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Australia received even less resistance in Adelaide from the West Indies than they did in Perth, sauntering to a 419-run victory (the Windies’ heaviest-ever defeat in terms of runs) and a 2-0 series whitewash.
Marnus Labuschagne made another bucketful of runs, Travis Head made it to three figures this time, Alex Carey morphed into Ian Healy with the gloves on Day 4, and the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood through injury didn’t make an iota of difference.
Not everything is good news for the Aussies ahead of a surely much tougher assignment against South Africa, though: David Warner still finds himself without a score of note for the Test summer, while Cameron Green’s long wait for a bat this series found him extremely rusty and with precious little time to bounce back.
Nevertheless, the Aussies sit pretty on top of the World Test Championship points table, and need only a series win over the Proteas to secure a spot in the final in June next year.
Scott Boland’s Test bowling average rose above 10 in Adelaide, but while he only managed three wickets for the match, that they all came in one glorious over in the evening session on Day 3 exemplified why he is getting harder and harder to leave out of Australia’s first-choice team.
Brought in for Cummins after the captain ruled himself out in the lead-up, his fellow inclusion Michael Neser was probably even more impressive across the Test.
The Queenslander bowled immaculately in the first innings, winkling out two early Windies wickets with the perfect line and a hint of movement off the seam, and while seemingly hampered early in the second by injury, recovered to claim three more on the final afternoon – albeit with plenty of help from Alex Carey.
With Cummins more likely than not to return but Hazlewood now expected to miss, the Aussies will likely only be able to fit one of Boland and Neser in their XI for the Gabba. So, who should get the nod?
The Victorian’s incredible Ashes series last year, destructive burst against the Windies and miserly economy rate of well under two runs per over in Adelaide are all points in his favour, and he has the great Ricky Ponting’s vote as a ‘no-brainer’ to play in Hazlewood’s stead.
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Scott Boland will get picked every day of the week,” Ponting said on Channel 7 during Day 3’s play on Saturday.
“They’ve got to go that way. How could you leave him out on the back of what he’s done in his Test career so far?
“There is nothing between them on stats really either up at the Gabba… unfortunately, even as well as Michael Neser’s bowled in this game, I think even as the game goes on, even if he gets more wickets than Boland in this game, I think they will go back to Boland.”
In Neser’s favour, though, is his outstanding domestic form for Queensland this summer, and his impeccable Sheffield Shield record at the Gabba. He has 12 scalps at a tick over 16 in three Shield matches at the venue this season, including a nine-wicket haul to skittle Victoria twice in early November.
The Australian selectors are known to factor home-ground familiarity into their decision: a big reason why Boland was named for his Test debut in last year’s Boxing Day Test was his proven quality on the MCG pitch. If the same thinking applies this time around, it could well be Neser who partners Cummins and Mitchell Starc to face South Africa on Saturday.
Given the quality of Boland and Neser, too, you’d have to also consider whether 70 overs from Starc in the past week and a bit – including 45 in tough conditions in Perth – have him in line for a spell of his own. In which case, both will get another chance to play themselves into the Boxing Day XI.
Michael Neser of Australia celebrates with team mates after taking the wicket of Kraigg Braithwaite of the West Indies for 19 runs during day two of the Second Test Match in the series between Australia and the West Indies at Adelaide Oval on December 09, 2022 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Dominating headlines in the lead-up to the Test as his fall-out with Cricket Australia over his captaincy ban appeal became very, very public, Warner faded into the background as the match played out.
Scores of 21 and 28 extend his run of poor scores without an eye-catching shocker to really get the whispers growing louder – and he did look the Warner of old at times in both innings to get the Aussies off to two fast-paced starts – and you’d have to think it’s too late now for a major change to be made at the top of the order for the South Africa series.
Also in Warner’s favour for the short-term is the first-class switch into Big Bash League mode, leaving the likes of Matt Renshaw, Marcus Harris and Henry Hunt without chances to press their cases in red-ball cricket.
Nevertheless, for both Warner’s sake and the team’s, a lift in form against the Proteas is a must. His loss of form was never likely to prove costly against a brittle West Indies bowling attack, but exposing Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to the new ball against the likes of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje could spell trouble for Australia.
Warner loves playing South Africa – he averages 52.26 against them with four centuries – though their quicks loom as pacy enough to really test his slowing reflexes and fractionally less sharp eye.
It’s also fair to say that he has a score to settle with the Proteas, with the scars of Sandpapergate – opened up again this week by Warner’s manager – still casting a pall over his career. He’s a man whose philosophy appears to lean more towards revenge than redemption; no doubt he’ll be champing at the bit to face Rabada in particular this summer.
The only question is: is he still capable of a response?
It’s a tough gig batting at six and being the fifth bowler against a feeble opposition. Green didn’t bat in Perth, then came in twice in Adelaide with a declaration looming and played like a man in desperate need of some quality time in the middle.
But that’s time he just won’t be getting, with the time between the Windies and South Africa series so small. Once upon a time a player like Green bereft of batting minutes could simply slide back into the Sheffield Shield to try and build his form up. These days, he’ll have to contend himself with hour upon hour in the nets to hope things click.
Just as concerningly, the all-rounder looked very rusty with ball in hand on the evening of Day 2, with a number of no-balls and a putrid first over that conceded 17 runs (though did finish with a wicket) the lowlights. He wasn’t required to bowl in the second innings, either, depriving him of the chance to get things right.
Green is an enormous part of not just Australia’s future, but its present: perhaps only Ben Stokes in world cricket is capable of allying star quality with the bat and exquisite skills with the ball like the Western Australian.
But after 16 Tests and into his third summer, Green sits with a batting average of 33.5 and a bowling average of 35.44 – perfectly decent numbers, but noticeably similar to the figures that got Shane Watson unfairly derided for the better part of a decade. He’s arguably yet to have a true breakout performance with bat or ball to cement himself as not just a player of limitless promise, but a proven Test-quality player.
Facing a touring South Africa in the midst of a form slump isn’t exactly ideal conditions to produce one, either. But with Labuschagne, Smith and Head in incredible touch above him and the bowling attack gelling beautifully, Green is just about the last piece of the puzzle to turning this Australian team from excellent but vulnerable into a well-oiled machine capable of holding their own on tough tours to India and England next year.
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