Australia v India SCG Test: Northern Beaches COVID cluster scare

Cricket Australia is facing a logistic nightmare should Sydney’s worrying COVID cluster spiral out of control – with the SCG Test at the heart of their concerns.

The SCG Test is scheduled to start on January 7. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Australian cricket is holding its breath that Sydney’s Northern Beaches COVID cluster does not spiral out of control.

The third Test of the summer against India is set for Sydney from January 7 and it would be a logistic nightmare to have it rescheduled.

The cluster tripled in size to 17 on Thursday and an immediate testing blitz was launched.

While there are no immediate concerns for the Test the last thing Australia needs after months of planning for the current series is a debate over the schedule for the last month of the series.

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The SCG Test is scheduled to start on January 7. Picture. Phil Hillyard

After the Sydney Test the players are scheduled to move to Brisbane for the final Test where the Queensland government are shamelessly conservative about closing the border if they feel Sydney has major hotspots.

A gripping, first day of the series finished with honours even after Australia struck buck with a rousing last session in which the run out of Indian superstar Virat Kohli (74) triggered a collapse which left India at 6-233 at stumps.

The total was better than it looked on a pitch no batsman could master.

Kohli batted like the driven man he is and looked in little trouble against any bowler before his shock dismissal. He stormed off the field a shattered figure after his vice-captain Ajinka Rahane initially called him through then abandoned the run.

Australia's Cameron Green (L) receives his Baggy Green cap from teammate Pat Cummins (R). Picture: AFP

Rahane is set to captain the side in the final three Tests because Kohli will return to India for the birth of his first child. Is he mentally strong enough to handle the fallout of this nightmare dismissal?

We shall see.

The debut of young all-rounder Cameron Green was a captivating moment for the crowd and the youngster’s very first ball was a sign of why he is so different and potentially special.

The ball rose from short of a length and surprised India’s batting rock Cheteshwar Pujara who took one hand off the bat as he played it. Though Green did not take a wicket he bowled with admirable pace, pushing the speedometre to a bustling 144kph which is brisk work by any standards.

Pujara, the old-fashioned, magnificently serene batting barnacle at one stage went for 45 minutes without scoring but it was as if each minute was a mini badge of honour for he waited for his runs like a commuter waiting for the next train.

India's Cheteshwar Pujara plays a shot during his lengthy stay at the crease. Picture: AFP

He has no airs or graces or tattoos or flashy jewelry. He just bats and bats.

This has been a challenging year for him because given that he has given white ball cricket away he has struggled for match practice after India’s domestic competition was shut down.

Before an innings against Australia A his last innings was in New Zealand in March.

Recently he spoke to Indian journalists about not even having the chance to bat in the nets during the COVID crisis.

It hasn’t hurt him.

CRASH’S DAY ONE REPORT CARD

MATTHEW Wade’s willingness to open the batting for Australia was particularly admirable because there may no road back to where he came from.

Now that Australia has the bold decision to pick all-rounder Cameron Green, the youngster will be retained at all costs, particularly in Sydney where Australia will consider playing a second spinner, Mitchell Swepson.

David Warner is expected to return from injury for that Test and with Green hopefully anchored in the middle order, Wade may need to beat Joe Burns and Will Pucovski for the final place in the team, probably as Warner’s opening partner.

The pressure is on …

Matthew Wade has put the team first - but could it cost him? Picture: Getty

ARM OF STEEL

PAY the man with the wanger.

India’s specialist net bowler Ragu (real name Raghavendra) was a late arrival due to quarantine restrictions but his paw prints were all over India’s first session resolve against the short ball.

Ragu, who uses a steel throwing arm to send short balls whizzing around nostrils in the nets, has been on tour with India for seven years and in that time their short ball play has improved immeasurably. It was all on display at the Adelaide Oval where their first session poise against the rising ball was admirable from simple ducking to rising with it and fending.

FROM THE FRONT

EVEN before he tossed the coin Tim Paine made an imposing start to Australia’s Test series against India.

Paine volunteered to open the batting but common sense prevailed and his offer was declined for the obvious reason that he has enough on his plate.

But it says much about his robust up-and-at-‘em mindset that he would even contemplate it. Many wouldn’t.

When Paine and Wade were having backyard games of cricket in Hobart as children they surely could never have imagined that one day they would be involved in a shootout to open the batting in a Test.

Tim Paine (left) showed his class by putting his hand up to open. Picture: Getty

HE’S THE MARN

SHANE WARNE’s declaration that Steve Smith has had his time and Marnus Labuschagne should be Australia’s next Test captain is a jolting moment for Queensland cricket.

Queensland is yet to give Labuschagne any meaningful leadership role, a surprise given Australia’s desperation to unearth the next Test leader to follow Paine – and the openness of the field.

“He (Labuschagne) loves the game, he is a good technician and he understands the game,’’ Warne said on a Fox Sports podcast. “I think Steve Smith has had his time.’’

CLASS VERSUS CLASS

Who is going to win the battle of The Suffocators this summer … Pat Cummins or Cheteshwar Pujara?

A near flawlessly accurate fast man against a batsman who has the patience of one of those war time snipers who had to hideaway in their bunkers for days on end ... it’s one of the most decisive showdowns of the summer.

Cummins versus everyone will be fun to watch but it will be particularly interesting to see if he can smoke out the batsman who went 45 minutes without scoring a run at the Adelaide Oval without ever suggesting the pressure to tick it over was mounting.Around that time Cummins was bowling 10 overs for 10 runs.

It’s an arm wrestle for the ages

IN THE PINK

The ball is too soft. It struggles to reverse swing and when you are on the fence you can barely to see the thing at all.

That was Mitchell Starc’s first impression of day-night cricket with the pink ball before Australia played their first day-night Test in 2015.

He took several years to warm to the concept which was surprising given he has become the pink prince of day-night cricket with 43 wickets at a strike rate of one every 35 balls including his first over victim Prithvi Shaw, bowled off an inside edge on Thursday.