One piece of advice Ian Chappell’s grandfather Victor Richardson gave him as a captain was, “if you win the toss, nine out of ten times bat first.
On the tenth occasion, think about bowling, but still bat.” It’s a philosophy that has been passed down the generations of Australian cricket captains.
It has been the strategy in Test cricket, apart from the 2005 Ashes series at Edgbaston, and has been adopted in the shorter formats of the game, especially on the subcontinent, where pitches aid turn in the second part of the game.
Australia’s record is the perfect reason for the ‘bat first’ approach on the subcontinent. Over the past ten years, since tours to sub-continent became frequent, Australia has won the toss and batted first on 25 occasions, opting to bowl first on just seven occasions.
The winning percentage batting first is 57 per cent, but below 50 per cent when chasing.
But over the past six months, Australia has a different outlook. The Aussies under the captaincy of George Bailey prefer to chase, as they did in the opening game of the WT20 against Pakistan, which resulted in 16-run loss.
“Not sure we’ve ever had that philosophy in T20. It probably changed a little bit in that one-day series (in India) as well,” said Bailey.
It was an indication Australia were deterred by the opposition rather than backing their own strength.
One of the issues Australia has had in chasing limited overs cricket is they are yet to find a perfect finisher, like Michael Bevan or Mike Hussey.
Despite Australia winning some games chasing in the past few years, they have either cantered home or snatched a win, like James Faulkner at the Gabba and Mohali. None of the chases have been well-executed or planned.
The same issue seemed to surface against Pakistan. At one stage Australia required 74 runs from 58 balls, with eight wickets in hand. Batting with such depth should have swallowed that up but instead they allowed the pressure to build and self-destructed.
Look through records and since Mike Hussey’s retirement, Australia have lost the unlosable matches while chasing due to lack of intelligent cricket. The method seems to be bludgeon your way to the target, which is perfectly fine but it is a high risk game and it works against you as often.
Bailey is the man who can play that Bevan or Hussey role and if the captain is to continue to gamble on chasing on the sub-continent, he needs to ensure he is there right until the last over so the other hard hitters can bat around him.
At the post-game press conference, Bailey suggested Australia never had an outlook of always batting first. “I think if you look at the statistics for this ground, and this tournament, it gets a little easier to bat on as the night progresses. I don’t think we necessarily have a way that we want to do it. It’s more about summing up the situation, summing up the conditions depending on where you are.”
Perhaps it is time to revert back to traditional Australian outlook of batting first and relying on disciplined bowlers and brilliant fielders.
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