitch on the western side of Australia. The last few years it has shown a liking to spinners which makes the option for a spinner more appealing. Adelaide is a batsmens pitch, but has no gurantee it wont break up on the last few days to help the spinners bowl out the Indians. Sydney of course is Sydney, a genuine spinners pitch. With these notes taken in the selectors will need to think hard about who is the best spinner in Australia.

Lets list the options. MacGill is having surgery so obviously out of the picture. Some people are in favour of Brad Hogg getting a run in the Test Arena again. But lets not kid ourselves, his first class average isn't a lot to brag about. 96 matches with 173 wickets at 39 compared to someone like Dan Cullen who has 113 wickets in 37 matches. Or Nathan Hauritz who took 5 wickets in his test debut or even 22 year old Cullen Bailey who has taken 55 wickets in his first 19 matches.

But bowling isn't the only thing the selectors will be looking at. In 2005 Australia were desperately searching for an all rounder, finding Symonds had the best to offer but now the Australian selectors know if they pick Brad Hogg the batting line-up gets a bit stronger. Brad Hogg has 165 runs in 5 innings at an average of 41 with 2 fiftys this year. Cullen Bailey has 2 innings and 51 runs, 1 not out which is why he has an average of 51. He hasn't scored a 50. Cullen has 46 runs from 6 innings at an average of 9. So when it comes to the batting part, Hogg will be on top of the list.

But heres the big questions; Experience, youth or form? Hogg fits in the experience category better than Hauritz, Cullen or Bailey. Youth is obviously the 23 year old Cullen or 22 year old Bailey. Form, well Hogg and and Cullen have both bowled in 4 Pura cup matches with Hogg getting 13 scalps and Cullen 11.

The selectors obviously have a nice choice but personally I would go with Cullen. 113 wickets in 34 matches and at 23 he really is a star in the making for Australia.