Khawaja irony in answer to big Warner question; how Lyon forced shock Eng gamble – Talking Pts
Intrigue surrounds the make-up of Australia’s team on the eve of the second Ashes Test against England in Brisbane, with the hosts waiting until the toss to confirm their starting XI.
The fitness of captain Pat Cummins has dominated headlined for the past two months, with the fast bowler still a live chance of featuring in this week’s pink-ball contest despite missing selection for the squad.
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Meanwhile, England will be desperate to bounce back after suffering an eight-wicket loss during the series opener in Perth, a defeat that prompted plenty of backlash about the team’s approach with the willow.
The second Ashes Test between Australia and England gets underway at the Gabba on Thursday, with the first ball scheduled for 3pm AEDT.
GABBA BRACES FOR ‘HEAD ON STEROIDS’
Since the conclusion of the Ashes opener, all the speculation surrounded who would open the batting alongside Jake Weatherald at the Gabba – Usman Khawaja, the veteran, or Travis Head, the Perth hero.
Ultimately, Khawaja’s back injury saved the national selectors from making a potentially difficult decision.
Head is set to once again face the new ball in Brisbane this week, with reserve wicketkeeper Josh Inglis expected to replace him in the middle order. The South Australian thumped a 69-ball century at Perth Stadium to press his credentials for the opener gig, which he’s been quietly lobbying for since David Warner’s retirement at the start of 2024.
Ironically, Khawaja backed the move last year, telling Fox Cricket at the time: “I feel like Travis Head might be best suited (to opening in Tests).
“He’s obviously been very successful opening the batting in one-day cricket and, breaking it down, I’d probably lean towards him.
“The confidence transfers over. When you’re seeing the ball well, scoring lots of runs and not much is going through your head, it’s a great place to be.”
Smith remains coy on Aus XI for 2nd Test | 12:43
Head has been an effective opener in Australia’s white-ball teams – most notably the 2023 World Cup final against India in Ahmedabad – while he’s offered a glimpse of his Test potential during recent tours of the subcontinent.
After Warner suffered a fractured elbow during the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign, Head replaced him at the top of the order, contributing 235 runs at 47.00 across a low-scoring series. He revived the role during this year’s tour of Sri Lanka, smacking a 35-ball fifty in the series opener in Galle.
Albeit a small sample size, the left-hander currently averages 55.50 as a Test opener with a blistering strike rate of 92.50. Among Australians, only Bob Simpson and Sid Barnes boast a higher average as at the top of the order.
The inevitable question becomes whether Head’s Perth blitz was a one-time affair, or if he can fulfil a role Warner served for more than a decade.
“Everyone knows what Travis is like as a player, someone who takes the attack to the opposition,” England captain Ben Stokes told reporters on Wednesday.
“It was probably Travis Head on steroids last week.
“He’s been a great player for a long time for Australia. The way that he goes about it is his way of giving the best account of himself and being successful.”
Gilly talks the Aussie batting order | 05:56
ENGLAND WEAPON’S UNWANTED RECORD
Jofra Archer’s battle with Steve Smith during the 2019 Test at Lord’s immediately went down in Ashes folklore.
The England speedster, playing his Test debut, struck Smith on the arm before a bouncer floored the Australian, who was forced to retire hurt and ruled out the following match at Headingley.
It was enthralling, exhilarating cricket – but as Smith has repeatedly reminded reporters since, Archer never got him out.
And six years later, the Barbados-born speedster still hasn’t dismissed him in the Test arena.
“There’s been a bit of talk that he’s got the wood over me,” Smith said in 2019.
“But he hasn’t actually got me out.“
Archer’s record against Smith in Tests is currently 0-96 from 189 deliveries – hardly disastrous, but the Englishman is only 26 wicketless balls from securing the unwanted record of most Test deliveries without dismissing the New South Welshman, currently held by former South African seamer Vernon Philander with 214 balls. However, it’s worth acknowledging Archer has knocked over Smith once in ODIs.
The 30-year-old terrorised Australia’s top order during the first innings of last week’s Perth Test, removing openers Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne in a stunning spell with the new ball.
However, Archer’s prowess with the pink Kookaburra is a bit of a mystery – he has only played one day-night Test, taking 1-24 from five overs in a spin-dominated contest against India in Ahmedabad in 2021.
Following an 11-day break between Tests, Archer will be primed for another chance to dismantle Australia’s top order on a bouncy Gabba deck, which 24 hours out from the first ball was looking quite green.
Elsewhere, Smith boasts a superb Test record in Brisbane, averaging 54.47 with four hundreds, but that figure slips to 37.04 in day-night contests, with no centuries since 2016.
However, the 36-year-old has trialled the use of ‘eye blacks’, small adhesive strips worn on the cheekbone to absorb light that would otherwise reflect off the skin, in hopes of ending the nine-year drought.
Do England have a plan for Head? | 01:01
HISTORY LOOMS FOR PINK-BALL MAESTRO
Mitchell Starc is the undisputed king of the pink ball.
No cricketer has come close to taking as many wickets in day-night Tests as the tall left-armer with 81 scalps at 17.08, while he claimed 6-9 during his most recent outing with the pink ball, against the West Indies in July.
And following his player-of-the-match performance in Perth, Starc once again looms as the biggest weapon in Australia’s bowling attack ahead of the Brisbane Test. The height, the bounce, the pace, the swing, the wobble-seam delivery – England’s batters have their work cut out for them.
Should Starc’s scintillating form with the pink ball continue this week, the New South Welshman looks poised to become the most prolific left-armed fast bowler in Test history, a record currently held by Pakistan legend Wasim Akram.
Starc is just two scalps away from equalling Akram’s career tally of 414 Test wickets, a 32-year-old record he’ll almost certainly topple in the Queensland capital. Having played 23 consecutive Tests, he’s seemingly still at the peak of his powers, while 500 Test wickets isn’t out of reach.
“Right now he is the number one bowler in world cricket and the hardest one to face in all forms of cricket,’’ Akram said of Starc, speaking to CODE Sports.
“He will go past my record and that is fine because he is a man for the job and a worthy champion.
“I am actually really proud of this guy. He has done wonders for his side and for cricket as a game.”
Australia boasts a superb record in day-night Tests, suffering just one defeat in 14 encounters, last year’s thrilling eight-run loss to the West Indies at the Gabba. Meanwhile, England have only won two of their seven pink-ball Tests.
However, captain Ben Stokes declared that England “doesn’t hold too much fear” ahead of the Gabba clash.
“For Australia, I guess the Gabba is a little bit like Edgbaston or Headingley are for us, where you take a lot of confidence at home if you’ve got good records at those grounds,” he said.
“You also understand that Australia know this is a very good ground for them, but we’re excited for that.
“Obviously, records for teams go back a long, long time. Many teams have gone to the Gabba and lost to Australia, but this is a brand new outfit.”
‘Whatever it takes to win a Test Match’ | 12:13
ENGLAND’S MASSIVE SELECTION GAMBLE
Over the past 18 months, Shoaib Bashir has been groomed to become England’s answer to Nathan Lyon.
But one match into a career-defining Ashes series, the young spinner has been leapfrogged.
England dropped a selection bombshell on the eve of the Gabba Test by replacing injured quick Mark Wood with all-rounder Will Jacks, with the tourists abandoning their all-pace strategy for the pink-ball contest.
The 27-year-old made two Test appearances in 2022 during England’s tour of Pakistan, taking a six-wicket haul on debut in Rawalpindi.
Although Jacks will serve as the team’s strike spinner in Brisbane, his recent first-class figures are far from impressive, taking five wickets at 38.80 in this year’s County Championship. In 50 white-ball appearances for England, he has contributed nine scalps.
“Let’s be brutally honest, he is a part-timer,” former England captain Michael Vaughan said of Jacks on BBC’s Test Match Special.
However, Jacks’ batting and fielding make him a more appealing option than Bashir, who has been England’s first-choice spinner since the start of last year.
England’s batting depth looks far more attractive with the right-hander at No. 8, while he’ll race through the overs once the pink ball softens, or when the speedsters need a break.
“Personally, I’ll just be looking to add a little bit to the team in each three facets of the game,” Jacks said.
“I know I can effect the game in a positive way like that, and I’ll just be doing my best to support whenever the team needs me.
“Obviously I play a lot of white-ball cricket under lights and hopefully that will suit me and the conditions won’t feel too foreign to me. Mostly, I’m just looking forward to getting out there and trying to do my best.”
Elsewhere, England captain Stokes explained that Nathan Lyon’s success in pink-ball Tests inspired the decision to abandon an all-pace attack for the Brisbane clash.
“Talking about the tactical element of a day-night game, you do try to look at Australia,” Stokes explained.
“They play a lot of day-night cricket here, how they use their spinner as an attacking option, or more to give the bowlers an easier rotation and to get through the overs quicker to have more time with the new ball under lights. These are both those elements we will consider with how a spinner is to be used in a day-night game.”
‘A rollercoaster’: Guha on Bazball | 02:31
BAZBALL … OR JUST ‘DUMB CRICKET’?
Australia’s seamers made Bazball look amateurish at Perth Stadium last week.
Multiple of England’s batters were dismissed playing away from their bodies with a diagonal bat, slashing outside off stump and edging towards the slips cordon.
When the ball lost its shine and went soft, the Australians turned towards a bumper tactic with the field spread on the leg side – and England’s batters happily took the bait, recklessly hooking towards deep square leg.
Those who have been following England’s Test side since the appointment of coach Brendon McCullum in 2021 have come to expect this style of batting. At times, it can be fascinating to watch. Other times, it’s infuriating for fans.
England legend Ian Botham was particularly critical following the eight-wicket loss in Perth, scolding the “dumb cricket” that led to Australia taking a 1-0 series lead.
“They need to pull their socks up, get stuck in and be a bit more selective,” Botham said last week.
“They need to come out and think about what they’re doing.
“It was very disappointing what happened in the first Test.
“They need to stop talking the talk and it’s now time to walk the walk.”
England hasn’t won a Test match at the Gabba since 1986, while the Ashes rivals have never defeated Australia in a day-night contest.
With the pink Kookaburra posing a fresh challenge, some pundits have questioned whether England would benefit from reining in their aggressive approach and backing a more traditional style of Test batting in the Queensland capital.
But despite trailing in the series, Stokes has vowed that England would “stay true to our beliefs of how we play our cricket”.
“Could we have been better at executing what we wanted to do? Definitely,” Stokes told reporters last week.
“But we’ve got a mindset of playing the game, which is looking to put the opposition under pressure, but also trying to absorb that.
“Sometimes when you go out there and you make a decision, it doesn’t always pay off or work in the way that you want it to, and that’s what the key for the rest of this tour is, making sure that we stay true to our beliefs of how we play our cricket.”
He added: “I’ve got complete trust in the players that we select to go out there with that mentality of being the person who’s going to influence the game in the right way for us.”
Meanwhile, with the looming threat of rain hitting Brisbane on days four and five, England may feel inclined to try and force a result before Sunday, with one of Bazball’s leading philosophies to never play for the draw under any circumstance.
Stokes didn’t rule out the potential for some funky, brave declarations during the Gabba Test, forcing Australia’s vulnerable top order to face the swinging ball under floodlights.
“There’ll be times in the Test match where you’ll probably be presented with something like that,” Stokes said.
“It’s commonly known that it’s a lot more difficult under lights.
“I’m not going to say that’s what we’re going to go out there and try and do. But I guess if there’s an opportunity that presents itself in a game where you feel like you can use those lights to your advantage when you’ve got the opportunity to bowl, I think both teams will try and catch that.”
