Feature

'Team man' Haddin in need of runs

Brad Haddin remains an important cog in Australia's Test side with his leadership qualities and his still excellent wicketkeeping, but the runs have dried up since the Ashes, leaving him under pressure to keep his place for one last tour of England

Brydon Coverdale
Brydon Coverdale
21-Dec-2014
In December last year, Australia's chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, said that Brad Haddin had earned the right to retire on his own terms. It was an understandable sentiment, for Haddin had just helped save Australia from another first-innings batting slump in Perth, where they went on to regain the Ashes. He rescued them in every first innings of the series.
Haddin has spoken of the lure of playing in another Ashes series in England next year, after which the likelihood is that he will retire at the age of 37. But if his current batting trough continues, he might test the sincerity of Marsh's statement. In the 2013-14 Ashes, Haddin scored 493 runs at 61.62. In seven Tests since then, he has tallied just 92 runs at 8.36, with a highest score of 22.
It is a staggering turnaround for a man who had some claim on the Player of the Series award won by Mitchell Johnson in the home Ashes. But Haddin's continued selection is not a matter solely of batting scores. His keeping remains good, and in the victory over India at the Gabba he equalled his own career-best of nine dismissals in a Test.
Then there is his value as a leader and presence around the team. The coach Darren Lehmann described Haddin in the lead-up to the Brisbane Test as "the best team man I've ever known". It was no surprise to anyone who knows Haddin that he was entirely supportive of the move to make Steven Smith captain in the absence of the injured Michael Clarke, as Smith was a long-term option.
Haddin was Clarke's vice-captain and might have expected to get the job for the remainder of this series. Instead, he is now Smith's vice-captain, and helped Smith on field as a sounding board during the Gabba win. Lehmann said on Sunday that Haddin offered much more to the team than batting at No.7, but that he needed runs all the same.
"We need Brad to make runs, he knows that," Lehmann said. "He's been working really hard behind the scenes. He'd be disappointed with a couple of Test matches so far. He does offer a lot behind the scenes, which we really love, and his keeping has been exceptional.
"But still he's got to make some runs. We can't have our No.7 not making any runs. He knows that. He's working really hard on it, so hopefully he'll get some runs in Melbourne."
Again at the MCG, Haddin will be vice-captain to Smith. His position is in no danger for the time being. And depending on Clarke's future - whether he comes back into the Test side, and if so whether his hamstring and back injuries recur - Haddin could again be viewed as an important man both on and off the field in another Ashes campaign.
There is also the matter of who is his key challenger for a place in the side. In the same December interview in which he said Haddin could retire on his own terms, Marsh observed that Australia had never been in a better position regarding the depth of wicketkeeping talent.
"We're very fortunate at the moment: every state has got a bloke that if the other five were to break a leg tomorrow, you'd be happy with the sixth playing for Australia," Marsh told the Age at the time. "They're all fine wicketkeepers and they all can bat."
But it is not obvious who would be next in line now. Victoria's Matthew Wade is a known quantity, having played 12 Tests, and while he is a strong batting presence with two Test centuries, his glovework is not always the cleanest.
Western Australia's Sam Whiteman is highly regarded by the selectors and could have pushed for a call-up this summer, but has struck his own form slump, with only 94 runs from six Sheffield Shield innings this season.
Peter Nevill of New South Wales is a good all-round candidate with a first-class average of 40.71 and a fine reputation behind the stumps. Queensland's Chris Hartley is arguably the best with the gloves and is under-rated as a batsman, with eight first-class centuries to his name, but at 32 he seems destined to be forever overlooked.
Tim Ludeman of South Australia blasted a stunning 92 not out in the BBL on Thursday and has a Shield hundred this summer, but the selectors would want to see more consistency from his first-class batting to be convinced.
Tasmania's Tim Paine has played four Tests but has been dropped from the state team this season. Ryan Carters of New South Wales is in form with the bat but typically plays as a specialist batsman because Nevill takes the gloves.
By the end of this summer, form-lines might have changed - including Haddin's. For the time being, he remains an important member of the side for his glovework and leadership. But Australia's best team man will be letting the team down if he doesn't add runs to the mix soon.

Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @brydoncoverdale