Sayers shows way as Australia begin new era
Debutant strikes right note as tourists take the field in Johannesburg, writes
‘Once you get the baggy green you don’t want to give it back, do you? I’m proud as punch to be wearing Australian colours.” It was an innocent sort of statement made to ABC Radio by Chadd Sayers, Australia’s newest Test cricketer, after the first day of the fourth Test at Johannesburg.
But with so much emphasis on the words of the players banned from the team that turned out at the ground known as the Bullring, those who remain tell another story. Of wanting to be part of the future, not necessarily linked with the troubled recent history.
After a week in which Australian cricket’s reputation has been dragged through the gutter by the ball-tampering actions of three players, it was significant to hear Sayers express pride in wearing the fabled cap. That pride is why Australians were so incensed when the sandpaper scandal of Cape Town was unveiled, and the Test team were plunged into turmoil.
Sayers is Test cricketer 452. As statistician Ric Finlay observed, England’s number 452 was Tony Greig. It shows Australian cricket does not burn through Test players, although this week they discarded 44 Test centuries and 138 matches of experience between Steve Smith and David Warner, along with Cameron Bancroft.
When Warner, the former vice-captain, confronts the media today, anything is possible. He could accept full responsibility in a manner similar to Smith, or he might blow up the Australian camp by implicating others. But with coach Darren Lehmann announcing he would resign after this Test, and the aforementioned players suspended for nine to 12 months, the opening day of this Test was one for renewal.
Criticism of the team’s aggressive culture had grown too strong to be ignored. New full-time captain Tim Paine set about doing just that. Before play, he asked his South Africa counterpart, Faf du Plessis, if the teams could shake hands to symbolise a breaking of bread. It was a telling first act as Australia’s 46th skipper.
“We still want to keep a really competitive brand of cricket, but I think there’s times we’ve got to be more respectful of our opposition,” he said. “At times, we’ve tended to push the boundaries. I think we’ve seen that people don’t like that, so it’s time for us to change.
“It was still competitive, there wasn’t too much verbal going on back and forth between the two sides. It still felt like a Test match.”
Sayers only got his gig thanks to Mitchell Starc’s risk of developing another stress fracture in his right leg. The direct replacements for the discarded three were Joe Burns, Matthew Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, all batsmen with brief Test histories.
The combination of four changes, and four players who are not strongly associated with the previous era, really did give the feeling of a fresh start. It was not an easy one, with Aiden Markram smashing a century and AB de Villiers flying to another 50. South Africa were on top at 247 for two.
But Sayers worked hard at De Villiers and eventually got his inside edge for 69. He then followed up with nightwatchman Kagiso Rabada two balls later, after Pat Cummins had knocked over Markram and Du Plessis in consecutive balls. “Some days they nick them, some days they don’t,” mused Sayers of his work against De Villiers. “He’s one of the best batsmen in the world, if not the best. I’m not going to forget that any time soon.”
As for how the team had come together, the most straightforward man in the side put it best. “Hasn’t been a great week for the boys, but I think their spirits rose on the field knowing we had a job to earn back respect and a job to win the game.”