Elliott, Hodge get contracts

[Donny]

Brad Hodge and Shaun Tait offered CA contracts

Wisden Cricinfo staff

Brad Hodge and Shaun Tait have been offered their first Cricket Australia contracts, and Michael Hussey, his third, for the 2004-05 season. Matthew Elliott was offered one, while Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich were upgraded to full-year contracts.

Michael Bevan, Nathan Bracken, Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke and Nathan Hauritz were not offered contacts.

James Sudherland, Cricket Australia's chief executive officer, said the new contract list was drawn up with a nod to the depth of talent in the country.

"Australian cricket continues to complete a series of changes both on and off the field in an effort to remain as a world leader in cricket innovation, development and performance," Sutherland said. "The contract list for 2004-05 reflects this ongoing commitment, with the number of significant changes to the playing group highlighting the depth of elite cricket talent around Australia.

Trevor Hohns spoke about the challenging task of selecting players to be contracted, as well as the declining form of Michael Bevan, which led to his exclusion.

"Selecting 25 players out of an enormous talent pool is never an easy task, and inevitably some tough decisions are going to be made," Hohns said. "We're confident that the players selected have the ability, experience, and in some cases, potential, to help ensure the Australian cricket team remains at the very top of international cricket in both the Test and one-day arena."

"Michael Bevan has been a wonderful player for Australia over many years, particularly in the one-day arena, and is an outstanding ambassador for the game in this country. However, it was felt that Michael's contribution to the one-day side has decreased, and importantly, we thought it was the right time to move forward as we start to form a core group of players to take us to the next World Cup."

"Andy Bichel has played a vital role in our sides over recent times," Hohns said. "However, it is fair to say we showed our hand during the summer when he was omitted from various teams in both forms of the game. With the fast bowlers currently representing Australia and the emerging fast-bowling talent around the country, we couldn't find a place for Andy on the list."

Hohns then spoke about the inclusions, including Matthew Elliott, who had scored more than 1400 runs in the 2003-04 first-class season.

"Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich have performed strongly for the Australian side over the last six months or so and were the obvious inclusions, and it was impossible to ignore the form of Matthew Elliott and Brad Hodge who are currently among the country's most in-form batsmen," Hohns expressed. "Both players have been integral to Victoria's success this season and thoroughly deserve their place on the list."

"Michael Hussey also returns after another excellent domestic season, and Shaun Tait is a raw and exciting talent who represents the future of the Australian squad."

Contracted players receive a basic retainer fee, besides match fees, tour fees and prize money. The minimum retainer is $140,000, and match fees are $12,100 for Tests and $4850 for one-dayers.

[Fradam]

wow contracted Victorians, I thought I'd never see the day

[commonwombat]

No probs with the inclusions or the deletions.

Inclusions: Katich HAD to be on the list and Kaspa has done the job on recall to the side and likewise had to be contracted. Tait looks the brightest of the young pace prospects and appears to be in the selectors eye so tick against his name.

Elliott has had one allmighty season and to my mind would be in the side on merit. However, he will have to wait for 1. a Hayden injury 2. a poor run of form by B.N Gnome and/or 3. said Mr Gnome's greatest talent not finding favour with captain.

I personally do not think Hodge has what it takes to play intl cricket but his season just ended suggests that the selectors must at least consider him going into next season. The accomplished member of the Hussey family appears, with some justification, to be considered as a ready made substitute in at least one form of the game.

Deletions: A tough but probably fair call for Bichel. He was never given any extended tenure in the side, rather as a Mr Fix-it or sub. Then again, he never perhaps looked the part as a true ntl class bowler. His future is justifiably seen as being finite.

Noffke has been an injury concern so would have to spend some period of time on the field to regain some sort of standing. Bracken was given a big opportunity that he probably did not merit, and did NOTHING with it; a correct call.

Hauritz is at a bit of a cross-roads. He was earmarked v young on the grounds of his perceived potential rather than performance. For better or worse, he does not appear to have progressed as they may have wished.
He's certainly young enough to fight back but as what ??? Are they looking at him as a specialist spin bowler or as a quasi-allrounder.

Bevan. Congratulations fellas and glory hallelujah !! The end at last to this media hero. I did attract considerable fire to my furry hide at the start of the season when I observed that Bevan's methods were becoming increasingly less effective due to his technical deficiencies and the waning of his physical gifts. The season past tended to bear this out. Fare thee well and auf wiedersehen.

[JLC]

If Bevan has no contract does that mean he can throw away his red pen?

Great news that the Vics have some contracted players

[London Dave]

Agree with you womby, not real case for anyone left out to be included, and anyone in to be booted.

On Bevan, deserved to play this year, but it was pretty obvious he'd lost his zip to some extent, and it was time to go. bit like a footballer losing a yard or two of pace, it's the back pocket for a season, then sayonara!

On Bichel never being given an extended run in the side, well, if he was good enough, he would have. Just short of top class, but on the whole, I'd say he did as much as he could with what he'd been given. He was always a yard of pace short of being a permanent member of the team. He can, as Bevan can, retire from international cricket with head held high.

Hodge may not have what it takes to play international cricket (and there's really only one way we'll ever find that out), but deserves his place in the squad, as he's at least good enough to be in the mix. Elliott, wel, I can't see him getting a game unless injury strikes, and it's in Oz, or he's in tour party, the latter being unlikely! Perhaps it's his super payout from CA.

[London Dave]

[commonwombat]

Dave,

Seems that you, like I, are aware of Elliott's "transgression". He perhaps did not make the most of the opportunity given to him, but it is also a case that offending certain "powers that be" equals a very big black mark.

[Donny]

Bevan's career in jeopardy

By Adam Cooper - Fox


MICHAEL Bevan's illustrious one-day international career looks to be in serious jeopardy, possibly even over.

The left-handed batsman once regarded as the best finisher in the game, has failed to earn a new Australian contract.

Bevan, who boasts a remarkable limited overs average of 53.58 from 232 international matches, was the notable omission today from the list of 25 players offered contracts for 2004-05.

The others missing were former Test captain Steve Waugh who has retired, pacemen Nathan Bracken, Andy Bichel, Ashley Noffke and offspinner Nathan Hauritz.

Signalling a new direction for Australia's one-day team, the selectors offered a first contract to Victorian dynamo Brad Hodge - currently on his honeymoon and England-bound to play county cricket - along with South Australian fast bowler Shaun Tait.

Born-again pair Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich were upgraded to full contracts, while batsmen Matthew Elliott and Michael Hussey rejoined the list.

Bevan, 33, has long been the master of the run-chase but after just 83 runs in five innings in the one-dayers in Sri Lanka, he lost his place.

Hodge, 29, was crowned the ING Cup player of the 2003-04 season and is much more of a dasher with the bat and a superb fielder.

Chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said Bevan's contribution to the one-day side had receded over the past 12 months - he made only five half-centuries in 27 matches.

"We consider now to be the right time to move on and start to try and form a core group of players that will take us through the next period and through to the next World Cup," Hohns said.

"I guess it's fair to say we probably, at this stage, will not be picking Michael to tour Zimbabwe with the one-day side."

Bevan was unavailable for comment, but was "really disappointed", according to his manager Robert Joske and will make a decision about his future over the next week.

"We're not going to close off anything at this stage and we'll be looking at what's best for Michael, his cricket and his family," Joske said.

Bichel lost his place in the Test side during the home series against India and failed to win a new contract given fellow Queenslander Kasprowicz bowled so beautifully in Sri Lanka.

Elliott, who steered Victoria to its breakthrough Pura Cup triumph and was the player of the season in the four-day competition, was determined to make his third chance at national selection a winner.

The 32-year-old opener, who played the last of his 20 Tests five years ago, was rumoured to have never fitted in under Waugh's reign but denied the changing of the guard had contributed to his elevation.

"I don't think so, I think 1,400 runs has gone a long way to contributing to that sort of stuff," he said.

Elliott, who empathised for Bevan and the others missing out on contracts, is determined to enjoy any Australian chance he gets and erase the painful memories of his last three Tests.

"You'd think `How would it be possible not to enjoy Test matches in the West Indies?, you know, but I didn't," he said.

"I felt a bit uneasy from the start and was sort of looking over my shoulder a bit but ... with the lessons I've learned I would go out there and enjoy every moment of it and not look back.

The minimum retainer in 2004-05 is $140,000 - up from $125,000 last season.

Contracted players for 2004-05: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Matthew Elliott, Adam Gilchrist, Jason Gillespie, Ian Harvey, Matthew Hayden, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Michael Hussey, Michael Kasprowicz, Simon Katich, Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Darren Lehmann, Martin Love, Stuart MacGill, Jimmy Maher, Damien Martyn, Glenn McGrath, Andrew Symonds, Shaun Tait, Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Brad Williams.

[London Dave]

[Donny]

Don't write Bevan's epitath just yet, fellas.

Not having a contract doesn't mean a player can't get selected to play either Tests or ODIs. It just means they are on a lower retainer.

Katich was not under contract when selected to replace Lehmann in the Sydney Test. He leapfrogged contracted players to take his place against Zimbabwe.

So did Kaspa, more recently.

[London Dave]

Donny, I'll buy you a case of your favourite tipple if Bevan gets a game again......you or I have more chance mate. he won't be there for next WC, so it's ciao baby!

[The Prototype]

Sadly, I think Bevo has a better chance of getting a game with New Zealand then with Australia again. I think it's time for him to settle down the NSW and start to think of life after cricket. I'd really like to see Bevo playing for the Aussies again, but I really don't see him getting a chance with them again.

[JLC]

Based on what Trevor Hohns stated and that was they are planning for the future and the next world cup Bevan is FINISHED.

Most other players in the same situation would move to NSW......LOL However Bevan already plays there......oh well.

For once i agree with Trevor Hohns.

jlc

[Donny]

Oh, so you're pleased to see Shane Watson in there too ? I'll pass that on to Trev.
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Is the Finisher finished?

Wisden Comment by Andrew Miller


Of all the ways for Michael Bevan's career to end, you would not have imagined he would be run out … or rather, drummed out. For this morning, it was announced that Bevan's central contract would not be renewed and, in the words of the chief selector, Trevor Hohns, "the future's not too bright for him". As the Aussies turn their attentions to the 2007 World Cup, another mighty pillar of their decade of dominance comes tumbling down.

In truth, Bevan was never the mightiest of batsmen, which makes his pre-eminence in one-day cricket all the more astonishing. From the moment he recorded his maiden one-day half-century in 1994-95 - a matchwinning 53 (unbeaten, of course) against Pakistan in the final of the Wills Triangular - Bevan's average never again dropped below 50. In any form of cricket, that is an astonishing achievement, but in the fickle swish-and-scamper arena of ODIs, it is little short of stunning.

Bevan's method certainly involved plenty scampering - of his contemporaries, only South Africa's Jonty Rhodes was as adept at turning ones into twos and twos into threes. Swishing, however, was far removed from his cold, calculating mindset. Bevan quite simply pioneered a whole new approach to one-day batting, in which survival was paramount. If Bevan was still there at the end of an innings - chivvying the singles and clipping the boundaries - an Australian victory was all but guaranteed.


His critics would often carp about the selfish streak to his game, and there is no doubt that Bevan's average of 53.58 was boosted by his remarkable tally of 66 not outs. But, therein lay the genius to his game. Of those innings, a mere six were single-figure affairs, whereas more than half (34) were scores of 40-plus. All told they accounted for 40% of his career runs (2776 out of 6912), but more importantly, in those matches Australia suffered just 14 defeats.

Bevan was the ultimate finisher - that ineffable breed of cricketer that Australia's rivals have been seeking to emulate ever since. Rhodes performed the role for South Africa, Graham Thorpe and Neil Fairbrother did a job for England, but none could be relied on to quite the same extent. Of course, Bevan owed much of his success to the genius of his team-mates, and yet his greatest innings came when hope had all but evaporated.

Against New Zealand at Melbourne in 2001-02, for instance, Australia had slumped to 82 for 6 in pursuit of 246, and not even the most optimistic Ocker in Bay 13 gave his side any chance whatsoever. But Bevan refused to be flustered, and with the best part of 30 overs to inch Australia back into contention, he set about repairing the innings, first with Shane Warne, and then with Brett Lee, both of whom drew confidence from his unflappability at the crease.


And 13 months later, it was crunch time at the World Cup when, on a dog of a pitch at Port Elizabeth, Bevan produced two innings of the highest class - 74 not out against England and 56 against New Zealand - to haul Australia back from the brink at 135 for 8 and 84 for 7 respectively, after withering spells from two inspired pacemen, Andrew Caddick and Shane Bond. On each occasion, Bevan was aided and abetted by Andy Bichel, another stalwart for whom time appears to have been called this morning.

Bevan's success in one-day cricket makes his failures at Test level all the more glaring. He was the solitary weak link in Australia's batting line-up in consecutive Ashes series in 1994-95 and 1997, when he was twice bounced back to the Sheffield Shield by Darren Gough, and just to complete the confusion, his stand-out contribution in Tests was his match haul of 10 for 113 at Sydney in 1996-97. It was no fluke either - at that stage of his career, he was genuinely being talked of as Shane Warne's long-term spin twin, but ultimately he lacked the consistency to build on his promising beginnings with the ball.

Next month, Bevan celebrates his 34th birthday. He will be pushing 37 when the next World Cup gets underway in the Caribbean in 2007. Although nothing can be taken for granted, it might be time to admit that, after 232 one-day internationals and a stealthy middle-order revolution, the Finisher is finally finished.

[Donny]

"I'll buy you a case of your favourite tipple if Bevan gets a game again"

I've saved your post, Dave, and I must warn you. I don't drink cheapo liquor.