'Maybe Mitch Marsh', 'Swepson deserves chance': Calls for bowling revamp after stalemate

Former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin has urged selectors to go back to a horses for courses selection policy as they try to find an edge in the Test series against Pakistan.

Haddin, speaking on Fox Cricket at the lunch break, as the first Test was headed for a spirit crushing draw in Rawalpindi, called for legspinner Mitch Swepson and allrounder Mitch Marsh to come into calculations, as doubts were raised over Josh Hazlewood’s work load.

“The one thing [selectors] had an appetite in the past couple of years is horses for courses – we saw it in the away Ashes where Peter Siddle played in front of Starc and maybe that might be the thinking going into the last two Tests,” said Haddin.

“You’ve got to find a way to get the leg spinner in so you’ve got options – you only need two quicks, two spinners and maybe a Mitch Marsh comes into the equation so you’ve got two allrounders as well.

“You need balance in the attack but you also need options over here to get wickets.

“Nathan Lyon has looked dangerous at times, Starc didn’t really swing  that new ball, they didn’t use their bouncer much. On these wickets you need variation , you need to do different things to get them to make a different decision.”

Hazlewood, who missed the majority of the Ashes series through injury, bowled 26 overs in the first innings but on Tuesday bowled just two overs in the first session and three in the second.

“There’s a little bit of a cuddle there or is there a problem?” said O’Keeffe. “We’re going to find out later. Australia have won so many Tests through that triumvirate – Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood – and it would be in Pakistan’s interests if the back ups had to be used on slow pitches.”

Former Test batsman Simon Katich, commentating on the game in Pakistan, backed Swepson to get the call over left arm spinner Ashton Agar if there are changes.

“Mitchell Swepson hasn’t made his Test debut just yet but he’s been brought here for a reason so he’ll definitely be in the frame,” Katich said.

“I don’t know the conditions in Karachi well enough, having never been there, but if you’re saying it’s going to spin then I think you’d be mad not to look at that extra option.

“We’ve seen Ali get six wickets here on a wicket that hasn’t been conducive and if you’re telling me it spins there it will either be Agar or Swepson who will come in the mix.

“If you’re going on first class results then Swepson deserves the opportunity – he’s played more first class cricket in recent times than Ashton Agar who’s been in Australia’s white ball set up.”

Swepson has played 51 first class games, taking 154 wickets – the same as Agar who has played 10 games more.

Horses for courses was a bit hit in the recent Ashes as well where Scott Boland came in for a sensational debut in Melbourne.

“I think Boland will be in the frame as well and it would have been a tough decision to leave him out.

“The three big quicks have got phenomenal records and they do like to be consistent .”

Australia’s struggles with the ball continued on a docile Rawalpindi fifth-day wicket, with the players eventually shaking hands after an inevitable draw that saw Pakistan amass 0-252 in their second innings.

In another dominant day for batters, Abdullah Shafique scored his maiden Test century with 136, while opening partner Imam-ul-Haq made it twin tons for the game with his 111.

In truth, Australia were never really interested in a contest that was over long ago as captain Pat Cummins saved his bowlers with the second Test in Karachi starting Saturday.

He bowled himself for just four overs on Tuesday, as spinners sent down 55 of the 77 bowled.

Australia, Pakistan and the ICC will all be hoping for a better wicket there, with the Rawalpindi pitch offering next to nothing for the bowlers throughout the five days.

But there will still be some concerns for the Australians with their inability to make any dent into Pakistan’s batting.

Australia took just four wickets for the Test, their least in history when sending down more than 200 overs.

Their wickets also came at a cost of 182 per scalp, a figure only toppled by a Test in Faisalabad in 1980 where they took just two wickets in the only bowling innings.

Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood each ended up going wicketless for the match, while Cummins and Lyon claimed one each.

There was also a second missed review for the match, with Imam-ul-Haq surviving a ball that went to bat pad. 

But given the low intensity of day five it was hard to judge them for that.

The day was best summed up when Shafique defended a ball and as it began to roll backwards, the right-handed picked it up with his hand.

Attention will now turn to what mark the ICC give the Rawalpindi wicket, with match referee Ranjan Madugalle the same man who gave the MCG a “poor” rating in 2017.

Under rules currently laid out by the ICC a poor rating incurs three demerit points. 

Any ground which accumulates five over a five-year period receives a 12-month suspension from hosting international cricket.

Only 14 wickets were taken across the entire match, with Pakistan’s bowlers accounting for 10 of those as Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne narrowly missed centuries.

In a sign of the bat’s dominance, Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq’s unbeaten stand made it the third opening stand in the match to pass 100 – a first in 145 years of Test cricket.

Any faint hope of a result was ended on Tuesday morning when Nauman Ali finished with career-best figures of 6-117, killing off Australia’s tail in quick fashion.

It meant there was no target for Pakistan to make the tourists bat again, as Australia finished at 459 in reply to Pakistan’s first innings of 4(dec)-476.

(With AAP)