Reflections on a long summer of cricket

Australia ended the summer of cricket in a remarkably positive situation, given the depths it seemed we would be languishing after the Hobart defeat.

Pakistan on flat decks at home was a confidence redeemer and a good way to blood the new talent before the series in India.

A brief note on the pitches: I don’t know how many would agree, given the blow-up that seems to occur every time a pitch turns, but I was a big fan of the decks rolled out in India and far preferred them to the highways we have seen at home the last few seasons – with Hobart’s assistance to seamers generally the exception.

Even the minefield in Pune made for a deeper and more engaging contest than watching David Warner flog a hapless Pakistan attack for a ton before lunch (as viscerally appealing as that was to the fanatical Australia fan that I am).

The pitches produced in India helped to make the series the fantastic spectacle that it was, and Test match batting shouldn’t be easy, with Steve Smith showing that making hundreds on decks like that isn’t impossible.

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As a diehard fan (maybe the only one left in the country or the only one there ever was), this is hard to say, but the Mitch Marsh experiment looks to have come to a close. The two sizzling drives he played in his second innings 13 at Bengaluru oozed class and showed he can be an imperious striker when he’s on, but he can’t seem to string together a modicum of consistency.

Maybe he needs to be honest with himself and plan a career as a white-ball specialist for the time being, as he is a more-than-handy asset in the short formats. He should spend the next Shield season attempting to rebuild his red ball CV and working on a tenable gameplan in the long format – see the return of Glenn Maxwell as a blueprint.

Speaking of, was there a more euphoric celebration than the deeply emotional moment Maxwell notched his first Test ton in Ranchi this season. Maxwell fans across the country (and The Roar) were rejoicing and I count myself among that number. Ranchi was admittedly a flat deck, but the composure and control Maxwell was able to provide when the team was slipping demonstrated his ever-growing abilities as a batsman.

His second innings 45 in Dharamsala was also a great knock, although it did end with brain fade to rival Smithy’s.

His livewire fielding is also an asset and it has arrived at a time when Warner’s work is suffering a slight decline. I remember hearing a while back the vice-captain has been suffering shoulder niggles and it does seem to be playing out in his flagging intensity in the field. Anyway, Maxwell should start at six come the Ashes.

Much has been written about the emergence of Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb, suffice to say they have been fantastic additions to the team. While Handscomb frustrated with his many starts and only one score of note, he looked increasingly comfortable against both pace and spin, and it is certainly not unheard of for good batsmen to run into brief lean patches – see Virat Kohli.

Bill Lawry probably thought the emergence of Matt Renshaw was an early birthday present from the cricketing gods. Finally, we have unearthed a player who can bat time without losing an ounce of composure. This may be just as well, as the emergence of Haseeb Hameed in England means we will need an answer when they arrive next summer.

Renshaw plays and misses at more balls than Mitch Marsh faces in a season but it never seems to affect his play. He just wears that mad grin and gets straight back to business. After some commentators (looking at Channel Nine here) derided him for his slow scoring rate in his first two matches, Renshaw started to unfurl some of his shots. It is clear he has the ability to play them, it’s just that he was also blessed with the knowledge of when to play them, unlike some of his more senior teammates recently.

The return of Pat Cummins exceeded just about every expectation I had for him, and he came through the massive workload unscathed. When Mitchell Starc returns from injury this winter, Australia will have a pace battery close to unmatched in world cricket.

Starc, Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson and the as-yet unlucky Chadd Sayers in reserve is an attack that has the potential to deliver a similar, brutal result as the last time England landed on our shores. With Nathan Lyon and Steve O’Keefe providing more-than-able spin support, Australia’s bowling attack looks formidable for the home Ashes series.

Matt Wade performed better than I anticipated in India. He had one costly drop, but all in all his keeping was solid and he showed some fight with the bat. However, Peter Nevill averaged 56.8 in the Shield this season, and his keeping is better than Wade’s. I would return Nevill to the line-up for the Ashes and also keep an eye on the impressive Alex Carey of South Australia, who broke the record for most dismissals in the Shield final and can bat too.

The final point I would like to make is that Australia can afford to drop their obsession with a pace bowling allrounder at six. Maxwell should be as economical as Mitch Marsh, if not as penetrative, but the return of four pure strike bowlers to full fitness next year (touch wood) should discount the need for so many overs from an allrounder.

Besides, Warner’s mediums, used in a similar vein to that of how Mike Hussey was used by Michael Clarke, in tandem with Maxwell’s offies and the odd over from Smith himself should provide sufficient rest for the frontline bowlers – it is just that Smith seems so reluctant to use these options.

These are just some personal reflections on the season gone by, thankfully the IPL starts next week and is closely followed by the Champions trophy, so my insatiable appetite for cricket should be well quenched.