A Border-Gavaskar Trophy wrap
Yes, it’s true, the 2022–23 Australian cricket season is drawing to a close.
A discontinuous Sheffield Shield nears its conclusion, while club cricketers are valiantly attempting to navigate the rigours of two-day finals over inclement March weekends, and the park warriors are all but finished and ready for some no-rules, Aussie rules— and most probably creating a nuisance of themselves in their local hostelries!
Oh, and then there’s the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is just around the corner!
More recently the Border-Gavaskar trophy provided some compelling “fast-forward” Test cricket. The eventual scoreline, 2-1 in the hosts favour, looks a fair reflection on the cricket that I watched. Albeit, the viewing experience felt all too brief.
Where to begin a review leaves me scratching my head, much like the batters on both sides appear to have done during the series — the exception being Ahmedabad, where host Prime Minister, Narendra Modi ordered India’s best road leveller onto the pitch committee. There was no chance of an over-cooked Indore chook in Gujarat!
We might use the elementary classroom theory and start at the back? — the batters, can you please stand up?
Pass marks go to you: Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli with 242 and 297 runs, respectively. For the visitors, Usman Khawaja (my batter of the series), Marnus Labuschagne, and Travis Head also received passing grades. Khawaja topped the runs aggregate with 333 (Graham Gooch — he also made a hundred in the second innings, at Lords); Labuschagne contributed 244 runs; and Head 235.
Now, the skeptics will come running for Travis Head, but, sorry, I am cutting him some slack on his second innings runs in Ahmedabad. If you watch the tape back, he conservatively missed close to ten balls and was on toast for a good part of the first session. Ashwin being his nemesis.
Oh, and there was the small matter of Head’s omission from the first Test due to him not being able to play spin well enough at that precise moment in his career. Tony Dodemaide, the selector, has an acutely keen eye, you can read more on this later.
Next the batting all rounders, who are sitting a row ahead of the batters. Not smiling, but also not frowning.
Ravindra Jadeja and Cameron Green both amassed 135 runs each, which in a four-match series seems like a below-par effort. In Green’s case, this was from three fewer innings due to his finger injury, which prevented him from playing the first two Tests. Jadeja was an ever-present in the Indian team.
If my algorithms had been working today I would have been able to collaborate with my subjective eye and confirm that Jadeja’s batting impact score was as high as any batter from either side.
You could easily argue that Jadeja would be picked in every side in the world, apart from Australia, where he would have to play as a batter! Australian selector, Tony Dodemaide, shows great solidarity in his three spinners. Unfortunately, Matt Renshaw would have to make way for Jadeja!
In case you missed a hilarious article on the Delhi Madness, and some satirical mutterings on selector Tony Dodemaide by Malcolm Knox, here it is. Try to ignore the last two paragraphs.
Axar Patel is a difficult player to categorise? The pure definition of an all rounder, according to Mark ‘Junior’ Waugh, is a player who can make both Test hundreds and take five-wicket hauls (every game). No, that's not true; Junior didn’t go that far! Patel might just get there. Early in the series, his batting contribution was telling.
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Both wicketkeepers (I much prefer the term catcher) were absolute busybodies with the gloves on. Not only did they have to contend with extremely challenging conditions, but the strain on their respective review decisions was huge. The capacity to orchestrate the review process has now become an integral part of a wicketkeeper’s make-up. I had Alex Carey ahead on this metric. The less said about the batting, the better.
The fast bowlers were reduced to extras in the main. There were glimpses of what might have been from the Indian pacers, whereas their Aussie counterparts looked like they had left their hearts at the Gabba.
And, the teacher’s pets, the spinners (I’ll be around), sit smugly on the front row.
Come forward, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, accept your gold stars and also the bank details of the BCCI pitch consultants, where you might consider making a charitable transfer!
Ashwin topped the wicket aggregate with 25 wickets, closely followed by the left-leaning socialist Jadeja, who took 22 wickets. For the Australians, Nathan ‘Goat’ Lyon once again affirmed his pedigree with 22 wickets, and the ‘Goat’ in waiting, Todd Murphy, enjoyed a memorable first tour of duty with 14 wickets. Matthew Kuhnemann, who parachuted in like no one before, also chipped in with nine wickets from three Tests.
In all, 831 overs of spin were bowled from a combined total of 1065 overs bowled — spin accounted for 78% of these overs across the four Tests. We rest our case, your honour.
Finally, the captains — this subject probably represents a stand-alone post.
Rohit Sharma has sat quietly in my draft posts since the start of the series. Remember his sublime century in Nagpur? In one sentence, he could be described as a reluctant captain who will likely grow into the role in time. I enjoy watching Sharma play cricket; it seems he always has one eye on his evening engagement.
Pat Cummins and Steve Smith shared the duties for Australia. In short, if you morphed the two personalities, you would likely end up with an extraordinary leader. For now, it is what it is. Both are outstanding leaders in their own ways.
Wait, just before the bell, a hand shoots up at the back of the class? What about the TV commentators — can we grade them?
Now, quickly, the state of cricket commentary is changing— for better or worse, which is a subjective point. Richie Benaud’s old adage, "less is more," no longer rings true. The world today demands immediacy and outlandish comments, both negative and positive. That is weighted on the negative side.
It might be unfair to isolate one comment from a series that provided so many storylines, but you asked, so I will.
Matthew Hayden (Star Sports) maintained a hard line position throughout the series against Pat Cummins and this Australian team, dating back to the removal of Justin Langer. Hayden took the decision as personally as Langer, and he wasn’t on his own.
During the second morning of the third Test, Hayden labelled Pete Handscomb’s defensive batting as almost "un-Australian."
Hayden went on to say, “I don’t want anyone out there to think that I’m overly criticising Pete, I’m not. It’s just not quite attacking enough. It’s such a tricky balance.”
The stand-in captain, Steve Smith, was none too pleased. Smith confessed he was "pretty disappointed" and said, "I think he’s been outstanding (Handscomb).
Hayden’s antipathy towards the current side is simply a case of history repeating itself. It just shouldn’t be that way.
Well, that went on longer than expected. As always, thank you for being here, and I appreciate your support. If you’re in a position to donate a subscription, please use the button below.
