Ashes 2021/22: Burning questions for Australia ahead of Hobart Test
The result suggests captain Pat Cummins may have made the wrong call in Sydney, but with Usman Khawaja closing in on his second Test century, it was a tricky one.
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Talk about the majesty of Test cricket …
A Test played after the fate of the series was over had so much drama, it was if a cricketing sheep station was on the line.
Every day threw up a different hero and an epic human story in a match which has revived the previously lost magic of Sydney Test matches and added another rich chapter to Ashes folklore.
A magnificent Test match has left Australia heading to Hobart with some of its most bizarre selection issues of recent times.
Let’s tackle the lingering questions …
Is it the right move to make Usman Khawaja an opener in place of Marcus Harris?
The stunningly in form Khawaja, as Pat Cummins said after the match, simply had to be retained, but it’s worth remembering opening is not Khawaja’s preferred position despite the fact he averages more than 90 there in Tests.
Khawaja prefers the middle order where he has settled nicely for Queensland and Australia and it’s a shame he could not stay where he is.
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Very few players move up the order to open at age 35. Countless have moved in the opposite direction.
It will defy all sorts of historical conventions for Khawaja to switch to opener, but with Travis Head certain to be retained in the middle order, there is no other spots.
Australia’s selection criteria should be to choose the top order they want for the first Test in Pakistan in March, where Khawaja must play, and will fill many roles such as a likely on-field mentor to Mitchell Swepson in his first Test.
Will Scott Boland hold his place for Hobart?
As the currently most threatening member of the attack, he’s a “must play’’. His numbers are so extraordinary that Australia should just keep him rolling, if possible into the tour of Pakistan where he could be the heavy duty high workload seamer.
That is a setback to the very promising Jhye Richardson but he still has time on his side.
Is Alex Carey’s place under threat from Josh Inglis?
Yes, but not immediately. Carey will play the last Test, both will tour Pakistan where Carey will start, but would not want to have an early shocker for the push for Inglis is ever-present.
Interestingly, the one keeping area where Carey has struggled in this series — diving right at full extension — was an area which some former keepers were worried about after watching him keep to average South Australian Sheffield Shield attacks several rungs below the high voltage Australian attacks.
They feared his game might not have been tuned for the big “speccy’’.
Carey’s keeping to spin has been excellent – a good sign for Pakistan – but his batting form was surprisingly modest.
Most decent keepers – Ian Healy and Rod Marsh among them – improve the longer they stay at Test level so Carey will probably improve as he settles.
Does the controversial SCG wicket get a pass mark?
Yes, because it woke from its slumber of recent years to provide a fair contest between bat and ball.
As great as it was to see bowlers kings in the early Tests, the joy of seeing three epic centuries was welcome and well timed. SCG regulars will never forget the explosion of joy that greeted two Khawaja centuries while Jonny Bairstow’s look towards the heavens and his late father was a massive moment.
Nothing came easily for bowlers or batsmen – but that is the way it should be.
Did Pat Cummins get his declaration wrong?
The result suggests he did but it was a tricky one as Usman Khawaja was closing in on his second Test century.
Australia has learnt from hard experience though that day five in Sydney is hard work, so anything less that four sessions to bowl a side out can be risky business.
Had Australia played leg-spinner Mitch Swepson, things might have been different.
Originally published as Ashes 2021/22: Burning questions for Australia ahead of Hobart Test
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