by sussexpob » Tue Aug 01, 2023 10:20 am
And Australia
Usman Khawaja - 9
Out of any modern player still playing, I have to salute Khawaja for the work and commitment to his craft he has made over the years. A player who used to have an acute weakness outside the off stump, he's worked hard, and its paid off. He used to be rubbish against spin too, but has reinvented that aspect of his game. His grit at the start of the series won Australia 2 tests, and should have won them the series. And his score in the last innings should have underlined that series win... great series for Usman
David Warner - 3
For an aggressive player, I guess in someways you have to salute his efforts in trying to find a way around his technical conundrum. He never managed it though, and its now 19 tests/37 innings in England without a 100. If the 14 before didn't prove these conditions were his kryptonite, then I dont know what the selectors needed. Have to assume that Australia have no openers of any quality to come in, because he really shouldn't have played in this series, let alone 5 games. The grit took him to the odd 20 or 30... the technique made sure it ended there.
Marnus Labuschagne - 6
His only really good test was on the flattest wicket, although his 100 saved the match (and series in the end) at the toughtest of times considering what was on the line and the match situation. Reputations of being a flat track bully will be underlined - found ways to get out to the swinging ball more than a few times, and generally looked nowhere near as compact and confident as he does on pitches at home. A very disappointing series for Marnus, considering the high standards you'd expect.
Steve Smith - 7
2 decent tests, 3 misses. Steve Smith is human after all. Two things stand out about this series ... 1. He struggled with the ball moving into him, and missed a lot of balls past the inside edge. This never happens to Smith, and speaks of possible decline in his mid 30s for a player so reliant on his eyes and hands doing all the work. 2. Smith's career shows if you don't get him out straight away, his average after 10 odd runs goes into the stratosphere - scores of 41, 17, 22, 34 and 36 are really statistical outliers in his career. Rarely does Smith get so many starts and not turn them into 3 figures or high double figures. Again, is this a measure of fading quality, or simply a blip on the radar of an all time legend? Time will tell.... if this was anyone else, wed probably say he had a good series, but for Smith's uncomparable single man wrecking ball standards, this was undoubtably poor.
Travis Head - 7
Like BFL, I thought that Head had a much better series than his stats suggested. Its easy to forget with Smith, Marnus and Warner havinng off series, that he was put in many tough situations too. Struggled with the short ball, especially to Wood, but outside of off stump he was generally sound. Won a certain amount of respect from me, as I thought he was going to be a real weak point for Australia.
Cameron Green - 2
The big lad had the right bowling style for English conditions, but slammed it aimlessly too short, and never really looked a threat at any stage. With the bat, he looked like a walking disaster, and was incredibly lucky to have gotten a couple of half-starts he managed, when had England taken catches or edges landed a yard or so elsewhere, wouldn't even have that to write home about. Considering he only has 30 wickets in 25 tests, its hard to see why Australia persist with him at 6 for so long.... they'd have been better with another full time batter.
Mitch Marsh - 7
His batting gave Australia the first innings lead in Leeds, and his partnership with Marnus saved the OT test when it could have gone pear shaped, so he was an instant improvement with the bat. With the ball however, it was a different story, although batting at 6 he shouldn't have been expected to bowl that much.
Alex Carey - 4
Had the opposite series to Bairstow. Started with contributions with the bat and great keeping, ended it dropping catches and batting failure. Seems noticeable that after the run out and added pressure and scorn from crowds, his game started to fall apart at the seams. Australia will need to look for a new keeper, because a keeper that makes mistakes with the gloves and barely scrapes an average of 30 doesn't really solve anything.
Pat Cummins - 5
The problem with a out and out quick bowler being captain is, in the modern day with back to back tests, you need to rest bowlers - but cant really rest the captain. And so it came to pass that Cummins, playing 6 tests in 6 odd weeks and leading the team to boot, fell of a cliff in test 5 and 6 of a long middle summer. By the end, he was a shadow of the player who has lead the world in quality of his output in recent years. Deserves credit for his excellent batting in the first test, that won the game
Josh Hazelwood - 6
Felt like an annoymous series for Hazlewood. He took wickets, but I cant really remember him standing out at any point. Looked a little troubled with England's attacking, and despite a decent output, the stats felt like they flattered him somewhat
Mitchell Starc - 7
Starc had the best answer to Engladnd's raging style... quick, full, and straight. At times he bowled really well, at other times he took a pasting too. But he can leave the series knowing he did a good job. Especially dangerous when he got the ball to swing late.
Nathan Lyon - 7
Probably the moment that turned the series. Lyon is not the best spinner ever, but his control and ability to take wickets is the glue that holds this Aussie team together, and they really missed him in the tests he was gone.
Todd Murphy - 7
Took a few wickets, and made a few decent batting contributions. In general, he doesn't turn the ball much, and bases his game on getting the ball in tight areas - maybe conditions werent favourable for him in this series, so he might have more in his locker on drier, sunnier conditions. In general, depsite the stats, looked a step down from Lyon.
Scott Boland - 0
I had high hopes for Boland entering this series, but he had a trainwreck, and Australia rightfully put him out his misery after 2 tests. He has always looked a great bowler on bouncy tracks in Australia, but he just didn't extract anything out of the pitches in England, and served up a lot of aimless pies. Undoubtally the dunce of the series..... at 34, he might not get another opportunity. Average of 115 was a total disastere
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And a hat and bra to you too, my good sirs!