India is one victory away from retaining the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy after the rain-marred third Test at the Gabba ended in a draw, despite an audacious bid by Australia to at least make a match of it on the final day in Brisbane.
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After player-of-the-match Travis Head dismissed Akash Deep, who had frustrated Australia’s bid to enforce the follow-on by sharing a 47-run stand for the final wicket with Jasprit Bumrah, for 31 to bowl India out for 260, the hosts led by 185 runs.
Australian captain Pat Cummins gave his batters the freedom to attack, which led to some reckless strokes as the hosts sought quick runs on Wednesday.
A reshuffled batting order slumped to 5-33 before Alex Carey, Cummins and Head helped Australia to 7-89 prior to a declaration, setting India a target of 275 runs for victory and giving Australia 54 overs to bowl the tourists out if the weather co-operated. But it did not.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul survived two overs before light forced the players from the field. In a major surprise, champion spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retired from all forms of international cricket shortly after stumps were called at 3.30pm.
The series remains locked at 1-1 ahead of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
‘Sorry!’ – Deep accidentally annoys Head | 00:33
HAZLEWOOD’S INJURY A SIGN OF THE HAZARDS AHEAD
Every athlete knows that at some stage in the career, they will get a tap on the shoulder from Father Time. Josh Hazlewood is still in front of sport’s grim reaper, but the gap is closing.
It is something the Australian selectors will be considering with a view to the remainder of this summer, but also the next couple of seasons after Hazlewood’s misfortune this summer.
The Australian quartet of Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are all in their thirties, so too the incumbent all-rounder Mitch Marsh, along with other teammates.
Regardless of how elite an athlete is, or the excellence of the sports management team surrounding them, injuries and other age-related issues will eventually reduce their reliability.
The quartet rank in Australia’s top ten wicket takers of all-time, but the magnificent company they keep underlines the certainty that change will come at some stage in the near future.
Lyon, 36, sits third with 533 wickets. Starc, 34, is fourth with 372. Cummins, 31, is ninth with 283 and Hazlewood, 33, is 10th with 279 scalps at the highest level.
Shane Warne, Australia’s leading wicket taker with 708 scalps, was 37 when he retired. Glenn McGrath, who is ranked second with 563 wickets, was also 37 when he walked off alongside Warne after the Ashes Test at the MCG in 2007.
Dennis Lillee was 34. Mitchell Johnson was 34 too. Brett Lee was 32. Craig McDermott was 30.
While this generational attack has been tireless in their pursuit of excellence for Australia, and far from keen on a rotation policy, it is clearly something that needs to be considered, though Lee is someone who would disagree with the need for it.
“I hate the rotation. I have never been a fan (of it),” he told foxsports.com.au.
“Test cricket for me, it is a test of your endurance, your courage, the whole mindset, and as a member of the public, as a broadcaster, I want to see Australia’s best XI playing Test cricket every single time.
“Now, if someone is carrying an injury or they need to have an extended break, that is a different story, but if he is ready to play, I want to see all three bowlers playing as much as they can.”
Josh Hazlewood walks with teammates Marnus Labuschagne and Nathan Lyon. Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFPSource: AFP
The quartet are in exceptional shape physically, the calf complaint of Hazlewood aside, and present as lean, mean and ready to continue their assault on the world’s best bowlers.
Lee believes Hazlewood, who was the pick of the Australian bowlers in Perth before he suffered a side strain, is actually at the peak of his craft, despite his injury concerns, and is confident they will be the first chosen for the Ashes next year all being well.
“If you look at Josh Hazlewood now, I think he is fitter in terms of physical fitness than what he was six years ago,” he continued.
“I think his pace is better than what it was five years ago. His experience is way better because he has been around a lot longer. Unfortunately he has picked up another niggle, which happens in your thirties. You just have to find another way to deal with it.
“(But) I don’t want to read too much into it. I don’t want to say that he is going to sustain a lot more injuries as he gets older, though that may be the case. I was lucky. I bowled until I was 39 professionally in the Big Bash, so he has many more years ahead of him.”
Lee said Hazlewood’s absence for the last two Tests, combined with the doubt surrounding Travis Head, is a clear blow despite the quality Scott Boland possesses.
“Any side without Hazlewood in it is a side that I don’t think is as good,” he said.
“Any time that Josh Hazlewood is fit, he is definitely picked in my XI. His record suggests that. He is a great team man and he is a bit like the McGrath of the team. He just hits that beautiful line and length.
“On the flip side, he has left a big hole in the Australian cricket team, but that is a hole that will be filled nicely by Scott Boland. Australia are lucky they have Boland waiting in the wings, but it is a big loss for Australia.”
Hazlewood to miss rest of the series | 01:08
BRILLIANT BUMRAH ‘MILES AHEAD OF ANY OTHER BOWLER’
Jasprit Bumrah, India’s greatest one-man band.
The superstar quick has been exceptional with the new ball throughout the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, terrorising Australia’s top order across the opening three Tests.
At the Gabba on Sunday, Bumrah knocked over both of Australia’s openers before returning with the second new ball to remove centurions Steve Smith and Travis Head.
The right-armer finished the first innings with figures of 6-76, while across the series he has 21 scalps at 10.90. On Australian soil, he has taken 53 Test wickets at 17.15, the most among Indians, while no touring bowler in history betters those numbers.
Lee rates Bumrah’s imprint on Australia as akin to that of former South African greats Dale Steyn and Alan Donald, as examples.
“He is world class, Jasprit Bumrah. Unfortunately they had no Mohammed Shami, but I think the backing of Mohammed Siraj — there has been a bit of conjecture around him — but I think he has bowled really well,” he said.
“From my opinion, they have an attack that has some good pace bowlers, but the reason why people say or think he is shouldering the whole load of the attack is because he is so good.
“He is miles ahead of any other bowler, and that is no disrespect to the other bowlers going around, but that is how good he is.”
Bumrah finally takes Smith, Marsh & Head | 01:07
Bumrah’s excellence has shed light on the lack of support he’s received from his teammates, particularly when bowling to India’s top-order.
While the vice-captain has averaged 9.81 against Australia’s top seven, the other Indian bowlers have collectively averaged 42.79. They’re jarring numbers, highlighting the importance of not only Bumrah, but also injured paceman Mohammed Shami.
“We don’t want to get into that mindset where we are pointing fingers at each other,” Bumrah told reporters at stumps on Monday.
“We as a team are going through a transition where new players are coming here and it’s not the easiest place to play cricket. Over here, it’s a different atmosphere with this wicket being a different challenge.
“As a bowling unit, as I said, we are in transition, so it’s my job to help the others. I have played a little more than them, so I am trying to help them. But again, everyone will learn through it, will get better and eventually will find different ways.”
Indian bowling coach Morne Morkel also defended the other pace bowlers, praising the efforts of fellow seamer Akash Deep, whose first-innings figures of 1-95 didn’t do him justice in the slightest.
“Bumrah’s the number one bowler in the world and of course you need someone to back him up and help in that partnership,” Morkel told reporters on Sunday.
“But I honestly can’t fault the efforts of the other seamers today. Akash asked good questions with the new ball upfront, asked good questions with the older ball and on another day could easily have picked up three wickets.
“That’s the nature of this game; Test cricket is tough, you can have tough days like this. I can only say that yes the other bowlers didn’t get it right at times, but in terms of effort you can’t fault that.”
Jasprit Bumrah of India. Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
GREAT WONDER WHY MARSH ‘UNDER-UTILISED’ WITH THE BALL
What will help the Australian champions prolong their careers is having an all-rounder capable of shouldering the overs load while also providing a threat with the red ball.
Allan Border Medallist Mitchell Marsh provides that threat at his best and has secured 51 wickets at an average just under 40, with an economy rate of 3.56.
But the query is whether the 33-year-old, who entered the Border Gavaskar Trophy Series under an injury cloud and has only bowled a paucity of overs, is at his peak fitness.
With Hazlewood reduced to one over on Tuesday, Starc and Cummins toiled away in the heat and humidity in a gallant but fruitless bid to bowl India out before the follow on.
With a lens to the immediate future, is Marsh the man for the MCG, where he was magnificent with the bat last year against Pakistan? Or does Beau Webster get a chance?
And what happens when fellow Western Australia Cameron Green returns to the fold now that Steve Smith has returned to No. 4 and notched another century?
Asked the reason why Marsh, who bowled only two overs in the first innings, was not used more frequently, Australia’s assistant coach Daniel Vettori said there were no fitness issues.
“He’s good to go. There’s no issues around his fitness. It was just the way that the weather delays came that allowed Patty and Mitch to keep going,” Vettori said.
“He’ll be an incredibly important part of the next two Tests, particularly Melbourne, a wicket that suits him. To be able to compliment whoever comes into that team, that’s when he’s at his best.”
Cummins continued on Wednesday: “It’s always a bonus having some all-rounders. I suspect we’ll call on Mitch at some stage in the next couple of Test matches to get us a breakthrough or two.”
Flying Bison takes brilliant catch! | 00:59
But the failure to utilise Marsh at all on Tuesday raised eyebrows, with Fox Cricket’s expert analysts among those perplexed by the lack of overs the Western Australian has bowled.
After pulling up gingerly after bowling 17 overs in Perth, where he demonstrated his value with the ball with three wickets, selectors added Tasmanian all-rounder Beau Webster to the squad as cover.
Marsh bowled four overs in Adelaide in the first innings and, just 11 days later, added another two overs to take his tally for the summer to 23 overs in just under four weeks.
Lee, who sits in seventh position in Australia’s all-time Test wicket takers, is a fan of what Marsh offers to the team given his skills when bowling, but said he is not used enough.
“I rate his bowling and I think he is under-utilised,” he said.
“If you are carrying a niggle, that is the only question why, I would think, he didn’t bowl enough yesterday.”
While Vettori touched on the conditions in Brisbane when suggesting Marsh would be better suited at the MCG, former England captain Michael Vaughan said “India would be delighted” that Starc and Cummins bore the brunt of the steamy environment at the Gabba on Tuesday.
“There has to be a question mark about Mitchell Marsh and his bowling. There has to be,” Vaughan said.
Mitch Marsh of Australia. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
NO TEST OPENER HAS HAD A ‘HARDER START’ THAN MCSWEENEY
Three matches into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Nathan McSweeney is yet to convince his critics that he’s a worthwhile Test opener, with Bumrah creating plenty of headaches.
The Australian opener has been dismissed by the Indian quick on four occasions in the series thus far, averaging 3.75 against him across three Tests. At the Gabba, the 25-year-old did well to Bumrah’s new-ball spell on Saturday before poking at a delivery he could have left along the following morning, departing for 9.
“His stranglehold over Nathan McSweeney continues,” former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket commentary.
However, McSweeney had taken the shine off the Kookaburra and helped set a platform for Steve Smith and Travis Head to build upon, and his contribution didn’t go unnoticed.
“A lot of credit has to go to the top three,” Smith said at stumps on Sunday.
“They faced 50-odd balls each, which is a pretty good effort on that wicket out there.”
Despite having no experience opening the batting at first-class level before this summer, national selectors gambled on McSweeney to replace Smith at the top of the order.
The South Australian has spent the majority of his red-ball career at No. 3 or No. 4, but George Bailey and the selection panel were adamant he was equipped to handle the swinging Kookaburra.
However, their decision to ignore specialist openers Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas has come back to bite them. Not since 1984 has an Australian opener made fewer runs or had a worse average across their first five Test knocks.
‘They’ve got to get him in’ | 01:47
Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes Australia should invest in McSweeney and give the right-hander an extended period in the Test side to prove himself.
“In this series the ball has done plenty” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.
“Would you expect Australia to be 0-100 against Bumrah in the conditions that they’re facing? The answer would be no, you’re always going to lose a wicket or two, particularly to an outstanding bowler like that.
“I look at McSweeney and think I don’t think there’s a player who has had a harder start to their career. The conditions that he’s had to face as an opener batter and the bowlers that he’s facing, there’s not many tougher starts to a Test career.
“He’s certainly a player that Australia have to give a run of games to. There’s not a lot in the cupboard.
“He looks like player that is worth investing in for a period of time.”
Lee continued: “McSweeney’s been picked because he’s believed to be Australia‘s next best.
“You can’t pick him for three games and then get rid of him.
“You’ve got to put faith in the young players coming through. McSweeney’s been on fire in the last couple of years in Sheffield Shield cricket.
“He has to play all five Test matches (against India) and see where he gets to. The thing you don’t want to create is pick a young guy coming through, they get three games, if they don’t get a hundred, get rid of him. That’s not the right mindset.”
Nathan McSweeney of Australia. Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images
STARC HAS UPPER-HAND IN STOUSH WITH YOUNG INDIAN STAR
“It’s coming too slow.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal might now be regretting those words.
The Indian opener, racing towards a Test century at Perth Stadium last month, fired a sledge towards Mitchell Starc, Australia’s fastest bowler. He backed up his remarks by nonchalantly flicking the left-armed quick over square leg for six.
Jaiswal won the contest in Perth – but it’s been a one-sided battle since.
Starc has knocked over Jaiswal cheaply in the first innings of all three Tests, dismissed for 0, 0 and 4. At the Gabba on Saturday, the left-hander edged his first delivery through the slips cordon for a streaky boundary before chipping his second ball directly towards Mitchell Marsh at square leg, a soft dismissal that prompted a frantic collapse of 4-40.
An undisputed superstar in the making, Jaiswal’s lone concern is his willingness to drive on the up early in an innings, leaving himself vulnerable on Australia’s bouncy deck.
“He struggled in South Africa, where he was caught a couple of times hitting on the rise,” commentator Harsha Bhogle told Fox Cricket.
“The temptation with this generation is they’re always looking for shots, because that is how they play most of their cricket anyway.
“This country is unrelenting and very difficult, because you don’t get an inch. You won’t get a session where they’re playing badly. This is one of the greatest quartets in the history of the game. He’s not going to get anything, he’s got to make it happen.”
Jaiswal flops after warm-up blunder | 01:17
Throughout his short Test career, Jaiswal has struggled against left-armed pace – he averages when facing right-armed quicks, but that figures drops to 17.33 against southpaws.
Only two bowlers have dismissed Jaiswal three times in the Test arena – Starc and South Africa’s Nandre Burger, another left-armed quick.
“He wouldn’t have faced a lot of left-armed swing bowling where the ball is leaving him,” Bhogle continued.
“He wouldn’t have played this quality of left-armed swing where the ball is leaving him. That could be a factor.
“Starc is switched on in this series, he’s bowling beautifully. When Starc gets the ball to swing, he’s twice the bowler.
“It’s a new challenge for him, it’s a challenge for his batting coach, to work out a method to counter that.
“Even today, the first ball he was hitting on the rise, he was pushing hard at the ball.
“But these boys all play shots first, they’re always looking to see where they can get their runs from.”
As for Jaiswal’s sledge, Bhogle reckons it’s water under the bridge.
“I don’t think even Starc is thinking about it,” he said.
“This generation, they don’t worry too much. In another generation, he wouldn’t have gotten away with that line. He would have been reminded of that every time he came out to bat.
“But this generation is quite cool.”