4th Test Day 5: Rain Fails to Dampen India's Massive Achievement

With the final day of this series washed out without a ball being bowled – by the lightest and most unassuming drizzle probably ever seen near a cricket field – India completed their first ever Test series victory in Australia with a 2-1 victory margin. It is a significant and game-changing milestone for the cricketing nation, and the unabashed joyous scenes that broke out in the dressing room when the match was officially called off shows that they are aware of just how important it is. 71 years of touring Australia against teams that varied from average to superhuman finally saw them achieve this moment. Much like Australia’s victory in India in 2004, their first in India since 1969, it was a great moment for the history and future of cricket in the same instance.

Australia has been completely outplayed, and yet did not lack chances to change the result. On the first morning of the 1st Test in Adelaide Australia had India 4/41 with Virat Kohli back in the shed. Even at 5/86 or 6/127, Australia should have had India out for many less than 200. It is difficult to assess whether or not that could have been transferred to a victory given the way their top order collapsed in their own first innings, but the final losing margin of just 31 runs suggests that they probably should have won that match if they had not allowed Pujara to coax the tail along. In Melbourne too, despite India batting for two days for 7/443, Australia had the chance to bat time and get much closer to the Indian first innings than the 151 they managed. On the other side of the coin, if only India had played either Jadeja or Kuldeep in Perth rather than four fast bowlers, they could well have gone close to winning this series 4-0.

India had plenty of standouts, Pujara and Bumrah the outstanding stars. Nut they received great support from young Agarwal, Pant, Shami and Jadeja while Kohli, Rahane, Ishant and Vihari hardly embarrassed themselves, along with Ashwin who was so influential at Adelaide and then injured for the remainder of the series. Australia, with no century makers for the whole series, something that hasn’t happened for about a thousand years, and barely a ripple on the wicket taking front, can take few positives out of the series. It is fine to suggest that they have found a promising opener in Marcus Harris and that Travis Head played wonderfully well except when he threw his own wicket away in five of his seven innings when the team needed him to go on and make the match defining innings. It is great to laud the late order batting of Pat Cummins as his top order failed and that his bowling in Melbourne was fast and furious. And it is also fair to applaud the beautiful clean wicket-keeping of skipper Tim Paine who retained dignity and positivity throughout even as his team failed to make much impression on their visitors. But there isn’t much to be excited about when you look at the series as a whole rather than just selected highlights.

Congratulations to India and their victory which is very much deserved. It will be interesting to see how they go now that the new Future Tours Program is in place, and that they must play three series away from home every two years, rather than the way the BCCI has structured their recent tours by ensuring they tour South Africa, England and Australia in a 12 month period, and then play at home almost exclusively for a three year stretch. What this tour proved is that they have the players to adapt to any conditions, which should ensure they are better prepared in the future and indeed better prepared to retain their #1 Test ranking for some time to come.

4th Test Day 4: Bad Light Laws Create Frustrating Day

On a day that should have either shown just what kind of fight the Australian batsmen had in them after such a long season of disappointment, or been a day when India completed a fabulous achievement that has escaped them for 70 years, we instead spent the majority of the day looking at a ground where the lights were blazing away highlighting only the ground staff as either a light drizzle or umpires light meters kept play to a minimum. In the modern age of cricket, it seemed a very strange set of circumstances.

I was not at the S.C.G. today but was not so far away that the weather and cloud cover was so different. Perhaps the light was shallow, but at no stage did it appear to degenerate to a level when cricket could not be played. Now while I understand that international cricket has much faster and more dangerous fast bowlers, there is no way that it was dark enough today that any Grade cricket match would have been held up due to poor light. Nor, to be honest for the light rain that fell. Yes it’s a different level, but it’s also a level where 30,000 people have paid for the privilege of coming to see cricket played. But these are the current standards that are set by the ICC and are regulated by the standing umpires in the match, and that is how the day progressed. Play was unable to start until 1.50pm, and when play was suspended it was 3.40pm, and it stayed that way until stumps was called at 5.30pm. As it turns out neither side is terribly affected in this case. India had already retained the trophy and only had to draw this match to win their first ever series in Australia, and Australia was already no chance of being able to force a victory which could have changed that occurring. All it did was frustrate the paying public, the viewing public, and the game of cricket in general. 

One of the innovations trying to be brought into cricket is day/night Test matches, albeit with a pink ball rather than a red ball. Still, if these games can go forward with floodlights being used to play cricket through twilight and into the evening, then how is it that cricket cannot continue now under floodlights with a red ball? It isn’t that much different, and yet much of the day was lost because this apparently cannot go ahead. Questions were asked all day, and will no doubt continue into tomorrow, at which point they will no doubt be promptly forgotten and ignored until the next time this same scenario occurs. 

In the short period that play occurred, Australia managed to get to 300 before finally being dismissed, with young left arm wrist spinner Kuldeep taking his first five wicket haul in Tests. He bowls at a lovely slow speed with good flight and a lovely drift on the ball, and he is great to watch. He was not unplayable today, which was proven by the fact that Starc and Hazlewood played him and the other bowlers with relative ease on the flat surface to the tune of 42 runs and 15 overs. They may be having their problems taking Indian wickets, but the bowlers seem to be contributing more to the batting than the top order is. There was no surprise when Kohli enforced the follow on, but at 0/6 the light forced an early tea from which the players never returned. 

One day remains in this series, and at the end of it no matter what occurs on the field India will be celebrating a great victory. For Australia, they bat tomorrow for pride and for their individual Test futures. Hopefully for both teams they get a full day in so all of those questions can be answered.

4th Test Day 3: Careless Australia Again Sell Themselves Off Cheaply

Back in 2010/11, when England did a number on the Australian cricket team and Ricky Ponting presided over his third failed Ashes series, there came a time when it was impossible to keep saying the same things about what was happening. Describing poor bowling plans, asking for more penetration from the bowlers, imploring the batsmen to stand up and make a stand and build an innings under pressure like past Australian teams had been able to do. Eventually it just became too much asking and looking for the same things day after day, and nothing more could be said. 

We have now reached that same stage in this series against India, who are now without a doubt about to win their first ever Test series in Australia.

On a perfect wicket for batting, against bowling that was persistent without being brilliantly penetrative, four of Australia’s six dismissed batsmen once again found a way to get themselves out rather than be taken out, in the most disappointing way imaginable. At 1/128 early in the second session Australia had finally shown some initiative and solid batting, setting a platform that should have been the perfect way to get through to stumps with a good total behind them and few wickets lost so that there was still something to play for on days four and five. Instead what we saw was another collapse, one that tore the heart out of the watching public while being joyously celebrated every step of the way by India and their supporters.

The two positives on the day were Marcus Harris and Marnus Labuschagne. Harris was superb, looking to be proactive immediately and not be dominated by the Indian bowlers. He almost holed out to the first ball he faced from Jadeja on the day but from there looked as though he belonged in Test cricket. He brought up his second Test half century and at lunch looked as though it was only a matter of time before he passed the century mark. After lunch though he got into a bad habit of just trying to dab the ball on the off side rather than playing a definitive cut shot, and it brought about his down fall when he dabbed one off the inside edge onto his leg stump. It was a deflating way for his innings to end, and it was the start of a bad period of play for the Aussies. 

Labuschagne had come to the crease at the fall of Khawaja’s wicket under the shadow blanket of criticism over his selection and played a circumspect and solid innings. He watched the ball carefully, he played straight and waited for the ball to be in his scoring areas. He looked assured against both pace and spin, and still found a way to smile at the end of each over. He played some lovely drives to the boundary and didn’t look overawed at the situation. Even the shot he played on his dismissal was not a poor shot, it was played with authority and barely off the ground, only to be snared by a brilliant catch at short mid-wicket. It was an unfortunate way for a promising innings to end, and his disappointment at having made such a good start and not gone on with it was obvious for all to see. 

On top of this was the major disappointments of the day, perhaps of the summer. Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh came into this series needing to take on the role and responsibility of senior batsmen and be the ones to score the big runs and lead the inexperienced batting line up. If Australia was to succeed, they both needed to perform. The fact that they have not, and both got out to poor shots again today, leaves their immediate futures up in the air and under a microscope. Khawaja and Harris had put on 71 for the opening partnership and looked to be doing it easy, until Khawaja went down the wicket and scooped Kuldeep straight to mid-wicket for a particularly ordinary dismissal, handing his wicket to India when they hadn’t earned it for just 27. He sold his wicket cheaply again when Australia needed him to stand up, and it was a bitter pill to swallow. His Test average is close to dipping below 40, and there can be no guarantee of his spot for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. Shaun Marsh too just keeps on not producing, making only 8 today before he meekly edged Jadeja to first slip. Khawaja has 194 runs at 27.74 in this series, and Marsh has 183 runs at 26.14. Khawaja has Australia’s only Test century in its last nine Test matches, while Marsh in his last 11 Tests over three series has scored 344 runs at an average of 18.11. Those are seriously awful numbers for a Test batsman. He cannot be – CANNOT BE – selected any longer. It would be a travesty to every batsman who has only received one chance in the Test team if he is retained any longer. 

Australia finished the day early when rain moved in to curtail play. At 6/236 they have now no chance of forcing a victory but perhaps more importantly avoided the chance of being bowled out on a road in less than a day. Travis Head will still be cursing himself after once again throwing his own wicket away for just 20, while Peter Handscomb on 28 not out still has the opportunity to make a career saving innings tomorrow. With him stands Australia’s most consistent batsman Pat Cummins, who with 25 not out looked the most comfortable of all the batsmen on the day. The bowlers toiled long and hard, and will have the second new ball available tomorrow in order to hasten the end of Australia’s first innings. The only question remaining now with two days to play is will India force a victory to win this series 3-1, or will they be happy to draw this without any qualms and take the series 2-1. Tomorrow could be the final day of this series unless Australia can fight again, something that it feels as though only their tail can do.

4th Test Day 2: India Drives Home Advantage on Sydney Road

To anyone who has been watching this Test series unfold, Day 2 at the S.C.G pretty much followed the well-worn script of the way the cricket has gone. Only the most optimistic Australian supporter saw anything occurring on the second day different from India batting the day at their own pace before declaring late in the day with a massive lead and then taking some Australian batting wickets with them into stumps. It didn’t quite follow the script to its conclusion, but most of it was predictable, and was joyful for India and morose for Australia. 

As was brought up in commentary today, India did an Australia on Australia today. Their foot was on their throat and they didn’t let up. Australia spent two decades playing this kind of cricket, no mercy batting until teams are out on their feet before declaring and wiping them out as their tired batsmen were unable to hold back the tide of fast and spin bowling. Now, the shoe is well and truly on the other foot. Being in the ascendancy and only needing to draw this Test to win their first series in Australia, the Indian batsmen took advantage of a completely lifeless pitch and an exhausted, beaten and out-of-ideas Australian bowling attack and just relentlessly ground out run after run in perfect style. Vihari was eventually out-thought by Lyon for his second wicket, but Rishabh Pant came in and played the perfect foil for Pujara. He showed he can play the patient game and push singles and twos without having to obliterate everything that comes his way. He played perfectly while Pujara was at the crease, allowing his senior partner to dictate the way he wanted the innings to go. When Pujara was finally dismissed for a magnificent 193, it allowed Pant to take on the senior role while he in turn was supported by Ravi Jadeja. Once he reached his second Test century, both batsmen they began to open up and put the foot down. Jadeja put Cummins 20 metres over the fence when the third new ball was taken, as good an indication of the lack of any peril in the wicket. When he finally fell for 81, he and Pant had put on a record 204 runs for the seventh wicket. Pant remained not out on 159 and could probably have reeled in Brian Lara’s 400 if he had been allowed to bat out the innings. It was at this point that Kohli decided enough was enough, and declared the innings closed at 7/622. 

Like yesterday there were a few chances that fell just out of reach of fieldsmen or short of fieldsmen which was as frustrating for the fans watching as it was for the players. The bowlers tried hard but they lacked penetration, they lacked consistency, they lacked aggression and they lacked purpose. Australia’s four bowlers have had an enormous workload in the last week, and you can completely understand why they looked tired and sore and running out of petrol on the field. Their lack of wickets is a combination of excellent batting, unresponsive pitches and a touch of misfortune that is not helped by wayward lines and lengths too often to keep pressure on the batsmen. If questions are to be asked about the bowling attack, and they have been by several commentators in the last few days, then it should be as a whole rather than individually, and it should also take into account these other factors. 

With ten overs to bat, Usman Khawaja and Marcus Harris had differing periods. Harris looked assured and found the gaps in racing to 19 not out, while Khawaja was more nervous and less intent, and also gained himself a life when Pant dropped a fairly simple chance off Shami in the fourth over. Perhaps he could be forgiven after his lengthy batting display but he needs to take those. Khawaja was still there on 5 not out at stumps with the score at 0/24. 

What do the final three days of this series hold in store for us? Australia trails by 598 runs needing to win to square the series. It can’t be done. It’s impossible. Right? Anyone remember Adelaide in 2006? At the end of day two, Australia was 523 runs behind with nine wickets in hand against England. Australia won that Test by six wickets. That Australian team is a country mile ahead of this Australian team, but it just shows that it has happened before, and could always happen again. 

There is nothing in this wicket for the bowlers, and it looks like this surface should still be perfect for batting on tomorrow. There will be a lot of spin bowling tomorrow but there is little rough to speak of so it should not be impossible to defuse. Australia’s under pressure top six will not have a better chance to show their wares than tomorrow on the third day in Sydney. Whether the game can be won or not, Australia’s batsmen need to go out and bat the day out and put on a good score. 4/320 should be an aim and an achievable score, given Bumrah and Shami do not have the pace support of Ishant in this Test. They need to be positive and back their abilities. If they achieve this, then a winning result, no matter how unlikely, is still on the table. It’s a big day for their own Test futures as well as the team’s future. If they fall over again, then the immediate future of Australia’s Test side in really in the balance.

4th Test Day 1: Pujara Brilliance All But Wins Series for India

There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the media and in cricket commentary over the past 48 hours over the selected squad and eventual playing XI for the Australian team that took the field for the 4th Test of the series against India in Sydney. Plenty have decried that the two who were dropped, Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh, deserved another chance and perhaps in different positions which would improve their chance of success. Others thought that the wrong people were chosen, especially given their own form leading into the match. Others still put forward their own solutions, many from far left field in order to change Australia’s fortunes. A couple of the few sensible and thoughtful thinkers and writers on cricket felt that the selectors have simply ignored form (which they claim to be using as their selection guide) and are just choosing the people they want to believe in. At the end of the day, yet another that India has dominated throughout this series, the only thing that matters is that Australia is at long odds of saving this series against a team that man-for-man is far better than they are.

It is fair to say that the rub of the green ran with India again today. Kohli called correctly at the toss again and once again got first use of a wicket that looked fairly docile from the outset and can only deteriorate as the match progresses. Of course most thought the same about the Melbourne wicket until both teams had batted on it, and much the same may well be seen to be the case here. There was no swing again after ten overs, and little turn to speak of for Lyon when he bowled. There were also a number of inside edges that somehow missed the stumps on their way to fine leg, and three or four popped balls off gloves that fell safely away from fielders. When you are winning, those things go for you, and India took full advantage.

In the long run, India’s batsmen looked confident and wanted to bat long, and Australia’s bowling at times looked lethargic and uninterested. Apart from Rahul’s early departure the Indians batted like they wanted to win a Test match. Agarwal continued on from where he left off in Melbourne, and fought through a concerted short pitched barrage from the Australian pacemen in amongst it. He had some luck but stuck to his guns until he was eventually outfoxed by Nathan Lyon and holed out to long off. Kohli went in with an attitude of batting Australia out of the game, but was found out just after tea caught off his gloves down the leg side. Australia has done a pretty fair job of restricting Kohli in this series. He has 282 runs at 40.28, something that Australia would have taken if offered at the start of the summer. Rahane too looked comfortable but was undone by a Starc ripper that climbed off a good length, while Vihari benefitted from some tired wayward bowling at the end of the day.

All of the batsmen above walked in support of Cheteshwar Pujara who again played the Australian bowlers like he was facing the Albion Park Under 13 attack. He left deliveries that other batsmen played at, he patted back 140kph deliveries like they were medium pace, and he pounced on anything short or wide and hit them to the boundary. At 130 not out at stumps off 250 deliveries, he has just ground Australia into the dust. It is his sixth century against Australia, the most he has scored against any one nation. Though Australia must have had plans to bowl against him, they have appeared clueless. He had some fortune today, twice inside edging past his stumps, but there is little going on that looks even close to finding a way to dismiss him. In an age of T20 cricket techniques and batting styles, Pujara is a Test match batting template that shows it can still be done in the old fashioned way.

It would be easy to blame the pitches this season for Australia’s difficulty in bowling India out, and there is a certain amount of disappointment that must go into that. However, Australia decided against playing a Test against India at the ground where they have had the most success, the ‘Gabba, and instead played on grounds with the three most docile pitches in the country. That hasn’t helped. But that still doesn’t excuse the fact that the four pronged bowling attack has not been lethal at all this summer. It has been rare to see any real passion from our bowlers in their spells, or even when they have taken wickets. 12 months is a long time in cricket, and last season there were wide smiles most of the time. The lack of success has obviously grated on the four and it shows on their faces and in their body language. We still won’t know just what the wicket is like until Australia bat on it, but certainly our bowlers looked down and beaten today.

At 4/303 at stumps, India now own how this game progresses. As much as they would like to win this match, they only have to draw this Test to win the series and that will be at the forefront of their minds. If they could bat for the majority of tomorrow they would likely have established a lead of 500, from which it would be almost impossible for Australia to secure a victory. As much as it would be great to play entertaining cricket, surely India will continue on as they did today and ensure they are in the drivers position come stumps on day two.

3rd Test Day 5: India Claim Trophy With Emphatic Victory

It took little more than four overs on the final day for India to wrap up a Test match they have been in control of since they won the toss on Boxing Day, with the brave efforts of Cummins and Lyon coming to and end with India winning the Test by 137 runs. In doing so they have retained the trophy they won at home 20 months ago and head to Sydney in pursuit of their first ever series victory in Australia.

The problem with sitting here and discussing the whys and wherefores of Australian cricket at this stage of the season, with India leading the four Test series 2-1, and with Australia having also been well beaten in the ODI and T20 series through November, is that none of it is a surprise and that there is nothing that has happened that anyone thought wouldn’t happen. In a year that started with a thumping Test victory over England and finished with a thumping Test defeat from India, you would be hard pressed to name any calendar year that had fallen so dramatically for Australian cricket than 2018 has. Perhaps 1977 could be seen that way, but Australia lost upwards of 25 of their best cricketers from their ranks in 1977 due to the onset of World Series Cricket. In 2018 Australia lost just three cricketers and has slipped to unforeseen depths.

There is a lot we knew way back in October, and events since that time have only confirmed them. We knew India had a better team in all forms than Australia, and that they would never have a better chance to win a Test series in Australia than on this tour. They still haven’t done that but they are so close they can taste it. They have retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy if nothing else, but given Australia’s relative weakness and India’s fine array of batting talent and amazing bowling squad they were always favourites to win this series. At least Sydney will be a live Test in that regard. We all knew that Aaron Finch doesn’t have the technique to open the batting in Test cricket. The selectors knew it, the experts knew it, even Victorian coach Andrew McDonald knew it when he wanted to bat him at five in the Shield game before the 1st Test because of it. But because Finch did a reasonable job of his debut on the lower and slower wickets in the UAE he was given the chance to make a fist of it, but he was found out immediately by the Indians bowlers. They knew his weaknesses as well as we all did, and have exploited them brilliantly. Now it is being said he must be moved down the order to either hide him or protect him, and one wonders just how you can achieve that without forcing someone else into the firing line who doesn’t want it either. We all knew that Mitch Marsh cannot command a spot in the top six in the Test team, and yet he was handed another chance just because he can bowl some overs. He failed twice with the bat trying to force the pace when a more circumspect approach was required, and his Test batting average of 25.39 SURELY now disqualifies him from being chosen again in this position. And we all knew that neither Usman Khawaja nor Shaun Marsh could substitute for Steve Smith as the rock around which our batting could revolve, but we all really hoped that one or both of them would rise to the occasion. They have both played well in patches, and both have also suffered unfortunate dismissals, but in the long run they just haven’t produced the kind of innings Australia needed if it was going to compete on an even level to Pujara and Kohli this summer.

The selectors have retained the same thirteen man squad for Sydney that they picked for Melbourne, also adding Marnus Labuschagne, who played both Tests in the UAE at number six and as part time leg spinner. With the Sydney wicket expected to turn and he being the only extra spinner in the squad it appears almost certain that he will get a run and probably at the expense of Mitch Marsh. The only other change could be the inclusion of Peter Handscomb at the expense of Aaron Finch which would require a juggling of the batting order. All of those permutations will just give me a headache to run through, and for all intents and purposes would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. The selectors in their wisdom have left the fate of this particular series in the hands of those that have got them to this point. Perhaps after Sydney is when we will see some real change if the result is not in Australia’s favour.

3rd Test Day 4: Cummins Carries Australia in Herculean Effort

It’s been a tough four days for Australian cricket, and in many ways eradicated the false dawn that arose for many after the victory in Perth. Many cracks were papered over as most cricket fans hoped for an even contest to take place during the festive season. India of course was having none of it and have ground Australia into the dust. While the fight of the lower order once again has extended the match beyond what appeared probable midway through the middle session, Australia’s top order has again surrendered itself to poor planning and execution, which raises questions once again about the future direction of our cricket teams.

While India is in the ascendancy, the day belonged to Patrick Cummins, the man who is setting himself up to become the future Australian captain. He dominated with the ball yesterday and he continued on again this morning, taking two more wickets to finish with 6/27 from 11 overs, his best ever Test bowling figures in an innings, and completing match figures of 9/99. It was an inspiring performance from the big fast man who so often since his return to the Test arena has been the enforcer who seems to miss out getting the wickets, instead setting them up for his partner at the other end. This Test though he has received his just rewards and shown how important he is to this Australian bowling line up.
He then had to return to the batting crease in the final session in a losing cause, and just look to bat as long as he could. He immediately copped a barrage of short balls from Bumrah and Sharma, looking to make him as uncomfortable as possible and then fire him out. India thought they were going to have an easy afternoon, but Cummins did not budge. Alongside his skipper Paine, Starc and then Lyon, Cummins saw off the bowlers and just bunted them back. He was a rock. Once he reached 30 though he played some shots that his top order would have been proud of. The cover drive to reach 50, then the off drive and straight drive to follow them were absolutely superb and he didn’t have to move after playing them. At stumps he remains on 61 not out, his highest Test score. It would be a long time since someone has produced their best bowling figures and their highest score on the same day.
Cummins has been superb. He is not a genuine all rounder but his batting is so good because he just refuses to give up his wicket cheaply, a lesson that many of our batsmen could take a leaf from. He fights every inch. His 103 deliveries faced so far is more than the combined total faced by Harris, Finch, Khawaja and Mitch Marsh in this innings. Enough said.

There will be talk of Australia’s top order leading into Sydney, despite the fact changes are unlikely. That discussion is for another day. What needs to be highlighted from today’s play is that a decision has to be made as to who in the current top six is worth persisting with leading into 2019 and beyond. India is the best team in the world, and their bowling attack is the equal of Australia’s.
Finch’s parry to second slip underlines and highlights in bold that he is not a Test opening batsman and he probably needs to be removed from that spot with immediate effect. Whether that is to put him in the middle order or out of the team completely needs to be reviewed. Khawaja was beaten by a good ball to be LBW, while Shaun Marsh was very unfortunate to be triggered LBW, and then to see the review of the ball barely touching his leg stump. To me it was a poor decision from Erasmus.
Harris and Head are project players, the young guns here who look to have plenty to offer and need to be encouraged. Harris pushed too hard at Jadeja to be caught in close, while Head threw away his fourth innings in succession after making a start and needing to build it into a big score. Head’s dismissals in particular are very similar to the way that Ricky Ponting was dismissed early in his Test career, for similar scores and in similarly frustrating ways. He benefitted from being hidden from the limelight by being in a team surrounded by Taylor, Slater and the Waugh brothers. Head has no such corner to hide in, and each dismissal is being dissected accordingly. Travis has been Australia’s best in the top six this series, and he needs encouragement as well as direction to continue to improve and make better shot choices going forward. Hopefully he is getting the right noises from team management.

It is easy to criticise Mitch Marsh, who has again underwhelmed with scores of 9 and 10 in this match. Both of his dismissals have come from aggressive strokes to deliveries that probably weren’t there for the shot in situations that required a more measured response such that those coming after him have shown. And that is where his performance is so damning. Paine and Cummins in the first innings both faced more deliveries for more runs, while in the second those two as well as Starc and Lyon have done more. He bowled 26 overs in the first innings, but our number six cannot continue to average so little with the bat. Number six must be a batsman first and anything else after that. The selectors must either remove him or remove themselves.

Having set Australia an unachievable 399 for victory, Kohli and his cohorts would have expected to already be celebrating a 2-1 series lead. That they are not is all credit to Australia’s lower order, and for the second afternoon in a row Pat Cummins has given Australia supporters something to cheer about. India’s bowlers looked tired in the afternoon, an interesting development given they have bowled less than Australia’s cartel. They will still taste victory during tomorrow’s play and will be laughing into the New Year as Australia once again tries to navigate through their darkest year of cricket since 1985. A new year needs a new slate. One wonders if we will see one.

3rd Test Day 3: Bumrah and Cummins Take Charge as Australia Crumbles

For all the talk of the M.C.G pitch over the past few years and into the first two days of the Third Test of this series, the result of the third day’s play tends to blow all of that out of the water. That only seven wickets fell on the first two days, and then more than double that fell on just the third days play alone, reverses somewhat the idea that the surface itself is the problem, and that perhaps the problem lies in the way the players themselves have approached the game. Maybe it doesn’t, but it does bear some reflection.

We have now reached a point where Australia’s batting has to be seriously assessed in regards to all formats of the game, and most importantly at Test level. Today’s capitulation being dismissed for 151 on the same pitch that India made 7 declared for 443 on is a massive red mark against the current top six, of which all have had enough chances to show they are up to this level of cricket. They were completely out thought today, and learned nothing from the way India’s top order had batted on the opening days. Finch and Harris had their frailties preyed upon, hammered until they played the false shot. Khawaja was undone by spin again. Shaun Marsh never looked settled and fell last ball before lunch to a great slower ball but one he never saw coming. Head fell trying to drive a ball that beat him for pace, while Mitch Marsh was caught at slip driving against the spin. Australia’s top six were all dismissed within 43.3 overs. It took 169 overs for India’s first six wickets to fall. That is the story of this Test match. 

If India go on to win this Test (which appears a forgone conclusion now) it will once again trigger the discussion about the imminent return of the three suspended batsmen into the team. What may need to be discussed is just how the selectors see a way out of our batting conundrum at this point. It is not just in Tests where out top six is struggling, it is at ODI level as well. It is all and well to say how good Marcus Harris looks after five Test innings, but his struggle to get out of the twenties poses questions going forward. Can the team continue with Khawaja’s inconsistencies? For that matter, can it continue to go forward with Travis Head’s disappointing dismissals when it needs him to dig in? And the less said about the Marsh brothers the better. 

Tim Paine top scored again today, and Pat Cummins batted with more authority than most of the top order. Even with his duck today, Nathan Lyon currently leads Australia's series batting averages with 38.00. The bowlers had to bowl in oppressive heat for almost two full days, and barely got two sessions rest in return from their batting before they were out there again. That is to take nothing away from the Indians bowlers who were magnificent, especially Jasprit Bumrah who finally reaped the rewards he deserved for his summer by taking 6/33 with fast and thoughtful bowling. All four again bowled to great plans that they executed superbly and with most of the chances offered being taken. 

Why did India not enforce the follow on? It just seems ludicrous that they bowled Australia out for 151 in just under 67 overs, leaving a lead of 292 runs on a deteriorating wicket, and decided to have another bat. I’m not suggesting for a second that Australia can win the Test nor that there is any real danger of drawing it, but batting again just seems like overkill. What was Kohli afraid of? Did he really believe that his bowlers were fatigued after just two sessions of bowling? Did he think Australia might score 400 and set them 100 to win in the fourth innings? The only reason to bat again was to go out and score quickly and add another 100 or so runs in 20 overs and then have a crack at the Australians again this evening. Instead, they found the going as tough as the Aussies did, only managing to score at two runs an over, and had their innings destroyed by Pat Cummins who came to the party and finished with 4/10 from six overs, including a spell of four wickets in eight deliveries. At 5/54 at stumps India already has too many runs with a lead of 346, but if they had bowled again instead and the score was similar then they would probably only be a session away from retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. They may only be two away at most anyway. 

Everyone knows how tough it is at the moment for Australian cricket. Our batting is average at best and while everyone has their own thoughts on who should be in the team, you just have to hope that the ones who are selected are doing the absolute best they are. If this is the best they can do, then it is time to start looking at other options. For Australia’s top six, tomorrow may well be their final chance to show that they deserve to be a part of the Test batting line up before that chance is taken out of their hands.

2nd Test Day 5. Aussies Level at 1-1 as Paine Shows He Is the Captain Australia Needed

Nathan Lyon may well have won the Man of the Match today in the 2nd Test between Australia and India, after Australia was clinical in finished off the tail to complete a 146 run victory, and no one can deny that he deserved it. On a wicket where India chose to go in with four fast bowlers, Lyon turned out to be the key bowler of the match. Kohli’s first innings batting was superb, as was Marcus Harris. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were unplayable at times. All were very good. But for me the officials missed a trick, because the man who had the most influence on this result was the one who refused to take a backward step, either with the bat or behind the stumps or on the field of play. And it is a game that will be remembered as the match that Tim Paine was finally recognised as the leader Australia has needed. 

India was always up against it on the final morning on a pitch that had allowed very few easy runs. Both Vihari and Pant had to make an early statement if they were to challenge the 177 runs they needed for victory, and instead the Australians went hard at throat and did the job effectively. Mitchell Starc, having been under prepared in Adelaide, showed he was back on song in this fourth innings, bowling swiftly last evening and especially this morning, regularly bowling over 150kph and giving the batsmen nothing. He soon found a way to have Vihari popping up to mid wicket for the first wicket of the day. Pant tried to break out but was stuck between modes of flight. The end came quickly with the final four wickets falling in 15 deliveries, the wickets again being shared around amongst all four Australian bowlers. It was Australia’s first Test victory from their past seven Tests stretching back to March and South Africa, and this victory felt a lot more convivial and earned than that one. 

It should not be under estimated just how influential Tim Paine was during this match, nor how much he has influenced Australia’s Test fortunes since South Africa. It is easy to forget he was about to retire form cricket eighteen months ago to take up a position with a cricket firm, and only an out-of-the-blue call up the Australia’s T20 team halted that progression. His return to the Test team has been met with a clean pair of gloves behind the stumps with an elegance reminiscent of Ian Healy. He was exceptional on the spinning tracks in the UAE and has continued that back in Australia, once again excellent up to the stumps and leaping all over the place against his pace trio at the back. His batting has been terrific, especially so in helping to save the 1st Test against Pakistan, while his leadership and captaincy has improved every game. 

The 2nd Test was his in the making. His keeping led the way, with four catches in the first innings including an absolute ripper to dismiss Rahane in the first innings off Lyon, and two more in the second innings for six for the match. With the bat he scored 38 runs in the first innings and 37 runs in the second innings. On raw figures it doesn’t look special. But look harder. Everyone is looking for the next Adam Gilchrist, but that is like searching for the next Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath. In the history of Test cricket, only two Australian wicket-keepers have averaged over 30 with the bat – Adam Gilchrist (47.60) and Brad Haddin (33.00). That’s two. So even in this modern age, a wicket-keeper who does the best work behind the stumps and can contribute with the bat is a gold mine. As of today, Tim Paine averages 36.91 in Test cricket with five half-centuries. That is a record that more than supports his selection and credentials. Paine is proving to be the perfect keeper-batsman and has proven his toughness and tenacity twice in this match batting with the tail to maximise the runs totalled by the team. They are two innings that, taken in the context of the match, are match winning innings. Tick both boxes there. 

Having taken over the captaincy in South Africa, Paine has been under the pressure of an entire nation to lead our team out of the darkness and not only reestablish its credentials as one of the leading cricket nations in the world, but to do so without the negativity that surrounded the team in recent years. It was a tough ask, especially having lost half of his top order to subsequent suspensions. The team has wavered between good fight and lack of experience when it came to decisions at the crease and in the field, but improvement has come slowly but surely. Now they just needed to find a way to be positive in their approach in the one area that Australia is always seen negatively. This is what the skipper achieved in this match. 

Paine’s talk through the match showed a level of leadership that shows that he and his team are now confident to go in a hard but positive direction. His battle with Kohli in particular was fascinating, and this verbal battle that carried throughout the match was what lifted his leadership to the next level. He didn’t use bad language, he didn’t get frustrated or angry, he didn’t get personal. He gave as good as got, and in the long run he came out as the winner on the scoreboard and possibly in the verbal stoush. When Kohli told Paine “I’m the best batsman in the world and you’re just a fill-in captain”, Paine was restrained. When Kohli suggested “If he gets out here, he knows the Test is over”, Paine replied “you have to bat again, fathead”. Kohli’s pointed exaggerated laugh at Paine’s dismissal to a brute of a delivery in the second innings brought no response from Paine but was surely stored in his mind. On Kohli’s dismissal late on day four there was plenty of celebration from the Aussies, but nothing directed at the batsman himself, just lots of talk in the group to each other, but surely none of it was missed by Kohli himself. Then as Vijay lined up for the next over Paine was heard to ask him “I know he’s your captain, but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke”. After listening to Pant’s constant conversation over two Tests and seeing and hearing the way Kohli goes about his work, seeing and hearing Tim Paine taking on the Indians in this way was just superb. Nothing malicious, nothing personal, just wonderful banter. Kohli’s demeanour had gone full circle by match end, showing his disappointment at being bettered in this match by hurriedly moving on from the captain’s handshake at the end. This as much as anything showed that Paine had certainly won this battle, and in a way that no one can complain about. Kohli may have suggested he is only a fill-in captain, but that most certainly no longer applies. He’s the real deal, and ready to attempt his first series victory following his first Test victory. 

Melbourne is set up for another classic battle. Having nominated the same squad, the only change Australia will contemplate is bringing in Mitch Marsh for Peter Handscomb, a move that doesn’t feel like it will do anything to improve the team. Handscomb may still have a chance to redeem himself on his home ground. India will be sweating on the fitness of Ravi Ashwin, and will no doubt rectify the error of not taking a spinner into their XI no matter what. Apart from that and the possible re-inclusion of Rohit Sharma there appears little change will occur in the Indian team either. Given how well contested the first two Test have been, perhaps this is the right way to go. At 1-1 in the series, it will be the most exciting and well contested Boxing Day Test in some years, and one that should once again draw massive attention around the world.

2nd Test Day 4. Paine and Lyon Show Their Leadership to Steal the Day

You would be hard pressed to see a better day’s Test cricket than what was put on at Perth Stadium yesterday for the fourth day of the 2nd Test. We saw fighting and tenacious batting, we saw blistering and brilliant fast bowling, we saw guile and turn from Australia’s premier spin bowler and we saw and heard plenty of talk between the two teams on the field without the anger and personal insults that had filled previous series. All in all it was a joy to watch.

• The first session was wonderful old school Test match cricket. The bowling was tight and decisive, with the ball beating the bat on countless occasions through swing and seam. Through all of this the Australian pair of Usman Khawaja and Tim Paine battled on, knowing that they had to survive and keep progressing their lead to one they could defend in the fourth innings of the match. It wasn’t pretty and it was hard work, but the 57 runs they added in that first session without losing a wicket were priceless. Khawaja has been marooned for most of the series so far but today he was able to find more singles and twos that he had been. Paine continued to do what he has done since his return to the Test team, fighting at number seven and refusing to give away his wicket while still scoring runs. It was terrific cricket.
• The second session was monstrous. The whole complexion of the game changed as Shami and Bumrah battered the Australian line up with fast short bowling that was reminiscent of the great West Indies teams of the 1980’s. The deliveries that got both Paine and Khawaja out were brutes, and the blows taken by the tail from the fast bowlers were scary. Nathan Lyon was clanged full on in the grille, while Starc took a number in the midriff. If you weren’t batting it was terrific to watch, both the bowling and the way the batsmen tried to defend it. Through all of this, Cummins got a grubber that there was no way he could defend which must have put wild thought into the Indians batsmen. Then Starc and Hazlewood put together an invaluable partnership of 36 to hold up the Indian charge. It could yet prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
• The early inroads by Australia’s openers put them on the front foot, but the brilliance of Nathan Lyon shone through again on a wicket that two hours before had been a fast bowlers paradise. His first over to Kohli was all at the stumps spinning in, and Kohli turned them all to the leg side comfortably. Then Lyon bowled the ball wider of the off stump and with more flight, drawing Kohli forward and out of his comfort zone. The extra bounce helped to take the edge and fly to first slip. It was an obvious plan and worked to perfection. Brilliant to watch. Then he kept the same line next over for Vijay, but this one turned out of the footmarks and took the inside edge on the way to taking leg stump. 2/2. He may well have monikered himself as the GOAT; today he again showed he is right up there with the best bowlers in world cricket. 
• It has already been mentioned in many commentaries today, but today will be remembered as the day when Australia returned to the battleground of Test cricket through the fighting words of its skipper Tim Paine. We have watched the opening dispatches as Virat Kohli emoted and pumped and generally used his body language to dominate the exchanges to start this series. Yesterday he decided to try and provoke Paine into verbal exchanges, which he responded to on a couple of occasions. Today though he led with the front foot, happy to start these conversations with Kohli and not allow him to dominate in that way. Kohli’s delight in Paine’s dismissal with a ferocious and obvious laugh right at him as he departed would have rankled, but the delight in which the Aussies celebrated Kohli’s dismissal was worth more. The fact that through all of this there was not one swear word used, not one threat of personal injury, just light hearted but determined banter between them, showed that Australia can use the art of ‘sledging’ without having to plunge to the depths of aggression and personal insults to be involved on the field. Paine’s parting comment to Murali Vijay that “I know he’s your captain but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke” was the perfect riposte on a day Australia finished on top for the first time since the South African tour in March. 

Australia start the final day with five wickets to take to level this fascinating series at 1-1. On this wicket with their bowling attack there should be no doubt of victory, yet after the year that we have had in 2018 perhaps we’ll just wait for it to occur before we start celebrating too much.

2nd Test Day 2. Kohli and Rahane Swing Balance Towards India

Honours were fairly even at the conclusion of day one, with perhaps Australia just with their nose in front. Not much had changed by the time we reached the end of day two, though perhaps India had just snuck ahead after an excellent unbroken third wicket partnership had gotten them to 3/172 after a shaky start, and their two batsmen set and seemingly in control.

Australia would have been fairly pleased with their morning’s work, adding another 49 runs to their overnight total before being bowled out for 326. Skipper Tim Paine and underrated batsman Pat Cummins did a good job in the first hour, despite being consistently beaten outside the off stump again from more excellent bowling from the Indian pacemen. They may even have felt they had broken the backs of the bowling when they were still together at the drinks break, but once undone by Yadav for 19 the end came quickly. Bumrah ended another Paine specialty, once again halting a slide in the middle order to post another valuable innings of 38, which is almost precisely what he averages in Test cricket. While he may not be a Gilchrist or Hadden with the bat he more than does his job and keeps doing it. The final two wickets fell in successive deliveries on 326, which at least gave the Australians a couple of overs before the lunch break, which Vijay failed to negotiate as Starc bowled him neck and crop for a duck.

The Aussies kept at it after the break, with Hazlewood doing for Rahul with a beauty to bowl him for 2. Pujara and Kohli settled and took the score to 82 before Starc returned and found Pujara’s edge to send him on his way for 24.

Despite this, the final session belonged to India, and in particular their captain. Virat Kohli may have not scored as many runs as he would have liked in the 1st Test, but here he had the demeanour of a batsman that was not going to be dismiss or cowed in any way. He bided his time, accepting the good deliveries that came his way, but as soon as anything was over pitched or too short he was on it like a shot. It was pure Test batting from one of the current best exponents of the craft and was fascinating to watch. Alongside him Ajinkya Rahane played as he always does as well, preferring to take a more attacking frame of mind but still wary of the outcome. Between them the pair blunted the afternoon bowling of the Australians, making them work hard on a wicket that now seemed devoid of any devils. Perhaps it was just the way Kohli played that made it seem that way. Whatever people may think of him and the way he plays the game he is a wonderful study to watch when he bats.

The game stands at the same crossroads as yesterday with no further idea as to which way the game may turn. Perhaps by the end of day three we will have a better idea. If the cricket remains this good, in the long run most of us won’t care, because at the moment Test cricket has returned to its glory days where every session is unmissable.

2nd Test Day 1: Honours Shared as Perth Wicket Takes Centre Stage

For lovers of cricket there was a bit of everything on the first day of the 2nd Test in Perth. Australia’s batting swung from good pieces of play to once again failing to maximise their position, India’s bowling was less disciplined than in Adelaide and yet had moments of complete unplayability, and the final total of 6/277 has left both sides feeling both vindicated and thoughts of missed opportunities.

Winning the toss gave Australia the advantage they didn’t have in Adelaide. An opening partnership of 112 put the icing on that cake. Marcus Harris was sublime. He looks a likely prospect, with a set up that reminds one of Warner and a temperament than reminds one of Langer. He played much better straight today than he did in Adelaide and in getting to 70 looked every chance of a maiden Test century. The freak delivery he received from the off spinner Vihari that reared off a spot on the pitch and took his gloves to first slip was unfortunate. He has made a solid start to Test cricket. Aaron Finch on the other hand looks as though his Test career will proceed much as his short-form career was gone. He drives with a gap between bat and pad and he likely to take full balls off the stumps through mid wicket. Bowled and LBW always look likely to be the way he is dismissed, and it’s just how many he makes before he gets taken down that will determine his place. He played some nice shots today and was then trapped in front two balls in a row that he escaped by the skin of his teeth, before finally being trapped plumb by Bumrah. He fought hard to play straight and his 50 was well made. One gets the feeling India have him worked out though.

Khawaja and Handscomb again failed to make any impression. Khawaja was magnificent in the 1st Test against Pakistan in saving that match, with his temperament and patience the key to that innings. At the moment he appears to still be stuck in that mindset without being able to work the singles or get off strike. He is wanting to be the number three batsman, the one who plays through the innings and takes the responsibility of holding the batting together. But he’s forgotten that he also needs to generate runs as well. Today it felt as though he over-compensated for his poor dismissal in the second innings in Adelaide and tried not to play the wild slog, but he got so bogged down that he instead tried to cut a ball that wasn’t there and just edged it behind for 5. Again the Indian plans to him have been excellent and he needs to have some hard thought as to how to get out of the boggy ground he is currently occupying. Handscomb was taken by a blinder by Kohli at second slip, but the cut shot wasn’t on to a bowler whose stock delivery is the one in to the right hander, which cramped Handscomb and made the glide over slips he was attempting just a push to slips. Today was his chance to nail down his position in the team. The door is still wide open.

Marsh and Head played terrifically well under trying conditions. By mid afternoon the wicket was starting to play tricks and the bowlers had found their range. It would not be unfair to suggest that there was about a hundred play-and-misses by the Australian batsmen on day one as the ball started to move in the air and off the wicket. Neither batsman allowed this to worry them as they consolidated after the four quick wickets. Marsh played a couple of those cuts and drives that make him look like an elite batsman, but was also dropped by Pant from a simple edge behind from the off spinner. To his detriment Marsh failed to learn the lesson, and soon after was caught at first slip attempting the same shot. His 45 should have been more.

Travis Head is Australia’s new talisman, the young kid with a desire to get on with the game and change the course of the match, such that players like Ponting, Clarke and Smith had done before him. He is not in that company yet but he has the same spirit as they did at the same age, and the same ability to exhilarate and frustrate. He had reached 58 through a combination of wonderful strokeplay and some good fortune, and with the new ball taken should have looked to negotiate his way to stumps with his skipper to leave Australia in a leading position. Instead he slashed away in the air to deep backward point where Kohli had stationed a fielder all day, in what was really a very negative fashion for a team on the first day of a Test. However it looked like genius as Head picked him out, and not only concluded his own innings but opened up the Australian lower order late in the day against the new ball, and the possibility was there for India to finish the innings off on day one. Head is a very good up-ad-coming player, but he negated all of his good work during the day with that one shot.

Paine and Cummins showed the way batsmen should play out the final nine overs of the day, and will resume on day two with more work to do. Once again the lower order will have to be the ones to fashion a good first innings total rather than an average one, and again it is the batsmen who should be disappointed in their dismissals after making a good fist of the start of their innings.

You get the feeling that India missed a trick in not choosing either Jadeja or Kuldeep as the spinner in the XI. Perhaps they will still reap the reward of choosing four specialist fast bowlers, and all four are good fast bowlers at that. But the pitch does appear to be open to spin already, and while their part timer Vihari picked up two wickets he did not appear threatening in the way Ashwin was in Adelaide, or that Jadeja has been against Australia in the past. The already up-and-down nature of the pitch may well work better for the fast bowling cartel, but if it does flatten out a little then the lack of a specialist spinner may well harm their chances.

How many more can Australia fashion with the bat on Day Two against the Indian attack who all had extravagant movement with the ball? Can Australia’s bowlers exploit any dangers in the pitch to bowl India out cheaply and set up a winning position? With Nathan Lyon end up being the key protagonist on a wicket that 24 hours ago looked as though it was going to be a fast bowlers paradise? Or will India’s batting line up hit their straps and take the game between their teeth. Like the six previous days of this series, the new day looks to be as promising and exciting as Test cricket can offer.

Pitch Not An Issue in an Even Contest for 2nd Test

Round two begins in Perth today, and the intrigue and interest in this series between Australia and India raises to fever pitch again. So many questions burning for answers, and perhaps after this Test many of them will have an answer.

It is the first Test match played at the new Perth stadium, and with the character and conditions that one usually associates with the wonderful W.A.C.A Ground now not being utilised. The groundsmen have prepared a pitch that appears not dissimilar in colour and texture as the outfield, and with certain statements having been made there looks to be collusion between the authorities and the staff in order to prepare the fastest pitch possible (though Cricket Australia will deny that until the end of time). Two things strike me about this. One is that Perth has always prided itself as having the fastest wicket in Australia, so surely there is no problem with that being attempt to be attained again? The other is that rather than being an advantage for the home team, it is most likely going to help both teams’ bowling line-ups. If Adelaide showed anything, it is the batting line ups that need help, not the bowling. If it is fast, then it will be exciting to watch, but not with an advantage to either team.

India are now front-runners, but the loss of Rohit Sharma and Ashwin will affect their preparation. With their young opener still not fit to play India have only one choice to move into the team as the final batsman. The green pitch may well open the door to an extra paceman being picked, but the most likely option is for Jadeja to slot straight in to offer his left arm orthodox and slashing blade down the order. The tactics may well change completely in this Test now they are 1-0 up. Going in with an aggressive mindset rather than trying to build an innings may well be their way of combating Australia’s quicks on this surface. If it comes off they could be unstoppable, though the danger is of course of an implosion that could stifle their plans.

Australia goes in with the same team, and given the fight the back order made with the bat in Adelaide they will be hoping that the top order can do the job this time around. Both Finch and Handscomb will be looking to make the most of their opportunities and help lead Australia to much more competitive totals. Harris returns to his original home state and Marsh plays at his new home ground and both will be looking to make a big impression in front of their family and friends. Mitch Starc has been under the gun of the media in recent days and whatever the reason for his slightly lethargic Test in Adelaide he now needs to deliver. All three Aussie pacemen have backups taking wickets at Shield level looking to get a chance, and any failure to penetrate may see them given a little rest over the festive season – as highly unlikely as that actually is.

All looks set for another great Test match. Australia is behind, but with a little more fortune this time around can still get to Boxing Day on an even keel. The batting must make more runs though, so if they are contained the the Indians could be in a perfect spot with two Test remaining. If we get a game as good as Adelaide no one will be grumbling.

Should the Lessons of 1986 Be Revisited in 2019

Discussion about Australia’s current form and player depth being the worst it has been since the mid-1980’s or even as far back as World Series Cricket bears some investigation and discussion, if only for the fact that sometimes you just have to accept that there are periods in this game where your players just aren’t as good as those from other countries. Identifying problem areas and finding a way to fix them and identifying the players who are coming into the system and have the chance to play a major role in the future are where Australian cricket may be at as we approach the end of the ‘annus horribilis’ that has been 2018. 

What the past nine months has shown up glaringly is just how much Australia’s batting relied on two players. There’s no doubt that most of us already knew this, but while they were still in the team, saving our bacon on a regular basis, we didn’t have to worry about what would happen if they WEREN’T there. This has been glaringly exposed now in all forms of the game. The good news is that unlike in the past where the retirements of most of our best players at once or the subsequent banning of a large group of players for going on a rebel tour of South Africa, these three banned players will be available again in a matter of months. While this will plug some theoretical holes Australia still needs to find a way to come out of this situation stronger than it went in to it. 

Does this require the same sort of foresight and hard-nosed attrition that those in charge back in the mid-1980’s went through in order to unearth the players they needed to return the team to a position of dominance? By their own admission, they sought out young cricketers with ability but also with the right attitude on and off the field to do so. The selection panel led by Lawrie Sawle and the person who had been appointed in the newly created role of ‘coach’ Bob Simpson, mixed and matched to find the right people. They came up with Geoff Marsh, an unfashionable opener who blunted the bowling but rarely dominated it; Merv Hughes, an unfashionable huffing and puffing fast bowler whom some loved and others felt was overrated; Bruce Reid, an unfashionable gangling tall left arm fast bowler who proved as difficult to play as it was to keep him on the field; Steve Waugh, a teenage wunderkind whose all-round skills made him a valuable asset, if he could ever score runs, and later Ian Healy, who was plucked from being Queensland’s #2 wicket-keeper into the Australian job and Mark Taylor as another accumulator at the top of the order with a smart head on his shoulders. Meshed together with David Boon, Dean Jones, Geoff Lawson, Craig McDermott and their indomitable leader Allan Border, over a three year period this investment in ‘the right player’ brought the reward of winning back the Ashes, and provided the platform for the team becoming the best in the world. There was no lack of trust required with the selectors having to stick with each of these players through lean times in order to reap the eventual rewards, and it was tough time to follow Australian cricket for those of us who are old enough to have lived through it. But the result of that hard work paid off for almost two decades. 

Is this where Australia needs to go again? Is it time to draw a line in the sand and start investing in certain players over the next 2-3 years in order to rebuild our team into a world class outfit? If it is, then there is not as much work ahead as there was between 1985-89. Australia’s bowling attack is world class, and with back up in the form of players such as James Pattinson, Chris Tremain, Jhye Richardson and Jackson Bird just to name a few the pace bowling stocks are overflowing. The spin bowling isn’t quite as talented but Jon Holland, Steve O’Keefe, Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa have all had international experience to call on if required. And if a wicket-keeper batsman was needed, then any of the State team incumbents could fill the spot worthily. 

The batting needs some serious thought going forward, and absolutely every cricket fan in Australia has an opinion on what should be done, and who should or shouldn’t be chosen. I’m no different. 

A lot of time has been spent on bringing on Mitch Marsh as the answer to the apparently necessary all-rounder position. His record so far in Test cricket is well known and less than exemplary. Most pundits think he should be jettisoned. But can Australian cricket afford to cast aside a 30 Test player who has only just turned 27 years of age? It is easy to say he’s had his chance – a number of them – but he has been the selectors project player for some time. Theoretically if the selectors are looking to form this kind of pattern, he still has to be a part of it. 

Travis Head has been another long-time project, lauded since his debut for South Australia. He has been a part of the one-day setup since the last World Cup, and now through vacancies opening up he has played the last three Test matches. In that time, he has shown fight and grit, with flashes of his natural flair as well. Like Ricky Ponting before him, he has had a good grounding in International cricket through the ODI format before he was exposed to Test cricket. His initial success is something the selectors will be hoping to see continue. He is certainly one that they need to retain faith with now he has been given his opportunity. 

On the other side of the page however is a player like Matt Renshaw. Thrown in at the deep end during the last Australian crisis after the Hobart debacle against South Africa two years ago, he succeeded beyond expectation, especially in India in 2017 when he batted time with patience. Then for some unfathomable reason he was cast aside twelve months ago and has been in a holding pattern since. His form has suffered because of this, and he needs some sort of reassurance that he is still in the mix in order to help him regain the form he had to make the team in the first place. He was not a project player when initially chosen but surely needs that kind of faith and help now if Australia is to see the best of him again in the future. 

Beyond these three recent examples, how soon is too soon to be giving the future generation of batsmen their opportunity at the top level? Without try to put too much pressure on them to succeed, when should the next kids be pushed to being given a chance? Australia stuck with Steve Waugh for three years without a Test century because his bowling was so valuable and his batting showed the toughness and temperament required to succeed. The 1989 Ashes tour saw him come of age, three and a half years after his debut. Even so, it really wasn’t until 1995 and the series win in the West Indies, some nine years after his debut, that he became the great batsman everyone now knows him as. People often forget his tough years, they just remember the golden age. 

Will Pucovski won’t be 21 years old until February. He has already taken time away from the game for a mental health issue. Yet after only eight first class games he averages 49 with the bat and has two centuries. Not little ones either – 188 against Queensland in February and 243 against Western Australia in October. Just as impressive was his 67 in the second innings of this week’s Shield match, his first game back since his break. It showed a toughness and resilience that is not dissimilar to a young Steve Waugh 30-odd years ago. He excelled through under age cricket and second XI cricket. When you watch him bat he looks like a batsman, one with the technique and drive to succeed. 

Jason Sangha is only 19 years old, and captained Australia’s Under 19 team in the World Cup in February. A couple of months before that he scored his first century in first class cricket in a match against the touring England team. This season he and fellow Under 19 alumni Jack Edwards have been given their chance in the New South Wales Sheffield Shield team. Sangha started slowly and was being batted at seven. He was chosen to play in the Prime Ministers XI team against South Africa, and Sangha’s 38 was significant as he and skipper George Bailey got the team to victory. From that point his season has gone forward, being moved up the order to number five and scoring his second century the following week, 117 against a Tasmanian team skippered by Bailey. He also has played 8 first class matches, averaging 31.38 with two centuries, but his extra bow is that he bowls good part time leg spin, and took 3/80 against Victoria in October. He has batted to the occasion for the Blues this season, in more than one innings throwing his wicket away in the quest for quick runs. 

I’m not suggesting for a minute that these two young men should be thrown straight into the fire now and given national selection. Neither is ready, and Australia’s situation is not so dire as to go down that path. But given the chop-and-change attitude of the selectors in regards to our batsmen in recent years, is it not time to take a measured approach and start looking ahead to the next 3-5 years and see where we want to be at that time, and which players may be a part of that. There is no quick fix. Within weeks the three banned players will be available for selection again, and no one would doubt that all three will be in Australia’s Ashes squad in six months' time. To all intents and purposes, THAT will be the ‘quick fix’. What comes beyond that though, especially if (please no) we lose the Ashes? How soon do we start to look to build up our next generation of star batsmen? An Australian Test summer against Pakistan and the West Indies? Twelve months is a long time in cricket – look where Australia was this time last year. Maybe the time for the next generation is not that far away.

1st Test Day 5: Bowling Cartels Fight Tooth and Nail as India Goes 1-0 Up

It’s not the first time that as Australians we have thought – if only our batsmen showed as much fight and heart as our bowlers did when they batted, we’d win a lot more Test matches. Gone are the days when batsmen 9, 10 and 11 just fell over to get the innings over and done with quickly. These close finishes always become the domain of the bowlers, and on them falls the anguish and pain when they fall short. Those of us watching know better, and the top order should be feeling the greatest disappointment.

Another day’s great Test cricket may not have gotten the result most Australians were looking for, but it showed that the team was not lacking in fight for the cause. As they did all through the Test however, India managed to get a wicket every time Australia threatened to get a partnership that could shake the result their way. The demise of Head and Marsh in the first session both came at crucial times and were both good pieces of bowling rather than poor strokes that came from Khawaja and Handscomb yesterday. From that point it was always going to be difficult not matter how much one may have hoped for a miracle.

There’s no doubt that the was not a lot in the pitch for the bowlers, and Ashwin went the entire day without adding to his two wickets for the fourth day. But why should it be that the bowlers were able to look so much more composed with the bat than Australia’s top order? Even against the second new ball, Cummins, Starc, Lyon and Hazlewood managed to bat with relative comfort despite the pressure on them to retain their wicket and to also score runs. They were somewhat agricultural in their approach with plenty of runs through and over slips, but they still looked better than their batsmen on occasions. The fact that they managed to get within 31 runs of victory with 104 runs coming from the final three wickets should be weighing heavily on the batsmen in the team.

India fully deserved their victory. They were patient, never panicked, and kept to their plans even when the partnerships threatened to get out of hand. That they had plenty of runs and time to play with in their chase to victory was to their benefit, but they did everything to the letter. Shami and Bumrah in particular nagged away all day while Ashwin just bowled like a metronome. They won without a huge contribution from their captain with the bat and they will be pleased with that, along with the feeling that they will need to bat better in Perth if they are to continue on their winning way. 

Australia’s fight will give them hope going forward, but they cannot hope to get back into this series without runs from the batsmen. Each batsman lost their wicket at least once in this Test by a false shot that needed not to be played, and that is where the problem lies. Starts were made and thrown away, and they proved to be costly. Finch, Marsh and Handscomb in the first innings were awful dismissals, while Khawaja and Handscomb in the second innings cost the team any chance of starting day five with a realistic chance of victory.

Australia has picked the same squad for the opening two Tests, so there is little chance of a change in personnel, especially as Mitch Marsh failed in both innings of the Shield game in Melbourne. It means this same team has the chance to redeem themselves, both as a team and as individuals. All the batsmen showed glimpses of form and will be looking to make more of it in four days time. The bowling group will need to rest up, perhaps more from their batting than their bowling. Both Starc and Cummins in particular will be looking to find something they lacked in this Test to make more of an impression at the bowling crease. They looked underdone and perhaps they will be better for the run. Let’s hope so. 

What we did see was a fantastic advertisement for Test cricket, again showcasing why it is the ultimate form of the game of cricket. India’s victory now means Australia must come from behind if they want to win this series, and will need to find every piece of their ability in order to do so. India will be wary of over-celebrating and taking their opponents too lightly in their quest to become the first Indian team to win a series in Australia. Perth awaits, and another classic contest appears in the offing.

1st Test Day 4: Shaun Marsh holds the Key to Australia's Chances of Victory

Day Four of this most enjoyable 1st Test between Australia and India pretty much went the way you would have expected at the start of the day. India pushed at their own rate in the first session while Australia nabbed a couple of wickets. The second session saw quick runs and wickets, while Australia lost a wicket right when they looked to have survived until tea. The third saw attritional cricket from Australia, while India picked up wickets at regular intervals which kept them ahead of the game and well in the ascendancy at stumps.

Australia’s bowling was not at its best on the day, even though the wicket was also offering nothing for the quick bowlers. Nathan Lyon again seemed more focused on the small patch of rough outside the right handers off stump and for awhile seemed to forget about everything else he could be bowling at. There’s no doubt that just about everyone in Australia though he should have a silly point to all batsmen, but after hearing Shane Warne say this endlessly for 24 hours it began to get a bit much for the casual viewer. Lyon eventually made the breakthrough to get Pujara after another 200-ball innings by bowling his best over of the Test, with each ball into the right spot. He then cleaned up, finishing with 6/117 as the Indians offered chances as they tried to hit him out of the attack. He didn’t have much luck in this innings but he also wouldn’t rate it as his best bowling performance either. 

Mitch Starc took perhaps the worst 3/40 in Test cricket. He sprayed the ball everywhere giving Tim Paine nightmares and seemed incapable of getting the ball in the right spot. Even against the tail who he specialises in dismissing he wasn’t great, and though he did get those final wickets and didn’t leak runs (off the bat at least), his 3/40 off 22 overs really does make him look better than he bowled.

Pujara was rightly lauded for his innings, and Rahane also did well for his 70. It will be interesting to see how they go for the whole series as both were not lucky but had some fortune along the way. The way the day unfolded suited the Indians rather than the Australians, and despite the fact that they finished well ahead by setting 323 to win I’m not sure the Indian leadership will be completely happy with how the innings progressed. 

With the pitch not a genuine fourth day wicket and still looking okay to bat on, Australia needed to find a way to get through to stumps with few wickets lost and as many runs as possible. It didn’t need the batsmen to allow themselves to give their wickets away, and yet that did happen again. Aaron Finch had another day will be tough for him to assess, being plumb LBW second ball but saved by Ishant Sharma’s no ball, and then caught in close right on tea which he didn’t review on advice from his batting partner, yet all evidence suggests that he didn’t get glove on it. It’s a tough one because you don’t want to be seen to burn reviews, especially at the top of the order. That won’t make Finch feel any better about it. What followed though was the onset of pressure to score when becalmed, and the loss of your wicket as a result. Harris tried to cut a ball that wasn’t there for the shot and was caught behind. Khawaja tried to hit over the top and edged to deep cover. Handscomb pulled in the air straight to mid-wicket which had been set for the shot. These dismissals in such a situation were well executed by Kohli and his bowlers, and the batsmen involved will be considering their consequences well not tomorrow. 

Shaun Marsh has made it to 31 not out and Travis Head to 11 not out. Marsh simply cannot afford to fail. Australian cricket has invested too much time in his continued selection for him to fall over quickly tomorrow morning. He needs to justify the faith that has been shown in him and lead this team by his bat and at least give his team a chance to pull off a victory. Head helped saved the 1st Test against Pakistan two months ago and has shown he has the grit and determination to be a part of a historical chase. So too Paine and Cummins. It would be nice to see, but the head suggests that Ishant, Bumrah, Shamion day five to lose from this position. 

Australia go into day five at 4/104, still 218 behind and with a mountain to climb to win the game. If the pitch does not deteriorate it is still within the realms of possibility, but it will require two or three innings of a lifetime from those left in order to achieve it.

The Line, the Bubble and the Pursuit of Redemption

For what it’s worth, my opinion remains as it has for some months

The back-and-forth over the past week over the perceived attitude of the Australian Test team on the field in the recent white ball cricket and how they should conduct themselves over the upcoming Test series at least filled a void in the cricket scheduling as the public waited for this Test series to begin. It also gave Michael Clarke some valuable airtime given he will be missing from our TV commentary teams this summer. While nothing seems to have been solved during this little spat, it shows just how much the incident at Newlands in March has affected both our national cricket team and those that follow it, because opinion remains divided to the point that a desire to improve the behaviour of the team in aspects of their actions is being interpreted as becoming meek on the field and thus enraging some of our past ‘heroes’.

The current squad led by Tim Paine and Justin Langer have probably made a couple of errors along the way. The requirement to have a written preamble that the team wishes to abide by came across as a lame statement that was unnecessary. Words were unnecessary, actions is what this team would judged upon, as more than one former cricketer suggested. Few Australian supporters could deny that watching our national team play had become uncomfortable in recent times, often cringing at the way some of our cricketers carried themselves on the field against their opponents. Not only did it seem that it was an all-out offensive to berate opponents, but it became much worse when the team was suddenly under the pump and unable to be in the ascendancy. It was obvious in India, it was obvious in Australia, and it most definitely reached a crescendo in South Africa.

As Andrew Ramsey wrote last week on cricket.com.au, “… belligerence is no longer an acceptable manifestation of passion. Instead, anger directed at opponents when luck runs dry and events conspire to deny is interpreted as arrogance and, at worst, an ugly excess that reeks of privilege.”

Just so.

The culture of the team had to change. The players often spoke of ‘the line’ and ‘knowing where the line is’ and ‘not crossing the line’ – all of which was based on THEIR interpretation of this 'line' and where it was. This appeared to differ significantly from what other people interpreted it as, and it seemed to move depending on the situation they were facing. One wonders just what position ‘the line’ was at when it came to deciding that ball tampering was a perfectly reasonable thing to attempt. We have still received no answer from Cricket Australia or its players as to how it was possible for a member or members of our national cricket team to reach the conclusion that it was an acceptable thing to ignore the laws of the game completely, and take sandpaper onto the cricket field with the sole focus of altering the condition of the ball in complete contempt of the game of cricket. And here is where the difference in belief and perception over the past week comes from.

The former players in Clarke’s corner this week believe these two things – ball tampering in a Test match and an aggressive in-your-face attitude on the field – are separate and not related to each other. They see what happened and are obviously completely against the fact that it occurred and fully in favour of sanctions being handed down against the perpetrators. However, they also cannot abide by an Australian team toning down its intensity on the field as a result of this incident because they fear Australia will become a rudderless ship, unable to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition if they do not play hard and aggressively. This is where the accusation of ‘being in a bubble’ is close to the mark. It is obvious to (almost) everyone that the increased aggression that some Australians were showing on the field and its volatility, and the fact that it was not being kept in check by anyone – the captain, the coach, Cricket Australia – was a major factor to how we got to the point that ball tampering was seen as a solution to winning a cricket match. And as this was a symptom of what eventually happened, then it was absolutely vital for Australian cricket that this was terminated immediately. Not the playing hard to win, or standing firm against your opposition, but removing the idea that swearing at someone to their face because they played and missed at a ball, or running in and gesticulating wildly at a batsmen when they are dismissed is an acceptable look for Australian cricket.

When all is said and done, I believe Australia will be hard and tough in the Test series starting on Thursday, but without the overt public slanging on the field that was most certainly a part of at least the previous 2 years. There’s no doubt that our bowlers will not take a backward step in attempting to win matches. They will not be backward in bowling fast and short if they feel it is necessary. Unfortunately, it will still be the talk of the summer should Australia not perform on the field. The cricket itself will be of the highest intensity, and should India prove to be too good it will not be because Australia are not sledging their opponents enough, or that our players are not vociferously in the faces of their opponents enough, no matter what some of our past champions may say.