World Test Championship Final 2023: Steve Waugh weighs in on big Ashes questions
It’s the question every Australian and English cricket fan is asking — will Bazball withstand the Ashes blowtorch? A former Aussie captain gives his verdict to ROBERT CRADDOCK.
Steve Waugh reckons the Bazball blowtorch can be turned back in England’s face, that Steve Smith is better than he was, and David Warner has work to do to seal his SCG swansong.
The Test great had plenty to say in Brisbane at the launch of global cricket talent search project The Hunt, a soon to be television series where talent spotters in India, Australia, the UAE, the United States, and England recruit players from unusual background into squads for general development and a tournament called Home Grown Heroes in UAE.
The Australian-based youngsters will be based at Marist College Ashgrove, former home base of Matt Hayden, where they will stay and train on pitches Hayden faced thousands of balls on.
Waugh, joined by former Test spinner Brad Hogg who will travel the backroads of India scouring for talent, said the concept was eight years in the making.
“I love being a part of it … finding and giving kids opportunities to fulfil their potential in India where kids don’t always have the opportunities we get in Australia.
“You will see some amazing stories. My dream is to have someone from the outskirts of Kolkata or somewhere that hasn’t had an opportunity to suddenly pick up and IPL contract and create a chance for someone who in 10 years could be a household name.’’
BAZBALL DOUBTS
Waugh has enjoyed what England’s cavalier Bazball revolution has done for Test cricket but remains unconvinced it work in all conditions against Australia.
“We can handle the style of cricket England will play and will put it back on them,’’ he said.
“The big question mark over Bazball is have they got a plan B? If they haven’t they are going to be found out.
“The ultimate test will be against a world-class fast bowling attack which Australia has got. It’s great for Test cricket.
“To me the jury is out. Does it hold up under scrutiny against a really good bowling attack under more challenging conditions? There is no doubt it won’t work all the time.’’
WARNER’S CHALLENGE
Warner is treading a similar path to Waugh who announced on November 26, 2003, he would retire at the SCG at the end of a three-Test series against India.
Warner revealed before the current Test World Championship final against India he planned to quit at the same ground after a three-Test series against Pakistan next summer and his important 43 against India has earnt him credit points but not a free ticket to the end of the line.
“I was pretty much forced into making a decision at that time. I was told to make a (retirement) statement,” Waugh said.
“It is not a bad idea to get it out there but that (Sydney) Test is 10 Test matches away. In professional sport no one is guaranteed two or three matches.
“It is good he has let people know, but that doesn’t guarantee he is going to make it.
“Everyone knows you are judged on performances and you can’t be guaranteed a spot just because you have (previously) scored a lot of runs or taken a lot of wickets.
“Right now he has got to concentrate on getting runs in his next innings.”
INDIA’S FOLLY
Waugh believes the aura of The Oval seduced India into picking the wrong team and making the wrong decision to bowl first just as Australia did on their last tour.
“The Oval is always tricky. It looks really green on top and underneath. It’s been crumbling a bit dry. You get lulled into the overcast skies and green pitch then the sun comes out …
“India definitely picked the wrong side (by leaving spinner Ravi Ashwin out). Spin will play a big part. I would have picked Ashwin for his batting don’t worry about his bowling. He has five Test centuries.’’
SMITH’S BRILLIANCE
Smith’s century against India was his 31st Test ton, just one behind Waugh and 10 behind Australia’s greatest century-maker, Ricky Ponting.
Asked how he compared to Smith, Waugh quipped “(I’m) much better … of course not.
“Thirty-one centuries in 97 Tests is unbelievable (Waugh played 168). He has just got an insatiable appetite to score runs.
“He lives for Test cricket. It is a matter of how long he will keep playing but if he keeps playing he could score the most Test centuries of anyone because he knows how to score centuries.’’
CRASH: HAVE AUSSIES UNLOCKED ASHES BLUEPRINT?
It was only the first day of Australia’s six Test summer but it gave the tourists a blueprint of the “scrap and smash’’ batting plan that can lead them to Ashes glory.
It starts with getting the early boys like David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne to put on the blue overalls and tough it out. Tell them that absorbing minutes is as important as scoring runs.
Take a few on the hands and the body.
Bat out of your crease to the swing men. Scrap. Claw. Scramble. Get down and dirty. Be prepared to look a bit vulnerable in the knowledge that, as Michael Vaughan said recently, after 30 overs the Dukes ball stops swinging and the entire game changes.
And, if you can protect Travis Head until this point in the innings, you have done your job because Head versus a non-swinging ball on a flattening English deck is like a lion versus a wounded buffalo on the wide open plains … Travball.
Every minute Head doesn’t bat in the first few hours of the Test is crucial because it means things will be easier when he does.
Australia’s first day total of 3-327 against India on day one of the World Test Championship final was a reminder of how fighting innings in dangerous conditions can often be underrated.
Warner’s 43 off 60 and Labuschagne’s 26 off 62 looked nigh invisible beside Head’s majestic 146 not out and Steve Smith’s 95 not out but those two early knocks may shape this Test and the entire summer.
Conditions looked so tough in the first hour that some pundits were suggesting 190 might be a good score. Australia looked capable of losing three wickets in five minutes. They ended up losing three for the day.
Warner’s innings was an interesting one. It may not stand out on paper but what he did on day one is all he has to do to get a pass mark in his farewell Ashes summer.
If he can make eight scores between 30 and 50 in the Ashes that’s a pass in a country where opening batsmen have been struggling to get out of first gear.
The Oval deck won’t be the last green pitch Australia sees this summer.
With frontline English spinner Jack Leach gone for the entire Ashes the home surfaces will surely be green and lively rather than dry and Nathan Lyon-friendly.
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