Australia staring at big loss in Abu Dhabi

Australia’s batting struggles against Pakistan has drawn attention away from the poor performance of the tourists’ bowling attack in the UAE.

Pakistan yesterday flayed the Aussie bowlers to cruise to 9-400 declared in their second innings, setting Australia a monster target of 538 to win.

There has been a justifiably-heavy focus on the floundering Marsh brothers, who incredibly have contributed just 39 runs at an average of 5.6 in this Test series.

This has distracted from the fact that, with the ball, only number one spinner Nathan Lyon and part-time leggie Marnus Labuschagne have been effective.

Collectively, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Jon Holland have taken 11 wickets at 59. While Starc and Siddle have been economical, going at only 2.88 and 2.62 runs per over respectively, they have lacked penetration.

Holland, meanwhile, has looked out of his depth at Test level, just as he did in his debut Test series in Sri Lanka two years ago.

He has been categorically outbowled by Labuschagne who, prior to this series, had taken just 12 wickets from 36 first-class matches.

If Holland’s raw figures of 4-300 this series aren’t ugly enough then compare his shocking economy rate of 3.84rpo with Lyon’s figure of 2.60.

Four matches into his Test career, Holland owns the dreadful record of 9 wickets at 64. Quite simply, the Victorian does not look capable of making the leap to Test cricket.

At 31 years old he is in the prime of his career and has been picked while in sparkling form in first-class cricket.

But it just ain’t happening for Holland. Even in this match, on a pitch offering generous turn, he has been toothless.

I think this is the last we will see of him at Test level. Lyon is ensconced as Australia’s lead spinner and they likely won’t look to play two spinners again until their next tour of Asia in 2020.

In Bangladesh last year, fellow left armer Ashton Agar bowled much better than Holland has in either the UAE or Sri Lanka.

Agar also has the major advantages of being a far superior batsman, a better fieldsman and six years younger.

Then again, many of us did not expect to see 33-year-old Peter Siddle representing Australia once more after his two years in the wilderness.

The veteran seamer was a shock pick for this series, beating out the likes of Jackson Bird, Chris Tremain and Chadd Sayers.

Upon announcing the squad for this series, Australian chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns said Siddle was picked because of his experience and his ability to “bowl the type of long, tight spells which may be required in the conditions we expect to face.”

Siddle has certainly been tidy but he’s also gone wicketless in Pakistan’s last three innings and has generally looked unthreatening.

(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)

The question now is whether the selectors saw him purely as a horses-for-courses pick for this series or whether he has leapt ahead of Bird, Sayers and Tremain in the pace pecking order.

Tremain was particularly unlucky to be overlooked in favour of Siddle considering he dramatically outperformed his Victorian teammate last Sheffield Shield season, taking 51 wickets at 21, compared to Siddle’s haul of 24 wickets at 40.

Siddle remains a great option for next year’s Ashes due to his skill and experience with the Dukes ball.

But in the meantime Test opportunities should instead be offered to the likes of Tremain, who has made a stunning start to the Shield season with eight wickets so far in the ongoing match against WA.

Australia know what they will get from Siddle, which makes him the perfect bowler to keep on the sidelines right until the moment he is most needed. That moment is still some nine months away when the Ashes starts at Edgbaston.

If Siddle is still in form at that stage then he should be in Australia’s starting XI alongside two of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

Until then, however, he should ply his trade in the Shield as Australia try to build their pace depth by giving Tests to younger quicks.

Given the fragility of Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, and Australia’s desire to keep them fit for the World Cup in June and the Ashes thereafter, there is no chance that trio will play all six home Tests this summer.

Cummins, in particular, has been badly missed in this series in the UAE. He showed in India and Bangladesh last year that he has the rare ability to take the pitch out of the equation and remain effective even on low, slow surfaces.

Starc, too, has done this in the past but right now he is far from his best. The tall left armer has not looked the same since missing the Boxing Day Test against England last year with a bruised heel.

In his six Tests since suffering that injury Starc has taken just 19 wickets at 37. Australia need him to regain touch in time to tackle India, who batted well on their last tour of Australia.

It’s too late for Starc to have any significant impact on this current series, it’s now up to the Australian batsmen to make Pakistan work hard for their inevitable victory.