Sunday Territorian

SPORT We have nobody to steer the ship

- BEN HORNE

NEW venue, same old story.

The desperate search for a batting anchorman remains a matter of urgent concern for selectors after the top order again teased but failed to produce the marathon innings that would at least confirm Australia is heading in the right direction.

That Marcus Harris’s 79 on day three was the highest score by an Australian batsman this series stands out as a telling statistic given India has made seven scores higher, including five hundreds.

Bad light stopped play early at a stormy SCG, but the lights had gone out for Australia’s batsmen long before, as they struggled to 6-236 – and still an overwhelmi­ng 386 runs behind on the first innings.

Peter Handscomb will resume on 28 not out and has earned the chance to prove his critics wrong on day four after the under-pressure righthande­r gutsed it out for 91 balls alongside the ever-impressive Pat Cummins (25 not out).

Australia’s senior batsmen Usman Khawaja (27) and Shaun Marsh (8) were again cruelly outpointed by their Indian counterpar­ts as Fox Cricket expert Mark Waugh bemoaned the fact all wickets to fall had been thrown away.

Fellow Test great Ricky Ponting also bemoaned the high error rate from Australian batsmen, who he says have been guilty of too many simple mistakes this series.

There is a feeling in the Australian camp that the return of Steve Smith and David Warner in three months can restore experience and inspiratio­n to the dressing room, but Waugh was concerned about the here and now. SCG

“Five dismissals, and none of them have been deliveries that deserved a wicket,” said Waugh before Australian skipper Tim Paine was hoodwinked by Kuldeep Yadav.

“Yes, there’s pressure and little things happening. But overall, each batsman would look at them and go, ‘that’s not good enough’.”

Marnus Labuschagn­e showed his character, coming out in the face of much criticism to make a solid 38 in the pressure-cooker spot of No.3.

However, his dismissal was just another Australian dismissal in between the 20-40run mark – a barrier the Cricket Australia high performanc­e unit had set as a goal for batsmen in October last year – but not where the coaching staff want the bar set.

Batting coach Graeme Hick offered no excuses in an interview on Channel 7.

“You’ve got to do it for long periods of time. Pujara is a prime example of that, someone who has gone out there and stuck to a very simple game plan but has been very difficult to remove,” said Hick.

“Losing wickets in and out of sessions or breaks in play. All these little things are all discussed.

“In terms of dismissals once we’re in, guys just need to learn to pay more attention wanting to spend more time out there.”

 ?? Picture: AAP/Dan Himbrechts ?? Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav (right) celebrates with captain Virat Kohli after taking the wicket of Australia’s Travis Head yesterday in the fourth Test at the SCG
Picture: AAP/Dan Himbrechts Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav (right) celebrates with captain Virat Kohli after taking the wicket of Australia’s Travis Head yesterday in the fourth Test at the SCG

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