Australia’s woes against spin resurfaced yesterday as their batsmen fell either playing too negatively or too flamboyantly against Sri Lanka’s tweakers on day two of the first Test.
The tourists ended the rain-shortened day in a fine position, with Sri Lanka 1-6 and trailing by 80 runs. But they would have been disappointed that four of their top six batsmen made good starts only to waste them.
As well as Sri Lanka bowled, the Australians underperformed in making only 203 on a Kandy pitch which is not as difficult for batting as both sides have made it seem.
Captain Steve Smith and wicketkeeper Peter Nevill both lost their wickets playing over-ambitious strokes, with Smith’s dismissal particularly horrendous. Meanwhile, opener Joe Burns and first drop Usman Khawaja both fell into the trap of being too defensive against the Sri Lankan spinners.
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Khawaja has a bad habit of seeking to play spin mostly off the back foot, something he has tried to shed over the past two years by adding the sweep shot to his armoury. He still seems to revert to type under pressure, however. It is possible to play spin predominantly off the back foot on Australian pitches, which offer true bounce.
But such an approach is fraught with danger on the subcontinent, where the path of the ball off the surface is far more difficult to predict. The last time Australia played in Asia, two years ago in the UAE, they got in a frightful mess by playing Pakistan’s spinners from the crease.
Like Khawaja, Burns was very tentative against left armer Rangana Herath, despite the fact the veteran tweaker was barely turning the ball an inch.
Playing in survival mode, Burns instantly handed the ascendancy to Herath. Burns was glued to the crease, a veritable sitting duck.
Smith and Nevill had the right mindset. They sought to put pressure on the spinners and not allow them to dictate terms. The execution of this strategy, though, was abysmal. Wild dismissals against spin are becoming too common for Smith.
Nimble feet and an assertive approach have made him a fine player of slow bowlers. But several times in the past 18 months he has engineered his downfall via hyper-aggression, bordering on disrespect for his spin opponent.
When at his best using his feet, Smith’s sole priority is to get to the pitch of the ball.
Once that has been achieved he plays the delivery on its merits, driving through the infield if that seems appropriate, lofting if he is well in position, or defending if need be.
More recently he has seemed inclined to pre-meditate big shots – before even he leaves the crease he has a boundary in mind. The risk with this mindset is that you may follow through on that planned audacious stroke even if you find yourself in a poor position to do so.
This seems to be what has been happening with Smith, and did again yesterday. Rather than being able to adapt to the delivery once he is out of his crease, and defend if he isn’t to the pitch, his attack-at-all-costs mindset brings him undone.
Herath saw Smith coming and so dragged his delivery shorter and wider. The Australian could have and should have changed tack and looked merely to offer a dead bat. Instead he remained offensive-minded and tried to thrash the ball while horribly out of position. As has happened far too often recently, Smith was stumped in rather embarrassing fashion.
Smith’s positive play is crucial to the balance of the Australian batting order. But he has become almost cartoonish in his belligerence against the tweakers. Smith was fortunate that the middle-to-lower order managed to drag Australia to a significant lead of 86.
His aimless slog had left Australia in a crevasse. And, despite being ahead in the Test, they are far from assured of victory. On a pitch expected to take more and more turn as each day passes, Sri Lanka’s spinners will be an intimidating presence in the fourth innings.
Even a chase of 150 for Australia will not be elementary. Particularly so if their batsmen cannot find that happy middle ground between the excessive caution of Burns and Khawaja, and the cocksure approach of Smith and Nevill.
PeterD
Guest
Had a look at that thread couldn't see any reference to Ronan?
Fox
Roar Guru
Great piece Ronan and I agree with the article. If Sri Lanka get 250 ahead it won't be easy and O'Keefe's injury is not ideal at this point in the game
Joel
Roar Rookie
On the subject of playing first class games etc. it has occurred to me recently that England tend to play spin pretty well, and I suspect it is a lot to do with the amount of sub continent players they have in their county competition. When was the last time an international test standard player played in our shield tournament?
Tana Mir
Roar Rookie
I would throw some facts at you.... but looks like you are a bloke who is not too keen on facts.
Broken-hearted Toy
Guest
It was so early in the day. Why charge down the pitch like that when you are starting your innings again? It looked so awful. He did something similar and similarly unnecessary against Ali at Cardiff if I remember rightly.
mal
Guest
for the last few years, pretty much ...
Tim Holt
Roar Guru
Liam- guilty as charged and you tap into my cricketing mindset. Which is old school and conservative matching my age ( 64 ) I am glad you brought up the name of Cook, who I would never take as a Captain over Smith, but as a batsmen in these circumstances and setting, Cook every time the fact Cook averages 60.86 in Asian conditions seems to support my choice as well
SP
Guest
Well Ronan, you are gaining fame on other cricketing blogs; https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/27/australia-southpaw-spinners-sri-lanka-first-test One insecure pom poster is upset at you. Maybe it's wee Jacki above
Jacko
Guest
Australia will thrash SriLanka and it wont be close.......Forget England and SA, Australia have best attack in the world....Are these your articles in the last few days Ronan?? Thats what we all love about you Ronan ( not ) you are happy to argue that black is white today but of course black is black again tomorrow. And anyone who disagrees must be wrong. Alzheimer's maybe? At least it's "expert" alzheimer's
Ajay
Guest
Yet again Australia have failed on Asian pitches. I wonder how most of the teams consider them no. 1 opponent. Can't play spin, can't play swing and can't play pace either. In short, 'They are flat track medium chucker sloggar'. Surely, Australia can play only one format and they deserve no. 1 in that format I.e. Odis. I do not know where cricket stands with Australia no. 1 test team ;) and Khawaja Australia's no.3, throw spin at him and he's even worst than Lyon. Whoa ! I am smelling another 4-0 next year. :) ;)
Worlds Biggest
Guest
Smith is normally a very good player of spin, surprised to see him get out the way he did. Let's hope the rain stays away today.
Liam
Guest
You are asking Smith, who while not nearly as aggressive a captain as Clarke, is still very much an attacking captain, to play a cricketing style that is completely not his own. Alastair Cook would have done what you're asking Smith to do, but Smith couldn't, can't, and won't. This isn't a slight on him, because he can change his captaincy, but he shouldn't mess with his style as a batsman. The attack the spinner is a mindset as much as anything else, and he failed where, nine times out of ten, he would have hit the ball for runs. Should a batsman put away a shot because there is a small chance he could be dismissed for it, knowing that they play that shot well? It comes down to the player you are, and Smith is not the kind of player to do what you're suggesting. Just as there is a fine line between bravery and foolhardiness, so too is there a line between gritty and just plain negative. And Smith is celebrated for moving his feet to spin. It may get him dismissed occasionally, but he is derided when he gets stumped. Swings and roundabouts.
BurgyGreen
Guest
That's a great comparison.
Nudge
Guest
Sorry bush, Mark Waugh was a bloody good player of spin
Nudge
Guest
Okeeffe man of the match so far. Bowled well and a very gutsy knock. Does all the little things well. Got an extra 7 or 8 runs just running between the wickets. Had a great match so far and looks the goods.
Eski
Guest
I agree West Indies fc cricket is a joke but previously they have been selecting players with very average to terrible fc records meaning their chances in test cricket were none at least the current batch seem to have talent . I went to Sri Lanka recently with a mate and stayed with his family a lot of their reasoning for not going to test match cricket was the ticket prices this appeared to be the main reason for them and their friends rather than lack of interest Sri Lanka have bottomed out considering their retirements I think that's expected but with the talent they have not only with batsmen but in fast bowling I believe the will improve rapidly there face bowling stocks this may increase the interest in this facet of the game face bowling is something they have struggled with for extended periods of time South Africa have so many issues in general not sure what will happen there I think test match ticket prices need to be looked at world wide I believe with competitive matches and reasonable pricing people will return
Pope Paul VII
Guest
spot on Liam, no credit given to Sri bowlers doing well either
jameswm
Roar Guru
It's better than it was 1-2 years ago. Based on the fact you are on these boards, I assume you are more than 1 or 2 years old. So that comment can't be true.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I remember hearing Mark Waugh say he did not rate any finger spinner ever.
Disco Stu
Roar Rookie
Agreed. An easy way to look at it is to double the scores. If this was Brisbane or Adelaide and Australia scored 406 to SL's 234 it would look pretty impressive. This is simply not a high scoring pitch and we almost doubled their score. End of story. On a deteriorating pitch, people now have SL scoring 250+ in the second innings....please.