Under-pressure opener Joe Burns has finished 51 not out in Adelaide, where he copped a blow to the elbow while finding form in the day-night Test.
Joe Burns’ elbow has become the latest injury concern for Australia but the opener was quick to downplay fears he might have suffered serious damage during a confidence-boosting knock.
Burns copped a nasty blow to the arm during his unbeaten half-century at Adelaide Oval, where the batsman returned to form in an eight-wicket win.
The 31-year-old, whose woeful slump had been a talking point for over a month leading up to the first Test, required treatment late in Saturday’s opening session after being hit by a ball from Jasprit Bumrah.
Burns continued to bat, finishing 51 not out, but admitted his arm was quite sore.
“I might numb it with a few beers tonight,” he said.
Even with an additional two days off, Burns has limited time to recover for the Boxing Day Test if he has suffered even a minor setback.
“He’s a very tough player,” Josh Hazlewood said.
“It obviously blew up a fair bit straight away.
“We’ll have a look at that tomorrow morning and get a scan and see what the results show. Fingers crossed.”
David Warner (groin strain) and Will Pucovski (concussion) both remain in doubt for the second Test, having missed the day-night Test because of injuries.
Burns, who could have faced the axe if he failed in both innings, shared a post-match hug with coach Justin Langer.
Langer had backed the Queenslander, publicly and privately, throughout a rough trot in which he scored 62 runs from nine first-class knocks – including twin failures against India in a tour game.
The concerning numbers prompted former selector and captain Allan Border to declare Langer would be doing a disservice to the “shot” batsman by retaining him in the Test XI.
Burns almost doubled his run tally for 2020-21 with the breakthrough innings, also managing to outscore India’s second innings by 15 runs.
“I just wanted to keep fighting hard,” Burns told Fox Sports.
“It’s a really nice moment…it feels bloody nice.
“I’ve been trying to keep it as simple as possible. I know I can do the basics well and make runs.
“JL (Langer) has been fantastic, the selectors sticking with me helps.”
Burns brought up the winning runs when he hooked a short delivery from Umesh Yadav, with Bumrah dropping the catch and palming the ball over the rope.
“All cricketers know how hard it is when you’re going through a run like that,” captain Tim Paine said.
“To come out in Test match cricket and try and find your way out of it – it’s a very, very difficult place to be.
“It will do his confidence the world of good.”
Thats the same argument against Burns then isnt it
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Langer, the name, is German. Now what Justin is I dunno.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Looked it up and essentially confirmed it.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Maybe Polish, but certainly a Slavic name, which excludes Hungary as an island ethnic anomaly.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
I don’t know for sure that it is – just taking an educated guess … or have you researched it to confirm in the meantime?
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Ok. Polish maybe. Eastern European certainly.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Didn’t know about Ponting being French though. :thumbup:
Micko
Roar Rookie
Langer is German. Pucovski certainly isn't Hungarian because Hungarians aren't Slavic.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Yeah very interesting Rowdy. Glad it worked for you.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Not sure about Langer. I could be wrong, but I am guessing Ponting is a French name. Pucovski definitely Eastern European. Maybe Czech or Hungarian. I believe Hayden is also a German name. There was a famous composer back in the day with a near identical spelling and only a fractionally different spelling.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Not Langer though? :silly:
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
That Soccer Astrology thing came thru above.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
The whole Anglo-Saxon world is Germanic. The English language is the most spoken Germanic language despite what some English will tell you.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Lehmann is a German name. As is Behrendorf and Hilfenhaus.
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
Yes. My mother's side from the Mid-North of SA and the Lower Murray.
Micko
Roar Rookie
Or maybe leave Wade to open and let Burns drop down to the middle order?
Micko
Roar Rookie
"spreche" you of German heritage or something? (Yes, I know SA has lots of Germans)
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
In Langer-spreche he wasn't dropped
Rowdy
Roar Rookie
If he fails next test I've got no problem with him being dropped. But one innings after a long team layoff?
Definitely agree with "overachieved". He's had one great test against Sri Lanka, boosting his average. The fact that he's played his entire career at Adelaide, 100+ FC matches, a very batsman friendly wicket and only just averages 40 with barely any hundreds shows how lucky he is to be playing test cricket. He just isnt as good as people say he is, and he gets out to the worst shots on a regular basis.