PACE BATTERY TO
Age: 33. Tests: Runs: 765 Average: 38.25 Turns 34 during the Adelaide Test. Is under increasing pressure as the hosts look to turn things around after a miserable year on and off the field. Age: 32. Tests: Runs: 181 Average: 45.25 Has been a star in the shorter form and now looking to take that into Test cricket. Had a decent series against Pakistan and his battle against India’s new- ball bowlers will be key. Age: Tests: Runs ( first class): 4153 Average ( first class): 35.49 A Justin Langer protege, Harris has been full of runs in the Sheffield Shield this season for Victoria, including a career- changing unbeaten 250 against NSW. Age: 28. Tests: Wickets: Average ( bowling): 28.52 Starc is closing in on 200 Test wickets and if he has a good series should get there against India. Starc’s battle with the visitors’ top order should be interesting all series. Age: Tests: Wickets: Average ( bowling): 23.81 A vital cog in the Australian team. His runs could be as crucial as his bowling. Will love getting back to the bouncier wickets where his short bowling will be key against the Indian tail. Age: Tests: Wickets: Average ( bowling): 32.21 Arguably the key bowler for the Aussies against an Indian batting line- up that plays spin especially well. His battle with Virat Kohli and Co will be intriguing. FOR the man known as ‘ Mr Cricket’, it is the most mouthwatering of contests. The most destructive batting line- up against the most dangerous bowling attack. On the international cricket stage, it doesn’t get any better than this. Fronted by skipper Virat Kohli, India has arrived with their best chance of recording a first ever Test series win in Australia. But, standing in their way, are what Test great Mike Hussey believes is a pace battery set to spark Australia, and he is backing the hosts to win a “really tight” series. Hussey, now commentating for Fox Cricket, acknowledges Kohli is “the best batsman in the world ... without doubt”. But, in Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, Australia has an “awesome, awesome attack”. “That’s what I’m looking forward to the most … the battle with Kohli,” Hussey said ahead of the start of the first Test in Adelaide today. Only Starc played in the UAE against Pakistan recently, but the pace trio had combined to hold their own during the diabolical tour of South Africa. It was in Australia last summer, however, when the bowling line- up demonstrated what it was capable of when at full strength. Cummins ( 23 scalps at an average of 24), Starc ( 22 at 23) and Hazlewood ( 21 at 25) dominated the visiting English. And Hussey says they have the ability to get on top of India. “They’re starting to play a lot more together,” he said. “You really feel like they’re a team within a team. They all play for NSW. If you’ve got guys who know each other inside and out, trust each other, know their roles, feel comfortable around each other, then you can build something special.
“And I think they are still building. They still aren’t as good as they can be. They will only get better the more they play together.”
In the tradition of the powerful Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie attack, Hussey says Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins “complement each other so well”. “They are all different,” he said. “I love Josh Hazlewood, probably the pick for me. He’s relentless with his line and length … the old Glenn McGrath style. You know what you’re going to get day in, day out.
“Starc has got that x- factor. He can swing the new ball, get late reverse swing going. Cummins is a bit of both. He can do the donkey work. He can also come in and have an impact with pace.”
Now the most successful offspinner in Australia Test cricket history, Nathan Lyon completes a formidable bowling quartet.
He claimed 21 scalps in the Ashes last summer but may find the going a little tougher this time around.
“Indians are traditionally very good players of spin,” Hussey said.
“He will have to work a lot harder for his wickets this year.”
Hussey expects, as always, the Aussie wickets will aid the hosts.
“In the past our conditions were so different at every single ground, the opposition teams had to adapt to new conditions every single place they went to,” he said. “I feel now, with the drop- in pitches around the country, we’ve lost a bit of that.
“But it’s still challenging because the pitches are a lot faster and bouncier than anything they play on around the world, particularly in India.”
Hussey doesn’t subscribe to the theory the Aussies need to resort to sledging the tourists, who have recorded just five Test match wins Down Under from 44 games.
“There’s so much pressure anyway,” he said. “You can’t imagine how big a rock stars these players are back home.
“They literally can not leave a hotel without getting mobbed by thousands of people.
“Every time they step on to a cricket field there’s a billion sets of eyes on them.
“I don’t think the Aussies need to revert to that nasty stuff.
“They have a fantastic attack as it is. Try to beat them with skill rather than try and get under their skin.
“Of course, once you cross that white line, you have to be competitive, things get emotional out there. It’s just the nature of sport .
“But certainly as a tactic going in, I don’t think the Aussies need to worry about that sort of stuff.”