SIX DILEMMA IS OVER AND OUT
AUSTRALIA’S decade- long search for a game- changing middle order star is over.
In the eight years since Mike Hussey retired and the Test team lost their middle order rock, 25 players have batted in Australian cricket’s twilight zone position: the dreaded No. 6.
The roll call is a who’s who of those lightning rods for criticism in Australian cricket.
Mitchell Marsh. Matthew Wade. Travis Head. Shane Watson. Shaun Marsh. Glenn Maxwell. Nic Maddinson. Joe Burns.
Batting at the No. 6 is a tricky and important role: an ability to bat long and post big scores is essential, should the top order fall over. And batting with the tail is a skill in itself: knowing how much trust to place in the bowlers, when to hit the accelerator and how to manipulate fields and frustrate captains who let their minds drift to batting plans.
Marsh was given the biggest chance to make the spot his own, holding down the fort in 30 Test matches — with his 41 innings in the role dwarfing the 13 of Wade, who slots in at second.
Naturally, Marsh has the most runs at No. 6 in a postHussey world, with 1038 runs at 26.61 — with two centuries to boot. But never quite enough to make his spot feel secure. Wade and Head also have centuries at six.
Which brings us to Cameron Green, who wowed the SCG crowd on Sunday with a scintillating 84 — falling 16 runs short of a maiden Test ton as he unleashed a barrage of sixes as Australia lifted the tempo before tea.
Green showed composure and patience when required, battled Ravi Ashwin with the old ball and Jasprit Bumrah with the new and took them both on with power — nailing a Bumrah bouncer as one of four sixes.
The curse of the No. 6 has taken down nearly a decade’s worth of challengers, but Green seems well- built to buck the trend.