Are we Aussies simply paying price of being so aggressive?
Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon, from ABC News, identify the key issues for Australia in the Test arena, and how they can fix them before the threat of a whitewash
Crisis. Rock bottom. The lowest ebb for Australian cricket in 30 years. Consecutive thrashings on home soil to South Africa to begin their summer.With collapse after collapse, what is going on Down Under? Adam Collins and Geoff Lemon take a look in their first of a series of conversations from Australia. Adam Collins: Look at it – perfect day in Hobart on what would have been day five, but no cricket. Is this a crisis? Geoff Lemon: Honestly, I reckon it’s overblown when people say ‘Australian cricket’. Crisis in the men’s Test team, but that’s not everything. Women’ s internationals, domestic stuff, Big Bash, limited-overs, all the growth and development work. CA oversees all that, it’s a much more complex ecosystem. AC: No question. But when hasn’t Australian cricket been judged by the performance of its men’s team? It’s a reality that James Sutherland and Co at Cricket Australia understand. It’s clear from their response.They haven’t been in this much strife since the mid-Eighties, and that was when lots of players were unavailable due to rebel tours, and the game hadn’t healed after World Series Cricket. That’s the comparison they’re up against in trying to keep any sense of calm. GL: Well, they’ve already got a rolled head to silence the baying crowds. Rod Marsh has bailed as chairman of selectors after some pretty absurd public statements in the last year or so. Seemed to be some self-sacrifice in that, to give others breathing space. Good move? AC: Not the worst. Someone had to go from those in charge of decisions, and Marsh was halfway out the door already. But now that’s out of the way, the pressure will quickly revert onto the batsmen they bring in. Let’s assume Adam Voges gets the chop, sad as that is. And at least one other. The conundrum becomes whether to play kids or attempt to stop the rot with (relative) experience. And what’s likely to do the trick under lights with a pink ball.
On that basis, give me the audacity of youth before they are broken. GL: The Aussies could be in for another ugly one here. Day/night Test starting next Thursday in Adelaide, and last year the ball swung all night thanks to the grassy pitch and square. If the South African bowlers show up again ... AC: Exactly. And Faf du Plessis wants to drive them into the ground.Who could blame them? It’s not as though Australian teams don’t covet the reputation of the biggest and baddest men in all the cricket lands. South Africa will be well up for completing the humiliation. And then Pakistan rock up. Dear me. GL: Pakistan have generally struggled out here, but there’s a great chance they could really smash Australia. Imagine some combo of Wahab, Sohail, Rahat and Amir with the pink ball on a greenish Gabba pitch under lights? Or maybe Yasir Shah just comes in with the Shane Warne clone work and bowls straight ones. That’s been enough for these guys in the last few years. AC: I bet those administrators we mentioned are regretting chucking that day/night hit-out at the front of the series. But we’re avoiding the topic a bit.Why has this happened? They were top of the pops about ten minutes ago, leading the ICC rankings. How is it we’ve got a generation of Test players who have no ability to combat a moving ball? It’s not as though these blokes can’t play cricket. GL: Can they though? It was pretty funny actually. In Sri Lanka before those Tests, Steve Smith got the No.1 mace in a private ceremony, because the Sri Lankans were worried their fans would be scared off by the prospect of an Aussie hammering. Then Australia folded 3-0 and handed the mace straight to Pakistan. No one on that tour looked like they could play, bar Starc with the ball. AC: For mine, I reckon it’s an extension of this ‘Australian way’ guff you hear a lot. It’s essentially a code for relentless aggression. But Test cricket has always been more nuanced than that. The game has evolved, but there’s still room for a medium pacer who hits the spot (see Vernon Philander), and for batsmen who profit from doing the absolute basics well, eliminating risk above all else. Think Rogers and Katich in recent times. GL: Yeah, definitely a lack of nuance in the way Australians bat. They tend to just go out and keep looking to score, keep playing shots that aren’t necessary, when times are tough. It’s infuriating to see a green seamer or a 500-run deficit on day five, while guys are still throwing the stick around and getting out.Where’s the restraint? How is this not getting pulled up by coaches? AC: Another way of looking at it is that coaches at the elite level aren’t coaching so much as tinkering and mentoring. It was instructive that Steve Smith said no one at the level below was bashing down the door. Imagine generations ago when players like Hodge, Law, Hussey, Cox, Love, Maher were plundering Shield runs for laughs. Maybe that’s where all roads lead back to when the current summer settles down. GL: Yeah, that’s it.We’re hearing about selection changes but no cricket fan in the country can point to the Shield and say who’s next in. A dozen names circulating but all of them are a punt. Old stagers who might rise to it, young guys who are untested, but no brass-stamped quality engine. That’s a deeper malaise that has gone back years. AC: Or there’s Glenn Maxwell. Look, I know, I know. But he’s a matchwinner, coming into his notional prime with form when batting on grassy tracks. He can’t be denied! Okay, I’ll stop. GL: What can’t be denied is that I’d love to see it. Pink ball, lights, pride on the line, and G. Maxwell reverse-swatting Kagiso Rabada into the Max Basheer stand. Maxwell is the max basher. It just makes sense. Can’t wait for next week, at least anticipation is high. AC: Yep.Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
They tend to just go out and keep looking to score, keep playing shots that aren’t necessary, when times are tough