The Sydney Test is crucial for Australia ahead of its tour of India, writes Catherine McGregor
FORGET any talk about the Sydney Test being a dead rubber. The next five days are going to be crucial to the future of Australian cricket.
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THE more things change the more they stay the same, especially in a game as conscious of its history and traditions as cricket.
Two themes will provide the backdrop for this week’s Sydney Test.
Firstly, Australian cricket will continue its Moby Dick-like quest for a spinner as damaging as Shane Warne. And Pakistan will be trying to recover some pride.
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Pakistan batting collapses always come just when they look set to live up to their potential and to show why they were briefly the number one Test side in the world last year.
Remember their loss of nine wickets in the final session at Hamilton in New Zealand to throw away a Test that appeared to be drifting to a draw?
That performance was actually worse than their surrender on Friday. In Hamilton, they managed to lose their last nine wickets in 25.1 overs and blew a strong start to go from 1-158 to all out for 230.
But to a certain generation of Australian fans this week’s Test will bring a strong sense of déjà vu.
In 1973, Pakistan arrived in Sydney 2-0 down in a series during which Australia had never settled on its batting order or spin options.
We took a punt on a spinner who was a mystery, not because of his action or delivery grip, but because almost no one other than selector Neil Harvey had ever heard of him.
His name was Johnny Watkins, who had played only five first-class matches before being rushed into the SCG Test to expand Australia’s spin options ahead of 1973 tour to the West Indies. Stephen O’Keefe and Ashton Agar are superior bowlers to Watkins, who bowled only six overs in his one and only Test.
They were awful. That came as no surprise to his skipper, Ian Chappell, who was stunned at his selection in the first place. He had faced Watkins in a Sheffield Shield match and been unimpressed.
Watkins is remembered for his unlikely heroics with the bat. He shared a vital ninth wicket partnership of 83 with Bob Massie, who top scored with 42 while Watkins contributed 36. They came together with Australia only leading by 75 runs.
That last wicket pair gave the Australians something to defend and Max Walker closed the deal with a startling 6-15 to wrap up the match with Pakistan all out for 106 needing just 158 for their first win on Australian soil.
Chappell still shakes his head at Australia’s escape, and to this day considers Dennis Lillee the unsung hero of Australia’s narrow win.
During Pakistan’s first innings Lillee had sustained the back injury, which ultimately forced him out of the 1973 Caribbean tour and radically changed his bowling action.
He completely shattered one of Pakistani opener Nasim ul Ghani’s stumps and sent shudders through the anxious visitors’ shed.
Although Lillee could not generate his top pace, on account of his injury, the tourists thought he was bowling missiles. Chappell still thinks it was a hollow stump, which disintegrated on impact. Even a medium pacer would have broken it.
He bowled 23 uninterrupted overs because he knew his back would seize up if he was rested. His 3-68 pales beside Walker’s return, but it was crucial, especially with Chappell knowing he could not rely on his frontline spinner.
Despite this rubber being dead the Sydney Test is crucial for Australia as they prepare to tour India. While some optimists are comparing our left arm orthodox pair of Ashton Agar and Stephen O’Keefe to India’s Ravindra Jadeja neither is in his class especially in India. Both are honest and tidy though Agar is clearly the superior batsman with O’Keefe having a far better first class bowling record.
The last time the pair clashed head on at the first class level was on a turning deck in Sydney in November’s Sheffield Shield match between Western Australia and NSW.
Agar collected 10-141 against O’Keefe’s 8-106. They are fairly evenly matched but I suspect O’Keefe will get a run on his home ground with his Shield partner Lyon.
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None of the Australian spin trio for this match is a prodigious turner of the ball and neither Lyon nor O’Keefe was effective in Sri Lanka last year. The missing element in Australia’s planning is a decent leg spinner who can bat a bit. To win in India, Australia needs wicket-taking bowlers, who can knock over an opponent adept at playing spin. Containment will not deliver results.
Fawad Ahmed showed promise as a prodigious turner of the ball. He played his early first class cricket on the subcontinent, but at thirty-four his time may have come and gone. Nor are his fielding and batting what the selectors seem to be looking for since Hobart.
On recent form Australia could use a right arm Mitchell Starc. India is too soon for Patrick Cummins or James Pattinson to return. Even the granite Dennis Lillee knew it was better to get his back fixed once and for all before embarking on a tough tour.
Originally published as The Sydney Test is crucial for Australia ahead of its tour of India, writes Catherine McGregor
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