UTTER SHAMBLES
Aussies a laughing stock but still no answer to how long they were ball-tampering
IF anything summed up the depths plumbed this year by Australian cricket, it was the sight of their captain Tim Paine being mocked in a home Test by an overseas wicketkeeper.
Touring teams in Australia have traditionally kept their mouths shut, because they tend to lose. But on the fourth day of the third Test at Melbourne, India’s Rishabh Pant — a 21-year-old with no such scars — f elt emboldened to call Paine ‘ a temporary captain’ and cackle: ‘He loves to talk. That’s the only thing he can do.’
Australian cricket is the laughing stock of the world game right now, and the general consensus is they deserve everything they get.
It’s bad enough that they entered the final day at the MCG in danger of losing a Test series at home to India for the first time. But what has added to the sense of disarray is the off-field drama involving the Sandpaper Three, Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft.
Bancroft’s nine-month ban for his part in the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town earlier this year has just finished, while Smith and Warner, former captain and vice-captain, must wait until the end of March. With Australi a’s second- string batsmen being exposed by India’s bowlers, these two cannot return quickly enough.
And this is where things get even more complicated. In recent interviews, both Smith and Bancroft appeared to blame Warner for the sandpaper ruse, leading some to conclude that Warner — a divisive figure even in his own dressing room — might never play for his country again. Instead, Aaron Finch, appointed one-day captain in place of Paine in October, insisted all three would be ‘welcomed back with open arms’. Since Finch will be in charge of safeguarding Australia’s title of 50- over world champions in England next summer, the pragmatism is understandable. But it is an unholy mess, not least because so many questions remain unanswered about the extent of Australia’ s cheating. Many are sceptical about Smith’s claim that t hey had not tampered with the ball before Cape Town. Even Warner himself dodged the question in the incident’s immediate aftermath.
A lone scapegoat would neatly suit the Australian narrative, yet the interviews by Smith and Bancroft have had the curious effect of inviting a degree of public sympathy for Warner. That’s how strange things have become.
Paine has done his best with the hospital pass thrown his way, averaging a respectable 36 from No 7, and helping Australia to a memorable draw against Pakistan in Dubai in early October.
But Australians are divided between those who are relieved that Paine does not swear at opponents, and those who feel he has betrayed a tradition. As former captain Michael Clarke put it: ‘We might be the most liked team in the world, but we’re not going to win s***.’
The revelation that the dressing room at the new Perth Stadium had been daubed with cringeworthy slogans designed to em body Australia’s new approach simply invited more ridicule.
One of them, ‘ elite honesty’, became an internet hit. With so many factors contributing to the circus, it’s been easy to overlook the struggles of Australia’s seamers against India. England believe Australia tampered with the ball during their 4-0 Ashes defeat in 2017- 18, but have been wary of going public for fear of looking like sore losers.
Yet the same bowlers who destroyed Joe Root’s team have lost their potency with the old ball against India.
ESPNcricinfo’s stats team have worked out that between overs 4180 in the first three Tests against India, Australia’s seamers took just six wickets at 46 apiece. India, by contrast, managed 15 at 22. Against England in overs 41-80, Australia’s seamers took a wicket every 68 balls. Against India, it has been once every 102.
Of course, the discrepancy may be partly down to India’s superior batting. Then again, it may not. Right now, Australian cricket’s biggest problem is its credibility. People are prepared to believe the worst. And with English crowds getting ready to give Smith and possibly Warner a warm welcome during next summer’s World Cup and Ashes, Australian cricket has not heard the last of this.