Four-man attack is a flawed selection
At 5.30pm on the second day of the Ashes, Australia’s captain tim Paine threw the ball to Matthew Wade, a man who in other circumstances might have been keeping wicket in Paine’s place.
In 132 previous first- class matches, Wade had taken eight wickets. A stuttering run-up and a friendly over costing seven confirmed why glovework is more his thing. It highlighted one of the flaws in Australia’s selection for this test — Wade, according to the hierarchy of the scorecard, was their fifth bowler.
For Australian teams of the nottoo-distant past, when the tactic of a four-man attack came as naturally as Pommie- bashing and mental disintegration, the scenario would have been easily laughed off.
those, however, were the days of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, who in effect were four bowlers for the price of two: a seamer and a spinner each capable of defending even while they were attacking. At a less exalted level, England enjoyed the same benefits while Graeme Swann was a lone spinner in a four-man line-up.
But while this is a very good Australian attack, strong enough to do without Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, it is not of the vintage presided over by Mark taylor or Steve Waugh or Ricky Ponting.
It was Waugh, here as a mentor for the Australians, who was left to reflect on a problem he never had to face. ‘An extra bowler is always useful when you don’t take too many wickets,’ he said.
‘You’re looking around saying, “Who can bowl a few overs?” We had the luxury of four great bowlers, so we didn’t often need a fifth.
‘But on a day when you’re not taking wickets, you probably need five or 10 overs from someone to help out. the bowlers handled their workout pretty well, and each one would say they had their moments. But ideally, it’s nice to have another bowler.’
Waugh was right to pay tribute to the Australian attack on a grudging pitch, after most of the luck had gone England’s way.
Pat Cummins and James Pattinson are high-class, ferocious competitors, Peter Siddle is a skilful seamer, almost English in style, and Nathan Lyon a probing, dependable off-spinner. But if the answer is Wade, the question has probably been lost in translation.
Australia could have chosen allrounder Mitchell Marsh for this test, in place of either Wade or travis Head (who as it happened was their sixth bowler yesterday.
But the thinking is that Marsh will come in handy later in the series when the frontline bowlers start to tire. Given that Starc and Hazlewood are being kept fresh for the second test at Lord’s, it is not a persuasive logic.
In fact, Australia’s best moments on the day England’s top order discovered their inner Alastair Cook came when they persuaded the umpires to change the ball after 60 overs. Its replacement, believed to have been chosen from a batch of 2018 Dukes which swung this way and that during the series against India, suddenly did their bidding. two overs after the switch, Joe Denly was trapped in front by one from Pattinson that darted in off the seam. three overs later, Jos Buttler aimed Cummins to leg, only for a leading edge to squirt low to Cameron Bancroft at third slip. Having been 154 for one shortly before tea, England were 194 for four — still 90 behind. the game was in the balance. But the ball soon lost its life, and by the time the second new one became available, Cummins and Pattinson looked too weary to exploit it. A reviewed leg-before appeal from Pattinson against Rory Burns, when the ball had clearly pitched outside leg stump, summed up the malaise.
In that respect, the Australians experienced a version of what England went through on the first day when injury to Jimmy Anderson left Joe Root with a four-man attack. Australia’s configuration, though, was by design rather than accident. they went into this game believing three seamers would be enough to do the job in English conditions, and walked off for the second evening in a row with Rory Burns still batting.