Selectors Mad to Drop Clark

Well, they were mad to wait for the 4th test to bring him back.

But to drop him for the 5th test would be the final straw in showing the stupidity of the Australian selectors.

They have been left with a dilemma ahead of the Ashes deciding test match at The Oval. Hauritz will be brought in for a paceman to accommodate the conditions at The Oval or the side will be left as is on a form policy, depending on Clarke, North and Katich to play the spin role.

If the first option is taken, the selectors will have the headache of deciding which paceman to drop. Leading wicket taker Ben Hilfenhaus is an automatic selection as the bowler of the series so far. They wont drop Johnson just when he has returned to form considering they held onto him after an ordinary first 3 tests. So it appears to be between Siddle and Clark. Siddle has bowled pretty well in the Ashes series, but unfortunately for him Stuart Clark is simply a better and more experienced bowler. Siddle may have got a 5 for in the first innings at Headingley but it was Clark who was the bowler of that innings, his crucial early wickets and tight bowling set up England to be rolled. Then don’t be fooled by Clark’s poor figures in the second innings, Hilfenhaus and Johnson had already done the damage and Clark was just unlucky in that some tail enders threw caution to the wind against him.

The Australian pace attack is simply not good enough to have a quality bowler like Stuart Clark running the drinks. He could have won us an earlier test match, we could have had the Ashes wrapped up by now, but the selectors chose to leave out our best and most experienced bowler. Now I am confident they wont make that mistake again by dropping him for the final test but if they do… That’ll do me.