Aussie bowlers’ backyard bogey
Five-wicket SCG haul eludes NSW Test trio
THEY have bulldozed teams from Brisbane to Bangalore but there is one precious milestone that has stayed out of reach of decorated pace trio Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Surprising but true, they have grown from boys to men at the SCG but have never taken a five-wicket haul there in front of their home crowd.
The statistic says more about the SCG wicket than it does about them.
Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood have collectively played 17 matches in Sydney and, while Cummins and Hazlewood have taken four wickets in an innings, that elusive “five for’’, which allows them to raise the ball to their home crowd, has remained just out of reach.
Though Hazlewood and Cummins have excellent overall records at the SCG, Sydney has been a challenging ground for every type of bowler in recent times.
Statistician Ric Finlay posted the returns of bowlers at the SCG over the past seven years and the numbers were so gruesome they deserved to be published with a warning that they may be unsuitable viewing for family audiences.
Since 2014, fast bowlers have been averaging 43.3 per wicket in Sydney, and slow bowlers a whopping 49 per wicket, figures too far in favour of batsmen and which prove Sydney’s reputation as a turning deck has become the most overblown concept since the Y2K virus.
It is most unfortunate that Sydney does not turn like it used to because, over the decades, the SCG played a vital role in helping local spinners tidy up their numbers and lift their selfesteem, while allowing local batsmen to get the feel of subcontinental wickets before visiting Asia.
Now, Australia has no genuine spinners’ deck and, as a consequence, is next to no chance of fulfilling its goal of beating India in India for the first time since 2004.
Fans are hoping the wellgrassed wicket might this year tilt back the balance between bat and ball.
The series may be over but the fourth Test has an intriguing flavour. England has lost most of its frontline coaches and is returning to a bygone era in which teams essentially coached themselves.
Batsman Zac Crawley said all players had to pitch in to help out and skipper Joe Root took charge of training in a return to the pre-1980s era, when no international teams had coaches.
Given the shortness of the time frame, it will be difficult to tell whether the temporary regime has had any effect on the players but old-time players will probably ponder what all the fuss is about.
Don Bradman became the greatest batsman in the history of the game in the era when there were no coaches, while the Chappells and Dennis Lillee also flourished.
While there is no doubt coaches are an essential part of the modern game, there is also a theory that support staff have become so numerous – in some squads they outnumber the players – that players have become too reliant on them and have stopped thinking for themselves.
England’s support has been stripped bare this week but it has also provided a chance for players to grow and become more self-reliant.
Much scorn has been thrown at England for its lamentable efforts on tour but at least the side has stuck to it, despite the fact that the Covid world has been closing in on the players.