da pinnacle： As a former real estate agent, Stuart Clark knows plenty about supply and demand. Right now there are five men bidding for what Clark wants – a fast-bowling place in the first Test – but the market is tight and there are probably only three available
da bet7： Brydon Coverdale at the SCG20-May-2009As a former real estate agent, Stuart Clark knows plenty about supply and demand. Right now there are five men bidding for what Clark wants – a fast-bowling place in the first Test – but the market is tight and there are probably only three available. Reports this week of a turning pitch in Cardiff, where the Ashes kicks off, should give Nathan Hauritz hope of a Test recall but for the fast bowlers the situation is less clear.And the scenario facing Clark and Brett Lee, Australia’s two most cherished fast men over the past couple of years, is an unfamiliar one. The success of Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus on the tour of South Africa, when Lee and Clark were injured, has given the selectors a conundrum. Can they squeeze Clark and Lee back into the side or could the one-time pin-ups become the back-ups?One of Australia’s more astute fast-bowling pundits, Damien Fleming, said during the week he would have no hesitation in leaving Lee and Clark out in Cardiff to allow the incumbent trio a chance to thrive. Clark, who has been confined to Sydney grade cricket and a handful of ODIs since undergoing elbow surgery in December, believes his record justifies a prompt recall.”There’s going to be competition for spots,” Clark said after learning of his selection in the 16-man squad. “It’s something that I’m looking forward to. The guys that do the job time and time again generally get picked. That’s what I’m banking on, that I’ve been there and done it before and been successful.”It is a strange twist for Australia’s attack that among Lee, Clark and Johnson – the fast-bowling trio entrusted to lead Australian in recent campaigns – the only one now guaranteed a spot is Johnson, the most junior of the three, following his phenomenal results against South Africa. It shows how quickly things can change.And with two warm-up games before the first Test, the make-up of the attack could easily alter quite rapidly. The chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said he was thrilled with the way Siddle and Hilfenhaus stood up in South Africa but their incumbency wouldn’t guarantee them Test places in England.”The reward for their performance is being in the squad,” Hilditch said. “Fully fit and at their best [Lee and Clark are] going to put a lot of pressure on the bowling group that was in South Africa. But that being said I won’t come away from the fact that we were really happy with the bowling group in South Africa. We think it did exceptionally well.”All of which amounts to a hedging of bets among selectors until the tour matches. With Shane Watson and Andrew McDonald also in the mix as fast-medium allrounders, Australia’s seven seamers and Hauritz will be anxious to get a decent run against Sussex and the England Lions. Like Clark, Siddle hopes his record – he has 29 wickets at 27.65 from his seven Tests – will be enough to retain his place.”I’d hope so, yeah. I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong and hopefully I can just prepare well in the tour matches and if everything’s going right – the body’s well and I’m bowling well – I hope so,” Siddle said. “There’s five quicks in the squad and it’s going to be whoever plays in the tour matches and whoever’s fit and bowling well and feeling strong, and then I suppose the conditions.”While Clark and Siddle are confident of their chances and Lee, though he has lost some zip, is likely to win the selectors’ backing, Johnson is the only one you’d bet your house on earning a spot in the first Test. He believes the competition can only be good for Australia.”Siddle and Hilfenhaus did an extremely good job in South Africa for such young guys,” Johnson told Cricinfo. “With all that talk that the depth of Australian bowling was nowhere, they came out and bowled really well. We have plenty of options with bowlers who do pretty different jobs, so the choice is definitely there.”The other option is to play four fast bowlers, although with England’s powerful spin duo of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar there must be a good chance that some of the pitches will offer plenty of turn. Ricky Ponting is convinced that it will be the conditions at each venue that will determine whether Hauritz plays, or if they rely on the part-time spin of Marcus North, Michael Clarke and Simon Katich.”I’ve got no doubt that whichever way we decide to go – with a spinner in our side or without a spinner – that we’re going to be ultra-competitive,” Ponting said. “We’ve shown that in other countries around the world. If you look down our actual top-six batters we’ve got some guys there as well that can offer some really useful part-time spin options.”None of which gives the bowlers any real hints about who will play in Cardiff. Prepare for a bidding frenzy in the tour matches at Hove and Worcester.
