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Shane Warne. Glenn McGrath. Nathan Lyon. Dennis Lillee. Mitchell Johnson. Brett Lee. And now, Mitchell Starc.
The list of Australians with 300 Test wickets is a who’s who of bowling legends – and surely none of them reached the milestone quite as spectacularly as the 32-year old left-armer.
Charging in just before lunch on day two with South Africa already in trouble at 1/3, Starc went straight through Rassie van der Dussen with a near-unplayable delivery, the ball swinging in appreciably before moving even more off the seam to make mincemeat of the Protea’s stumps.
It was enough to leave Fox Cricket commentators Adam Gilchrist and Allan Border – two of Australia’s finest ever batters – in awe.
“Play that and play fair – you cannot hit that!” Border chuckled.
“The best you can do is maybe be hit on the pads for an LBW shout. That swung a little bit, but it moved even more off the seam.
“That’s a hell of a delivery.”
Fellow commentator Kerry O’Keeffe’s reaction summed up the mood nationwide, the charismatic former leg-spinner left salivating over Starc’s work of art – particularly its movement off the pitch, which he likened to that usually seen by the slow bowlers.
“Ooh, yes, hello!” ‘Skull’ enthused.
“[Famous Sri Lankan spin bowler] Muttiah Muralitharan just texted him, saying ‘I would have been proud of that!'”
South Africa’s second dire batting collapse of the Test has led to criticism of a spicy Gabba pitch.
Dubbed a ‘green monster’ leading into the match, the Proteas were powerless to deal with the extra pace and bounce offered by the surface, slumping to 3/5 as Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins ran amok with the new ball before limping to tea at 7/66.
Only a 42-run stand between Temba Bavuma and Khaya Zondo saved some face for the tourists, though both repeatedly copped body blows, with Bavuma receiving a particularly nasty hit to the elbow off Starc.
With the Test now looking unlikely to even reach a third day, Australian batting greats Michael Hussey and Mark Waugh questioned whether a push to offer bowlers more assistance after years of batting-friendly conditions was the right move by the Brisbane groundstaff.
“A few years ago, there was a bit of criticism around world Test cricket that the pitches were getting too flat, and so we weren’t seeing that real good contest [between bat and ball],” Hussey said on Fox Cricket.
“I guess they’re maybe just trying to find the balance, but maybe this Test match has gone a little bit too far. Certainly Hobart last year in the Ashes was a tough pitch for batting, the one in Melbourne as well.
“Maybe it just needs to come back a little bit, just to find a bit better balance between bat and ball.”
“You want the bowlers to have some sort of help from the surface, but at the moment, it looks like you’re doing well to lay bat on ball,” Waugh added.
The pitch is in stark contrast to a far more placid surface in Perth for the first Test of the summer that saw 1396 runs made for just 26 wickets lost, with the Aussies racking up a gargantuan 4/598 declared in the first innings.
However, not everyone agreed with Waugh and Hussey’s assessment, social media lighting up in support of the pitch, including from Queensland and former Australian opener Joe Burns.
Continuing on his merry way after dominating day one, it seemed a matter of when and not if Travis Head would reach his second Test century of the summer.
But having larruped his way to 92 off just 95 balls, Head appeared to glove a catch down the leg side off Marco Jansen, for his second dismissal in the 90s in the past few weeks, having fallen for 99 against the West Indies in Perth.
Commentator Mark Waugh, though, was surprised when Head conferred with non-striker Alex Carey and eventually opted to review the decision.
“Only he’d know [whether he’d hit it]… I’m not sure why he’s asking Alex Carey,” Waugh said on Fox Cricket.
The review momentarily seemed like a successful one when Hot Spot showed no telltale white mark as the ball passed by, but Snicko would be the South Australian’s downfall, revealing it had flicked the sweatband on Head’s glove.
Commentator Ian Smith was among those fooled by the early positive signs for Head.
“The process didn’t work for Travis Head – it looked for a second as if it was going to,” Smith remarked.
“That’s quite a weird scenario, that.”
Head’s fall gave Jansen his third wicket for the innings, and second for the over, having had Cameron Green caught at slip for 18 just two balls prior.
The left-hander’s dismissal ensured the Proteas’ first-innings deficit would be contained to just 66 runs, with Mitchell Starc (14), Pat Cummins (0) and Nathan Lyon (0) falling in quick succession before the lunch break.
Despite a pair of late strikes on day one, South Africa entered the Gabba on Sunday just seven runs ahead of Australia, and needing to take the last five wickets quickly to remain within reach.
But Kagiso Rabada, who had removed nightwatchman Scott Boland with the final ball on Saturday, couldn’t deliver, the Proteas star conceding 20 runs from three wayward overs before being removed from the attack.
A pair of half-volleys ensured a bright start to Cameron Green’s innings, the all-rounder dispatching a pair of cover drives for four: while the red-hot Head was only too keen to cash in on anything short or wide.
As the only member of the Proteas’ pace attack with Test experience in Australia, Rabada was touted as South Africa’s biggest weapon heading into the series: but Fox Cricket commentator and former great Mark Waugh was scathing of his efforts, pondering whether the 27-year old may be playing under duress.
“That’s an ordinary over,” Waugh said of Rabada’s first of the day.
“Bowling at 133 [km/h] – you need to come out firing. You can’t afford a loose over like that.
“To me he looks like he’s bowling within himself. I’m not sure if he’s carrying a niggle or two.”
Waugh was even more appalled when a half-volley in Rabada’s second over was crunched for four by Green, while fellow commentator Ian Smit said the South African had gifted the Western Australian a boundary ‘on a plate’.
“That’s poor bowling – I know they’re trying to bowl a fuller length, but that’s just floating it up there on a platter,” Waugh said.
“That’s a genuine half-volley.”
Rabada’s removal from the attack saw left-armer Marco Jansen return, who immediately picked up Green and Head in his first over.
Rabada would bounce back later in the session to remove Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, finishing with a team-high four wickets for the innings.
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