White, Smith have eyes on North's spot
The Age
Monday March 8, 2010
AUSTRALIA'S incumbent No. 6 batsman, Marcus North, will learn in the next 48 hours if his time as a Test player has ended. He has failed to fire for Western Australia after a disappointing series against Pakistan.Steve Smith and, especially, Victorian skipper Cameron White are breathing down his neck. White's one-day batting has been a revelation and Smith's bowling is rapidly improving. His average in the Sheffield Shield for NSW has almost halved since his one-on-one net session with Shane Warne during the Boxing Day Test.White told The Age last week he was considering being loyal to the Bushrangers and would play in the shield final despite relinquishing $200,000 in lost wages from Bangalore in the Indian Premier League. The captain yesterday made it official: "I'm definitely playing the shield final. All along I've thought it would be the right thing to do. One hundred per cent, I'll be there €” if I'm not in the Test squad."North is well aware his place in the Test team is under extreme pressure."It would be a shame for it to end," said North yesterday. "I'm hoping the selectors look at the bigger picture and look over my entire Test career, and the form that I've shown against the top teams in the world, and also the big series that I've played in," he told ABC Radio."I thought South Africa, England and the West Indies were good series for me and unfortunately, I guess, limited opportunities and some low scores in the Pakistan series meant that it was a very lean series for me."At the moment, that's where the focus is. And obviously since then, getting three or four 20s for WA, it would have been nice to post a higher score."It's a bit of a cliche but I'm working very hard at my game and feeling good. I don't feel like I'm going out there and looking out of touch. I'm making some good starts. Don't get me wrong, I'm very disappointed with that, but I feel like I've got a lot to offer in the No. 6 position for Australia. It would be a shame for it to end in a couple of days or on that NZ tour."There's no chance of a pre-Test selection trial in New Zealand because Australia is without a warm-up match before the opening Test in Wellington.Smith had a Sheffield Shield bowling average of 81.5 before his session with Warne. His returns since have netted eight wickets at 44.5, a step in the right direction. He plundered centuries in his past two shield matches while North, who managed just 94 runs in six innings against Pakistan, made 20 and three in his latest match for WA."I've always said it's not always about statistics," North said. "I would have liked to score more runs coming back to WA but if the selectors show faith in me and I go to New Zealand for the first Test there, I'm going to feel as comfortable as I have in my whole Test career that I will make runs again."
© 2010 The Age
