Also, I feel it’s only right that you pick players who are in some semblance of form. If they can’t play well in the Sheffield Shield, what hope have they got against the No. 1 Test team in the world? It’s all about getting the balance right within a team. The perfect balance for a Test team would be four-five senior players, four-five intermediate players and one-two new guys. If they can’t play well in the Sheffield Shield, what hope have they got against the No. 1 Test team in the world? Sure, selectors have to understand the conditions. When selecting a team I always like to pick the bowlers first. Who will get me 20 wickets? Next I work down the batting order. In AFL parlance we talk about getting the spine right. If the spine fails, the team fails. Well in cricket, it’s no different with the spine starting with our top four batsmen, who have all been in form ranging from poor to average.

The constant chopping and changing in our batting order is not helping anyone and regardless how he performs in this match, picking a kid such as Marnus Labuschagne, who averages 33 in first-class cricket and bowls a bit of leg-spin, just bewilders me. It’s not Labuschagne's fault and I wish him well, but I can't see any justification for his selection as he hasn’t really made a run this year. Opening or batting at three are specialist jobs and they need to play the best batsmen first and foremost, and not because they bowl a little. Marnus Labuschagne's Shield record has been modest. Credit:AAP Why have selectors got this fixation on having an all-rounder? Apart from Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson, every other all-rounder experiment this century has failed. I get the feeling that the selectors are worried about Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins breaking down. That’s why we have an all-rounder, I hear the panel say. You cannot plan for injury. If one breaks down, it’s OK as we have ample quicks ready to come in for the next Test, with Chris Tremain at the top of the list.

Sometimes a bowler has to get through 25-30 overs in a day. Batsmen sometimes have to bat for more than six hours – well, some Indian batsmen have of late. This is what they train for and I feel our bowlers must get on with it! I feel Chappell and Hohns have some serious explaining to do. It is worth remembering that the two greatest Test teams in the past 50 years have been the West Indies in the 1980s and ’90s and Steve Waugh’s team in the early 2000s. Their all-rounders were the wicketkeeper – Jeffrey Dujon and Adam Gilchrist. That we continue to select bits-and-pieces players does my head in. I would love to sit down with Hohns, Chappell and Langer and get them to talk me through how they selected this team for Sydney. I will let Langer off the hook as he has only been in the job for a short while. But I feel Chappell and Hohns have some serious explaining to do. These two have left that to Langer and the inexperienced Tim Paine to handle the media and I feel that’s not fair. We cannot sit back and say that the sandpaper scandal in Cape Town was the only reason Australia had a horrific 2018. Our results have been embarrassing and some appalling selections are part of that.

In 2018, Australia won just three times from 11 Tests, while our one-day international record is worse with just three wins from our past 23. These selectors picked 40 different players across all formats last year. Apart from Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson, every other all-rounder experiment this century has failed. I seriously think it might be time for Langer to take over all selection matters. Or do we look to split the panel and have separate selectors for Test, ODIs and T20? In favour: Labuschagne's leg-spin has helped his cause with selectors. Credit:AP We have some of the greatest minds in the world in ODI and T20 cricket, people such as Tom Moody, Simon Katich and Darren Berry. These guys know the game and its trends inside out. Let's not forget the selection panel recently made Mitchell Marsh vice-captain before sacking him two matches later.