Nevill reflects on 'complex' Haddin axing

To be the wicketkeeper in Australia’s Test team is to be part of an exclusive fraternity, one that is even more elite than those who carry the honour of captaincy.

Only 33 men have been ordained into that club of glovemen over the course of 138 years, while almost half as many again (45) have led their nation on to the Test match field.

So when Peter Nevill learned last month that he was to take on that role in his own right, not simply as a seat-warmer until Brad Haddin returned from personal leave, he experienced a range of competing and contrasting emotions.

Pride, responsibility, anxiety, humility. But not surprise.

Such is the confidence he holds in his undoubted ability and so adept is he at handling whatever comes his way – which is, at day's end, the defining characteristic of a 'keeper – he was unfazed when told by the national selectors he would be selected ahead of Haddin for last week's third Test.

"I wouldn’t say it was shock," Nevill said today when asked for his initial reaction when informed during the recent tour match against Derbyshire that the position he and so many aspiring Australia Test 'keepers have eyed for the past seven summers was his.

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Nevill (left) takes the gloves as Haddin fields in their match in Derby // Getty

"Every Test match I've been preparing to play and this situation I was selected ahead of Brad.

"I suppose I had a bit more time to mentally prepare but other than that I was still physically doing all the training that you would normally do leading into a match."

Of the less than three dozen men to have trod this path before him under the Baggy Green cap, it's difficult to imagine any have come to the role amid such scrutiny and complexity.

Nevill's maiden Test was a bolt from the blue when Haddin withdrew days prior to the start due to family reasons, and his replacement celebrated his call-up with a record seven dismissals in a similarly unprecedented 405-run victory at cricket's spiritual home.

Watch: Nevill's dream debut at Lord's

But less than a fortnight later, Nevill found himself a circumstantial and blameless player in an unseemly public debate about the manner in which Haddin was cast aside and the validity of the Australia team's commitment to its oft-stated 'family first' policy.

He then played a lone, defiant day three hand as Australia fought a fruitless last-ditch battle before succumbing to a humbling eight-wicket defeat at Edgbaston on Friday.

Haddin has thus far declined to outline his views on the matter, and it's been left to coach and national selector Darren Lehmann and selection chair Rod Marsh to detail the thinking that saw Haddin’s seven-year, 66-Test reign as ‘keeper effectively ended.

The controversy has been largely fanned by former Test greats Ian Healy, Shane Warne, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden who have all expressed their disappointment and disquiet over the way the transition from 37-year-old Haddin to 29-year-old Nevill has played out.

None of them have disputed Nevill's qualifications for the role, but rather the process by which he earned it.

That debate has proved all the more uncomfortable for Nevill because of his close friendship and historic professional bond with Haddin, his teammate and mentor at Sydney club, Sheffield Shield and now level.

So it's understandable that he plays an even straighter bat than he showed in his mature innings of 59 that stretched more than three hours during Australia’s disastrous third Test loss when asked his view on all that has transpired.

"It's obviously a complex situation, but all I can really focus on is I've been selected to do that job and I had to do it as best as I could," Nevill said as the Australia squad prepared to travel an hour east to Nottingham where the fourth Test begins at Trent Bridge on Thursday.

"Hadds has just carried himself magnificently.

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Haddin helps Nevill prepare at Edgbaston // Getty

"Obviously it's been very difficult circumstances for him since having to pull out of Lord's, but he's been incredibly supportive of me and has gone out of his way to make sure I'm as prepared as I can be to play the Test matches. 

"He's a wonderful guy, I've said it many times."

Nevill scoffs at suggestions the axing of Haddin, the self-confessed 'drum major' of Australia's Test team often described as their heart and soul because of his wise counsel and combative persona, has torn a hole in the fabric of the squad's unity.

He also admits that it’s not in his understated nature to be the in-your-face vocal competitor that saw Haddin get beneath the skin of so many of Australia’s Test and limited-overs opponents, most recently in the World Cup final win over New Zealand.

But with a first-class batting average of more than 43 (Haddin's is a tick above 38) which includes six centuries and a career high-score of 235 for New South Wales, he is credentialled to fill the sorts of salvage roles that Haddin performed so often with the bat in his decorated time as 'keeper.

And which might even have Nevill in line to move a rung in the batting order, ahead of allrounder Mitchell Marsh who has struggled to find his niche as a batsman at Test level.

Highlights: Nevill fights hard with the bat at Edgbaston

A feat that Haddin managed just a handful of times in his stint, that has not formally finished but seems unlikely to be revisited barring injury to the newly minted incumbent.

"Unfortunately, I was in that situation a couple of times last year (with New South Wales losing early wickets) but it is good experience to draw upon," Nevill said.

"Being able to make runs in any situation is important, and especially when your team needs some runs like we did in the second innings (at Edgbaston).

"To be able to get a lead and something to bowl at it was great to be able to do that.

"I would have loved to have put on more.

"I've certainly got plenty of members of the team that are quite vocal, so adding my voice to the chorus isn't really necessary.

"I'm pretty vocal on the field (but) I just direct all my energies towards supporting the teammates.

"I don't think I need to do anything different to that."