Where do we go from here? - Crossroads of the Summer

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"We were pretty inconsistent in the Test match. If a few of us showed the courage of Lyon we wouldn't have had that result." – Michael Clarke

The first victory in a test match on Australian shores for New Zealand since 1985 has seen one of the most exciting and breathtaking matches in recent history unfold on a bowling wicket in “topsy turvy” conditions. The pitch combined with the conditions at Bellrieve has created a great game encapsulated within 3 and a half days that showcased brilliant bowling from the likes of Pattinson and Bracewell to add to the great batting from Taylor and Warner.

In a tense session after lunch on the fourth day, New Zealand, thanks to Bracewell, broke through the Australian order to take the game from their grasp with 7 runs to spare. The bowling display of 6/40 from Doug Bracewell claimed Clarke, Hussey, Ponting, Pattinson, Starc and Lyon to destroy the Australian order to which Australia needed 82 to win with 8 wickets in hand. Bowling a great line with plenty of swing and shape, this was truly worthy of the Man of the Match award. Unfortunately due to the “public” voting for the award, this was not so.

The man who won the award however, silenced the critics that he is just a pocket rocket Twenty20 player. An unbeaten 123 from Dave Warner has seen him become just the fourth Australian in history to carry his bat in the final innings of a match. A wonderful display on the third day to combine with Phil Hughes for an unbeaten 72 set the tone for Warner’s hundred characterised by great stroke play and square cuts through the off side. This performance has undoubtedly cemented Dave Warner’s spot at the top of the order for the Boxing Day Test match against India.

Overall, due congratulations are to be given to New Zealand. They were generally more consistent than the Australian's and just managed to pull out a great bowling performance when it was needed.

Where do we go now? We are at the crossroads of this Test match summer with India on the horizon and have a very inconsistent team on our hands. With many players expected to return from injury, Australia looks to be on the up. Another failed attempt from Phillip Hughes will see him dropped from the Boxing Day side to make way for Shane Watson. Adding 0 to his 20 this morning has just been another story in his inconsistency shown. Being caught by Guptill off Martin for the fourth time this series has also exploited his weakness to put him in a prone position to be left out. I expect that Shaun Marsh will also replace Usman Khawaja at number 3 after a failure to convert starts into big scores. After Shaun Marsh’s great series in Sri Lanka, he gained advantage over Khawaja in the selectors eyes and I believe his will continue come Boxing Day. The question mark over Ryan Harris’ head still remains, but if fit he should be able to fit into Mitchell Starc’s position to create the best pace attack seen this summer so far. The Chairman’s XI games against the touring Indian sides I believe will have little effect on the sides shown but give some valuable cricket their belts. With this in mind; I believe the side for the Boxing Day Test Match will be named as follows;

Shane Watson

Dave Warner

Shaun Marsh

Ricky Ponting

Michael Clarke

Michael Hussey

Brad Haddin

Ryan Harris

Peter Siddle

James Pattinson

Nathan Lyon

To add to this 11, I would have Ed Cowan on standby for both Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson. This shield season and for Australia A, he has shown that he is a level above most domestic players in Australia at the moment.

India will be a very hard team to beat with their batting line-up being probably the best in the world with the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Sehwag at the crease. The weakness of the bowling attack India that needs to be exploited by the Australian middle order if Australia are going to make it a tight contest in this series. It is not as strong as it has been in recent years and I believe that the Australian order needs to stand up and make some runs against this attack if Australia has any chance of remotely coming close to beating India.  Luckily for Australia, with the gradual returning of injured players over the next week and a half, Australia should be able to field a better, more consistent team than seen in Hobart. I think that a lot has to go Australia’s way for them to win the series against India, so I believe that a drawn series has to become the aim for the Australian’s. The series balance and Australia’s chances will rest on the Australian middle order – Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Haddin.

Second Slip,

Courtesy AFP