Due congratulations to Ashton Agar for his extraordinary debut with the bat. He is now the proud record holder of the highest ever score by a number 11 batsman.
Agar showed composure, technique and a lack of nerve in what was a fairytale beginning to what is hopefully a long, fruitful and enjoyable career in the baggy green.
In many ways it reminded one of the excitement and energy that was David Warner’s T20 debut when he was busy flat-bat pulling Dale Steyn – of all bowlers – over long-on for six.
Interestingly, it seemed to take Warner (and the cricketing public) a few years to move on from the shadow of that extraordinary start to his Australian career. Let’s hope that Agar’s heroics don’t cast a shadow over what should be a fine career.
However, let’s face it, he will ultimately have to earn his stripes as a bowler, albeit one who is a handy lower order batsman. We need to show patience, he may well take a number of years to mature as a bowler.
However, the performance of Phil Hughes was more significant. With his unorthodox attacking style and a track record of difficulties playing defence around off stump, his career has been stop-start with a mixture of brilliant and not so brilliant innings for Australia.
A little bit like Warner, you get the feeling watching Hughes open that he looked likely to get out cheaply behind the stumps. While they could sometimes deliver Australia fast and aggressive starts, too often early wickets would fall. All in all, maybe Australia needed more compact and robust openers.
So, we were left to wonder where Darren Lehmann would play Hughes. Number three was a possibility as he had played there is the past few series. By default or plan he came in at number six, which at first thought seemed a little like, “well we have got to have six batsman, so why not Phil at 6?”
However, the longer one watched Hughes bat, the more it made sense. Hughes seemed to be more at ease away from the chaos that comes with opening.
Hughes seemed composed, more resolute in defence and his experience facing the new ball, and what it usually did, seemed to provide him with an advantage down the order with a ball and conditions more to his likely. It was like the overload principle of opening worked in his favour.
While it is too early to tell, and we the cricketing public have a tendency to judge based on minimal input, it was different side of Hughes; one which we may not seem used to, but definitely grow to like if he can produce the goods more regularly at number six.
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