LANGER’S PITCH BATTLE
A LAST minute selection decision looms for Australia for the second Test at Lord’s after coach Justin Langer’s first pitch inspection left him thinking his bowlers could be in for a long haul.
Expectations were for a “juiced up” wicket, similar to the one on which Ireland rolled England for 85, before a role reversal in the second innings saw the Irish dismissed for just 38 last month.
English captain Joe Root called that pitch “substandard” and there was talk the flatter looking deck was some sort of payback, and plays into Australian run-machine Steve Smith’s hands.
In his last outing at Lord’s in 2015, Smith made 215 to guide Australia to a win, and he was back in the nets on Sunday, at the first possible chance with David Warner, both “full of energy” after having a brief break in London.
“It’s good to see them batting again,” Langer said.
“(Smith) slept the last few days which was good.
“Dave Warner didn’t have a big first Test but he had a huge World Cup and IPL, so he is getting his energy back as well.
“So when those two are clear and have energy, it’s obviously a big advantage for us.”
So is having an armoury of fast bowlers and Langer conceded another tough call could be on the cards should the Lord’s pitch present as he expects.
Veteran seamer Peter Siddle got the nod ahead of Josh Hazlewood for the first Test at Edgbaston and while Langer conceded it would take “courage” to change a winning lineup, he couldn’t rule it out.
“We are very aware that it’s a five Test match series, and we’ve got to be as good at the back end as we are at the front,” Langer said after looking at the Lord’s pitch.
“The wicket is really interesting, it looks like it’s going to be a really flat wicket to me. It’s quite dry through.
“One thing we have got is the luxury of six fast bowlers. They are all high class bowlers. We’ll work out what’s going to be best for this Test match and best for the whole series.”
But while a bowling change could happen, Langer backed out-of-sorts opener Cameron Bancroft, who made just 12 runs in his Test return at Birmingham.
Back after his ball-tampering exile, Bancroft is under the pump after his squad shadow Marcus Harris made a polished 67 in the tour game against Worcester last week.
“He is probably just trying a bit hard at the moment,” Langer said.
“It’s one of the challenges for James Pattinson too.
“He set himself to get back in the Australian team, he set himself to play Ashes cricket.
“He’s ticked both of them off and now he’s going to have to re-set his goals, and a lot of young people don’t do that well.
“I’ve spoken to Patto about it and I’ll say the same thing to Cameron Bancroft.
“He’s come back in and now he’s trying too hard, he’s achieved that goal, he thought it might have taken a lot longer.
“He just has to re-set his goals, clear his mind and just relax a bit. He’ll be fine.”