Cricket Australia and their wacky policies

Australia continues to experiment with their lineup with over a year to go until the Cricket World Cup, claiming a "rotation" policy when they really mean trial and error.

For years the "baggy green" has been coveted. Selectors forced players to earn their inclusion in the Australian squad, toiling in state cricket for years and refusing to change the lineup. We lose one close Ashes series and it's suddenly time to rebuild. I'm all for including youngsters who've earned their chance. I'm not all for picking Fred Nobody and seeing if he's any good. That's what state cricket is for. We need to find players to get us through batting collapses and stand up to pressure, rather than guys who belt pointless fifties when we're miles in front but collapse after a few early wickets (Andrew Symonds). People they tried out a few months ago are already forgotten. Do you know Mitchell Johnson? Remember Shane Tait?

The Australian selectors' willingness to select Brett Dorey, a 28 year old inexperienced fast bowler makes no sense. He's shown us nothing and if he wasn't 203cm he would be incredibly unremarkable in every way. How can you consider experimenting with old unknown quantities? (hehe, I almost said titties...) Go with proven state-level performers. Clark, Bracken and Lewis are all decent selections, as would be South Australia's Mark Cleary. Accuracy is important. Cricket Australia prefers exciting bowlers, but I can't get excited about players who get 1/120 each innings and 4/60 (including three tailenders) each blue moon. Even rejects like Gillespie, Kasprowicz and Bichel have more to offer.

They also can't pick roles suited to the different forms of cricket. Matt Hayden has proven himself as a one-day opener, but had a few bad Test performances during the Ashes and now he can't get in the one-day team. Ridiculous! They've tried Simon Katich as one-day opener for ages without coming to a definitive answer. Here's your answer...NO! And with Damien Martyn's technical batting, he's a Test player not a one-day player.

That clown Andrew Symonds? Save the all-rounders for one-day cricket until they can prove they deserve a Test spot on one discipline alone. Symonds can't even decide if he bowls spin or medium pace! People who can do a bit of everything have nothing to fall back on in the Test arena during a form slump, except the bench if you ask me. I've left a spot for one in my team anyway. I'll pick Shane Watson, who is an actual batter that bowls pace faster and more accurately than Symonds or James Hopes.

I tip my hat to Mike Hussey. The new Bevan. He can save an innings or slap 50 runs off 35 balls if necessary. I feel he's wasted a lot of the time at number 7. He is now an untouchable, alongside Ponting, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath. Thankfully Australia could kick the arse of any team in the world when they're playing at home, as we'll see in the VB Series finals. It won't be pretty.

My All-Purpose XI: Hayden, Gilchrist, Ponting, Hodge, Hussey, Clarke, Watson, Lee, Warne, Clark, McGrath.