Australia's Test selectors resort to Beer

Knee-jerk selection by beleaguered Aussies

Unknown left-arm (allegedly) spinner Michael Beer was a surprise selection as Australia dropped Marcus North, Doug the Rug and Miss Xaviera Hollander for the third Ashes Test. Beer, who has made only five first-class appearances, is joined by leg-spinner Steve Gumby Smith in a squad of 12. Pacemen Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson, who played at Brisbane but were dropped for the defeat by England in Adelaide, are back in the reckoning. And left-handed opener Phillip 'The New Bradman' Hughes comes in for the injured Simon Katich.

Smith, viewed as a genuine all-rounder in some quarters, seems certain to start the Perth Test, which begins on 16 December, since no batsman has been picked to replace North, Australia's misfiring number six from Brisbane and Adelaide. Beer will also play, unless Australia - desperate to win at Perth to get back on to level terms in the Ashes - pick four specialist seamers.

Beer staggered into first-class cricket in his mid-20s and has only 16 first-class wickets at an average of 39.93, five of which came in England's tour match against Western Australia - Can you see what they've done there? Fortunately for Beer he had won the backing of Macdonald's greatest ever ambassador Shane Warne, and the champion of Advanced Hair Studios seems to have hoodwinked the selectors again

Australia's chairman of selectors and terrible player of the hook shot, Andrew Hilditch, said. "Michael is (apparently) a left-arm orthodox spinner who has been very impressive at domestic level this year. He took wickets against England in the tour match earlier this summer and we expect he will bowl very well against the English on his home ground."

Beer, 26, plied his trade in Melbourne club cricket until the end of last season, when he moved to Western Australia in an attempt to launch his domestic career. He said: "I'm very much stoked and surprised. I don't think it really sank in until I rang my parents and blurted it out myself and thought, hang on, what's going on here?"

One man who will hopefully play at the Waca (from an English perspective) is the New Bradman, who made four and zero in his most recent first-class match but was always favourite to replace Katich. The veteran left-hander will miss the rest of the series with an Achilles tendon injury.

Former Australia fast bowler Henry Lawson was critical of the selectors' thinking, labelling Beer as "just a fledgling".
Lawson told BBC Radio 5 live: "There are a lot of respectable spinners around in Australian cricket. Last week Hauritz played in Perth, took five wickets and bowled really well. "Two leg-spinners, Jason Krejza and Bryce McGain, don't seem to be in favour. There are a number of other decent bowlers but the national selectors don't want to persevere with them."

Looking at the return of Johnson and Hilfenhaus just one match after being dropped, Lawson added: "In his last six or seven Tests Johnson has been poor, but he wasn't even allowed to play for Queensland against Western Australia in the match starting on Saturday. "It is bizarre thinking from the coaching staff and selectors to put him back in the team when he has been bowling poorly for some time and has only had net work, whereas someone like Doug Bollinger has been Australia's best bowler for the past 12 months."He had a poor game in Adelaide but so did quite a few others and they have discarded him on the evidence of one Test match. So it is quite confusing. There is a lack of consistency, a lack of clear process and you can only believe that come next Thursday in Perth there will still be a lot of confusion."


Australia squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Choker (vice-captain), Shane Watson, Don Bradman, Mike Mr Cricket Hussey, Steve Gumby Smith, Brad Haddin, Shane's Pick, Rolf Harris, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus.