Only Sheffield Shield centurions should be picked for Oz team: Dean Jones

Former Australian player Dean Jones has said that if new batsmen were to be picked for Australia from the Sheffield Shield, then those making centuries only should be selected, because picking others would be based on mediocrity.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the leading run scorer in the Sheffield Shield last summer, with 911, was Ricky Ponting, who retired after a lean series against South Africa and Chris Rogers was the only other batsman to score three first-class centuries.

Jones said that Rogers was not great on the eye but he kept punching out the runs, adding that it was all about the numbers in the end.

Meanwhile, Victorian coach Greg Shipperd expressed national selectors should consider picking wicketkeeper Matthew Wade as a specialist batsman, adding that the player had shown a capacity to score hundreds in his brief Test career, the report said.

Wade scored two centuries in his first 12 Tests, for an average of 34, before being dumped for Brad Haddin, the report added.