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The second Australia is about to be exposed

23rd November, 2015
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Poor selections and captaincy cost Australia at the World T20. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Roar Guru
23rd November, 2015
17
1330 Reads

David Warner and Joe Burns bat and bat and bat. Usman Khawaja bats, and bats, and bats. Steve Smith bats, and bats, and bats. Then Adam Voges bats, and bats, and bats.

And when that happens, as it did at Brisbane and Perth, Mitchell Marsh’s suitability as a number six batsman becomes an irrelevance. His potential faults were protected. He could be a hitter.

If he succeeded, that was a nice cherry on top. If he didn’t, who cared? No one, unless pad rash prevented him bowling.

There are five other people behind Mitchell Marsh in the Australian batting order who can hit a cricket ball high and long. Maybe not as well or as often, but the probability is that someone will hit a few sixes at some point, or stay around while a batsman does.

Mark Craig has come in for a parade of criticism so big that it could gridlock the streets of Sydney. His performances have triggered memories of Richard Dawson’s trials in Australia.

Nathan Lyon, his opposite number, is about the only Australian who has defended him in the media. And by default, Lyon is about the only Australian who has defended him, in the media, or bars, or family homes, or anywhere.

His faults have been ruthlessly exposed by Australian batsmen and pitches that purport to be Australian. But this has been accentuated by the failures of his other bowlers.

Tim Southee and Trent Boult haven’t taken regular wickets with the new ball.

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Doug Bracewell has actually been decent, but hasn’t been able to rip through Australia on his own. Matt Henry brought back memories of Shane Bond, except the fact that he isn’t Shane Bond in speed or accuracy. And their captain has kept on losing that damn toss.

Ravi Ashwin was the one consistently dangerous bowler India had to combat Australia’s top order last summer. But he had accuracy, spin, loop and bounce. He had prior experience of Australia.

Craig had no previous experience of Australia before this tour. Craig can spin it, but he’s just a bit loose in general and lacks the necessary overspin. The result was predictable. Craig does deserve criticism, but it’s hard to blame him for not being Daniel Vettori.

Whether or not New Zealand’s faith in him is misplaced, it is admirable, and not repeating the same mistakes Australia made post-Warne. And Craig bounced back with the rest of the New Zealanders when behind in the UAE and England.

Mitchell Marsh has been in difficult positions before in Test cricket. He will be again at some point, positions that parallel the predicaments Craig faced at Brisbane and Perth.

He’ll be there by a mixture of Australian batsmen, opposition bowlers and fielders and pitches, either actually Australian or formerly Australian, or pitches that are in another country.

Of course, the timing is not yet known. Will it be in Adelaide? Will it be the comeback that the 2013 English team were supposed to pull off?

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After all, Mitchell Johnson was a primary reason that comeback never eventuated. There were others. England’s fielding turned to cactus, with the exception of a Graeme Swann beauty to dismiss George Bailey.

One of the hardest things to do in cricket is to keep fielding standards up during long hours in the field. I’ve watched New Zealand in the field carefully this series. They’ve stayed up virtually the whole time, minus a couple of fumbles from BJ Watling.

Every time there’s been an errant throw, I’ve perked up; waiting to see if that was the moment that it started New Zealand’s complete disintegration.

But they haven’t given up. The dives continued. The throwing standard went back to normal. Catches, on the rare occasions they have been provided, have been taken. New Zealand has been by far the better team in the field.

By contrast, Australia’s inexperience has best been shown in the field. It takes time to grow a team as a fielding side, to build skills up in specific positions such as short-leg.

Ross Taylor was dropped at Perth. It was too late to prevent a century, but it would have prevented 290 and that Mitchell Starc spell was Australia’s last real chance of victory.

If one were asked to predict which team will drop a match-defining catch in Adelaide, one could only say Australia.

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But another thing has changed between Perth and Adelaide. Johnson’s retirement weakens Australia. That English side had faced bad Johnson with all the certainty in the world. They generally faced the good version in 2013-14 with all the confidence of batsmen whose only defence was the irreparably broken USB that contained the way on how to play him.

Johnson had passed his prime. But he will go down as someone who fought back from his biggest lows. New Zealand’s batsmen might have been confident against him at Adelaide, but they would have respected him. Extra grass on the pitch might have sparked him up, though that will never be known.

His immediate replacement will most likely be Peter Siddle. A bowler worthy of any Test batsman’s respect, but without the fear factor that defined Johnson.

Siddle will be playing his second Test this year, if he plays. If he plays. It would only be natural for him to feel insecure.

Insecurity is a doubled edged sword as a motivator of cricketers. It could bring out the best in Siddle, as it did at The Oval, or the worst. He could be let down by his fellow bowlers, or his fielders. He could come off second-best against one of New Zealand’s undoubtedly Test-class batsmen.

Like Marsh, Siddle has faced difficult positions before. He’s succeeded on many occasions. He’ll face difficult positions again.

The first Australia has been shown so far this summer – the one that is comfortable at home, been able to expose the opposition’s shortcomings. But the last Ashes prove there is a second Australia.

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While Australia will be playing at home in Adelaide, there is the difference of it being the first day-night Test, plus slow but sure signs of New Zealand worming their way into the series.

New Zealand hasn’t gone through Australia’s batting line-up yet. But their last effort, the second innings at Perth, is their best to date. Australia’s capacity to bat and bat and bat is tested through Usman Khawaja’s injury. Shaun Marsh can also bat and bat and bat, but he’s entering last chance saloon and fans who will give almost as less rope as what Adam Voges will receive when he goes through a rough trot because of his age.

New Zealand squared series in the UAE and England through last-Test comebacks.

And they will know this. Australia’s batsmen are capable enough to bat, and bat, and bat on flat pitches.

But two Tests may have been long enough for New Zealand’s bowlers to find something approaching their best. And their best is enough to stop Australia from batting, and batting, and batting until Steve Smith ends the pain.

Enough to expose the second Australia. Enough to square the series.

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