Australia will head into their traditional festive fixture at the MCG in pretty good spirits.
Having made short work of Pakistan and following this up with a resounding series-opening defeat of New Zealand in Perth, the Aussies have worked up a head of steam and they will quite rightly be placed at short odds to extent their run of victories.
Putting up hefty totals on a regular basis and having a bowling attack that consistently holds sway is a more or less foolproof way of winning cricket matches, with the proof being in the pudding and all that.
England, in contrast, could well be slightly unsure of themselves as their tricky-looking series in South Africa gets underway at Centurion’s Supersport Park on the same day.
Their form over the past month or so has been indifferent, with a series defeat in New Zealand exposing the all-too-familiar Achilles heel of taking wickets abroad.
And while the batting hasn’t been too bad, it definitely needs to go up a notch if the shortcomings elsewhere are to be negated.
In a reflection of their respective teams’ varying form and fortune, the output of the men at first drop – Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne and his English counterpart Joe Denly – provides a neat point of focus.
The former, adding to his solid displays from the recent Ashes, has been in outrageously good touch. Labuschagne’s 542 runs in four goes with three centuries is Bradmanesque, or Smithesque if you’d rather a current comparison. And if Usman Khawaja wasn’t fearing for his future as a Test batsman before, he should be now.
The way Labuschagne goes about his business is obviously well-suited to the longer format and when you add together all the ingredients – the sound method, the unflustered demeanour, the willingness and ability to concentrate for long periods – you end up with a very good Test batsman.
(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
I’ll admit to not having seen or heard much of the Queenslander prior to his appearance as Steve Smith’s concussion replacement at Lord’s but the reports of his performances for Glamorgan in the County Championship in the first half of the season had been positive and the powers that be must have known something.
The extent to which he has built on a handful of decent efforts in England to produce such stellar performances back on home soil may well have caught many by surprise but there are occasions where the right circumstances meet the right person and this is a prime example.
If Labuschagne’s march up the world rankings has coincided with his team’s strong run of form, Denly’s showings have – by their inconsistent nature – reflected those of his.
It hasn’t helped that he has had a whistle-stop tour of the top four spots in the order but it is the inconsistency that stands out.
There have been some high points – a career-best 94 at the Oval, a good half-century before Ben Stokes stole the show at Headingley, 70-odd in the defeat in Tauranga – but a few too many of the low variety, which is reflected in an average of 30 and the sense that the answer to ‘who should bat at number three?’ lays elsewhere.
This may be viewed as being a fraction harsh – after all, as with the opening positions, England isn’t blessed with a raft of outstanding candidates. But if the aim is to improve England’s standing in Test cricket, then more is needed.
Denly hasn’t done a particularly poor job and there have certainly been glimpses of a very good player who has played better than many would’ve expected. But while big hundreds from your top order win matches, respectable scores here and there rarely do.
So as the turn of the year prepares to present itself and the days are ticked off before the attention turns to the Ashes all over again (if it has ever actually stopped), Australia seemingly have a number three who is bedding in for the long haul while England remain in the hunt for their equivalent.
On a seasonal note, happy Christmas and best wishes for 2020.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Correct, just under 38. Mark Taylor also 37. In fact only Stackpole (32), Jack Fingleton (36) and arguably Geoff Marsh (36) had lower pre Test FC averages among players who went on to have sustained and successful Test careers. Stackpole was picked first like Smith as an allrounder spinner batting eighth. With Ian Chappell at 7!
Bunney
Roar Rookie
Michael Clarke's FC AVG was about 37 when he made his test debut, if my memory serves me correctly.
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Had made up my mind to make this comment as I read the article. Labu was the product of some outstanding talent spotting by our selectors early in what could be a long and distinguished career. Denly is now what he has time to be. He’s not going to suddenly turn from a 10 year FC guy with an OK to good record into a run scoring machine at the elite level. And as for England away, it’s hard to hear but the elite quick of the team isn’t much chop away from home. He has become better as he has aged but his first couple of Australian tours he looked like a guy who would have struggled to nail down a spot with a Shield side. They seem surprised when conditions don’t mean they grab bagfuls at every start and, Swann aside, we haven’t seen an English spinner worth feeding in 30 years. Denly making runs matters but there are bigger problems
Derek Murray
Roar Rookie
Given he landed in Oz before high school you’re going to want a large and imaginative crew of scouts to check them all.
jameswm
Roar Guru
I’ve been saying that for 10 years. Most batsmen are too side on.
Insult_2_Injury
Roar Rookie
First class cricketers also played a lot more 4 day in days of yore, too Dave, so could build week on week. Now they are chopping and changing with slogball being the preferred entry to International careers. I think we’ll be expected to put more faith in the selectors ability to target young players potential and see them develop ‘on the job’ from a low base, rather than a Mark Waugh banging the door down.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Marnus has done or is doing two things which are unprecedented in the last hundred years of Test cricket. 1. He is the first Australian ever to score 140-plus in three consecutive innings. 2. No other Australian has come into the team and forged a moderately successful Test career on the back of such a low first class average - 33 - when starting his Test career. The only other one under 37 was Keith Stackpole. Of course Marnus has a long way to go yet, but few others have had such a successful first ten Tests. I guess the reason few others succeeded with such a low FC average is because that in the past 33 was way too low to be considered good enough to make it in the Test team. The good Shield players were in the mid-40s and above. Shield averages have been lower recently, but it took a bit of inspired selection or dumb luck to get him in the team - though the stint at Glamorgan saw him jump to a whole new level of first class performance.
Paul
Roar Guru
I don't think Denly was ever going to be the answer to England's issues at number 3. First of all, the guy's 33 ( soon to be 34), so has at best 3 or 4 years at the top level. He's of an age where it would be difficult to make changes to a technique he's used for over 200 first class games, where he has an average of 36.64. Labuschagne is 25, so is still young enough to make changes to his technique, which he obviously did successfully this year. Combine that with a first class average of 53.64 and we're really talking chalk & cheese when it comes to a comparison between the two players. In racing parlance for Denly it would be "others preferred". Sadly England hasn't got a whole lot of "others" to choose from. Best wishes for Christmas and the New Year, Alec. Have thoroughly enjoyed your pieces.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
It sounds like a slight technical change has been the 'click'. I saw an interview he did with Trent Copeland and he they did some analysis of his technique last summer to this summer. Main difference point being, he seems to have opened up his stance a bit more. It was pretty good interview to see just how such a small veriance changes things
Steele
Roar Rookie
Just send a few scouts over to South Africa. The next KP might be around the corner! Marnus is working out alright for us.....
jamesb
Roar Guru
Something has clicked for Labuschagne when he was at Glamorgan. He was scoring runs for his county side and he hasn't looked back.