Not the first nor the last time an opposing team has misread a subcontinent pitch…yeah in hindsight Australian went in with their usual fast bowling biased selection goggles …pretty sure JL would of picked the same Australian bowling attack…the same attack he predominantly used, when available, during his coaching tenure.
I agree with mikeh, Lyon definitely won’t get dropped, nor will Carey…common sense says other wise I know…best we can hope fall is Starc getting a rest, also Hazlewood too, the latter more out of rotation for the third test…bring in Boland and Swepson…would love to see Inglis get a crack, but I guess if we are looking at the bigger picture, keep Carey in for the series, let him fark up some more, then replace him for Inglis for the upcoming other sub continent tours…
Got it 58shark
Swepson in and Hazlewood out is the only change.
Another leg spinner out of many that have been tried since the retirement of Warne. I wish him well but its a lot to ask of a guy in his debut and who hasnt played a lot of first class cricket recently. One positive is that he has been around the Australian set up for a while though so he will be well aware of the game plans and strategies.
By picking Starc they would be hoping that reverse swing comes into the picture. It will be interesting to see how he performs as he was pretty wayward and expensive in the first test. Green would need to bowl more this time around as well.
Hopefully Australia win the toss and bat. Their best chance of being competitive in this match is to get some runs on the board in the first day and a half ( 350 - 400) and then the bowlers may be able to put the Pakistan batsmen under some scoreboard pressure which they were unable to do at any stage of the first test. It was embarrassing to watch the last day where their openers just waltzed towards their centuries playing any shots that they liked.
Mike I think Swepson is the first specialist leg spinner we have picked in a Test Match since 2009 (not including part timers like Smith & Labushagne) would you believe?
Since Warne retired in 2007 MacGill played for a year or so after but not since the embarrassing selection of 1 Test wonder Bryce McGain in South Africa where their batsmen absolutely massacred him all over the park have we chosen one since.
Plenty of offies have come and gone but no leggies…
Yeah I was thinking of all the spinners they had tried including Kreyza, Hauritz, Casson, Doherty, Beer. But Mcgain was the only leggie. Hopefully Swepson does better than he did because I’m sure the Pakistanis will go after him.
A massive surprise as I fully expected Pakistan to be 3-250 at stumps en route to a 500 tally by stumps tomorrow night.
Perhaps Pat Cummins’ decision to bat on this morning unsettled the Paks, who were probably anticipating an overnight declaration.
I expect Australia will bat for an hour or so tomorrow and set the home side 550 to win.
That would theoretically give Australia 160-plus overs to dismiss Pakistan.
I was just amazed to see how much reverse swing that Starc, Cummins and Green were getting. From about the 20th over the ball was hooping around everywhere and most of the Pakistan batsman were unable to handle it. Babar was the only one who appeared to play it comfortably but he ended up holing out to the spinner. It was amazing to watch after the Australians had looked totally comfortable on the pitch for over 2 days and again in the 2nd innings in the hour before stumps.
I would expect Pakistan to bat better in the 2nd innings but the pitch is wearing under a very hot sun and the spinners may come into play in a big way on days 4 and 5.
Well after watching the last session of Day 4 I am wondering how the hell Australia can get 8 wickets tomorrow to win the test. Babar was in complete control and the other young guy batted really well too.
The ball was not reversing a great deal, the pitch was flat and the bowling was unthreatening. Starc, Cummins and Green all bowled tightly but there were very few alarms for the Pakistan Batsmen. Swepson tried varying his lines and bowled around the wicket for s while and at least looked like he might break through, Lyon was very innocuous and was played easily by Babar and Shafique. In the last session it just looked like he was trying to contain and didnt come remotely close to taking a wicket.
I thought Cummins could have chucked the ball to one of the part timers late in the day just to see if they could break the batsmens concentration but overall the batting was just too good.
Australia will have to make the new ball count and take a wicket or two in the first hour tomorrow. If they can get Babar out early it might put a different perspective on the game as he is the one who is capable of batting through 2 days
Its a real long shot but if Pakistan were say 4 -350 at tea tomorrow I wonder if they would have a crack at the target. The bowlers would be weary by this stage and there may be an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
New day, new beginning I guess mikeh…Smith dropping that dolly hurt big time. If taken, should of been taken, Pakistan would of been 3 down for under 60, with a guy on a pair coming in next. Kudos to Pakistan for digging in, still a big ask to bat out the 5th day…Australia as you say needs early wickets, Babar especially.
Can’t see Pakistam winning, they just don’t score fast enough, Aust just needs to stay positive, 8 deliveries is all that is needed, couple of shors went precariously close to fielders yesterday, on another day they would of gone straight to the fielder…sets up a fascinating days cricket, still Australia’s test to win…be good if the skipper stood up and took a 5 for to win the game, shut up all those JL supporters, who sadly want Aust to lose and for Aust cricket to go backwards all because JL got treated badly…yeah we get it JL got stabbed in the back…
Big test for Cummins Captaincy coming up today…for mine he has looked very uninspiring and just a Steve Smith/Ronald McDonald clone!
As for Lyon (Gary The Goat) I am not sure why anyone is surprised he hasnt looked dangerous, he rarely does in the 4th innings when spinners are supposed to be at their most dangerous. The Subcontinent boys play him and most off spinners for that matter who have no variety whatsoever with ease. Why we played him yet again I will never know but apparently Cummins, Smith and Ronnie know best…apparently!
[quote=“Freezin post=217758 userid=945”]New day, new beginning I guess mikeh…Smith dropping that dolly hurt big time. If taken, should of been taken, Pakistan would of been 3 down for under 60, with a guy on a pair coming in next. Kudos to Pakistan for digging in, still a big ask to bat out the 5th day…Australia as you say needs early wickets, Babar especially.
Can’t see Pakistam winning, they just don’t score fast enough, Aust just needs to stay positive, 8 deliveries is all that is needed, couple of shors went precariously close to fielders yesterday, on another day they would of gone straight to the fielder…sets up a fascinating days cricket, still Australia’s test to win…be good if the skipper stood up and took a 5 for to win the game, shut up all those JL supporters, who sadly want Aust to lose and for Aust cricket to go backwards all because JL got treated badly…yeah we get it JL got stabbed in the back…
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That’s pretty harsh freeze. There’s plenty of us that are pissed at JL’s treatment, but wanting Australia to lose??? You’d have to be disappointed if there are people out there hoping for a Paki win. But still…
Could be a good day to keep the ear buds tuned in!!
58…not directed at anyone here, just general comments I have read elsewhere on other social media cricket threads…agree disappointing at the way the JL saga was handled…but come end of the day, Aussie fans wanting the Australian cricket to lose because of it, isn’t really something a loyal Aussie like JL would ever want…
Bease Yep, they have had trouble as you suggested would happen. What is wrong with enforcing the ‘follow-on’?
We were flattered a bit in Pakistan’s first innings, two wickets having fallen to ‘run-outs’
Lyon is getting hit down the ground for ‘one’ every over, even as one batsman has made a double during the tactic. Is this good captaincy?
credit must go to Pakistan for batting their way out of trouble but Cummins left too many overs and the bowlers looked buggered at the end plus dropped catches didn’t help either
Had their chance and it went begging
[quote=“58shark post=217779 userid=844”]Went down to the wire, good watching. But why didn’t the Aussies force the follow on?
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I think there has been a reluctance to enforce the follow on by Australia since the time in India that Steve Waugh did it and Dravid and Laxman batted all day to set up a famous victory for them. Ultimately 5 and a half sessions should be enough time to bowl out a team in the 2nd innings but you have to give credit to Babar, Shafique and Rizwan who batted wonderfully well. The bowlers did create a number of opportunities that were not taken by the fieldsman culminating in the simple catch that Khawaja dropped which was the final nail in the coffin.
I was a bit surprised at Cummins tactics towards the end of the match in that he took the new ball and yet himself and Starc only bowled one over each in the last 15. Fair enough to use Lyon who had given them a bit of a chance with his wickets but Swepson was pretty cooked by the last hour and the batsmen seemed to be handling him comfortably, Starc has a great record getting 9, 10s and 11s out so surely he would have been worth a few more overs and certainly a better bet than Labuschagne who amazingly bowled 2 out of the last 3 overs.
Given that the next test is only 4 days away, I think they may need some fresh legs in the 3rd test to carry the load, especially if they lose the toss and find themselves in the field. Depending on the wicket I would probably bring in Hazlewood /Boland and Agar for Starc and Swepson.
Australia created enough chances, but dropped way too many catches to snare the win. Only themselves to blame, yeah people can point the finger at Cummins re not enforcing the follow on, but if those catches were snaffled Pakistan would of lost. Smith dropping the dolly when Pakistan were 2/38 was a killer…next man in facing a pair, who knows what might of happen.
Onwatd to the next test, the only plus to come out of that game was that Australia know they can bowl Pakistan out for under 200, unlike Pakistan who haven’t rolled Australia out in a full innings for under 450…Hazlewood or Boland must come in, Boland preferably as he has had many a game and wicket on those MCG roads under his belt.
I would even drop Head for Marsh and elevate Green to 5…Agar for Swepson, who will be cooked after that debut, showed signs did Swepson that he could be handy test leggie though. Bi of fielding practice wouldn’t go astray either.
