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Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #645
They're relying on the pitch deteriorating a bit more,  plus absolutely physically and mentally grinding the Pakis into the dirt. Approach seems to have worked thus far.  Remember, only one side has pushed to win a game, the other has stonewalled.
It's no given, our blokes got the ball to reverse which made a huge difference, then the opposition basically surrendered. The media was claiming the pitch was deteriorating, but then we come out and make 81 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.

Lyon and Swepson didn't have much impact, if the pitch stays stable and the ball doesn't reverse it could be a long two days!

It's far from conclusive.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #646
Khawaja has 301 runs during this series at an average of 150.5. Not too shabby.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #647
Lyon and Swepson didn't have much impact, if the pitch stays stable and the ball doesn't reverse it could be a long two days!

Cummins’ Australians do a Pakistan on Pakistan, The Age.
Quote
During the interminable Rawalpindi Test match, Waqar Younis conveyed a story that spoke much about how Pakistan operated at their best in his time.

The wily leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed used to curse Waqar and Wasim Akram in the field, not without reason. The moment Mushtaq’s wrist spin claimed a wicket, the pacemen would be called in to wreak havoc on new batters with reverse swing.

Years later in the commentary box at his nation’s former fortress in Karachi’s National Stadium, Waqar would not have totally enjoyed the passage of day three.

But he could not have denied the familiarity of proceedings: catalysed by the debutant Mitchell Swepson and Nathan Lyon, then capitalised by Mitchell Starc, Cameron Green and the captain Pat Cummins, Australia inflicted a Pakistan on their hosts.

,,,

There will be those who look at a scorecard providing bare basics and assert that Swepson’s inclusion made no difference to the outcome. That Hazlewood might also have moved the old ball and that a second spin bowler was a luxury not affordable in these tough economic times.

But such conclusions would miss the skittish footwork Swepson’s introduction drew from Imam-ul-Haq before lunch, as the wrist spinner threatened footmarks that were too wide for Lyon. It was a testament to his eagerness for involvement that Swepson swooped from backward point to throw out Abdullah Shafique before lunch, his arm still warm from over No.1 in Test cricket.

Leg spin had, one way or another, changed the balance in the way that Warne had done for 15 wondrous years, and the hectic passages in early afternoon underlined the point. Knowing that he would eventually be challenged by Swepson out of the rough, Imam miscalculated to Lyon and punched to an exultant Cummins at mid on.

...

Once the day’s pivotal passages had taken place, and only remnants of the Pakistan innings remained, Swepson and Lyon returned to the bowling crease, an opportunity not always afforded Mushtaq.

Here Australia’s decision-makers got a glimpse of Swepson’s possibilities. His first ball of a spell looped, drifted and dropped on Babar Azam, coaxing a skier held exultantly by Usman Khawaja. Not too long later, Shaheen Afridi was beaten by a sharply spinning leg break, then a well-pitched wrong’un, then given lbw on the sweep.

Swepson and Lyon walked off with 3-45 between them. They had played vital roles in the day that tilted this series, as Australia played and beat Pakistan at the tempo game they have made their own for decades.

IOW, the strategy has largely been the reverse of the usual fast vs. spin bowlers dynamic. Usually, the fast bowlers take early wickets and expose the middle order & tail to spin. But in this case, the spinners made the breakthrough and the reverse swing fast bowlers took advantage.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #648
Nathan Lyon just bowled a good length ball to Imam-Ul-Haq which would have hit the bottom half of his pad if he hadn't managed to clamp down on it. A few balls later, he's been given out LBW to another one that has kept a bit low. The pitch is variable, but an odd sort of variability. The only variation is that sometimes it keeps low. There isn't much unexpected sideways movement and the ball doesn't kick up, but the tendency to keep low means the batters have to get a bat on it or they risk an LBW.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #649
Pakistan isn't bothering to chase the total: 10 runs off 15 overs. It'll be 2 days of defensive shots.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #650
Wow, Green dismissed Azhar Ali LBW when Ali ducked a bouncer only to find it hit him around the groin as he squatted "underneath" the bouncer. Bizarrely, he discussed taking a review with his batting partner for so long he ran out of time. After he was safely ensconced in the dressing room, snicko showed the ball hit his glove on the way through! 

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #651
Smith dropped a pudd in slips off Cummins. Shafique has a life at 20.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #652
The draw was probably a fair result.  Both teams worked their butts off but the Pakistanis have unearthed some very promising batters.

It seemed that the game was played in good spirits and that's nice to see.
“Why don’t you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don’t you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don’t you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?”  Oddball

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #653
A lot of people(media / fans) slammed Cummins for not enforcing the follow on, but on that pitch it has now been justified.

I do however stand by my earlier criticism regarding the selection of roller, Cummins should have used the heavy roller before our short innings to try and further break up the pitch. Next time he'll pay more attention to what the opposition does.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #654
Need to give a break to a few of Cummo's NSW mates.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #655
Need to give a break to a few of Cummo's NSW mates.
Swepson doesn't / didn't look ready to me, he's far off having the control needed to be a reliable impacter of games, and he may never get it, mind you he had some bad luck and could have easily had a couple of wickets but the international teams will always make him pay a high price for each wicket.

The problem is for all the good sessions erratic bowlers have, they undo the build up of pressure at other times, Starc is the same.

Lyon isn't getting younger, and looked head and shoulders above the rest.

Without some assistance form the wicket, even Cummins looked ordinary, not enough tricks. Keep in mind his reputation is built over the last few years of COVID related cricket in regions that aren't as challenging as Pakistan or India. There is a huge difference playing against those teams at their home versus some neutral venue like Dubai.

Watching the final session last night, I had to wonder what Zampa has done wrong, and I also thought if we had Fawad Ahmed playing we might well have won! But that's a short term outlook.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #656
Other than a brief period with the reversing pill,  Starc hasn't exactly set the world on fire recently and his record in later tests within a series is poor.   I bet the next pitch is a raging turner given its zip all after 2.

Wonder if Agar isn't worth a try either.   Too many pies from Swepson amongst some good deliveries.   Without control it doesn't matter if it's spin or pace,  you can't build or exert pressure, and you can't comply with bowling plans.
DrE is no more... you ok with that harmonica man?

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #657
Wonder if Agar isn't worth a try either. 
Very good point about Agar, the main trouble Lyon caused was related to bounce and Agar gets that naturally courtesy of his extra height, but he is not a big turner however he has a modicum of control not exhibited by Swepson.

If only Agar was a NSWelshmen!

Not sure if you watched last night, they bang on about how much Lyon and Swepson give it a rip, then Labuschagne came on for an over and made them both look dead straight although with even less control than Swepson!

They had Smith, Head, Labuschange, and with his lack of control Swepson really looks like a luxury item. Now you've made me think I'd go Lyon, Agar and one of the other three batsmen for short spells.
The Force Awakens!

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #658
Swepson did look out of his depth but so did Shane Warne when Ravi Shastri was hammering him around in his first test. Leggies take a while and while Agar will give you control and save runs I still think we need to persist with Swepson in Pakistan.
If I was playing Agar it would be in India where left arm orthodox like Jadeja and Axar dominate and the sneaky Indians fix the wickets to suit them both.
If I was teaching kids how to bat I would show them a video of Babar Azam in terms of technique, he is very textbook and organised with his footwork. Thought we lost this test due to some poor fielding especially from Smith who is normally reliable but everyone has a bad day no matter how good they are.

Re: God help me - the Test Cricket thread

Reply #659
Might be time to think about calling it a day Warner ....