Australia ended the second day of the third Test in Brisbane on 405/7 from 101 overs, thanks in large part to a stand of 241 between Travis Head and Steven Smith.
Sounds like the cowardliness that comes with batting captains who are woefully struggling with the bat (individually and as a team), and who just don't want to face the bowling in what they deem even remotely helpful conditions for bowling. Obviously such captains and senior players wouldn't drop themselves (or fake injury and rest a la Ganguly in Nagpur 2004), but they also know that the batting is weak, and end up playing bits-and-pieces players to shore up the batting and give the pretense that there are bowling options. This looks like a repeat of the WTC 2023 final.
Having said that, I thought Bumrah was a bit lucky to pick the wickets later in the day, especially Smith's - who just had a bad lapse of concentration.
Also Siraj must really question himself with returns of 1/98 in such helpful conditions.
Good observation as it is the second order effects of the weak 4th and 5th choice bowlers that really matter; another is the load it puts on Bumrah in a five test series. They need him in every game but risk wearing him out given his fitness history.
One quibble, “Australia’s best southpaw since Allan Border”?? I think Mssrs Gilchrist, Hayden and Hussey might have something to say about that claim 😮😀
That’s a laughable assertion without evidence. Head is having a good couple of years especially against India. Take out India and he doesn’t seem to be as good. It’s nothing like the body of work Hayden and Langer built up. I put him 4th for now after those 2 and Gilchrist. I also think he’ll fade away cause his technique isn’t built to last.
Head plays in a much better bowling era than those others did, both because of increased bowling depth, and more result pitches.
Those Waugh/Ponting era Australians faced one attack - 2005 ENG - comparable to at least 3 contemporary attacks. And they not only struggled, but lost. They also lost to 1 spinner in India in 2001. They played in the most batting friendly era in Test cricket since the 1960s. They also played before the era of DRS. DRS has made finger spin a genuinely attacking option in Test cricket. Pretty much every attack those Australians faced was like the current Indian attack - a great new ball pair followed by weak change bowling. And there was no fast bowler comparable to Bumrah or Rabada in that era. The ENG attack prior to the Harmison/Jones/Flintoff/Hoggard quartet of 2005 was not in the same class as the Broad/Anderson attack. AUS dominated in that era because they had two all time great bowlers and at least one other great bowler, and nobody else had more than one, if that.
Hussey, for instance, made 7/89 (228 bf) v Steyn, 8/123 (286 bf) v Morkel, 4/61 (126 bf) v Roach, 3/48 in 66 bf against Amir, 1/63 (144 bf) v Asif - the five best fast bowlers of his time. 3/20 (87 bf) v Chris Martin, who probably wouldn't make the current NZ XI.
Result pitches - which offer seam or spin - make batting difficult.
With India being so successful with 5 bowler Strategy for quite some time now, any reason you see particularly why they are going back to the methods of Dhonis era?
Sounds like the cowardliness that comes with batting captains who are woefully struggling with the bat (individually and as a team), and who just don't want to face the bowling in what they deem even remotely helpful conditions for bowling. Obviously such captains and senior players wouldn't drop themselves (or fake injury and rest a la Ganguly in Nagpur 2004), but they also know that the batting is weak, and end up playing bits-and-pieces players to shore up the batting and give the pretense that there are bowling options. This looks like a repeat of the WTC 2023 final.
Having said that, I thought Bumrah was a bit lucky to pick the wickets later in the day, especially Smith's - who just had a bad lapse of concentration.
Also Siraj must really question himself with returns of 1/98 in such helpful conditions.
Good observation as it is the second order effects of the weak 4th and 5th choice bowlers that really matter; another is the load it puts on Bumrah in a five test series. They need him in every game but risk wearing him out given his fitness history.
One quibble, “Australia’s best southpaw since Allan Border”?? I think Mssrs Gilchrist, Hayden and Hussey might have something to say about that claim 😮😀
Head is better than all of them. Hussey and Langer definitely. Hayden too. Gilchrist rarely batted in the top six.
That’s a laughable assertion without evidence. Head is having a good couple of years especially against India. Take out India and he doesn’t seem to be as good. It’s nothing like the body of work Hayden and Langer built up. I put him 4th for now after those 2 and Gilchrist. I also think he’ll fade away cause his technique isn’t built to last.
Head plays in a much better bowling era than those others did, both because of increased bowling depth, and more result pitches.
Those Waugh/Ponting era Australians faced one attack - 2005 ENG - comparable to at least 3 contemporary attacks. And they not only struggled, but lost. They also lost to 1 spinner in India in 2001. They played in the most batting friendly era in Test cricket since the 1960s. They also played before the era of DRS. DRS has made finger spin a genuinely attacking option in Test cricket. Pretty much every attack those Australians faced was like the current Indian attack - a great new ball pair followed by weak change bowling. And there was no fast bowler comparable to Bumrah or Rabada in that era. The ENG attack prior to the Harmison/Jones/Flintoff/Hoggard quartet of 2005 was not in the same class as the Broad/Anderson attack. AUS dominated in that era because they had two all time great bowlers and at least one other great bowler, and nobody else had more than one, if that.
Hussey, for instance, made 7/89 (228 bf) v Steyn, 8/123 (286 bf) v Morkel, 4/61 (126 bf) v Roach, 3/48 in 66 bf against Amir, 1/63 (144 bf) v Asif - the five best fast bowlers of his time. 3/20 (87 bf) v Chris Martin, who probably wouldn't make the current NZ XI.
Result pitches - which offer seam or spin - make batting difficult.
With India being so successful with 5 bowler Strategy for quite some time now, any reason you see particularly why they are going back to the methods of Dhonis era?