The worst selections and non-selections in Test history

[Lillian Thomson]

I forgot I started this thread. I am in general against foreigners playing for any country (I know people disagree and that’s fine, I know both arguments) but the selection of a nondescript cricketer with nothing to his name must have tipped me over the edge.

 

[mr_mister]

it was pretty interesting reading through this thread. learnt a lot about the 90s Australian selection policy re Reiffel and Julien

Also learnt that at one stage Johnathan Agnew was one of the best quicks in England ('87 it seems)


so yeah

 

[cnerd123]

Karn Sharma was definitely one of the worst I recall in recent times. Michael Beer. Shuvagata Hom's entire Test career.

 

[S.Kennedy]

Grimmett didn't play 1936/7 either. His last season series before he was dropped, on tour in South Africa, he took 44 wickets at 14.59. Apparently his non-selection was down to some Bradman politicking. And the guy who replaced him? Frank Ward, 11 wickets at 52.18!!

 

[TheJediBrah]

who was Hauritz keeping out of the side though?

God if only MacGill was born ten years later

I think he meant that dropping Hauritz was the bad selection

 

[stephen]

I actually think that good cricketers tend to make bad selectors. A good cricketer isn't necessarily objective when it comes to which players would do the best at international level.

Justin Langer is a great example of why - he thinks every WA player is worth picking for Australia. Part of that is because he's the coach and he's supporting his players but a big part of it is that he's not objective.

Objectively Nevill should have been picked. He has the long term form behind him. This short term rubbish of picking the guy who has had a couple of good shield games in a row is really a bit silly.

I mean I supported the Bancroft selection but what had he really done? He had a great match against a quality attack (but didn't score a hundred) and then scored a double ton on a road where a fourth innings total of nearly 400 was easily chased down.

How long do we persist with him if he fails? There is nothing long term in his selection, it's all this social-media inspired short-term chopping and changing.

Think of all those guys who had to pump out 1000+ run seasons several years in a row to get their shot, only to be dropped after on or two games (Hayden, Rogers, Law, Love) or not get a go at all (Klinger, D Hussey). It must be maddening to watch players like Marsh picked on the back of an average in the mid 30s and given 8 chances or Bancroft who has been averaging 30 for the last two seasons.

 

[wpdavid]

I read an article about the 1982/83 Ashes the other day, which reminded me about the selection of three off-spinners rather than have to take Phil Edmonds on tour, simply because the leading lights in the team didn't much like him. The fact that Vic Marks was somewhere behind Geoff Miller and Eddie Hemmings in the pecking order tells us all we need to know about his abilities.

 

[AndrewB]

Marks was picked for the ODIs, surely - he played in nearly all of those.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Tanbir Hayder
Mosharraf Hossain
Dave Mohammed
Rajendra Chandrika
Rohan Gavaskar

 

[Flametree]

Australia - given Hussey's ODI record at the time was 300-odd runs at 100 at a strike rate close to 100, I always thought the Aussie selectors shot themselves in the foot by not just adding him to the test party for the 2005 Ashes. Maybe would have been harsh on Katich, but the guy was in incredible form..

England - too many choices, but I think the worst in my time was picking Stewart to keep and leaving out Russell. Just so they could play some combination of Lewis-deFreitas-Emburey-Pringle or Cork-Croft at 7 and 8, while giving a dozen tests (combined) to the likes of Morris, James, Lathwell and Gallian and another 15 to Nick Knight.....

In the 1993 loss to Australia, England picked 24 players.. They picked TEN seam bowlers in a 6-match series - Bicknell, Caddick, de Freitas, Foster, Fraser, Illott, Lewis, Malcolm, McCague, Watkin. Maybe none quite rank as the worst selection, but clearly they were the worst selectors...

NZ - picking Lee Germon as keeper and forcing Parore to bat at 3... never giving Andre Adams a second test match somewhere.... and picking a test side in that awful 1990's period that I think had Dipak Patel at 5 and Chris Harris at 6....

 

[mr_mister]

yeah whenever I think about Harris and Germon's epic WC QF partnership against us, rescuing their side from 3 for nothin I can't help but laugh at the fact that both of them were batting in the top 5

 

[Starfighter]

England - too many choices, but I think the worst in my time was picking Stewart to keep and leaving out Russell. Just so they could play some combination of Lewis-deFreitas-Emburey-Pringle or Cork-Croft at 7 and 8, while giving a dozen tests (combined) to the likes of Morris, James, Lathwell and Gallian and another 15 to Nick Knight.....

Love England's all rounder stuffed sides from that period. Ensuring that they neither had enough batting or bowling. Them beating NZ in '92 with such a combo is even funnier, and Pringle bouncing out Andrew Jones.

 

[watson]

Leaving John Snow out of the 74/75 tour was pretty reckless in hindsight.

A session or two of Snow’s bouncers at the throat of Chappell, Lillee, and Thommo during the initial Brisbane Test would have most likely changed history.

 

[Cow]

Doug Bollinger being picked for the Adelaide test in 2010 when he was obviously too fat and unfit to play any grade of cricket. Guy was fecked after bowling one over.

 

[Untouchables666]

Sachin Tendulkar being selected for test cricket after 2005, way pass his best used by date and prevented many youngsters from playing in the test 11.

 

[Daemon]

Recalling RP Singh for the last Test of the 2011 disaster tour to England.

 

[Burgey]

Doug Bollinger being picked for the Adelaide test in 2010 when he was obviously too fat and unfit to play any grade of cricket. Guy was fecked after bowling one over.

He got screwed over so badly by the selectors there. IIRC he was told to stay in South Africa for the world T20 final with the Sixers instead of putting in some FC games in the build up, then picked up an injury before being recalled after (I believe) one Shield game, wasn't physically ready then was never picked again because "unfit".

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Still think not picking Bicknell because he got no success against the 93 Aussie side was a huge mistake and probably the biggest of many big ones England have made over the years. The guy was bowling on a flat Oval pitch year in year out and was one of the leading bowlers in county cricket throughout his career. When you looked at some of the crap we selected instead over the years it beggars belief he was ignored.

 

[Burgey]

Man, I remember him gobbing off at Steve Waugh at Headingly in 93 before at the start of Waugh and TOTAB putting on about 768,000 for the fourth wicket. Happy times.

 

[randycricfreak]

Kapugedera