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Opinion

After an exhausting week off the field, it’s time to play cricket

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Expert
14th January, 2021
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After a fervent week of cricketing controversy, Friday morning’s first ball at the Gabba is probably the tonic we all need.

What a week.

An SCG Test for the ages was, in itself, enough to drive conversation for days.

But any narrative about perhaps the best match on Australian soil in years was overwhelmed by goings-on in and around the Test itself.

There was abuse from the crowd, abuse from Tim Paine and alleged abuse of the pitch from Steve Smith. Some of it was unequivocally warranted and a conversation that needed having.

But some of it was, contrastingly, whipped-up fervour whose proponents had an existing axe to grind.

Of course, there was little nuance to any of the debate online, and each case was almost entirely clouded by parochial allegiances. Unsurprisingly, fans on both sides of the fence didn’t cover themselves in glory.

Some Australian fans, pointing to a lack of crowd evidence that Mohammed Siraj was racially abused on Day 4, felt vindicated that they’d been wrongly accused, ignoring the country’s very real (and very recent) issues with racism in sport.

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Other fans overseas (and prominent ex-players), posted shoddy evidence of pitch tampering to character-assassinate Smith, alleging another example of so-called cheating.

Both were really poor takes.

And to be honest, it’s all been a bit exhausting and somewhat disappointing in a series where the on-field drama alone has been a huge advert for Test cricket.

It brings us to today; the final Test of what’s been a brilliant series.

Steve Smith.

(Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Australia hasn’t hosted a ‘live’ last Test of the summer — where all three series results are still in play — since 2004, when they went into the fourth Test against India locked at 1-1.

That clash (and the series) ended in a draw, but should Brisbane’s weather play nice it’s difficult to see the same result this time around.

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It’s a huge Test for Paine, who has had a difficult week.

Paine was right to apologise on Tuesday for inappropriate behaviour at the SCG. He and coach Justin Langer have been at pains to tell the Australian public that this team, their team, is different to the Darren Lehmann-era side.

So after slipping back into that mould, Paine correctly identified that it could not simply be swept under the carpet, and made a candid apology. Yes, he is perhaps held to a higher standard than others around the world — but it’s a standard that he and Langer have set.

The Gabba Test also represents a big occasion for Paine given what’s at stake.

Few Australian captains survive two home series losses in three summers, and inevitable questions of his future will arise should Australia go down to a severely under-strength India side.

In reality, Paine will almost certainly lead Australia into the Ashes series later this year and despite the inevitable backlash should they lose, his position is not on the line.

But without doubt, there are aspects of his captaincy he needs to improve.

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Paine has struggled when momentum shifts heavily towards the batting side, and has a tendency to revert to panic. It happened on Monday when Rishabh Pant got going, and it happened at Headingley in 2019 when Ben Stokes was seemingly impossible to dismiss despite a difficult surface for batting.

Michael Hussey, on commentary for Fox Cricket during that Pant innings, said Paine was ‘ball-chasing’ with his fields — that is, moving a fielder to exactly where the ball was just hit.

Paine exudes a tenseness during these periods rather than slowing things down, remaining positive and backing his highly-credentialled bowlers to execute their lines.

This tenseness, he admitted, impacted his wicket-keeping and contributed to dropping Hanuma Vihari off Mitchell Starc, similar to how it impacted his decision-making regarding reviews during the latter stages at Headingley.

Tim Paine reflects on victory

(AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Of course, this is a difficult, largely intangible skill and something that improves with experience. But he could do worse than look at his opposite number in Ajinkya Rahane as a shining example.

For Rahane’s side, the loss of Jasprit Bumrah cannot be understated. Not only is Bumrah the biggest threat to Australia’s top order, but he played a vital leadership role with the young Indian quicks in Melbourne and Sydney.

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With Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar all injured, the tourists are having to pick their sixth, seventh and eighth choice seamers in Brisbane.

As Mohammed Siraj (two Tests) leads the line with Navdeep Saini (one Test), Indian selectors will likely pick between Shardul Thakur (one Test) and T Natarajan (yet to debut) in one of the least experienced pace attacks we’ve ever seen on these shores.

Cricket throws up some amusing storylines from time to time, and the irony of cricket’s behemoth nation being cast as plucky underdogs is not lost on some.

But given their skeleton squad, they truly do arrive at the Gabba as a real outside hope.

If they can replicate the level of fight they showed in Melbourne and Sydney, however, we’re set for a brilliant finale to what’s been a tantalising summer.

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