should australia throw ferguson in the deep end

[symonds]

Iam talking about callum ferguson from south australia he is only 21 but has had an impresive start to his carrer.
mat inns no runs hs ave bf sr 100 50 ct st
First-class 11 21 0 783 114 37.28 1515 51.68 2 4 3 0

here is a young lad with some potential i say give him ago stop using the 30-31 yr olds like the hodges an the martins an see what he can do, i think it time the austalian team took a chance an got some youth into there side.

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

In response to the question, no.

There are better uncapped batsmen in Australia.

[Crazy Sam]

I think in about 3 or so years Ferguson and Craig Philipson should feature in the test side. They need consistent runs on the board first, 11 first-grade games is nothing (though that doesn't stop some countries.....)

Personally I think Symonds should be in the test side at least for Watson if not for Katich. But that's another thread in itself...

[social]

In a word, "no."

[Mike Hussey]

Not yet. Very good talent but with Lehmann and Eliott and also Blewett around, he will learn from them. That will help all of the young Redbacks.

[Top_Cat]

No. He's quite clearly very talented but he's a bit inconsistent and suffers a bit from 'second-innings syndrome' - scoring runs when the game has already been lost and not when it's really on the line.

Certainly, if nothing else, it ain't exactly panic-stations in the Aussie team as yet so there's no reason for extreme measures.

[Mister Wright]

Considering the introdcution of Clarke hasn't been a resounding success it should be a warning to selectors not to pick players too early, unless they have high 40s, 50s averages like Jaques. Ferguson and Phillipson should be continued with at state level and shouldn't be dropped unless they have a shocker of a season. Their development is very important for the future of Australian cricket.

[Josh]

Who??

[SquidAU]

Who??

Trust a mexican not to know...

He plays for South Australia.

I think Cosgrove should get a go first.

[howardj]

Certainly, if nothing else, it ain't exactly panic-stations in the Aussie team as yet so there's no reason for extreme measures.

Im not saying that you're suggesting it unconditionally, but I'd hate to think that the only time that a 'young gun' was promoted was in dire circumstances. There was nothing dire in the circumstances that Australia faced (indeed they were probably the second best team in the world) when:

**Michael Slater (only one full year of FC cricket) debuted for Australia. Throwing him in early worked - he averaged in the high forties for the first few years of his career; or

**Glenn McGrath made his debut after only a handful of FC games. We all know what he has gone onto achieve.

There are many other examples of Australian players who have been picked without doing all that much in FC cricket - Ponting; Martyn; Warne etc, and yet have benefitted from early exposure to International cricket.

Having said that, there are not too many young guys in today's game - eg Cosgrove; Ferguson; Marsh; Phillipson; who have even really dominated for a full season. They've only made scores occasionally, and mostly been very patchy. By contrast, in the early 1990's, guys like Hayden, Slater, Martyn, Ponting were putting together 1000 run FC seasons. If a young punk did that type of thing for a season or so - and you could see had a decent technique - I'd have no hesitation in promoting him (Phil Jacques for instance), no matter what position Australia occupied in International cricket.

[Top_Cat]

There are many other examples of Australian players who have been picked without doing all that much in FC cricket - Ponting; Martyn; Warne etc, and yet have benefitted from early exposure to International cricket.

Ponting and Martyn are bad examples; they had two full seasons of Aussie domestic cricket under their belts before being picked and were dominating at that level before they were picked.

Conversely, Glenn McGrath was one out of the box; 8 FC games but he definitely looked a Test bowler and had excellent results in just about all of those games (including at least one ten-fer in a match if I remember correctly). Warnie was definitely a 'suck it and see' pick so I'll grant you that one too.

What leads me to my second point in saying that I absolutely agree that a player should be picked if they show the right signs. I'm just saying that guys like Ferguson, although talented, show some rather worrying signs. His shot to get out to Brad Williams on the weekend was worrying; absolutely no footwork whatsoever and he dragged it back on. Plus his aforementioned tendency to get runs in the second-dig of matches, etc.

Phil Jacques looks pretty good but I saw a few worrying signs outside off-stump, even in the middle of an innings where he was hitting the ball well and scored a ton. He's a bit of a Hayden; first movement forward but doesn't have the light-footedness to correct to go back. And those little dabs to third-man are big nicks against Test bowlers. Other than that, he's an impressive player and hits the ball very, very hard but I'd feel a bit uncomfortable with having him opening in Tests just yet. If he averages 50+ at the end of this season, maybe we'd re-examine that. Certainly, he's started this season well with three 50's in 4 knocks as well as two ING tons so he's hitting the ball well. Mind, even if ONE of those knocks was converted, he'd probably be higher in the pecking-order than he is now.

Cossie was similar although a little worse; hitting the ball well in 70-odd but was squared up awfully and beaten outside off-stump to length-balls on a flat deck around 20 times. He hit the ball well when he hit it but in defence, boy he looked awkward. To his credit, he has the very rare capability to forget what happened and just stay out there. As with the rest of his life, he seems oblivious to the fact he was just beaten outside off-stump or played-and-missed a swish. He doesn't get lost in the moment like other players do. That's a rare trait and if he could tighten up his technique, he'd be well in line for a ODI spot in the near future surely.

Sean Marsh seems to be getting a go with WA for a change and if I had to pencil-in one player for the number 4 spot in, say, 3 years, he's it. He has a tight defence (blame Dad!) and hits the ball unbelieveably hard without looking to rushed. Ever since I saw him get 50 in an Australia A match in Perth, I've thought he looked very special and was always a bit puzzled why WA didn't select him. He seems very laid-back so maybe that's misconstrued for laziness or something. Plus, I think, like Mark Waugh, he'll hit a glorious hundred, be very quiet for a few innings and then when people start asking questions, hits a glorious hundred.

But yeah, I'm all in favour of giving a young bloke a go if he's showing all the right signs (not necessarily dominating form but things like attitude, ability to learn, leadership qualities, etc.) which is why I think Michael Clarke should be given until the end of this season before it's a serious consideration that he be dropped.

I've also always had a bit of a soft-spot for Chris Rogers as I reckon he's vastly under-rated; he always makes big tons and has excellent powers of concentration as well as really solid technique and plenty of shots. I've never understood why he has never been at least in the ballpark for a spot in the Test side. As it stands, he never gets mentioned and he's started well again this year with 161 the other day, averaged 43 last year and almost 60 the previous with 4 tons that year. And lets not forget his pretty amazing double against the Aussie tourists in England a couple of months ago. Can anything who knows the WA setup better give me a reason why he's not been seriously considered?

The problem really rests with the bowlers, I reckon. It's much tougher to pick an outstanding pace bowling prospect in any state. I think Dorey looks pretty good as a line-and-length McGrath replacement but the cupboard there looks a little more bare than the batting does.

[Top_Cat]

Speaking of Shaun Marsh, does anyone else reckon he looks scarily like his Dad, aside from being a leftie?

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/aust...ge/201358.html

http://www.gray-nicolls.co.uk/images...geoffmarsh.jpg OR http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/3..._swampy203.jpg

[Linda]

Sean Marsh seems to be getting a go with WA for a change and if I had to pencil-in one player for the number 4 spot in, say, 3 years, he's it. He has a tight defence (blame Dad!) and hits the ball unbelieveably hard without looking to rushed. Ever since I saw him get 50 in an Australia A match in Perth, I've thought he looked very special and was always a bit puzzled why WA didn't select him. He seems very laid-back so maybe that's misconstrued for laziness or something. Plus, I think, like Mark Waugh, he'll hit a glorious hundred, be very quiet for a few innings and then when people start asking questions, hits a glorious hundred.

I reckon youve summed him up pretty well there... but hes still very young, and WA have had a very strong batting line up over the past couple of years, David Husseys move east is a direct result of that. He got big wraps from Steve Waugh after his debut ton in NSW, and then fell away a bit afterwards, all contributing to his lean couple of seasons. Hes very much in the naturally gifted catergory, really great to watch. Im becoming a big fan, Mcquick.

[SJS]

Who is Ferguson ??

[chaminda_00]

Who is Ferguson ??

Former Australia U19 Captain