All summer I’ve been asking the question why is Pat Cummins, Australia’s most successful quick, a change bowler?
Having been howled down by countless Roarers, who kept saying change bowling was why Cummins has been so successful, last night he had first use of the shiny, hard new ball and sent the dangerous Rohit Sharma packing in his first over.
Cummins finished with the best figures of 4-29 off nine, with 39 dot balls and the best economy rate of 3.22.
If it hadn’t been for the extraordinary brilliance of man of the match Virat Kohli’s 40th ODI ton, Australia would not have lost by just eight runs.
So Australia is down 2-0 in the five-game series, but this was one that got away.
Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja gave Australia a far better start than usual, with an opening stand of 83, but as is so often the case both were dismissed within six deliveries of each other.
Good to see captain Finch get to 37, even if it took him 53 deliveries. It was also encouraging to see his head over the ball, and not outside it, which closed the gap between bat and pad.
But both Finch and Khawaja were dismissed when they were in control, and that was a waste.
Shaun Marsh hasn’t played for a while, after recovering from a hamstring and being late on tour for the birth of his daughter.
He could be forgiven for that, but why Glenn Maxwell pottered about like an old hen scoring four singles, with 14 dot balls, defies description.
He was the undisputed man of the historic two-match T20 series, but last night Maxwell was on another planet, as were Peter Handscomb and Alex Carey with their dismissals.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Handscomb had a brain fade, striking the ball to backward point, and calling for a run, where bullet-arm Ravi Jadeja was ready to pounce. No Usain Bolt, the inevitable happened and Handscomb was run out for 48 off 59.
Carey wasn’t much better, sweeping across the line when a cover drive was called for – and lost his castle with 22 off 24.
Both were batting with Marcus Stoinis and had they stayed, Australian would have romped in.
Stoinis showed great control in getting to 52 off 65 until he too played across the line instead of hitting straight – and the game was lost.
There was a lot to like about the Australians, but they keep gift-wrapping their wickets away.
Five of the ten Aussie wickets were lost playing across the line instead of the safer way of hitting in the V between mid-off and mid-on.
One run and the odd four would have been more productive than walking back to the shed, shaking the head.
Let’s see if the Australians can learn from their self-imposed mistakes in game three at Ranchi on Friday.
JamesH
Roar Guru
The downside would be that we couldn’t really have two specialist spinners because two of the three bowlers would have to be capable of bowling with the new ball. So you’re probably looking at Cummins, Starc and Zampa, with another 20 overs coming from Maxwell, Stoinis and say, Mitch Marsh (batting at 7/8). I don’t hate that for a place like England, where the pitches will be roads. It does mean, though, that we’re putting all our eggs in the batting basket at a time when our top order hasn’t been particularly strong or fast-scoring. Even with the roads, Australia’s best chance at this world cup might still be to back our bowlers in to make early inroads in most games and keep our opponents to gettable totals.
AREH
Roar Guru
It's so true. However, you can't be picking a captain first, and then the rest of the side. If they need to drop Finch based on form (and I think they should bite the bullet and do so) then you drop him, and select the next best candidate to lead.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I really hope that match is a point of change to get Maxwell bowling more. If Australia can rely on the likes of Maxwell and Stoinis for 10 overs each in a match, then that really enables them to put forward a much more powerful batting lineup. Imagine if they were doing well enough that you considered them good enough to bowl their full 10 overs each time. You suddenly only need 3 specialist bowlers in the team, and maybe one other batting allrounder who can then be the sixth bowler. You then bat down to 8, and possibly with 9-11 something like Cummins, Starc, Zampa, still not being the worst with the bat either. That's how they would have a chance to approach the English style of a long batting lineup where they can just keep hitting for 50 overs.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
I don't even know that those other bowlers necessarily even necessarily swing the new ball more than Cummins, the couple of times recently I've seen Cummins get the ball while it's still swinging and he's bowled beautiful seam-up deliveries, able to point the seam for both inswingers and outswingers nicely. So I think he would actually do really well with a new ball on a regular basis, and I think that if conditions are good for Anderson in England, they will also be good for Cummins. But the comment you make about his ability to still make things happen with the older ball on any surface almost works against him, is probably true. A bowler who can come in and swing it, but doesn't have a lot of other strings to their bow, will get the new ball over Cummins, not necessarily because they'd do better with the new ball, but because Pat is probably going to do better coming on at first change than they will.
David Lord
Expert
JamesH, how do you explain the fact Shane Warne, Brett Lee, and Brendan Julian all agree with me that Pat Cummins should open the bowling?
David Lord
Expert
jameswm, it’s a pity you don’t do your homework before you make ridiculous statements. MS Dhoni has batted five times this summer against the Australians for 51, 55*, 87*, 59*, and a first ball duck. The 51 off 96 balls was a strike rate of just 53.12 at the SCG where he copped plenty for not getting on with it when Australia won by 34 runs. He didn’t make that mistake again. The 55* off 54 with a strike rate of 101.85 in Adelaide led India to six-wicket win. The 87* off 114 with a strike rate of 76.31 at the MCG saw India home by seven wickets. And the 59* off 72 with a strike rate of 81.94 at Hyderabad led India to a six-wicket win. All far better than Glenn Maxwell’s four off 18 with a strike rate of 22.22, the worst strike rate of his entire ODI career among the 75 of 83 times when he’s scored runs. In case you’ve missed the point, the other eight digs were ducks.
Rob
Guest
Have a go at Finch all you wan't about his batting, but as a captain he is very good in setting fields and managing his bowlers.
anon
Roar Pro
Cummins needs to be captain and Finch dropped. Finch's slow 37 where he edged a few doesn't save him after such a poor run of form going back 5 months. A 37, 80, 50, 100 might save him and erase 5 months of total and utter failure. Not a solitary 37. If that's enough to say that a player is one of the 6 batsmen in the country then heaven help us at the World Cup.
Dilip Samuel
Guest
but....give the credit to Aaron Finch for losing it at the toss after winning it. Finch must be kicking himself for not bowling Maxwell in the previous ODI. Overall, I don't see any direction of Aussie cricket with Finch at the helm of affairs!
jameswm
Roar Guru
Too much sense in that response...
jameswm
Roar Guru
He batted exactly like Dhoni does regularly in successful run chases, it's just that he got out before being set, which happens occasionally. Small total, makes sense to tkae less risks early and get your eye in. To most.
Tanmoy K
Guest
At 0/83 in 14.3 overs and not a big total to chase, I thought Australians will win easily, but ....
David Lord
Expert
TJ, it’s not a question of what Glenn Maxwell has done to me, it’s what he’s done to himself. He’s on the outer with the selectors purely due to his strange batting changes that vary between world class, and suburban C grade. There’s no argument that on his day Maxwell can be spectacular, destroying international attacks with disdain. Then there are days like the BBL final, and again last night, when Maxwell’s on another planet altogether. That’s why the selectors don’t trust him, and he has nobody but himself to blame. He’s also one of the greatest fieldsmen cricket has ever seen, but when he’s in the other planet mode he drops sitters. Go figure.
JamesH
Roar Guru
Cummins opened the bowling because we only had two frontline pacemen! I don't think anyone here thinks that, in isolation, Cummins shouldn't bowl with the new ball. It's just that guys like Richardson, Starc, Hazlewood and Behrendorff, who all swing or seam the new cherry more than Cummins, appear to benefit more from the new ball than he does. Cummins strength - his ability to be dangerous with any ball on any surface - means he doesn't need the new ball to be a genuine wicket-taking threat, whereas other bowlers do. Ironically, it's that strength which sees him bowl first change. There's also the fact that his white-ball form was bog-average prior to this tour of India. If he keeps bowling the way he has in these T20Is and ODIs then he can bowl wherever and whenever he wants!
TJ
Guest
David, what did Maxwell do to you?