Unjust on Justin

The dropping of Australian No. 3 batsman Justin Langer for the first Test against England came as a surprise. It is not that Langer's recent Test record necessarily made his omission unjust in a team with intense competition for places, nor that Damien Martyn did not deserve to be selected, but rather because it is a significant departure from usual Australian selection policy.

There is a saying that it is harder to be dropped from the Australian team than it is to be selected in the first place. While that has certainly never held true for bowlers, for batsmen, especially the established ones like Langer, it has often been appropriate. A commendable hallmark of Australia's cricket has been the selectors' willingness to show faith in the incumbent batsmen. Throughout the winning streak only one change was made to the batting line-up for reasons of form.

With a loss, however, patience is tested and stricter standards are invariably applied. Unexpected defeat at the hands of India suddenly put the under-performing players on notice. Whereas the relative dry run of Slater, Langer and Mark Waugh could be carried in victory, defeat inevitably prompted closer scrutiny.

Still, these were the batsmen part of a period of unprecedented prosperity - Langer scored more runs during Australia's winning sequence than anyone else - and a little faith was only fair. Despite Martyn's outstanding form as a reserve and Langer's poor lead-up scores in the limited preparation time ahead of the Ashes - unavoidably limited preparation since Langer was not part of the one-day squad - no changes were expected.

Something, however, did change - Langer was dropped for Martyn, a severe blow for the committed No. 3. While it is easy to understand the eagerness to get Martyn into the team, it is difficult to reconcile the reasons for Langer's dismissal. His recent Test form, while ordinary, has not been especially poor. Langer has not scored a century in the past two series, comprising 8 Tests, but had four during Australia's winning streak.

In his last series, in India, Langer appeared exceedingly vulnerable against the off-spin of Harbhajan Singh and recklessly attacked as a means of survival. It yielded a poor return, but given that English conditions are vastly different and England possess no-one of Harbhajan's ilk, it would be illogical to drop him on the basis of that series alone.

Most likely the reasons extend further back, to the five-Test home series against West Indies, against a type of attack that was not dissimilar to the one England will feature. Against uniform pace bowling that should have been suited to his batting, Langer could only manage 203 runs at 25.38, undoubtedly a bad series that belatedly seems to have condemned him. However, Langer is far from the only Australian batsman short of meaningful runs for a series or more.

Since the start of Australia's streak, Langer has made 1316 runs at 47, with four hundreds. In the same period, Mark Waugh has scored 1010 runs at 40.40 with two hundreds. Somebody must be awarding style points. Recent history is less kind, as across the last two series Langer has 364 runs at 28 compared to Waugh's 488 at 40.67, but judging players on such records is an arbitrary exercise.

So, if not judged on Test form, perhaps the warning that players had to perform in the tour matches was indeed serious. If so, does that mean Hayden and Slater were also under threat of being axed were it not for half-centuries in their last first-class innings? Either tour match form counts or it doesn't - it's patently unfair to discriminate by using by using Langer's form against him while ignoring Mark Waugh's.

Langer has struggled badly for scores of 4, 0, 0 and a decisively scratchy 17 off 71 balls against Essex in a match in which all other batsmen except Mark Waugh made fluent half-centuries. In Waugh's only two first-class innings since the one-day series, he made 25 and 0. Maybe a dead tour match against Essex carried more import than we thought. Would Langer still have been dropped had he peeled off a hundred on a meaningless final day against a depleted Essex attack? If not, then there is something wrong with the criteria being used.

Langer, it seems, has been unfairly singled out. It's especially surprising considering he has long been a favourite of Waugh and is a Western Australian team-mate of Gilchrist, the only selectors on tour. It would appear that word came down from Australia's chairman of selectors, Trevor Hohns, that Damien Martyn had to be included, thus removing the burden of dropping a mate from the shoulders of tour selectors Waugh and Gilchrist. The only man Martyn could logically replace was Langer.

Langer's axing also represents a significant moment in Ricky Ponting's career. Ponting's brief tenure at No. 3 as David Boon's immediate successor was harshly terminated more than four years ago when, after just two Tests against the West Indies, he was inexplicably dropped. The mixed signals that sent to the naturally aggressive Ponting unnecessarily held him back, until he returned on the Ashes tour the following year at No. 6, where he has since played the rest of his Test cricket.

The immediate benefit of Langer's omission is two-fold, as in addition to clearing a middle order place for Martyn, it also solidifies Australia's precarious top order as Ponting inherits the influential No. 3 spot. With Langer out of form and Slater and Hayden similarly unconvincing, there was a danger of Australia's middle order being exposed, like it dramatically was four years ago when Gough and Caddick reduced Australia to 54/8 on the opening morning of the Ashes. The promotion of the in-form Ponting to his corresponding one-day position, where he can begin his innings against pace, does much to stabilise the top order, at least on paper.

It had appeared that Ponting would gradually ascend as the Waughs retired, but climb no higher than No. 4 while Langer remained the incumbent first-drop. Now, the sudden elevation to No. 3 could be just the challenge he needs to re-launch his Test career with a flourish.

For Justin Langer, his dropping is possibly a career-ending blow. Realising the folly of past mistakes, the selectors are likely to grant Ponting much latitude, should he need it, to succeed at No. 3. Martyn, in the middle order, is unlikely to relinquish his desperately hard won place in a champion team, and after having thoroughly earned it, indeed does not deserve to do so.

At 30 years old, having been dropped twice before and with 25-year-old Western Australian team-mate Katich also awaiting selection, it is difficult to envision Langer ever returning. He has played Australia's last 33 Tests and been a valuable member in that time, with 2305 runs at 42.69, including all 7 of his career centuries. Unless there is an unforseen turn of events, the Test career of this dedicated batsman appears over.

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