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Finally, a contest. After two matches which offered minimal intrigue, this first day-night Test is in a fine position after Day 1.
This series had looked set to be a fascinating battle between a rebuilding Australian team and a New Zealand outfit which was settled and laden with talent. What a let down it has been so far, with a lopsided match at the Gabba followed by maybe the most uneventful WACA Test in history.
Many people had feared that the day-night experiment could ruin this series. Now it has the potential to lace it with some belated vibrancy.
While it is far too early to make a judgment on the merits of day-night matches or the pink ball, this was the most engrossing day of Test cricket seen in Australia since Day 5 of last summer’s Adelaide fixture.
The pitch was greener than usual and offered both pacemen and spinners enough assistance to challenge the batsmen. The much-analysed pink ball held up quite well and behaved much the same way as does the red Kookaburra.
There was no outrageous swing, just sufficient to make the likes of Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc a threat with the new ball. It was still moving through the air in the final over of the day too, at 22 overs old, with Tim Southee earning some nice shape, even when bowling from wide on the crease.
Earlier, Australia had bowled better than they have all summer. As I flagged in the lead up to the Test, the retirement of star quick Mitchell Johnson had the potential to be a blessing in disguise due to the lack of balance in the Australian attack when he and Starc played together.
His replacement, veteran seamer Peter Siddle, doesn’t have anywhere near the same pace or penetration as Johnson. The opposite of the wild left armer, though, Siddle is predictable and consistently builds pressure which can be exploited by more dynamic bowlers like Starc.
Yesterday, Siddle and spinner Nathan Lyon showed the value of such accurate, frugal bowling when they reeled in Kiwi prodigy Kane Williamson after he had made another fluent start, cruising to 19 from as many deliveries.
The Australians have struggled to bowl dot balls, let alone maidens, at Williamson this series and as a result he has batted under very little pressure. In the first two Tests he had scored at the swift strike rate of 71 without undue risk.
After cantering to 19 yesterday, Williamson scored just three runs from his next 39 balls. Lyon and Siddle bowled perfectly to a tight field set by skipper Steve Smith and after their suffocating tandem effort was finished Starc entered the attack and dismissed the subdued Williamson.
Since their brilliant efforts on the Test tour of the Caribbean early this year, the Australian attack rarely has operated as a unit. All pulling in the same direction yesterday, they cut through a strong New Zealand batting line-up which had monstered them at the WACA.
It was an impressive showcase of the depth in Australia’s pace ranks. In the space of six months, Australia have lost their two best pacemen of the past five years in Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris.
Most teams would be crippled by such retirements. Imagine how England would fare without Stuart Broad and James Anderson, New Zealand missing Southee and Trent Boult, or South Africa minus Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel.
But that depth looks set to be challenged once more, with Starc’s troublesome ankle finally giving way. He has been delaying what seemed like inevitable surgery, and after breaking down yesterday it looks likely he will undergo that operation now and miss a couple of months of cricket.
That will leave Australia without the three bowlers who looked set to form their first-choice attack in the opening Test of the recent Ashes – Starc, Johnson and Harris. With leading backup quicks James Faulkner, Pat Cummins, Jason Behrendorff and Nathan Coulter-Nile all currently injured, Australia’s pace stocks are limited.
It is just 12 days until the first Test against the West Indies in Hobart. It would seem logical that Siddle, Josh Hazlewood and James Pattinson, who is in the current Test squad, would form their pace attack in that match.
But Hazlewood’s stamina is an issue, so much so that there was talk he would be rested for this Test in Adelaide. It may well be that the only reason he is playing is because, with Johnson’s retirement, the selectors would not have wanted to have to make two changes to the attack.
It seems very unlikely though that Hazlewood will play all three Tests against the West Indies. Ditto for Pattinson, who is just two first-class games back from another major injury and will need to be handled with care.
There is next to no chance that both Hazlewood and Pattinson will be risked in all three Tests against such a weak opponent in the West Indies, who Australia mauled away from home earlier this year.
There will be generous opportunities for a rookie quick to get their chance in the baggy green, making this round of the Sheffield Shield particularly relevant. With leading quicks like Faulkner, Coulter-Nile, Cummins and Behrendorff all injured, we could well see a real bolter running in to the crease against the Windies.
An unexpected Test debut could be on the cards for one of the likes of New South Wales seamer Sean Abbott, or prolific South Australian pair Chadd Sayers and Joe Mennie. Probably the leading contender to act as a backup for Hazlewood, Siddle and Pattinson would be a man who has already had a taste of the top level in Jackson Bird.
After a disappointing two years marred by injury, Bird is back fit and grabbing wickets. With 13 wickets at an average of 27 for Tasmania, he is second on the Shield wicket taking list behind only Mennie. With his consistent outswing, unerring accuracy and lofty height, Bird has impressed in his brief international career, taking 13 wickets at 23 from three Tests.
Just six months ago he was a long way down the pace pecking order. But retirements and injuries are going to offer opportunities for the likes of Bird or perhaps a rookie. It will be yet another test of Australia’s pace depth.