In Bradman country, Aussie batters search for a turnaround
Adelaide is still so much about the Don. For the reeling Aussie batters, there can be no better inspiration
Adelaide: It doesn’t take long after landing in Adelaide to know that you are in Bradman country. You coast along the Sir Donald Bradman drive on your way into the city, and when you finally make it to the Adelaide Oval, you are greeted by the Bradman statue outside the east stand near the Victor Richardson Gates.
If you thought Bradman’s Test record was great (6996 runs at 99.94), then take a look at his Sheffield Shield record – he averaged 110.19 in 96 innings. His total of 117 first-class centuries (37 of them double) is still an Australian record. And if this struggling Australian batting line-up needed any inspiration, all the players need to do was take a look around.
Now, no one’s asking Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja or Marnus Labuschagne to do a Bradman, but even if they can do half as well, Australia will be in a good space in their series against India.
After losing the first Test at Perth, the Australia players chose to take a break and clear their minds even as India made their way to Canberra for the tour game. The decision of the host team to not play any cricket during the 10-day gap between Tests faced some criticism but the Australian team management seemed comfortable with its decision.
One of the men who didn’t stop training though was Marnus Labuschagne. In his last 10 knocks, he has scores of 10, 1*, 3, 5, 1, 2, 90, 6, 2 and 3 for an average of 13.66. And there have been many calling for him to be dropped.
But one look at him in the nets at the Oval and you could see that this is a man who is determined to bat his way back to the top. He wasn’t alone either. Opener Khawaja put in a long stint in the nets and right next to him Smith was at it for 90 straight minutes.
Former Australia fast bowler Rodney Hogg, while speaking to 10 News First, said: “They can’t make any changes now. In my lifetime, this is the least depth of quality Test match batting that I have ever seen. Total disregard of Shield cricket. We should be playing the whole of September against the red ball but how do you find replacements now… there is no one in form. We didn’t prepare as we should have for the first Test.”
Australia know that if their batters find some form, there is little to separate the two teams. But the big question is whether they can. Some even blame the lack of pressure on the top six for spots in the team.
“We know how good our bowlers have been for us in the past and they’ve got us out of trouble a lot,” said Travis Head. “So, as a batting group we know that if we can get enough runs on the board, we put ourselves in a great position.
“I take a whole lot of pride in what I do, and I know that if I can set it up for the big boys, they can knock them down.”
And that precisely is Australia’s big challenge at the moment. The confidence is shaken, and with the exception of Head, the other batters are in a tough spot.
On their first day of training after the break, Alex Carey was the first batter into the nets and almost every other batter got a good workout against the throwdown specialists. This is a very experienced batting group that the Aussies have and many believe that they can turn things around.
Head mentioned that 1-1 won’t look bad but at the same time Australia will also know that losing here would make coming back into the five-Test series very, very difficult.
“Obviously every Test is motivating but I don’t think we need to be talking about such things...trying to find the motivation,” said Head. “A lot of teams have come back after losing the first Test and there’s no reason why we can’t do that.”
Recommended Topics