Fast bowler finds a way to break through New Zealand’s plans on opening day of 2nd Test

Alex Malcolm08-Mar-20244:00

Malcolm: Hazlewood’s metronomic accuracy too much for NZ

Josh Hazlewood received warm applause as he walked to fine leg after claiming Kane Williamson’s wicket. Some of it was from the small number of fans wearing yellow shirts on the grass bank at Hagley Oval. But there were plenty of locals showing Hazlewood their appreciation too.It was unusual to see an Australian get such an acknowledgement in New Zealand. But Christchurch is the home of Sir Richard Hadlee. New Zealand’s greatest fast bowler was there on day one, sitting in the Hagley Oval pavilion named in his family’s honour. The indoor sports centre out the back is named specifically after Sir Richard alone.Christchurch cricket fans know what great fast bowling looks like. And what Hazlewood produced on day one was Hadlee-esque. He was metronomic, masterful, and relentless. He operated with surgical precision to claim 5 for 31 from 13.5 overs as New Zealand were cleaned up for 162.Hazlewood has sometimes been the forgotten man of Australia’s big three quicks. He was the last to get to 250 Test wickets. He isn’t the captain nor is he breaking the bank at the IPL despite being the best T20 bowler of the three in recent years.Related

• Matt Henry, New Zealand's man of steel, drags his team back into the contest

• Henry on NZ's batting – 'It's not a concern'

• Hazlewood dismantles New Zealand but Henry gives home side hope

• Boland could get Shield release as big three make it seven from seven

He has also been forgotten in recent years because he has been absent for long periods. Between February 2021 and June 2023, Hazlewood played just four of Australia’s 20 Tests due to a spate of injuries. He had opened the door for Scott Boland to come barreling through.But since returning during the Ashes in 2023, Hazlewood has missed just one Test. The incredible durability of Australia’s three fast bowlers over the summer has been noted this week with all three playing seven Tests in a row. And in those seven Tests, it is Hazlewood who has been the star. He has bowled the most overs of the trio, the most maidens, and taken the most wickets, 34 at a staggering average of 13.70, with the best strike-rate and the best economy rate.Hagley Oval was simply a continuation of what he had been doing all summer, asking Test batters to survive the sternest of fast bowling examinations.In his second over of the day, he beat Will Young three consecutive times. He would later beat Tom Latham too. But his first spell of five overs went unrewarded despite some cracking deliveries as Latham and Young cruised to 47 without loss.He made a slight adjustment in his second spell. Back of a length had been profitable at the Basin Reserve in Wellington due to the excessive bounce. But Hagley’s surface was far more even. Hazlewood pushed his length a metre fuller and pocketed the Black Caps’ best four batters as a result with some world-class bowling.Latham had looked impenetrable. Mitchell Starc has been one of his chief tormentors in Test cricket and Latham played him with ease on his way to 38. Hazlewood changed the angle and went around the wicket. The first two balls were angled in. One was worked leg side. The next was just wide enough to leave but veering back enough to make Latham doubt whether he should have played. The next ball was fuller and angled into off. Latham had to play. It nipped away a fraction to scratch the edge.Thumbs up, indeed, for Josh Hazlewood•Getty ImagesHazlewood’s sequencing to Rachin Ravindra was even better. From around the wicket he delivered eight balls to Ravindra. Four angled into the top of off and asked for tight forward defensive strokes. Two were pushed wide deliberately but not at a half-volley length. Ravindra has been driving on line, not length, this summer, usually a dangerous game against Hazlewood. He played and missed at the first wide one but made contact with the second, nicking it to Usman Khawaja at first slip on the stroke of lunch.Daryl Mitchell has the game to handle high-class seam bowling, as evidenced by three Test hundreds in England against James Anderson and Stuart Broad. But Hazlewood worked him over. He kept up his full length and Mitchell countered, stepping out his crease to drive superbly down the ground. Hazlewood dragged his length back immediately. He first nipped one in to hit Mitchell on the inner thigh guard. He nipped the next away from the same spot to catch the outside edge and leave Mitchell in disbelief.Eight balls later Hazlewood bagged the big scalp of Williamson. Where Mitchell had been batting out of his crease to disrupt Hazlewood’s lengths, Williamson hung back to sweat on anything underpitched. Hazlewood went full, seaming it in to trap New Zealand’s greatest batter plumb lbw.New Zealand had slumped from 61 for 1 to 84 for 5. Starc then chimed in with two wickets in two balls to move past Dennis Lillee on Australia’s all-time wicket-takers list, but it was Hazlewood who deserved all the plaudits.He richly deserved a fifth wicket and was finally rewarded with the last of the innings when Cameron Green was the only man in Christchurch to hear a tiny nick off Matt Henry’s bat and convinced Pat Cummins to review after umpire Nitin Menon had also missed it.Hazlewood’s Test bowling average has dipped below 25. It’s not quite in Hadlee’s class, but for an hour at Hagley Oval he was, and Hadlee’s hometown appreciated it.

The only criticism of a strong bowling performance was that Australia conceded a half-century stand for the tenth wicket for the third time in 12 months

Alex Malcolm17-Jan-2024There was an audible gasp around the Adelaide Oval moments after the toss, when Pat Cummins uttered what could be considered a sacrilegious statement in the city of churches: “We’re going to have a bowl.”Only nine times in 82 Tests at this famous ground had captains uttered those words, and it was just the second time any captain had made that choice since 1992. Only one of those nine teams had gone on to win – West Indies in 1982, with an attack comprising Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft.But only one team in history has had an attack featuring a four bowlers with more than 250 Test wickets each. That team is this Australian team, and the final member of the quartet to reach that milestone was Josh Hazlewood when he rattled the top of Alick Athanaze’s off stump.It is brutal that this West Indies team was subjected to the first-ever Test quartet with 200 wickets each in Perth in December 2022, only to return to Australia 13 months later to face the same quartet with 214 more wickets among them. That they had to do so with two debutants in their top six, while three of the top four had only 11 Tests between them, is just plain cruel.West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite had urged his team to fight and be disciplined on match eve. His batters, for the most part, did both of those things. But when the gulf in class is so vast, it doesn’t matter how big the fight is in the dog, the biggest dogs are hard to beat.”A lot of people that play Shield games here with the red ball think it gets flatter as the game goes on,” Hazlewood said of the decision to bowl first. “So the best time to probably take 10 wickets is straight up if we get it right. I was happy to bowl today.”On this occasion, it was the big dog with the lowest profile who had the biggest bite. Hazlewood doesn’t have a multi-million dollar IPL deal, nor is his nickname an acronym of the Greatest of All Time. But he is a big dog in every sense, attacking batters in an unrelenting and consistent manner until they succumb.Cummins had provided the early breakthroughs, removing West Indies’ two most experienced batters. Tagenarine Chanderpaul fell to a stunning catch at gully by Cameron Green, his weapons-grade wingspan helping him pluck a chance no other man on the field could have reached. Cummins then knocked back Brathwaite’s off stump with a nearly identical ball to the one that brought his 200th Test wicket in Perth last summer.Athanaze and Kirk McKenzie then belied their inexperience to blunt Australia’s quartet. The pair showed the fight their captain had desired for a brief period at least. They made sound choices outside their off stump. Their defence looked rock solid. There have been many world-renowned Test batters, including Babar Azam just recently, who have looked far less assured against Australia’s artillery in Australia.Josh Hazlewood ran through West Indies’ top order•Associated PressHazlewood, though, did what Hazlewood does. He asks batters to make difficult decisions around their off stump again and again and again until they break. Athanaze defended two in a row from around the wicket but was unsure whether he should have played at the second in hindsight. The third he opted to leave; it nipped back to hit off stump.Then after lunch, with McKenzie and debutant Kavem Hodge fighting hard, Hazlewood returned having not bowled for eight overs since the break and found his metronomic line and length again. Hodge was itching for something to drive; Hazlewood obliged with something that looked like a drive ball but wasn’t. The edge again disappeared into Green’s giant hands.In Hazlewood’s next over, he went around the wicket to McKenzie, who had just reached an excellent maiden Test half-century. Just as he had with Athanaze, Hazlewood examined the left-hander’s decision-making around his off stump. Having nipped one back to Athanaze, he nipped one away from McKenzie to scratch the edge. In Hazlewood’s fourth over of his spell, Justin Greaves meekly chipped one to mid-off while trying to drive a ball that wasn’t quite there. He had bowled 17 dots in a row and taken three wickets as West Indies slumped from a respectable 98 for 3 to 108 for 6.Cummins returned to pick up two more while Mitchell Starc also chimed in, having bowled without much luck in his opening spell.Related

First-ball joy: Shamar Joseph starts Test cricket with Steven Smith's wicket

'I'll take a picture, and post it up' – Shamar Joseph on dream first-ball wicket of Smith

Shamar Joseph makes his mark after Cummins, Hazlewood take the early honours

As good as Australia’s attack are, finishing off the tail is becoming a bugbear. For the second straight Test, they conceded a half-century stand for the tenth wicket. Debutant Shamar Joseph and Kemar Roach rebuffed the bouncer barrage, clubbing five fours and two sixes to lift the score from 133 for 9 to 188. Joseph made 36 off 41 from No.11 – the second-highest score of the innings.This followed Aamer Jamal and Mir Hamza’s 86-run stand for Pakistan in Sydney. Australia are the only team to have conceded more than one half-century stand for the final wicket in the last 12 months, having conceded three, including one at Old Trafford during the Ashes. Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood played all three Tests, and Nathan Lyon was there for two of them.”Often the best ball to a top-six batter is probably the easiest ball to slog sometimes,” Hazlewood said. “So it’s just maybe mixing it up a bit more. Obviously, the bouncer plays a part. So it’s just sequencing those balls. Working them out. When it’s a debutant as well it’s probably even more difficult. You don’t know his strengths and weaknesses that well. But we’ll have a look and come back with something else.”It did not cost them much at either Old Trafford or Sydney, and they will hope it doesn’t cost them here in Adelaide.

The India quick is like a lifeline, and has to be used when really needed, but it looked like he may have been left too late in the final

Sidharth Monga29-Jun-20241:23

Flower: ‘Fascinating game of cat and mouse from Rohit’

About 20 minutes before the toss, as he finishes measuring his run-up and bends low to mark it with white paint, Jasprit Bumrah feels a pat on his back. He turns back to see it is his wife, Sanjana Ganesan, a media professional herself, who minutes ago was shadow-boxing with Crystal Arnold, a TV anchor from South Africa, for the camera.She perhaps wishes Bumrah luck, who puts the bucket of paint down and hugs her, followed by a quick peck on the cheek. The final kiss of luck needed for the perfect fast bowler, still awaiting a world title despite three finals and a semi-final all formats put together? This is his fourth. With the skill, the discipline and the brain he has, Bumrah hardly needs any luck, but perhaps his team does. Just that little bit in a crucial moment. The rest they can leave to Bumrah.They have made the knockouts of five out of the last six World Cups, but are called chokers for not winning any. This is the sixth of seven. They are playing against another team that is called chokers.Related

Boom will always shake the room

T20 World Cup 2024 – a zero for Bumrah, and other curious numbers

Sometimes sports can be messy and without any explanation

Bumrah and Hardik script stunning comeback to lead India to T20 World Cup glory

Rohit: It's not what we did today, it is what we have done for three-four years

****

The last ball of the eighth over, bowled by Kuldeep Yadav, has been deposited in the stands by Quinton de Kock. India have got what can be called a strictly par total only because of Kuldeep and Bumrah. Otherwise it is insufficient. After a World Cup full of brave cricket, they have suddenly dropped that method in the final. There have been just three boundary attempts from overs 6 to 13, none of them from Virat Kohli.South Africa look in control, the last five overs have gone for 48 and no threat to the wicket, the momentum is with them, the pitch is not gripping, and the volunteers are now looking for the ball that de Kock seems to have lost for them. The cameras don’t catch it, but Bumrah goes to Kuldeep, probably tells him it’s okay, one day or one over doesn’t make you a bad bowler, and gives him a high five. Kuldeep has previously shown he can be down on himself perhaps too readily. You have got us here. Let’s hang in. Perhaps leave the rest to me?

****

De Kock has played his favourite pick-up pull shot off Arshdeep Singh because there is no fine leg. Next ball he tries it again but there is a fine leg there now. It is Kuldeep. Takes a safe enough catch. All the attention goes to Arshdeep standing on the pitch with arms aloft. Bumrah, though, runs towards Rishabh Pant pointing with his finger. It’s an “I told you so.” Pant acknowledges him.Even without the ball in hand, Bumrah is cooking.

****

Jasprit Bumrah’s final over changed the game•Getty ImagesWith the ball in hand, Bumrah has to be used judiciously. He is like the lifelines at a game show. After the powerplay, you use his overs only when you can’t do without it. Like against England, you don’t even use them all. Sometimes you keep them just to make the target look 10 runs bigger. When Marco Jansen is the opposition’s No. 7, it is possible you can hold him back till too late.From the fifth to the 14th over, South Africa have hit at least one boundary every over. The ball is coming on nicely, and Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller are looking good. Rohit Sharma still doesn’t go to his lifeline with just nine an over required over the last six overs with six wickets in hand. Probably because he knows he can use Bumrah to barge through once a wicket falls.Klaasen, though, gets stuck into Axar Patel’s last over. Axar has been an inspired selection because India had one left-arm spinner allrounder already. During this World Cup, Axar has been Rohit’s go-to man: promoted when wickets fall early, often the first spinner to bowl, often inside the powerplay. Even in the final, his 47 off 31 has allowed Kohli to bat the way he did. His closing, though, hasn’t been good: dozily run-out and now 24 runs off his last over.At 30 off 30 now, it seems it is too late for even Bumrah to do something. Is it ever?First ball: an inside edge mighty close to taking a wicket. On the second ball, Klaasen takes a couple to bring up the fastest fifty a World Cup final, off just 23 balls. Then Bumrah gets some tail into the pads. Then the yorker. Rohit says it is reverse. Bumrah with reverse. A lifeline with a lifeline. South Africa, though, need just 30 off five overs.The captain and his man of the World Cup – Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah share a moment together•ICC/Getty ImagesWhen Hardik Pandya gets an outside edge on a wide slower ball to send Klaasen back, and the way Jansen bats that over out, Miller becomes the massive wicket. Bumrah starts the 18th over around the wicket, the seam is up, the ball angles in and then leaves Miller so late he can’t do anything. Everybody thinks he is bowled, but that expectant flashing bail doesn’t appear. He has missed by a whisker. Miller has survived.Against Afghanistan, right here, Bumrah began his day with a slower ball at the start of the second over to get Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Here he is hardly bowling slower balls. He just knows what to do. Except that he doesn’t have the luck to take the wicket that can settle it here and now. He continues, though, and bursts through Jansen with the possible reverse. Just three from the over, he leaves others 19 to defend in two overs. From 30 off 30 when he came back earlier than usual. Is it ever too late for Bumrah?

****

It’s all done. Criminally, Bumrah is not the Player of the Match. India, though, have a World Cup trophy. Finally. For the first time since 2011. A stamp on the quality they have always known exists in their team. You can’t deny Bumrah the other award, though. With 15 wickets at 8.26 apiece and just 4.17 per over, Bumrah is the Player of the Tournament. While many are celebrating and being interviewed, Bumrah quietly stands with his wife and baby for a quick moment before she has to rush off.Sanjana still has work to do. Jasprit’s is done.For now.

Could Mohammad Rizwan have taken more risks? Either way, the target should have been chased

Osman Samiuddin10-Jun-20241:18

Kumble: Bumrah creates pressure on any surface

Let me warn you right now. What you’re going to read, you’ve read about before. A lot. If it feels like you’ve been reading about it for, hmmm, the last three hundred years, it’s because you have. Every time, in fact, a big tournament is on the horizon, we’re talking about it. Did it very recently ahead of this big tournament that we’re in right now.What else are you going to do though? Rewatch the highlights? Move on? How can you when the very thing you’ve been reading about and most likely furiously debating over the last three years is the very thing that is the only debate worth having after another loss to India in a world event?If you’ve spent three years either being for RizBar (and against the middle order) or against RizBar (and for the middle order), what’s one more time? As a refresher, here is a succinct summary of the matter from less than a fortnight ago, from our very own Matt Roller:

Related

Imad: Pakistan have 'moved back' in T20 cricket, need to get rid of fear of failure

Kirsten's warning to Pakistan's senior pros: evolve or get left behind

Rohit, Bumrah and the art of defending

Kirsten bemoans Pakistan's 'poor decision-making'

Bumrah spearheads India's defence of 119; Pakistan on brink of elimination

The specific details from this game are that this time it was Mohammad Rizwan who top-scored for Pakistan with 31. He took 44 balls to do it. He hit one four and one six. He anchored their chase of 120 deep into the innings and when he fell off the first ball of the 15th, Pakistan needed 40 with six wickets in hand. Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed, the lower middle order, combined to make 24 off 39 balls. They hit one boundary between them, a fortuitous edge off Imad’s bat. In the end Pakistan fell short by six runs, with three wickets still in hand and an all too familiar script.Some of you will argue that Rizwan’s low-risk batting is actually a high-risk approach. To go so deep, to use so much resource and to still not be ahead of the game when you leave, is inherently unfair on the middle order. When Rizwan began the chase, Pakistan required a run-a-ball. When Rizwan left the chase, they needed nearly seven an over which, on that surface, was always going to be difficult.We’ve been here before, plenty of times•Associated PressCould – indeed should – Rizwan not have taken more chances like Rishabh Pant? Could he not have foregone a degree of control and chanced his bat to attempt a few more boundaries? Pant had a control percentage of 50% in his 31-ball 42 and, frankly, even that feels high. He could’ve been out at least thrice. But he took risks on a pitch that needed taking risks on, and it came off. Rizwan’s control percentage was 70%, and he took no risks except the most ill-advised one: slogging Jasprit Bumrah’s very first ball of a returning over.The counter, of course, is that Rizwan had done enough and 40 off 35 balls with six wickets to come should not have been a problem, even on that surface. All it needed was a couple of boundaries between the remaining batters and the pressure would’ve gone. That it didn’t happen is precisely why Rizwan played as he did. None of Imad, Shadab or Iftikhar tried to innovate, or manufacture a shot on a pitch which needed it. Indeed, it is an indictment that it took Naseem Shah to show the way, scooping Arshdeep Singh in the final over by when it was already too late.At one stage, across the 16th and 17th over, Imad’s shot options seemed to have whittled down to the solitary one: a cut square. Only he could barely connect. In the penultimate over, Bumrah bowled two full tosses to Iftikhar. Numbers show that Bumrah’s full tosses are harder to hit than most, but these were probably not those ones, the low ones that miss a yorker length marginally. These were thigh-high gimmes, angling right into Iftikhar’s wheelhouse. He swung at both, got a leg bye off the first and was dismissed off the second, hitting high but not getting close to the midwicket boundary. These are familiar scenes of failure, just different names. Imad, Shadab, Iftikhar today, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, Azam Khan over the last few years.Imad Wasim laboured for 23 balls•Getty ImagesIf there is a hot, new fresh take in this tired old debate though, it’s this. This isn’t an either-or problem. It’s not even a debate. After years of arguing that one or the other is the real problem and that they are linked, as this loss, and this campaign, has made crystal clear (Babar Azam top-scored against the USA but with a strike rate of 102 and, Shadab apart, the middle order 33 off 25) is that both are the problem.In other words, Pakistan’s batting – top, middle, lower-middle – is just not very good.Which seems like a really obvious take, but after a game in which they failed to chase 120 it hits home like a new, revelatory truth. RizBar are consistent but low-impact openers whose low impact is hidden behind any number of pointless batting records (Most runs! Quickest to so-and-so-thousand runs! Highest average! Most century stands!). And the middle order is a long list of faceless, revolving failure. Different approaches, different philosophies, old hands, newbies, returnees, reinvented hitters, allrounders, specialists, finishers, but no solution to a continuing problem.Pakistan have made the last four and the final of the last two T20 World Cups but sift through the results and it’s rarely been the batting that has gotten them there. In fact, in the two key games of those tournaments – the semi-final against Australia and the final against England – it is the batting that has cost them.The chances of getting that far this time are fading swiftly, but the reasons for failure will be the same as they have always been.

With Washington Sundar also contributing consistently through the Zimbabwe tour, India’s T20I future seems to brim with options

Deivarayan Muthu14-Jul-20243:43

Takeaways: India’s future bright as youngsters come good

Batters who can bowl have been on India’s T20I wishlist for a long time.While Hardik Pandya continues to be the only man in India who can do Hardik Pandya things, a new crop of batters who can bowl is emerging. In the fifth T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare, India’s top eight contained four players who could perform dual roles. Among the lot, Shivam Dube came away with the Player-of-the-Match award and Washington Sundar with the Player-of-the-Series award.With Ravindra Jadeja retiring from T20Is, Washington has now staked his claim for a full-time role in India’s side in the format. Dube, who bowled just one over each in IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup that followed in the USA and the Caribbean, ended up bowling eight overs across three T20Is in Zimbabwe, and completed his full allotment of overs on Sunday.Related

• Rathour on India's transition: Needs to be done gradually, in a controlled manner

• After months of hell, Hardik Pandya rises again

• Washington beats the IPL blues with spell of old-school subtlety

• Samson, Dube, Mukesh star as India complete 4-1 series win

Dube claimed the wickets of Dion Myers and Johnathan Campbell to kill of Zimbabwe’s chase of 168. He kept digging the ball into a used Harare surface, and kept taking pace off to deny batters easy access to the boundaries. This after he had crashed 26 off 12 balls to help drag India towards 167.”It’s always a special thing for me as an allrounder to contribute in both the departments – bat and ball,” Dube said after the game. “So, it felt really good today to take some wickets.”India’s team management might have been even more pleased with Abhishek Sharma’s spell: 3-0-20-1. With the series already in the bag and with Abhishek extracting turn, bounce and grip, India could afford to give him an extended spell ahead of Washington or Tushar Deshpande. Abhishek had returned identical figures of 3-0-20-1 in the fourth T20I after taking some tap in the first three games. In that fourth T20I, he could have got another wicket had Ruturaj Gaikwad not dropped a fairly straightforward catch in the infield.Prior to his first international series, Abhishek had bowled both in the powerplay and middle overs in IPL 2024. In the second qualifier against Rajasthan Royals on a pitch in Chennai that turned appreciably more in the second innings, Abhishek picked up the wickets of Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer while giving up just 24 runs in his four overs.Shivam Dube only bowled one over through the T20 World Cup but showed in Zimbabwe that he can cope with a bigger workload•Associated PressAbhishek then fine-tuned his bowling in the Sher-e-Punjab T20 league, where he was among the top ten wicket-takers. “A special mention to the coaches and Shubman [Gill] who actually believed [in me] after the first two matches [in Zimbabwe] because I didn’t bowl that much and I didn’t bowl well also,” Abhishek said after India won the series 4-1. “So, I thought that giving me the chance with the ball again… I’m always very grateful for that. I’ve been working really hard on my bowling. I knew if I’m going to get my [India] cap, I have to bowl for my team, so I was working on that.”Once India’s seniors return to the T20I team, there might not be room for Abhishek in the XI, but it’s always a healthy sign to see batters work actively on their secondary skill.Dube is also learning on the job as a T20 bowler and has added the back-of-the-hand slower variation to his standard offcutter. As for Washington, he is predominantly a bowler in white-ball cricket, but has been training behind the scenes to pack more power into his batting. At one point, he even had a stint with Apurva Desai, the former Gujarat batter who has also worked with Dinesh Karthik in the past.T20 cricket moves at a breathless pace. It leaves players behind unless they upgrade themselves. To keep up with that pace, New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips learnt offspin on the job to add to his power-hitting. England’s Liam Livingstone dipped into all-sorts spin to enhance his value as an allrounder. Namibia’s Gerhard Erasmus, who started as a batter, can now turn the ball both ways. His mystery spin helped him break into the ILT20 as an allrounder.It’s now refreshing to see India select and nurture such multi-dimensional players in T20 cricket. Not too long ago, India had five batters, none of whom could bowl, an allrounder, a wicketkeeper, and four specialist bowlers. And when Hardik was unavailable, they were left scrambling for balance. They turned a corner while winning the T20 World Cup, picking a side with three allrounders in Hardik, Jadeja and Axar Patel, apart from Dube who wasn’t called on that much with the ball.Despite the absence of Hardik, Axar and Nitish Kumar Reddy, the IPL’s newest all-round hero, in Zimbabwe, India coped excellently and provided a glimpse into a bright future.

There’s one batting spot in the XI to fill for Perth, and maybe a reserve player as well

Andrew McGlashan17-Oct-202410:42

Newsroom: How are Australia shaping up for the India Tests?

There have been a couple of key developments in Australia’s selection plans for the Test summer with Cameron Green’s back injury and confirmation that Steven Smith will move back down the order. But there remains a fascinating few weeks ahead with a combination of Sheffield Shield and Australia A matches for players to push their claims for a Test call-up.The likelihood is that the vacancy will be at the top of the order but there may also be a spot for another reserve batter in the era of concussion substitutes. Here’s a look at the runners and riders.

Marcus Harris

Harris has started the season well with 143 and 52, albeit on a lifeless Junction Oval surface, and has been named in the Australia A squad. Before that comes a potentially high-octane Shield clash against New South Wales where he will face Mitchell Starc, Sean Abbott and Nathan Lyon. Harris has spoken openly about his frustrations after being overlooked in recent times having been a long-term back-up around the Test squad, but he retains significant support within the set-up. He lost his Test place one game after an excellent 76 on a tough pitch against England at the MCG, but overall an average of 25.29 from 14 matches leaves plenty to prove if another chance does come his way.Related

• David Warner's latest headline grab has underlined Australia's opener problem

• Mitchell Starc: Green absence changes dynamic for quicks

• Sam Konstas vaults into Australia A squad after twin hundreds

• From wanting it, to not: the curious case of Steven Smith's opening career

• Marsh ready to bowl as much as Cummins needs him against India

“It’s not like it’s going to be the first time I’ve ever played for Australia A before a Test series,” he said last week. “There’s obviously always a bit of attention around those games. Pressure wise, I’m not going to be trying to put the same pressure on myself as I had before. It will just be a great opportunity.”

Cameron Bancroft

As with Harris, we are back to where we were 12 months ago amid the debate about who would replace David Warner. As history shows, that took an unexpected twist with Smith’s promotion – a move which has proved short-term. So Bancroft’s name is firmly back in discussions. A pair in the opening game of the season hasn’t changed anything – “There’s plenty of batters that have managed to get a feather on an early Michael Neser ball,” chair of selectors George Bailey said – and over the last couple of seasons Bancroft couldn’t have done much more to push his claims. He has averaged 50.67 in the Shield over the last two summers (even including that pair) with last season’s runs being particularly hard to come by.Sam Konstas is the name on everyone’s lips•Getty Images

Sam Konstas

He is the 19-year-old new kid on the block and generating plenty of excitement. Konstas has been compared to Ricky Ponting and joined him as a teenager to make twin hundreds in the Sheffield Shield. Bailey was careful to temper expectations and it would be a very rapid rise – and against the grain for Australian men’s cricket – if he was catapulted into the Test squad in a few weeks.”He’s in the mix as are plenty of others,” Bailey said. “I certainly don’t want to single him out. Think the consistency of Cam Bancroft over a number of years, the consistency of Marcus Harris over a number of years, they’ve both had a look at Test cricket as well, so don’t think there’s a need at this stage to put any undue pressure or expectation on Sam.”But the opportunity is there for him to make the selectors think hard. He will face Scott Boland at the MCG from Sunday before what will likely be a strong India A side. Another couple hundreds against those attacks and the momentum could be unstoppable.

Matt Renshaw

Renshaw was the reserve batter against West Indies and New Zealand earlier this year but has been overlooked for the Australia A squad. He made 6 and 15 in the opening round of Sheffield Shield against Western Australia. However, Bailey said that doesn’t mean the selectors have moved on from him, while also referencing a couple of other experienced domestic players who have had a taste of Test cricket.”We still really like Matt’s ability to play,” Bailey said. “As far as Australia A selection goes, part of the process around that is trying to identify opportunities that may come around in the short term but also making sure we do keep an eye on developing opportunities for those players who may become important in different roles in the future as well. Whilst there’s an Australia A squad there, I think Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Nic Maddinson, as three examples, are guys who we’ll continue to watch really closely in Shield cricket.”The other aspect is that even after the initial Test squad is named there will be three more rounds of Shield before the BBL for players to impress should back-up be needed during the series.

Nathan McSweeney

The South Australia captain would not be a contender to open the batting so a call-up for him would reopen the debate about an incumbent moving up to the top therefore appears an unlikely route, but McSweeney is very highly regarded, both for his run-scoring and his leadership. He will captain Australia A as he did last summer and has already started the season with an impressive match-saving 127 not out off 283 balls against South Australia.”I’m definitely confident in my game at the moment and if I were to get an opportunity I think I would be ready,” he said on Thursday. “But all I can do is to continue to focus on what I can control and that’s preparing well for South Australia and hopefully winning games for my state.”Beau Webster’s returns over the last two seasons have been outstanding•Getty Images

Beau Webster

An immediate question after Green’s injury was whether his replacement would be a like-for-like, or as close as could be found. That sounds an unlikely option with Bailey and Pat Cummins pointing out how often Australia have managed without an allrounder, while there remains confidence in Mitchell Marsh being able to bowl. Still, it is interesting to ponder the next in line given Green faces a lengthy lay-off.Webster, the Tasmania allrounder, has numbers that speak for themselves over the last two seasons. With the bat he has averaged 53.12 in the Sheffield Shield – including an opening-round hundred last week – while has taken 66 wickets with a combination of brisk medium pace and offspin. Add in bucket hands at slip and he’s an ultimate allrounder. The Australia A series is a chance for him to do it a level up and success there will keep him in the frame should there be a need for another allrounder down the track. His versatility could also put him in consideration for the Sri Lanka tour early next year.

Aaron Hardie

Alongside Webster, Hardie is the other emerging allrounder and had an excellent limited-overs tour of England, especially with the ball whereas overall his batting is his primary suit. Bailey told that there had been consideration to trying to get Hardie one of the Australia A matches but with Green’s injury it was felt he would be needed through the ODI and T20I matches against Pakistan. There may be an opportunity for him to bat slightly higher in the order in the ODIs. He is due to return to Shield action at the weekend where he will be expected to slot in as part Western Australia’s top order. Hardie hasn’t scored a Shield century since his unbeaten 174 in 2021-22 final although did make one for Australia A in New Zealand a few weeks after that. In the last two seasons for WA he has averaged 31.45 so he may need a big season to push his case.

And what about the bowlers?

There is probably less mystery about who will be the back-up to the big three. It appears unlikely that Lance Morris will be in consideration amid his managed return from back problems (and a more recent thigh niggle) which leaves Boland and Michael Neser leading the way. Sean Abbott was part of the squad when India last toured in 2020-21 and, along with Neser, is someone who would bring some extra batting depth.

When you’ve had it as good as New Zealand have had it for so long, letting go is hard. But things change, and the world moves on

Andrew Fidel Fernando30-Sep-2024Letting go is hard, especially when what you are letting go of is the best you’ve ever had.Defeats like Sunday’s just didn’t happen to New Zealand’s men’s Test team over the past 10 years. Since 2014, there have been two innings losses, both significantly less-heavy than this Galle loss. The first was against Australia in Brendon McCullum’s farewell series in 2016, which ok, qualifies as a horror-Test. (One of the great regrets of the great New Zealand years, is that they never got a Test series win over the opposition they love to beat most). But the other innings loss was against Pakistan in Dubai in a 2018 series New Zealand ended up winning 2-1.Related

Williamson to miss early part of India series with a groin strain

Southee steps down as New Zealand Test captain, Latham to lead in India

Southee hopes New Zealand 'learn and move forward' from Sri Lanka loss

Peiris, Jayasuriya crush New Zealand to hand Sri Lanka series sweep

New Zealand caught short as Sri Lanka take fielding to a new dimension

And yet, as if checking off a bingo card of Test misery, New Zealand have in their last match managed to: Lose by an innings and 154 in a series they lost 2-0. Take no more than five wickets in a Test in which they lost 20. Bowl so many overs in one innings that they faced the indignity of having the third new ball available. Have their bowlers become such fodder, that a segment of the match (the overs after tea on day 2) were little more than an opposition milestone-getting exercise. Be shot out for a two-digit score in the first innings.All this, for a side that not only has a World Test Championship title in 2021, but who very arguably were the most consistently competent team over the past decade. Since 2014, New Zealand have collapsed for less than 150 only seven times in 147 innings – that percentage of 4.76 is the lowest for any Test side. And in 160 bowling innings, they’d never conceded 600, which every other WTC team had, at least once. That is until this Test, in which they were both all out for 88, and conceded 602 for 5.You tot all this up, peer down XI at the ages of many of the players in this team, and it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that there is, now, a bookend to something spectacular. One bad series doesn’t make New Zealand a bad team, of course. But they are on four Test losses in succession, now, having also gone down 2-0 to Australia earlier in the year.What have they got coming up? Oh. Three Tests in India? So, basically the most difficult assignment in cricket? Since 2014, only England and Australia have ever defeated India at home. Even then, we’re talking about lone Test wins in series India have generally dominated.Up next for Kane Williamson and co is a Test series against India•AFP/Getty ImagesYou wonder if this New Zealand team are that heroic character about to meet their end after years of triumph. Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi facing down Darth Vader in the Death Star. Famed warrior Boromir falling from many arrow wounds while cutting down dozens of orcs. Augustus Gloop getting sucked into the Wonka factory pipe while guzzling chocolate from the river.And you wonder most about one of New Zealand’s finest heroes. Tim Southee, the second-greatest wicket-taker his country has ever seen, leads this team. Since the start of 2022, he averages 38.86, across 21 matches – a fifth of his playing career.Follow this strain of reasoning, and you begin to stray into the truly uncomfortable. Is Southee’s captaincy shoring up his place in the team? Matt Henry averages 23.56 since the start of 2022, even if this record is largely down to dominance at home. Is he more likely to be threatening than Southee in India, though? We are into walking-on-eggshells territory for everyone, including, you suspect, for New Zealand’s selectors. Do they grit their teeth and hope Southee comes right? He average 28.70 in India, which is excellent for a visiting quick. But is Southee, still Southee?Some sentiment may come into the decisions to be made over the next weeks and months, and that is as it should be. Emotion is part of what draws us all into international cricket; as with any sport, its only intrinsic value is to the people playing it. And yet it feels as if the questions now facing New Zealand are not those of a thriving Test side, but one that must focus intensively on regeneration. If the India tour goes as most India tours tend to do, all this may only feel more vital.

“You wonder if this New Zealand team are that heroic character about to meet their end after years of triumph. Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi facing down Darth Vader in the Death Star. Warrior Boromir falling from many arrow wounds while cutting down dozens of orcs”

There are shoots of growth already there, though. On two dusty Galle tracks, Will O’Rourke was the standout seamer, his average of 23.12 the best for any quick in the series, as he frequently troubled Sri Lanka’s batters with menacing bounce at speeds of close to 140kph. Rachin Ravindra was New Zealand’s highest scorer in the series, his 92 in the second innings of the first Test a knock that suggested he should be locked in at No. 4 for the foreseeable future.Glenn Phillips has been around for a while, but has on this tour been a threatening offspin bowler in addition to making a mark with the bat – truly a choose-your-own-adventure cricketer in the same realm TM Dilshan (also an occasional wicketkeeper, and gun fielder) had lived in, in a previous era. Ben Sears, one of their fastest bowlers, could do with another outing.In general, this feels like a team that will increasingly feel the pressure to usher in fresh ideas, fresh faces, and strategies at cricket’s newest cutting edge, which they no longer seem to be at, though it wasn’t that long ago that they were transforming the sport’s whole landscape.But things change. The world moves on.When you’ve had it as good as New Zealand have had it for so long, letting go is hard.

India’s defeat at the MCG made 2024-25 one of their worst seasons in Test cricket

Sampath Bandarupalli30-Dec-20245 – Test defeats for India in 2024-25, equalling their record (from 1999-2000) for most losses in a season. Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma are the only India captains with five Test defeats in a season.6 – Number of innings in 2024 in which India have been dismissed for less than 160, the joint-most for them in a calendar year after 1952 and 1959.2014-15 – The last time Australia won more than one match in a Test series against India. Since then, Australia have lost four bilateral series against India 2-1.3 – Players with 40-plus scores and three or more wickets in both innings of a Test for Australia: George Giffen in the 1894 Sydney Test against England, Alan Davidson in the 1960 Brisbane Test against West Indies, and now Pat Cummins against India at the MCG. Only 14 players have pulled off this all-round feat in Test cricket.1007 – Number of balls faced by the two teams in Melbourne after the fall of the sixth wicket. This has happened just one other time since 1998 – 1066 by England and India in the 2014 Nottingham Test (complete data for fall-of-wicket is available only since 1998).