SAvAUS 2014: Smith, Warner and the NSP

Another good day for the Aussies, led by Johnson, Doolan and Warner.  De Villiers did well again before falling to Johnson while trying to push the pace as he ran out of partners.  However the only other highlight for the Proteas was the opening spell by Steyn, in which he dismissed Rogers and looked threatening.  Their fielding was well below par - to give Warner one life is bad, but 3 dropped catches and a missed run out is awful.  Then there were the various misfields and overthrows.  The upshot is that the Aussies are a long way ahead and likely to declare in the first session on the fourth day, looking for the kill.

The National Selection Panel (NSP)
I'm not sure whether the NSP are very lucky or absolute geniuses.  Their latest two picks have proved really useful.  Marsh is approaching 200 runs for the match, having put on over 200 with Smith in the first innings.  Doolan narrowly missed out on a century on debut, having combined for another 200+ run partnership in the second innings with Warner.  They were picked in spite of the fact that neither of them average over 40 in first class cricket.  Marsh in particular must feel a bit lucky to be there:  His last three tests netted a total of 17 runs at 2.83 in a summer where the runs were flowing for Australia against an average Indian attack.  His red ball form was not great this year either: he was 34th on the Sheffield Shield run scorers list for this season when he was picked (he has probably dropped a few more places over the last few days).  Furthermore, over a decade of first class cricket has only resulted in 9 centuries, including the one in the first innings here. Doolan's record, whilst improving over the last couple of seasons, is not much better than Marsh's.  Yet the gamble paid off.  As did the one with Johnson earlier this summer - at the time many people questioned whether he was really up to returning to test cricket.  These three picks make the NSP look like geniuses.  But remember this is the same panel that picked Bailey, and went through several players in England, including the inexplicable move of dropping Lyon for Agar - however well he may have batted.  For the moment we will call them geniuses, and hope that their luck holds out.

Warner and Smith
Warner has now joined Smith on three centuries for the southern summer.  They have both had very contrasting experiences, however.  Warner has done better overall, scoring 650 runs at 59.09.  Smith, in a couple less innings, has only got to 427 @ 47.44.  However it is interesting to compare their performances.  Warner's centuries have all come in the second innings, each time while Australia was in the ascendancy and it was more about keeping the opposition down than wresting control of the match.  I suspect that Johnson has more than a reasonable claim on a large chunk of Warner's runs.  Overall Warner has scored 475@95 in the second innings this summer, compared with 175 @29.16 in the first.  Smith's figures are the opposite.  Smith's three centuries have all come in the first innings, with Australia in trouble and the test still in the balance.  He has scored 382 @63.66 in the first innings,  while only managing a measly 45 @15 in three completed attempts in the second innings.  Warner has the better overall record because of the number of scores he has made between 20 and 100 - five of them this summer including an 83*, a 60 and a 49.  In contrast Smith has largely been an all or nothing player.  Indeed, since his first century at the Oval, he has only passed 20 twice without getting a century, scoring 31 and 23*.  On the plus side, his conversion rate from fifty to 100 is very good in this time.  While their summers have been contrasting, they have both been very important to the team.  Smith has set up the totals for Johnson to bowl at, Warner has taken the game away from the opposition.  They will both want to work on getting more runs in the other innings, and Smith will want a bit more consistency (though 3 tons in four matches is pretty good).  However they can both be happy with the work done so far.