Australia’s missing pace-bowling allrounder, and an apparent underuse of Nathan Lyon, have left Josh Hazlewood & Co doing a lion share of the work in the field
Brydon Coverdale at the MCG27-Dec-2016A century eluded Josh Hazlewood on the second day at the MCG, where he went to stumps on 99 Test wickets. But he did raise a double-hundred of a different kind: 200 overs bowled during this home Test summer. At the close of play, he was being joined by Mitchell Starc, who was midway through his 200th Test over of the season when rain forced the players off the field for the final time on a wet day.It is a milestone that in past summers might have seemed trifling. In 1978-79, when eight home Tests were scheduled and eight-ball overs were in use, Rodney Hogg and Alan Hurst each sent down the equivalent of nearly 400 six-ball overs for the summer. As recently as 2007-08, Brett Lee delivered 281.3 Test overs, Mitchell Johnson 250.1 and Stuart Clark 224.2.But bowling workloads are now monitored far more closely. And with three-and-a-bit innings left this home summer, Hazlewood and Starc can expect plenty more toil, unless the weather continues to intervene. It is precisely the kind of scenario that could renew Australia’s search for an allrounder, with Mitchell Marsh having been axed early in the summer and Hilton Cartwright made 12th man on Boxing Day.”There is, there’s no doubt about that,” Australia’s bowling coach David Saker said when asked if there were concerns about the workload of the fast men. “But we go in with four bowlers, you’re going to always overload someone if the opposition is good enough to bat for long periods of time. Also, today, because the ball was wet, at times it was hard to bowl the spinner as well. That’s another little bit of a dilemma as well.”Yes it’s a concern, but you can’t do much about it when you go in with four bowlers; someone is going to get some overload. It’s not always great, but that’s where we are in Australian cricket at the moment. We’re desperately looking for that allrounder who can bowl some overs for us.”For two years, Australia believed that Marsh was that man, but the flipside of being a fifth bowler is that you’re also the sixth batsman, and on that front Marsh has so far been a clear under-performer at Test level. In 19 Tests, Marsh has averaged 23.18 with the bat and scored just two half-centuries. Unless he could raise those numbers, his hold on the No. 6 position was always going to be precarious.Not that either of his replacements has yet added value. Callum Ferguson made 3 and 1 in the Hobart Test against South Africa before being unceremoniously dumped, and his successor, Nic Maddinson, is likewise yet to reach double figures in a Test innings. Australia’s selectors wanted to give Maddinson a decent run at the No. 6 position, but decent runs are now what Maddinson must deliver in response.”I’d like six or seven bowlers in a team if I could, but I’m just the bowling coach,” Saker joked. “My job is to try to get 20 wickets, so the more bowlers in the team, the more likely that’s going to happen. But right at the moment, the selectors have gone the way they’ve gone. It’s a good sign of faith in Maddinson, saying we’re going to give you another go.”I don’t mind that, but they have to realise, and as an Australian team we have to realise, that that sometimes overloads your strike bowlers, which could have a detrimental effect down the road. But that’s not my decision to make. They make the best decisions in the best interests of the team.”Adding to the workload of the fast men both in the second innings at the Gabba and this first innings in Melbourne has been the seeming reluctance of captain Steven Smith to use Nathan Lyon. Last summer, Lyon sent down more Test deliveries than any other Australian but so far this season he is lagging behind Hazlewood and Starc by roughly 50 overs.He has also been the most expensive of Australia’s frontline overs this summer, and, at stumps on the second day at the MCG, Lyon had bowled 17 overs for the innings and picked up 1 for 69. It was notable that, for a period shortly before lunch as the Australians waited for the new ball, part-time spinners Smith and Nic Maddinson worked in tandem.”The wet ball played a big part in it,” Saker said when asked why Lyon had bowled only six overs for the day. “He probably would have got a bit more of a go in that last session if we didn’t come off. But they’ve also played him quite well, especially their right-handers – and they’ve got mainly right-handers.”They’ve played him quite well, particularly Azhar Ali plays him extremely well. So there’s different reasons for that. Also we think on that wicket right now, our seamers look more likely to get a wicket. But again, we’d like to get more overs out of our spinners for sure.”Australia picked up 2 for 168 on the second day, with Jackson Bird adding a third victim to his tally from day one and Hazlewood claiming the other. It was reward for Hazlewood’s miserly bowling – the only boundary scored off him in this innings was an edge that should have been caught at third slip. However, Mitchell Starc has struggled for impact with the ball barely swinging.”He lacked a little bit of rhythm today, mainly because his front foot was slipping and if you bowl fast and your front foot is slipping, it’s one of the more scary things because you think you’re going to break down every ball you bowl,” Saker said. “That’s always playing a part in your mind. It’s no excuse, but that’s quite hard to deal with when your front foot is slipping.”
