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It’s been well established through countless recent failures on the subcontinent, and more recently in the 2-1 Test defeat to South Africa, that Australia’s batsmen have become flat-track bullies.
Indomitable in perfect batting conditions, yet impotent if there’s so much as a hint of swing, seam or spin on display.
Less profound is the impact our bowlers are having in conditions that are supposed to be ideally suited to their individual strengths. But it’s becoming clearer and clearer.
It seems unthinkable that a bowler could be referred to as a flat-track bully: after all, pitches offering no life or lateral movement are hardly conducive to wicket-taking. But look at Australia’s bowling records across all formats in recent times, and it’s a theory that appears to have merit.
Across the 2014-15 and 2015-16 summers, Australia went undefeated in Tests at home and in similar conditions in New Zealand, winning 2-0 in series against India, New Zealand, the West Indies and the Kiwis again.
In ten of the 12 Tests played, Australia racked up over 500 in the first innings, the only exceptions being the almost-washed-out Sydney Test of 2016 and the inaugural day-night Test of 2015. In only one of those same ten Tests did the opposition gain a first innings advantage – New Zealand on a gun-barrel straight WACA strip late last year.
With the increased instance of flat pitches in Australia, both in international and state cricket, our bowlers have become accustomed to dealing with the same. They’ve become adept at it. Mitchell Starc’s raw pace has been able to jag through opposition batsmen on even the most docile of wickets, while Josh Hazlewood’s unerring accuracy has led countless batsmen unstuck. Even Nathan Lyon had, in that time period, always been able to chip in with a handy wicket or two.
In ODI cricket too, excluding the 5-0 annihilation in South Africa where neither Starc nor Hazlewood played, Australia have become flat-track masters. It was on display throughout the 2015 World Cup, where only once did Australia allow an opponent to rack up more than 300 (against Sri Lanka, Xavier Doherty’s only match of that World Cup), and it’s been on display in our two recent matches against New Zealand. On wickets that have allowed Australia to post monolithic scores, our bowlers have always prevented the opposition dining out on the same riches available.
Yet in conditions that have offered something to the bowlers, such as in England last year, Sri Lanka this year or even in the Tests against South Africa, our bowlers have been outplayed.
In Sri Lanka, Nathan Lyon looked second-rate next to Rangana Herath and Co., even in conditions supposedly favourable towards spin bowling.
In the 2015 Ashes, England were able to rack up scores of 281 and 391 on pitches Australia’s inept batsmen could only manage 136 and 60. Starc was too loose, Hazlewood too full, and while each was able to pick up wickets, the prevailing conditions and the nature of the pitch should have yielded greater rewards.
And in our recent series against South Africa, most notably in Hobart, the Proteas managed a first innings score of 326, on the same wicket that the Aussies could only manage 85.
Of course, most of the blame in each of these cases should be heaped on the batsmen. But if a team can be wrapped up for under 150 on so many occasions, chances are the pitch is doing something for the bowlers. And at the moment, our attack seems unable to take advantage.
Perhaps it’s too many lifeless pitches in the Shield. Perhaps it’s the influx of ODI and Twenty20 cricket, where flat tracks are the norm. But for whatever reason, our bowlers have become masters of dead wickets, and fail to capitalise like their rival attacks when a bit of life seeps through.
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