TEAM PLAYERS
STARS MAKE PACT
DAVID Warner and Usman Khawaja have made a pact not to leave the game together to ensure Australia does not tumble into a black hole it knows too well.
Australia went four years without winning a series after Greg Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee retired together at the SCG against Pakistan in 1984.
Times were not as desperate after Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne quit together against England at the SCG in 2006 but Australia wobbled nonetheless.
Australia’s late chairman of selectors Laurie Sawle once said Australia must learn from the Lillee-Marsh-Chappell exits that every effort must be made to ensure exceptional players do not leave the game at the same time.
The message seems to have got through to openers Warner and Khawaja, both 36, who first played together when they were seven.
There is a prospect this SCG Test against South Africa will be their last five-dayer on home soil though neither has made a firm decision on their future.
Warner failed after an early edge on the first morning while Khawaja, who looked like a driven man in the nets before the game, again excelled on a ground which was a stone’s throw away from where he grew up.
“We’re going to enjoy the next 12 months, enjoy it as much as we can,’’ Warner told Fox Cricket.
“For us it’s about not leaving this team with a big hole. I know through those five-year transition period when a lot of the greats left, they’re big holes to fill with the amount of games you play.
“We always talk about games played and how much that means into a team’s performance and perspective with experience. You can’t fill that void.”
Life beyond Khawaja and Warner remains a challenging puzzle for Australia with several worthy options but none who immediately suggest they are of the elite quality of the men they will replace.
Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris and South Australia’s Henry Hunt are the leading options.
“We’ve got great players coming through with Renshaw now coming back into the fold,” Warner added.
“The team is in a great spot for when we decide to leave, or get tapped on the shoulder.”
South Africa strike bowler Anrich Nortje claimed the key wickets of Warner and Marnus Labuschagne on Wednesday to prise Australia’s grip on the third Test in Sydney as rain plagued the opening day.
Nortje was the Proteas’ star man as he removed Warner cheaply for 10 and late in the day denied Labuschagne (79) his 11th Test hundred.
As bad light and rain conspired to prematurely end the first day, Australia was 147 for two with n Khawaja, who averages 98 in Sydney Tests, unbeaten on 54 and Steve Smith yet to score.
Nortje got the big breakthrough with a ripper, taking the edge of Labuschagne’s bat to get him caught behind and end his 151-ball stay.
The pacer earlier struck in his second over of the day when he had Melbourne Test doublecenturion Warner caught at slip by Marco Jansen for 10.
No sooner had Smith arrived at the wicket after Labuschagne’s dismissal than the players left the field for bad light for the final time.
There was controversy earlier in Labuschagne’s innings when on 70 he edged Jansen to Harmer at slip.
The on-field umpires referred the decision with a soft signal of out, only for third umpire Richard Kettleborough to rule that the ball had touched the ground between the fingers of Harmer.