Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Less oomph in the Aussie attack a worry

It may seem silly to still point this out, but gone are the (pretty recent) days when Australia could rely on a Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee or Shane Warne to put them in a commanding position against any opposition in any country.

With Lee keeping himself only available for ODI and T20I cricket, the bowling options open to the Australian selectors are varied, but somewhat unproven. In the first Test against India, the hosts have gone in with James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and the one spinner, Nathan Lyon.

At the end of the second day of the first Test, the three pacers have each taken a wicket, with Hilfenhaus removing Gautam Gambhir early, before Pattinson and Siddle bowled Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, respectively. But India have still managed to score 214 runs for the loss of these three wickets and appear to have the upper hand.

	Matches *	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets	Average	Strike rate
Pattinson	2	365	196	14	14.00	26.07
Siddle	27	5,674	2,881	91	31.66	62.35
Hilfenhaus	17	3,783	1,906	55	34.65	68.78
Lyon	7	1,055	541	22	24.59	47.95

* Does not include the ongoing Boxing Day Test.

A string of spinners have been tried out since Warne’s retirement, with few being given a long run. That seems to have changed with Lyon and that does say something about his talent. He has already taken a five-wicket haul, which came against Sri Lanka in his debut match (that in itself is not all that surprising, given the level of success debutant bowlers have experienced this year).

But the most experienced bowler has played just 27 matches in his career. A lot falls on Siddle, who is known as a tireless bowler, but one who can go without a break quite often. He took two six-wicket hauls in the last Ashes series - including one hat-trick - but also sometimes struggled to get his name among the wicket-takers.

Fellow paceman, Hilfenhaus, has had to fight for his place in the side. Never thought of a first-pick, he has played 17 Tests in three years since making his debut. He needs to make this current opportunity count for something, because if Ryan Harris is fit enough for the second or third game, Hilfenhaus may have to sit on the bench.

Harris has had his injury woes and is being made to play some T20 cricket to prove his fitness. Australia were also struck with the loss of Mitchell Johnson and Patrick Cummins, both of whom picked up injuries in South Africa. Johnson is known to be a little wayward, but when he gets it right he can be devastating to any batting line-up. That attacking bowling was taken up by Cummins, who bowled good lines and lengths in his lone Test match to date, where he claimed 6/79 against South Africa in Johannesburg.

There is another fast bowler in the squad, Mitchell Starc, who played in both Tests versus New Zealand, but only managed a total of four wickets. Depending on the availability of the other players, he may find it hard to get into the playing XI in this series.
Apart from their regular bowlers, the Aussies could always depend on a few good overs from Shane Watson. The all-rounder had a mightily impressive 2011, but is not fully fit to play. A replacement all-rounder, Daniel Christian, is waiting in the wings, eager to make his Test debut.

This series against India has echoes of the Ashes one year ago - a vulnerable-looking Australia, not by any means guaranteed of having a successful summer Down Under. They have had a change in captain and a review of how Cricket Australia goes about its business, but problems remain. Just to remind ourselves a little of the recent past, have a look at the figures of the retired trio mentioned earlier.

	Matches	Balls bowled	Runs conceded	Wickets	Average	Strike rate
McGrath	124	29,248	12,186	563	21.64	51.95
Warne	145	40,705	17,995	708	25.42	57.49
Lee	76	16,531	9,554	310	30.82	53.33

Between them, they have taken 1,581 Test wickets and they make up three of the top four Australian bowlers by number of wickets. That is something that each of the new guys could seek to emulate as they make their way under their baggy greens.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Australia’s Very Very Special nemesis

Does VVS Laxman enjoy playing Tests against Australia? Yes, he does. But does he also enjoy playing Test matches in Australia? An even more resounding yes! Less than two weeks before India play their first of four Tests Down Under, it is an appropriate time to reflect on Laxman’s success against the Aussies, and in their own backyard, too.

VVS Laxman	Matches	Innings	Runs	High Score	Average	Strike rate	100s	50s	0s
Test career	130	217	8,626	281	47.13	49.58	17	55	13
versus Australia	25	46	2,279	281	55.58	55.72	6	11	2
in Australia	11	21	1,081	178	54.05	54.76	4	3	1

Laxman has had a pretty enviable career as Indian batsman, stretching back from 1996, when he made a half-century on debut against South Africa, to the present day. He has played in a variety of positions but is most commonly found at number four or five. Now 37 years old, age does not seem to have done him any harm, as he averaged more than 67 in 2009 and 2010, although that dropped to 45 this year, which is still good by most standards.

This year was tough for many Indian batsmen as they played four disastrous Tests in England, although VVS did manage two half-centuries against the conquering English. What he may be disappointed with is how many times he failed to push on after scoring a half-century; he was thrice dismissed in the 50s and twice in the 80s and has only scored one century this year - a massive 176 not out against the West Indies in Kolkata, a performance which was one of the top-rated on the Castrol Index by Batting Momentum.

Now focussing on Laxman against Australia, this will be his first match against, arguably, his favourite opponents since October 2010, when he was involved in a courageous innings of 73 not out, which he made off just 79 deliveries. Laxman was suffering from a bad back, required a runner and only came to bat at number seven, forced to pad up when the Indian top-order made heavy weather of a low target to chase.

And yet, perhaps his most memorable innings came in 2001, again in Kolkata, for a performance with the bat that has been immortalised at Eden Gardens where he stood tall and scripted an unlikely win with an imperious innings of 281. India managed to pull off only the second ever Test victory after being made to follow-on and it was thanks to Laxman’s 376-run partnership with Rahul Dravid that made it possible. He has been a thorn in the flesh for the Baggy Greens ever since, deserving of his tag of Very Very Special by demonstrating his ability to win matches almost single-handedly.

He has been on three tours of Australia and has made a success of it each time. His average Down Under is 54, higher than in any other country, even at home. He always seems to give his best performance when faced with the Australians, but he did not start out too well in his first series there. That was back in 1999 and his first few scores read as 41, 0, 5, 1 and 7, giving him an average of 10.80, but he then followed that up with a brilliant display of his talent in an innings of 167, albeit in a losing cause.

Sydney was the venue for that innings and for two of his other centuries in Australia. He has hit a total of four tons in the country, a figure that is only second to his eight centuries in India. He has struck at least one hundred on each of his tours Down Under and one cannot discount him repeating the feat again this year. He left early for the trip to begin preparations along with a few other team mates, and while this could be his last tour of Australia, seeing Laxman playing his natural, elegant game should be a real pleasure in itself.