Chappell urges selectors to act after Cape Town collapse

Writing in an opinion column for the Brisbane Times and WA Today, Chappell said the selectors have for years patched the batting with experienced first-class players who look reliable on paper, producing a middle order he described as heavy with age and short on resilience. He rejected the defence of that approach built on the examples of Michael Hussey and Adam Gilchrist, both once-in-a-generation players who were blocked, arguing a selection policy cannot be built on them.

South Africa won the Cape Town Test, with Simon Harmer bowling the home side to victory. Chappell wrote that Australia's batting has not carried its weight for some time and that a team holding a substantial first-innings lead does not fold for 111 in the second innings if its batting is sound, adding that the scoreboard does not lie.

He said he disagrees with Pat Cummins that this is a very good side, describing it as an excellent bowling side for a long time, though he added that even the bowlers failed to trouble South Africa at crucial times. He said the Proteas batters had a plan in the second innings to let the short balls go and make the Australians bowl to them. He noted that plenty thought bowling first at Cape Town was a mistake, and said he suspected Kagiso Rabada running through the top order was the biggest factor. He also pointed to batting last on a surface that has historically helped spin late.

Chappell's preferred solution is at the top of the order, where he says Matt Renshaw should open. He called Renshaw's 369 runs at an average of 61.5 the best news of the tour, noting his 190 off 397 balls in Durban after coming in at 4-84, his 134-run ninth-wicket stand with Nathan Lyon and his willingness to leave the ball and see off the new ball. He said Renshaw is back because the selectors ran out of options rather than because anyone had a plan, and that his career shows what comes of dropping talent.

On Marnus Labuschagne, Chappell wrote that the selectors cannot dodge the decision any longer and that the kindest thing they can do is drop him for the summer and send him back to domestic cricket. He described what he calls elite performance decline as an older player starting to doubt himself, and said he thinks Labuschagne is there. He also called for video analysis to be banned, saying Labuschagne has spent years studying himself when he should be watching the ball.

He said Travis Head thrives at home but that his slashing game is exposed on lower, slower overseas pitches, and that he is not convinced Head is an opener away from Australia. He said Cameron Green's early footwork worries him, with short strides leaving his contact point in front of his eyes and a gap between bat and pad, and that Green needs a longer first stride. He said Josh Inglis, who was run out by Green in the second innings, has done enough for at least another series.

Further ahead, Chappell called for Cricket Australia to tie state funding and academy resources to debuting and developing young players in the top four, and named Oliver Davies, Sam Konstas and Campbell Kellaway as players to look at. He wrote that the selectors will be back at the drawing board for New Zealand, where familiar conditions suit the pace attack, but that turning pitches in India will blunt the quicks and expose a fragile batting line-up. If Cricket Australia and the states hide behind platitudes, he wrote, the home summer will be harder than it needs to be; if they take the shock, this can be the correction that sets the side right.