Craddock: Australia finally at peace with ball-tampering nightmare

Pakistan were full of adventure and Babar Azam pounced on everything overpitched, but Australia proved they’re at last at peace with their present and future, writes Robert Craddock.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 24: Tim Paine, Steve Smith, Joe Burns, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne of Australia celebrate victory during day four of the 1st Domain Test between Australia and Pakistan at The Gabba on November 24, 2019 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

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It’s taken almost two years since the Cape Town ball tampering scandal but Australia is at last at peace with its present and future.

No, it was not a perfect day at the Gabba but the Pakistani uprising was just the type of splash of cold water in the face every team needs.

Pakistan were full of adventure and we can now see why there is so much fuss over Babar Azam after he positively pounced on anything overpitched with eye-watering drives and smoked the short ball on both sides of the wicket.

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Steve Smith and David Warner are at the centre of Australia’s celebrations at the Gabba. Picture: Getty

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It proved to Australia as great as their bowlers are they are not immune from being ambushed on a flat wicket and a hot day no matter how historically friendly the venue.

But for all the cheek and conjure of Pakistan, the horse had bolted and the game gone.

Even in England where it won the Ashes, there was a sense of restlessness about an Australian team which was still in a delicate stage of transition.

Was Cameron Bancroft much chop? Was Marcus Harris the genuine Test match article? Was David Warner a light of other days? And what of the pecking order of the fast men?

Hot questions sizzled throughout the summer. Suddenly everything seems settled. The serenity of course, won’t last. It never does.

It would only take a Kiwi uprising over Christmas to change things but there is something satisfying for the home side to at least to be able to draw breath and feel that its current XI is its best XI.

It is a rare and precious place to be.

Steven Smith (R) and Cameron Bancroft sit in that infamous Cape Town press conference. Picture: Getty

After 11 opening partnerships in its last 29 Tests Australia can ink Burns and David Warner in for the summer.

After 16 No 3 batsmen since Ricky Ponting, Marnus Labuschagne looks a striking long term option.

Batting careers, however, are not the things you want to be making big statements about.

At various stages Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Bancroft and many others were labelled men with exceptional futures yet somehow fell short of what they were expected to be.

The high class Gabba deck was again Australia’s best friend.

There is a reason why Australia has not lost in Brisbane for 31 years and part of it can be explained in the first innings ambush of Pakistan. They were jumped before they had their radar set.

Crowds were modest. To attract less than 45,991 for the match was not a spectacular effort even though Pakistan will never rival Queen at the box office. When the Pakistan’s last played here three years ago they attracted more than 20,000 more.

The message is clear. Brisbane should be a regular day-night Test venue. It is the future of the game.