Ashes Scout: Marnus in cross hairs over walk off, reports of new rift in Aussie camp, Waugh's 'issue' with Bailey

Play resumed in the Sheffield Shield match between South Australia and Queensland on Wednesday morning after the Karen Rolton Oval pitch was deemed unsafe on Tuesday.

Incumbent Test batter Marnus Labuschagne wasn’t pleased after being struck on the gloves numerous times on Tuesday with a wet spot on the pitch causing balls to leap at the Queenslander from a good length.

The Bulls were 1/87 after 50 overs when play began on Wednesday morning with Labuschagne (21) and opener Bryce Street (45) at the crease.

A day earlier, umpires Donovan Koch and Mike Graham-Smith called stumps early after inspecting the pitch and conferring with Labuschange, Queensland captain Usman Khawaja and his counterpart Travis Head.

The match had already been delayed on Tuesday due to rain.

The subplot to the clash is the supposed bat-off between Khawaja and Head, who are competing for a middle-order berth in the first Test after being included in the Ashes squad.

The decision to call stumps early on day one didn’t go down well with former South Australian and Test cricketer Chadd Sayers, who tweeted: “So when bowlers think it’s too flat, they just walk off?”

Former Test batter Greg Blewett quipped in response: “There wouldn’t be much play then! #sooks.” Blewett knows all about playing on bad pitches after copping a shocker in his Test career against the West Indies at the WACA.

Match referee Steve Davis explained why the game was halted on Tuesday.

“It’s not undulated,” Davis said of the pitch, per cricket.com.au.

“It’s an area where the ball is sticking a bit, so there’s obviously some dampness underneath.

“It’s only about a metre square, but obviously once you see a ball doing that, if you’re any sort of bowler you’re going to aim for that spot.

“There’s a potential of it being dangerous, so play has been suspended for today.

“It was obvious the umpires had some concerns, and the players had some concerns.

“There was a couple of people that were hit on the gloves and in the stomach area, and it was just behaving a bit unusually and that always gives you a bit of an alert.

“Both captains were very reasonable about it.”

Rift reportedly brewing between players and CA

Cricket Australia’s response to the Tim Paine scandal has reportedly angered his teammates.

According to a report in The Age, the players feel that Cricket Australia hasn’t done enough to support Paine in the wake of his resignation as Test captain last Friday.

While allowing Paine to remain eligible for Ashes selection, Cricket Australia chairman Richard Freudenstein has said the wicketkeeper wouldn’t have survived as skipper in 2018 had the current board been in place when the sexting allegations were privately raised.

Test opener Marcus Harris said he was unaware of any tension between the players and CA on Wednesday.

“We [some of the Ashes squad] are obviously up here in quarantine in Queensland. I’ve been seeing some of that stuff play out in the media a little bit, but nothing that I’m aware of,” Harris said.

Cricket Tasmania released an extraordinary statement on Tuesday, describing CA’s treatment of Paine as “appalling” and “the worst since Bill Lawry over 50 years ago”.

The Australian Cricketers’ Association has also spoken out in defence of Paine, saying it was “saddened” that he felt the need to resign over a historical mistake when he’d been cleared of code of conduct breaches in Cricket Tasmania and Cricket Australia investigations.

Waugh takes issue with Bailey stepping aside

Meanwhile, Australian great Mark Waugh has taken issue with chief selector George Bailey recusing himself from a potential debate about Paine’s selection for the first Test.

Bailey, who played state cricket with Paine and is a co-franchisee of a Hobart gym with his good mate, told the Cricket, Et Cetera podcast that he would step aside and allow Justin Langer and Tony Dodemaide to decide Paine’s fate if it came down to a vote.

“I’ve got a bit of an issue about this,” Waugh told Fox Sports’ The Back Page.

“George Bailey is a great guy, very well-respected and played with a lot of these guys not that long ago so he’s got links with them. But if you’re chairman of selectors, it is your job to make the decision. You’ve got to make the tough calls.

“I find this really weird. What happens if it is one-all? Tony Dodemaide and Justin Langer are the other two selectors. What happens if they can’t agree? Who makes the decision then if George Bailey is not going to make it?

“I think this could come back to haunt George as well because there are a lot of players in the backend of their career who George played with – David Warner, Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade.

“He’s going to have to make tough decisions on these players and he is still quite close to them. This is going to have to be sorted out. Either George stays as chairman and makes the decisions or he steps down and is a selector, not the chairman.”