5 Australian players who were unlucky to have not played more for their country

The history of cricket is replete with instances of excellent cricketers failing to have a long career for their countries at the highest level of the game and that is no different when it comes to Australian cricketers. Among the many countries, Australia has almost always had a system in which excellence is rewarded and non-performing cricketers are swiftly dropped from the team.

Despite all that, there are certain players who have only played a handful of Test matches and some limited overs games for the country, despite being good performers.

In this regard, it needs to be pointed that, historically Australia have been one of the more successful cricket teams in history and it so happened that over the years, even gifted cricketers could not get into the side. Maybe, they played in the wrong era.

So, here is a look at 5 Australian cricketers who should have played more for their country.

---

#5 Stuart Law

The former middle-order batsman was one of the most prolific players in the Australian domestic circuit for Queensland, ever since he made his debut in 1988-89. After making runs consistently, Stuart Law eventually made it to the national team in 1994 in an ODI in Perth and his busy playing style suited Australia perfectly.

He established himself in the middle-order and was selected in the squad for the 1996 World Cup. Meanwhile, he also made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at home and scored an unbeaten 54, but that proved to be the only Test of his career. Although Law continued to be part of the Australian ODI set up, he was not selected for the squad that went to England for 1999 World Cup and that proved to be the end of his career.

Since then, he made loads of runs in English county Derbyshire, Essex and Lancashire but national team selection did not come about.

#4 Jason Krejza

Jason Krejza bowling in the Sheffield Shield

When it comes to incredible careers trajectories in cricket, then it is hard to look past former Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza, who struggled to make it back into the Test side after delivering a career-defining performance on debut.

Krejza was known for being an off-spinner who could not only extract turn but also flight the ball and in a post-Shane Warne world, he was drafted into the Australian team for the tour to India.

He debuted in Nagpur and against some of the best players of spin in the world, he held his own. Despite going for runs, he picked up 8 wickets in the 1st innings and 4 in the second. A 12 wicket haul on debut is a dream debut for any bowler but he only ever played 1 more Test match and 8 ODIs before being relegated to the rejection list.

#3 Martin Love

Martin Love

He was a technically correct top order batsman, who could bat for hours in Australia’s domestic cricket and hence, it remains a bit of a shame that Queensland’s Martin Love could not play more than 5 Test matches for his country. He made his debut in first-class cricket back in 1992-93 season and over the next decade, he became one of the best opening batsmen in Australian domestic cricket. Love scored heavily and his big moment came when he made two double hundreds against the touring England side in a practice game ahead of the Ashes in 2002-03.

He was on the periphery of selection but those centuries eventually forced the selectors to include him in the team for that year’s Ashes. On his debut, he batted at number 6 and made a fluent 62. However, a couple of ducks didn’t help his case and even though he went on to make a hundred against Bangladesh in 2003, he could not quite cement his place in the side. Damien Martyn eventually got back his place after returning from his injury and Love’s international career ended with 5 Tests under his belt.

#2 Bob Massie

Bob Massie leads the team off the field after his stupendous performance

Until Bob Massie’s debut against England at Lord’s back in 1972 there had never been a more spectacular Test debut in cricket history. Massie’s swing bowling proved to be unplayable in the 2nd Test at Lord’s of the 1972 Ashes and he ended up picking up 8 wickets in each innings, to finish with figures of 16 for 137 in the game. It was the greatest debut for a bowler in Test history until India’s Narendra Hirwani picked up 16 for 136 against the West Indies in 1987.

Anybody would expect a player who makes such a debut to go on to play plenty of Test matches and end up as one of the significant players in his country’s history. However, that was not to be for Massie. He played only 5 more Test matches for his country and picked up 15 more wickets, as concerns mounted about his ability to regain his skills following an illness. He retired from all forms of cricket in 1974.

#1 Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

This was the classic case of a player missing out on a fruitful international career for having been contemporaries of some of the greatest cricketers his country has ever produced. Brad Hodge was one of the most gifted domestic batsmen in Australia for a decade before he finally got a call-up to the national team in November 2005.

He made a polished 60 on debut but keeping hold of his place in that outstanding Australian side was always going to be a struggle and after playing 5 Test matches, the chop eventually came.

What made it all the more astonishing was the fact that he had already scored an unbeaten double hundred and was averaging in excess of 58. He did make it back into the side in 2008 and even though he scored 67 against the West Indies in Kingston, it proved to be his last Test outing.

He also played 25 ODIs and 15 T20s, but a thriving international career never came about, which is why it is often regarded as a tragic waste of talent. He ended up with a Test average of almost 56 in 6 Test matches.