Australian quick Mitchell Starc, according to many cricket fans, relies too heavily on taking tail end wickets. While that’s false, there’s no doubt Australia yesterday badly missed Starc’s ability to demolish lower orders.
As Starc ran rampant across the first three Tests, grabbing 19 wickets, many observers devalued his performance by claiming it was largely the result of bossing England’s tail. In reality, only seven of Starc’s 19 wickets were tail enders, although the left armer does have a unique ability to scythe through lower orders.
That’s because he possesses the two weapons most effective against tail enders – an intimidating bouncer and a searing yorker.
That’s not to suggest line and length bowling doesn’t work against lower order batsmen. But if you did a poll I think you’d find most international tail enders would say they would far rather face a delivery aimed at the top of off stump rather than one scorching towards their toes or heads.
England’s tail has troubled many teams in recent years but has continually been bulldozed by Australia this series, thanks to a barrage of short balls, and Starc’s prowess. Until yesterday, that is.
With former England skipper Alastair Cook constructing a batting masterpiece, Australia needed to concentrate on dislodging his partners.
This went swimmingly as they dismissed Joe Root (61), Dawid Malan (14), Jonny Bairstow (22) and Moeen Ali (26) in the space of 90 minutes. With England 6-307, still trailing by 20 runs, Australia were perfectly placed to crush their tail once more and limit them to either no lead or at worst a small one.
After harassing Chris Woakes with well-directed bouncers early in his innings, Australia abandoned this tactic. Woakes immediately looked more comfortable and frustrated the hosts for 21 overs as he contributed 26 runs to an invaluable stand of 59 with Cook.
After Woakes, Tom Curran came and went swiftly, and then Australia once more set about bullying Stuart Broad.
The tail ender had made just 45 runs from six innings in this series, routinely falling victim to the short ball. History looked set to repeat itself yesterday as Australia buffeted Broad with bouncers, leaving him ducking, weaving and fending the ball in the air just shy of fieldsmen.
He moved to 13 from 25 balls, with eight of those runs coming from edges which ballooned over the wicketkeeper and slips cordon. Broad was a dead man walking and had the meek body language to match. Then, all of a sudden, Australia ditched the short stuff and started bowling length deliveries at Broad.
While the Englishman is no longer a fine lower order batsman, he’s still a big man capable of swinging hard. Anyone who’s watched Broad bat in the past two years, during his major decline as a strokemaker, knows he’s only dangerous when the ball is pitched up.
And so it was as Broad began heaving these friendlier offerings to scattered parts of the MCG. He scored his final 43 runs from just 38 balls. In the process, he and Cook brought up a 100-run stand which almost batted Australia out of this Test.
From 6-307, when Moeen was dismissed, Australia had allowed England’s lower order to partner with Cook in dragging the tourists to 9-491 at stumps.
It will take something truly extraordinary from here for Australia to win this Test. An individual performance, with bat or ball, almost as commanding as Cook’s epic 244no will be required. Realistically, though, Australia’s best hope is to force a draw.
In playing one of the best – not most important, but best – Test knocks by a visiting batsman of the past decade, Cook has all but ensured England won’t lose this series 5-0.
Now it’s up to his bowling comrades to tear into Australia tomorrow and convert his dominance into a rousing victory.
DavSA
Guest
The pitch at St Georges for the Zimbabwe game did plenty .
Alexander Clough
Roar Pro
He does, he said so himself that he's disappointed he couldn't have performed like this when the series was on the line. Doesn't mean it wasn't a terrific innings.
maverick
Roar Rookie
@Marsall,you can add Tremain in that list too
Bearfax
Roar Guru
Certainly, Steele, it was a significant loss to be without Stark. I think having Cummins struggling in England's first innings with a bug also contributed. All I was trying to get across though is that eventually Cook and Root were going to fire. They are world class batsmen. Whether Starks inclusion would have stopped their assault is conjectural, given the test averaging of these two batsmen. Certainly Stark's inclusion would have made it tougher, but Cummins and Hazlewood are also major components of the Australian team, and Bird has been in hot form for Tasmania this year. I suspect even with Stark, Cook and Root were going to show their talent at some stage.
Bearfax
Roar Guru
Amen to that Colin
ColinP
Guest
I'm embarrassed for you.....I lived in the states and Canada for a while and the realisation of Americans that they had been blinkered by US media coverage when they moved out of the country (I.e. To Canada) was always a wonder to me. Couldn't help thinking the same when visiting Australia this year....reminded me of England in the 1980s....stop believing everything you hear and read from a biased media
ColinP
Guest
Except nudge in the comment directly above yours
Bakkies
Guest
With de Villiers, Steyn and Amla in their mid 30s it is likely to be their last chance of winning a series against Australia at home. The pitch for the second test at Port Elizabeth will probably do a bit. No test is at Centurion.
Johnno
Guest
To be fair it's a flat pitch as well, Glen Mcgrath didn't do much on flat decks either..
Johnno
Guest
Aussies didn't cope that well when glen Mcgrath was out either. They coped fine with out Shane Warne as Mcgill and Colin Miller did excellent jobs.
fp11
Guest
Jackson Bird should not play Test cricket again!
1st&10
Guest
Bird IS NOT the WORD!!!
Zenn
Roar Rookie
Thanks Ronan, you convinced me elsewhere that perhaps Tremain is a better selection. I guess the only similar bowler to Mitch Starc is Mitch Johnson.
Big Daddy
Guest
Remember we have MM the next greatest allrounder for the next 10 years.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I expect South African Cricket will have more faith in their batting than CA has in ours. I expect to see pitches with some green grass on it for the series in South Africa.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
Bird seems a suitable replacement for Hazlewood but not for Starc or Cummins.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
That chance with keeper and slip much closer than at other grounds wasn't easy but any good keeper takes the catches that go his side of first slip. It wasn't Smith's catch but better him dive for it than nobody. The other two chances he missed, I can' t defend.They should have been caught.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
I was thinking the same thing. Jimmy says alot but he was spot on this time. Without Starc, our attack looked impotent. More slips on the increasingly low MCG wicket doesn't work. They can't stand close enough to react fast enough to take the chances. Shield games at the MCG have shown that all summer. Spinners get no assistance on day 4. Pace bowlers have to bowl stump to stump and wait for a mistake or bowl wide and try to bore the batsmen out. Its a great advertisement for the BBL
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
On this uninspiring MCG pitch, those tactics were quite successful. Far more successful than any of Smith's plans. Root does seem to have a 'quick to defend' mindset but on some wickets even that can work. This test pitch has been very ordinary and is not worthy of a Boxing Day Test. We know drop in pitches won't break up like traditional pitches so FFS get some green grass on the strip for the first morning. Not this lifeless strip of crap the curator served up this year.
John Erichsen
Roar Guru
The loss of pace from the injured Starc to Bird was matched only by the lack of variety. Another right arm quick offered us very little that wasn't already there. Perhaps a left arm quick would be better to replace Starc. Do we have any that aren't injured? Could always recall Doug Bollinger as a fill in. He would die trying to have an impact for this team.