After I failed to include Corey Rocchiccioli in my previous article about spinners potentially going to Sri Lanka there was a bit of backlash.
Rocchiccioli clearly wasn’t going to be selected by George Bailey and his team otherwise he would’ve been invited to Sydney with the likes of Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann.
However, some believe strongly he should be on the tour so let us dissect whether the West Australian was hard done by or just simply isn’t in the conversation.
Statistics are a fantastic starting point and Rocchiccioli has played 34 first-class matches in his career. Those matches have yielded an outstanding 95 wickets at an average of 19.03. To say that is competitive would be a harsh understatement.
His age profile also works in his favour – at 27 years old Rocchiccioli could easily have a productive decade in the Australian team. Last season was top shelf from the off-spinner. He took the third most wickets in the Sheffield Shield at 46. So, the question has to be asked why he hasn’t been selected for Australia.
To be nitpicky the start to his 2024-25 Sheffield Shield campaign hasn’t been quite as competitive. Admittedly Western Australia have been inconsistent, but Rocchiccioli has taken 14 wickets in his five games but his average sits at 44.14 which is a lot higher than his career average.
His wickets parallel Murphy but I suspect the similarities between the Victorian and his Western counterpart have hurt the latter. Both bowl right arm off spin and Murphy being both three years younger and having already had international experience against India in the sub-continent sees him as a safer pick.
This season Kuhnemann’s form in the domestic tournament has been the best taking 18 wickets and even Mitch Swepson who missed the tour as well has taken 17. At better averages than Rocchiccioli though those are marginal.
Unfortunately for Rocchiccioli, the Shield season is interrupted by the Big Bash League. That is a debate for another time as I believe that hurts our long-format preparation significantly. But what it has contributed to is a lack of cricket for the long-form specialist.
Only four matches since the start of November will struggle to prove to selectors that he is prepared. Murphy and Kuhnemann have played significantly more cricket even though it is in the T20 format and his Western Australian counterpart Cooper Connolly is involved as a batter who can be a potential spin option as well.
I think Rocchiccioli has a huge amount of upside and was a contender at the start of the summer for the Sri Lanka tour. With that said despite fantastic career averages his current domestic season hasn’t been enough to convince selectors and myself he is clearly a better option than Murphy.
Only one of them can play being right armed off spinners and unfortunately for Corey, he hasn’t got international experience and is a little bit older than Murphy.
If this tour was 12 months ago, I would definitely pick Rocchiccioli but similar to Cameron Bancroft when the selectors are looking his form hasn’t been a standout.
He may get his opportunity in the future, but it would come at the expense of Murphy who the selectors look deadest on as the future of spin in this Australian team.
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