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What Australia would give for a top six batsman as reliable as Tim Paine, who yesterday defied a fractured thumb to make 62 and continue his remarkable run of consistency with the blade.
The new Australian captain suffered the injury while keeping up to the stumps to debutant Chadd Sayers on day two of this fourth Test in Johannesburg.
Yesterday Paine showed great courage and determination to bat through the discomfort and guide Australia to 221, which was a reasonable first innings total given they had been 6-96, but still left them with a mammoth 267-run deficit.
Since his surprise return to Tests in November, Paine has only been dismissed for less than 24 three times out of 13 innings. In that time Paine has made 400 runs at 50.
The fact he’s made only two half-centuries during that period, with yesterday’s knock his highest, underscores just how steadily he contributes.
With Australia’s two most prolific runmakers Steve Smith and David Warner banned for the next year, it is unspectacular but consistent batsmen such as Paine they will need most.
The reality is Australia now have a chronic lack of genuine quality in their batting lineup – they have not a single world-class batsman.
They have four very good bowlers who will continue to trouble opposition batting units, so what they need from their top six is just to be competitive.
It’s hard to see Australia’s batting lineup dominating again anytime soon, but if they can consistently graft their way to half-decent totals their elite attack will win them some Tests.
Graft is Paine’s specialty. While he’s an elegant batsman with a wide range of strokes he more often than not plays within himself, guarding his wicket fiercely.
Yesterday he found an able ally in competent lower order batsman Pat Cummins, who registered his first Test 50 and built a 99-run stand with Paine.
(Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Gallo Images)
With Australia handing SA a giant lead the hosts could have asked them to follow on. Instead the Proteas chose to bat again due in a large part to an injury to quick Morne Morkel, who suffered a side strain and may not bowl again in this, his final Test.
Australia once more handed the new ball to Sayers but he was dragged and replaced by Nathan Lyon after just one over in which he conceded 11 runs.
Sayers returned to the crease about half an hour later and sent down a second short and expensive spell, going for 11 runs from two overs.
After wheeling down 43 overs in this Test, Sayers has the figures of 2-111. It has been an underwhelming introduction to international cricket for the 30-year-old.
He’s had to wait a long time for this opportunity and, thus far, has looked innocuous. Of course, making a definitive call on a cricketer based on one Test would be folly.
But the issue with Sayers so far is that he hasn’t bowled poorly – he has done pretty much exactly what he does in Sheffield Shield cricket.
Great success at domestic level, however, never guarantees that a cricketer will be able adapt to Tests.
(GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)
Sayers has looked easily the least threatening bowler in this match. At 180cm tall, Sayers is very short compared to the likes of fellow Aussie quicks Mitchell Starc (196cm), Josh Hazlewood (196cm), Pat Cummins (193cm), and Jackson Bird (195cm), all of whom get far more bounce than he.
He also bowls 15kmh to 20kmh slower than Australia’s first-choice pace attack of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins. Sayers has quite often bowled in the 118-123kmh range, a pace which is rarely ever seen from a frontline Test paceman.
Even Vernon Philander, the man with whom Sayers is often compared, has bowled at least 5kmh quicker than the Australian in this Test. With the first two new balls Sayers received he looked presentable, thanks to earning generous swing in both directions.
It is once the ball has weathered, and swing has become scarce, that Sayers has looked short of Test standard.
First impressions count, particularly so when it comes to the Australian selectors, who have made a habit of making hasty calls on new players.
They’re also known to be biased towards genuinely quick bowlers, which is widely considered to be the main reason Sayers took so long to earn an Australian cap.
If one of Australia’s main three quicks are injured next summer, what are the odds the selectors will pick Sayers to bowl at 120kmh on flat home tracks against the Indians? Pretty long, I would guess.
Right now, as harsh as it sounds, Sayers’ prospects of building a significant Test career do not look good.