Memorable Boxing Day Test proves the longest form will always stand the test of time
AS the Big Bash tries to steal the summer limelight, two stunning Tests have shown that the longest form of the game can still deliver memorable miracles.
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TEST cricket, the game that will not be denied.
As the blink and you’ll miss it moments of the Big Bash try to steal the summer limelight, two stunning Tests have shown that the longest form of the game can still deliver memorable miracles.
In Brisbane Pakistan almost pulled off the greatest steal in Test cricket, but on Friday the tourists turned victims, robbed by a relentless Aussie outfit, the only team playing with constant winning intent.
Expectations of a dull last day petering out to a draw were blown away by a Mitch Starc slog session in the morning, with such ordinary bowling and fielding from Pakistan they gave every indication that an SCG series settler was their preferred way to go.
He declared just before lunch, giving Pakistan’s openers 20 nervous minutes to negotiate, and they couldn’t manage that. Josh Hazlewood bowled Sami Aslam, and the “could we” thoughts started racing.
Straight after the break Starc, tail still wagging after his batting masterclass, got through Babar Azam first ball, before stoicism settled in.
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Younis Khan has batted for days throughout his long career, and Azhar Ali had done so just this week, making a double-hundred in the first dig hoping that would be enough for his team.
They held fast, knocking the ball around, knowing runs, to reel in the Aussie target, as well as time at the crease were key to keeping their side in the game.
Enter Nathan Lyon.
Derided by so many even on the final morning of the game with comments from Smith the day before that he was no certainty for Sydney still ringing in his ears.
He was, like Pakistan’s leg-spinner Yasir Shah, whacked around on a wicket that would not spin, and his future was less up in the air and more dead and buried.
But Lyon, like Test cricket, is a bit irrepressible in that way. It’s his demeanour, his love for the contest, his constant want to give, which endears him to his teammates.
Matthew Wade’s mouth may have got the public behind Lyon this week, but his double-dismissals of first Younis Khan then captain Misbah ul-Haq, in the same over, just after he was brought on, ensured the world would love him for a little longer.
After “Garry” got his team going, Pakistan’s historical capacity for calamity pointed to this being a last day wonder, and so it followed when Starc fired up and sent the tail of the touring team in to a spin.
“I said to the boys this morning that cricket is a funny game and anything can happen,” Smith said post-game, and what a smirk he had when he did.
“It was one of those days. It’s not often you win too many games when the first innings score is around 450.”
Nor should you win when you don’t get to bat until day three. That was when whirlwind David Warner really put the game on a trajectory for a result.
“That’s entertainment,” Aussie coach Darren Lehmann said, referring to Warner’s third day 144, a turning point from which only the Aussies took the right direction
Even a rainstorm on Thursday that sent most of Melbourne scurrying for inflatable help wouldn’t deter Smith’s positivity.
This was Test cricket, more than 90 overs left, a full day, a result could be got.
“You can pull a win out of your hat form nowhere,” Smith said of his love for the long form and the white clothes and the opportunities it provides.
“This shows Test cricket is alive and well.”
With plenty of help from those who play it right.
Originally published as Memorable Boxing Day Test proves the longest form will always stand the test of time
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