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With all interest gone from the Test series against the West Indies, attention is turning to the upcoming Test tour of New Zealand. Of particular interest will be Australia’s choice of pacemen on likely English-style slow, seaming pitches.
Under the guidance of coach Darren Lehmann, Australia famously have adopted a speed-first policy when picking their quicks. Lehmann has seen on consecutive Ashes tours, however, that pace is not a significant attribute on slower decks.
Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson all bowled with hurrying speed at times over the past two series in England. Yet none of them were as consistently effective in the English conditions as slower, more accurate types like Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Peter Siddle.
For their two Tests in New Zealand, Australia can expect slow, seaming surfaces similar to those on which they floundered in this year’s Ashes.
Like most international teams, the Kiwis aren’t afraid to tailor their pitches to suit the home side, and no style of pitch would give them a greater advantage than a sluggish, green track.
Not only would such a surface reduce the value of the Australian attack’s extra pace, it could potentially expose once more the poor defensive techniques of the visiting batsmen.
In the recent three-Test series in Australia, it wasn’t until the third Test that New Zealand’s bowlers had any success against the Australian batsmen.
Not surprisingly, it was an English-style seaming deck at Adelaide Oval which rejuvenated the Kiwi quicks, Trent Boult in particular.
A masterful and typically laser-accurate swing bowler, Boult is a terrifying prospect in such conditions. Across his 18 Tests in England and New Zealand, Boult has snared 83 wickets at 24, including four five-wicket hauls.
If the bright-green pitch served up in this week’s second Test against New Zealand is any indication, Australia will face demanding conditions in February.
These expected conditions probably won’t affect the selection of the Australian batting order for that series, but it may – and should – have an influence on the pacemen they select.
Australia will be without in-form strike bowler Mitchell Starc, while the retired Johnson won’t be present either. However the latter’s absence has paved the way for the return of Siddle, who was so effective on a slow, seaming deck at The Oval in August, taking 6-67 from 37 overs.
Siddle’s loss of pace has robbed him of penetration, making him an average-at-best option in many conditions these days.
But he is exactly the sort of accurate, frugal medium pacer who thrives in English county cricket on green decks, so he is an automatic choice should the pitches in New Zealand be seamers as expected.
Josh Hazlewood will enter the tour as Australia’s key bowler and is perfectly suited to such conditions. He may have lost his radar with the Dukes ball in England, but has since returned to his reliable best.
With Siddle and Hazlewood appearing to be certainties, the question is whether Australia’s third pacemen also should be a horses-for-courses selection.
Should Australia select an English-style swing bowler such as Jackson Bird or Chadd Sayers? Or should they complement the dependability of Siddle and Hazlewood with a more cutting edge like James Pattinson or Nathan Coulter-Nile?
I have not agreed with the Australian selectors’ focus on speed. In this case though, it seems Pattinson or Coulter-Nile would add welcome variety to a pace attack that would include Hazlewood, Siddle and Mitch Marsh, all of whom operate mostly in the 128-135 kilometre-per-hour zone.
The next round of the Sheffield Shield does not start until February 3, just nine days before the first Test in Wellington, so there will be no more opportunities for domestic bowlers to impress with the red ball before Australia’s Test squad for the tour is picked.
The expected seaming tracks in New Zealand may well lengthen Siddle’s Test career.