Nothing comes of nothing as Australia’s batters fall below par
Australia capitulated in the second ODI against Pakistan at Adelaide Oval. Dismissed for 163. With a Test opener spot up for grabs, across the land, runs are in short supply.
Test selection chairman George Bailey has towered over Australia’s Test wannabes like King Lear addressing his daughters. Which of you shall we say doth deserve a baggy green? The wildcard contender to replace diamond Dave Warner was on show in the second ODI against Adelaide Oval on Friday.
Josh Inglis has intriguing claims to partner Usman Khawaja atop the Australian order in the blockbuster first Test against India from November 22. He’s one of the top six batters in the land.
There’s a case for simply choosing the finest half-dozen runsmiths and then instructing one of them to open with Khawaja. I suspect Nathan McSweeney, using the sort of old-fashioned black rubber grip you thought went out with Viv Richards’ Stuart Surridge bats in the 1970s, will get the nod, hooking and pulling early like Doug Walters, looking every inch a cricketer’s cricketer, and yet Inglis is in rude form.
It’s nearly rude not to pick him. He was looking a million bucks in Adelaide … only to fall for 18. I haven’t felt so let down since Cordelia kept her trap shut. The Australians were rolled for a rather hopeless 163 in a rather bizarre fixture that didn’t seem to mean much. There’s no prestigious trophy on the line and most of the top-line Australians aren’t playing the third game in Perth on Sunday. The hosts made a ho-hum total in a bit of a ho-hum contest just a fortnight before the blockbuster Test series against India.
Inglis is a blazing talent. A leader. He will captain Australia in the third ODI. He’s a shotmaker. An aggressor and character. They reckon he’s the heart and soul of the ODI team. The on-again, off-again, on-again, off-again debate about Warner’s replacement was on-again after McSweeney fell for just 14 – albeit a dazzling little 14 – and what a pity Inglis didn’t pile on a ton to remind Lear, sorry, Bailey, that he was worthy of the Test kingdom.
Adelaide unfurled a belter of a track but the Australians made a complete hash of it. Batters made starts then lost interest. Jake Fraser-McGurk carved three glorious boundaries but disappeared for 13. Steve Smith was looking phenomenally good. The 35-year-old carries the gravitas of a living legend of Australian cricket and he was clubbing the ball like Babe Ruth for the New York Yankees. Then he nicked off for 35. A par score on a belter of a track was about 280. The Australians went bogey, bogey, bogey.
Haris Rauf was the destroyer with 5-29 and gave an interview during the innings break that basically amounted to, “I’m so happy”. Pakistan’s top order made short work of the modest target set by Australia, chasing it down in the 27th over for the loss of one wicket.
Who’s opened for the Australian Test side in the last five years? More to the point, who hasn’t? Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Will Pucovski, Warner and Khawaja have all suited up. Who’s the most-in form batter in the country right now? Ellyse Perry, averaging 100 in the WBBL, but I’m guessing she’s unavailable for the Test. The smart money is on McSweeney but a whole lot of players doth cough up a whole lot of cheap dismissals lately. Bailey has wanted someone to do something. Nothing has come of nothing.
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