Voges’ band of Warriors in line
WA’s success on the field in the past two seasons is set to prompt substantial individual recognition when a raft of Australian squads are announced this week.
The Ashes squad, the Test team to play in the West Indies in June and an Australia A team touring India this winter will be named alongside the new contract list.
And up to half the players from the WA teams who won two domestic trophies and were runner-up in the third are set to be rewarded for their success.
Prolific batsmen Adam Voges and Shaun Marsh, spinner Ashton Agar, pacemen Nathan Coulter-Nile and Jason Behrendorff, wicket-keeper Sam Whiteman and opener Cameron Bancroft are in the frame for one or more of the squads.
Voges has the most currency after a season in which he set a new Sheffield Shield runs record and captained the three State teams into the last day of their seasons.
National selector Rod Marsh considers Voges the best batsman in the country outside the Test team and would like to squeeze him into the 17-man Ashes squad.
But that might require the axing of either Shaun Marsh, who scored 99 and 73 in his last two Tests or Joe Burns, whose pair of half-centuries in the fourth Test this summer underlined his claims to a longer stint in the team.
The selectors are eager to include a development player in the 16-man squad for the West Indies where Australia will play just two Tests.
Agar might meet that description after a season in which he has got steadily better.
He is well regarded by coach Darren Lehmann and is a more rounded player than the one who made a shock Ashes debut two years ago.
Victorian leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed also has strong claims after his record 8-89 in the shield final.
Whiteman and Bancroft have strong claims to be included in the Australia A tour in India in July while Behrendorff is making a strong recovery from spinal stress fractures and may be fit for selection.
Coulter-Nile was in line to be part of the World Cup squad until damaging a hamstring early in the season but he is highly regarded by the national selectors.
He bowled superbly on an exceptionally placid surface during the shield final in Hobart and will be competing with paceman James Pattinson and Pat Cummins for the fifth pace place on the Test tours.
Veteran Ryan Harris will not go to the West Indies but is an automatic inclusion in the Ashes squad.
Michael Clarke’s retirement from one-day internationals may be matched by similar decisions from Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, though both are not likely to leave the game until after the Ashes.
Test opener Chris Rogers will retain his contract despite not being linked to any State.
Rogers scored a century for Victoria in the shield final in his last appearance for the State and will now weigh up approaches from Tasmania and NSW to play on next season.
