Imagine if Haddin gets injured…

Posted by jrod on February 27, 2009 under NSW, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC, WA | Be the First to Comment

With Luke Ronchi dropped, and Tim Paine unable to live up to his potential the race for back up test keeper is wide open.

Should Haddin get injured, no one could accurately predict who the next keeper would be.

The front runner should be Manou, but really it isn’t. No one has ever talked him up, even though he has carried the Redbacks for 2 years now. Very tidy, if not brilliant with the gloves. His career average of 23 is ordinary, but in the last two years he has averaged around 36 with 4 hundreds. Has a bit of mongrel in him as well. Perfect back up keeper, would be grateful for the opportunity. Not a long term proposition at 29 though.

Chris Hartley might be the man to jump the queue. Is the best regular gloveman in the country, and with Crosthwaite, are the only two guys who are proper old school keepers. His career batting average is 27, but is in career best form with the bat, has one hundred this year, 3 50s and that is not including his 82* overnight in the current match.  Of all the keepers in Australia only he and Manou seem to be safe in their jobs.

Victoria’s keeping is a mess, but for good reasons. Wade and Crosthwaite are probably the 3rd and 4th best options in Australia at the moment, and they are continuing to fight for one spot. Crosthwaite has made the side as a batsman this year, Wade has done it for the last two years.  Wade’s glovework doesn’t impress me (although he has 51 catches in 8 games this year), but his batting is solid. The only thing he hadn’t done is kick on and make a hundred, well he did that yesterday, so in 19 first class games he has 1 hundred and 4 50s, and is 21.  Having someone as good as Crossy behind him seems to be spurring him on. Maybe not ready to be number two, but will be mid 20s when Haddin is due for retirement.

Daniel Smith could be the roughie, not that I think he is good enough, but people seem to like him, and he is from NSWales, so that has to put him in the running. Has averaged 26 in 18 games, which seems to be about the same for all the back ups. Can play, but is probably a bit too hit and miss as a back up.

At one stage I wanted Tim Paine to replace Gilly. Watching him bat you can actually see the talent ooze out of him (not a semen joke). But where are the results, he hasn’t made big scores with the bat, and his keeping is adequate at best. With an average of 30 he pretty much tops this list, but he has made only one hundred in the last 3 years, and for his talent that is not good enough. Could still replace Haddin, but he must frustrate the selectors, and that could count against him.

Over in Western Australia Luke Ronchi has lost the support of Tom Moody. Last season he averaged 40 with the bat and made 64 off about 8 balls when understudying for Haddin. This year he has averaged 20, and is on the outs. Has an amazing amount of talent with the bat, but his keeping is only so so. Who knows where he is in the list now.

Right at the moment I’d go with Hartley, but it would surprise me if almost anyone on this list gets picked.