Youth/seasoned player conundrum

The declining form of Mr. Snicket and the perennial inconsistency (one could argue that he's consistently inconsistent) has raised the argument over the past few days regarding the wisdom of ignoring callow youth in favour of those who've done the hard yards at Shield level.

Several years ago some were heralding the Australian method of allowing players to come in after thousands of Shield run and even hundreds of matches as the blueprint because of Hussey's original success. They were lauding the idea of wise heads and experience prevailing over youngsters who have potential but not tons of runs on the board. Arguably Hussey in his early days justified this template and ironically the nursery that was once characteristic of Aussie cricket has become somewhat a 'Dad's Army' which used to be England's domain.

A further problem here seems to be that the selectors persist with these players longer because dropping them may invariably mean the end of their career. This persistence can result in the big score which shores up their credit for another stint and the cycle repeats.

In the meantime youngsters are ignored and sometimes lose form without gaining valuable experience at the top and injecting some vitality into the squad.

An example of someone who was identified early by a country is AB de Villiers who was picked at barely 21, dropped briefly but who in his mid-twenties has justified the selectors' faith and now has a blend of youthful reflexes and experience to launch the second part of his career.

Arguably the likes of Mr. Snicket miss out on their prime.

Is it time for Australia to change its blueprint and revert to days of yore when the likes of Harvey,Walters, G.Chappell and even more recently Michael Clarke were playing tests before drawing their pensions?

Australia should have probably axed Hussey after the last ashes. Only that century at the Oval saved him, but barring the hundred he made against Pakistan where Kamran dropped him about 5 times, he's done next to nothing since.

But they wont drop him so close to the ashes. He'll get at least the first 2 tests.

Nice tits , Red

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