Carlton Supporters Club

Steve Smith admits he played a key role in Ed Cowan's Sheffield Shield snubbing, saying New South Wales batsman Daniel Hughes is a player of Test potential who deserves his spot.

Ed Cowan's 16-17 Shield record

Matches: 9
Innings: 16
Runs: 959 (top-ranked in competition)
High score: 212
Average: 73.76

The availability of Test batsmen Smith and David Warner meant Cowan was overlooked for the Blues' season-opening Shield clash with South Australia that starts on Friday at Adelaide Oval.

Former Test opener Cowan was the leading Shield run-scorer during the 2016-17 season, a performance that resulted in him winning the Steve Waugh medal as NSW's best player.

But state selectors have instead turned to Hughes, who recently scored two centuries during the domestic one-day competition plus a double-ton in grade cricket.

"I did have an involvement and it's a tough selection," Smith told reporters at the launch of his biography The Journey.

"Unfortunately people have to miss out and on this occasion it's Ed.

"I've told him myself that when he comes back into the team … he has to continue to set the standard and do what he did so well last year."

The decision to pick 28-year-old Hughes ahead of 35-year-old Cowan has triggered widespread debate, with some pundits alleging the latter's dim view of Cricket Australia and vocal role in this year's pay dispute contributed.

Chris Rogers, who played Test cricket until he was almost 38 years old, called it "confusing" given Cowan scored 959 runs during the most recent Shield season.

Smith described Hughes, who averages 36.68 from 17 first-class games, as a player of Test potential.

"He looks like he has a very good technique. He plays the new ball well as we've seen in one-day cricket," he said.

Cricket's civil war isn't over yet

"He's been in terrific form. It's a good opportunity for him to play with the likes of myself and Davey [Warner], learn a little bit off us and the way we prepare.

"And a good chance for me to see him play as well … against some good pink-ball bowlers in Adelaide."

Warner agreed Hughes was capable of donning the baggy green in the future.

"Definitely. He's got composure, got patience … he's an exceptional talent," Warner said.

"Ed will be a bit disappointed … he knows exactly what he needs to do and that's what he does all the time — just churn out runs.

"He's eager to still put that baggy green on. I wish him all the best, he's a great person and a great leader."

I reckon this article sums up what is ailing Australian cricket:

The best batsman in NSW is left out because a younger bloke "has potential" - no performances to speak of (apart from a grade cricket 200) but potential 

Meanwhile, Cowan's chances of getting back into the Test squad are shot.  Of course he can get back if he churns out runs - but isn't that what got him dropped from the NSW team?

As long as individuals like Smith have the power to effectively rule someone out of Test selection, we will continue to field teams that don't include the best performing cricketers.

Gee, I reckon Tassie would take Cowan back in a heartbeat the way they're capitulating this season....Wade might be dropped for Timmy Paine at Shield level !

The only positions we need to look at are no.6 and the keeper, both of which could go to anyone. In Australia the rest of the batting line up is pretty good and at home the tail often make a good contribution too. Bowling line up is very strong.

Not sure where to go with the keeper. Wade is finally keeping pretty well but then is batting terribly. None of the other keepers are burning it up either. Wade will probably stay on the basis of being the incumbent given none of them are in form. No.6 I have no idea. That's just as difficult on form.

I think the Ashes this year will be a battle of which batting lineup collapses least.  England have Cook & Root & that's it, Aus still look brittle if a couple of early wickets fall.  The Aus attack looks very strong although you can never write off Broad & Anderson (Broad will be more dangerous, he always is in Australian conditions).  I hope we target Moen Ali on these pitches like we did Swan last time.  He's honestly not good enough to be their number 1 spinner.  If he gets smashed early, make the Poms decide if they really want to carry him for his batting alone.

Looking forward to 1st Test......as I'm heading up for it !

I don't see Cook being to effective out here.
If he does it will be a great effort but my money will be on Starc and Hazlewood getting him pretty cheaply.

I sit back and wonder what this summer will bring.
We have a crowded summer, as usual, but we are ordinary and the Poms are not much different. So the chance of really top class cricket is not overly high.
Then we have Aussie pitches and Aussie balls: designed to last 5 days, perhaps, but designed for batsmen to make runs. The ball doesn't move much after the initial spell with the new ball.

Our bowling attack looks reasonable, but spin is still our distinct weakness. Lyon has done everything asked of him and is the best performed finger spinner for Australia, but he isn't a Shane Warne.

We look for up and coming spinners and see their figures being aweful. Not surprising: drop in pitches don't spin as much as they used to do. So batsmen can hot through the line of the ball and ruin a spinner's figures fairly easily.

Same old problems: lack of batting depth and batting consistency, flat pitches and lack of truely world class spinners. Same old lack of solutions.

It may well be that the two evenly match below average teams bring a close contest though.

I think it's unfair to compare Lyon to Warne, or any spin bowler to Warne. Lyon is first class, elite by any standard and would be even better if he had a captain who knew what he was doing!

Indeed Lyon is statistically the best offie we've ever had. But offies have rarely prospered in Australia. Most batsmen see them as their next source of runs. Statistically even the best offies have had lousy times in Australia. Left hand finger spinners have been more successful and Australia has played more of them. Leggies have traditionally been the spinners of choice: Warne and co were merely the latest. They have had a lot of success. Alas we seem to be pretty short of leggies at the moment.

Cricket Australia has decided that Josh Hazlewood only needs one Shield game as preparation for the Test series.  He will be training under CA's fitness gurus rather than actually playing the game.

What are the chances of him (a) breaking down or (b) bowling ineffectively?