In recent days, two Australian fast bowlers were heard predicting that fast bowling will play a big part in shaping the result of the coming Australian tour of India.
Peter Siddle, Australia’s most experienced pacer had this to offer in a recent interview: “the way we’ve won Test matches for years now has been with our pace and I think that is going to play a big role”.
A few days later it was James Pattinson’s turn to venture his forecast. Rejoicing in the absence of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the fast bowler nevertheless accepted that the current batting line-up was not bereft of “class”.
He would go after them, he promised, with pace and bounce, and was hopeful he would also be able to employ reverse swing. Hopefully he is aware that conditions in Australia and India are as different as night and day.
Of course, being fast bowlers, it is natural that both men would be resistant to the thought that they may not be hugely effective in a series likely to be contested on tracks not particularly friendly to their trade.
Furthermore, since pace will necessarily be Australia’s chief weapon against India, accepting that it will not be central to the outcome of the tour is almost to surrender before a ball is bowled. A lack of confidence when embarking on a mission means failure is the much easier and more likely option.
Australia’s chances of success in India are inextricably linked to the efficacy of their fast bowling. Whatever combination is chosen from Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson, Jackson Bird and Robert Pattinson will need to consistently dismiss India cheaply if the tourists are to be in with a chance.
Cheaply because it is very unlikely an inexperienced Australian batting line-up, not known for their expertise against the turning ball, will be able to rack up good scores with any regularity.
Australia’s main weakness — which will surely prove debilitating — is that they will arrive ill equipped to do the job required.
To use an absurd example, it is much like digging a ditch with a spoon instead of a shovel. The spoon might get it done eventually but the shovel is much better suited to the task and eats up a lot less time.
Unlike England, who were staffed with two high quality slow bowlers, Australia has Nathan Lyon and Xavier Doherty as their main slow men — quite a few rungs below Graham Swann and Monty Panesar.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha were upstaged by their English counterparts last series. They should have things pretty much their own way this time.
Not that seam and swing will be totally redundant. Fast bowling could well have some influence on the outcome of the series. It is possible that Starc and Johnson could be blessed by conditions that enable them to hoop it round corners and knock over the hosts for very little enough times for the tourists to win.
But it is unlikely, given recent history, that that proposition will be a threat throughout, and for all Jimmy Anderson’s skill as a swing bowler, he only made a telling impact at Kolkata during the England visit.
Of the 110 wickets that were collected by bowlers in the tests against England, only 28 were uprooted by pacers. And while spin may not be as dominant this time round, it is still likely to grab the lion’s share of the wickets to tumble.
With the 4-0 drubbing they received on their last visit down under still fairly fresh in their minds, Dhoni and his men will naturally be seeking to repay the Aussies in kind.
To expect the Tests to be contested on anything other than turning wickets, which would give a distinct advantage to the home team, would be to push the bounds of charity and sportsmanship a bit too far.
Talk all you want about the long-term benefit to India of sporting surfaces — and there are good arguments to be made in support — they want to win now, and turners afford them the best opportunity.
Questions will get answered on and after February 22nd when hostilities begin. England was able to beat India at their own game in their own home. Australia will have a much more difficult time.
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