The Ashes – Fifth Test, Sydney Day 3: Smith and Head shoulders above!

 

SMITH AND HEAD SHOULDERS ABOVE!

By Dashing Dan Lonergan…

 

Travis Head’s magnificent Ashes series continued with another dominant display over the hapless English attack on Day 3 of the final test at the SCG, a special one being Jane McGrath Foundation day, where millions of dollars were once again raised to ensure every cancer patient in Australia not just breast cancer sufferers have access to their own nurse.

 

A crowd of just under 45,000 looked resplendent in pink including the Barmy Army, who if England is struggling, as they have generally throughout this series, is always happy and they wore pink and continued to do what they could, make a pretty ordinary Ashes campaign memorable.

 

Full credit to the Army, they are having fun and enjoying themselves all the time and even act as cleaners at the end of each day picking up their rubbish.

 

Even though they were singing and carrying on in a nice way as usual, it would have been a tough watch as the Australian batters passed 500 for the second time this summer.

 

The other occasion was the Gabba and again like Brisbane, every Aussie passed double figures with Head the highest with 162, the quirky Steve Smith made it test century number 37 and 13^th against England, while the lowest was Carey 16.

 

There could be more carnage for the tired English bowlers tomorrow as Australia will resume again in the box seat as we enter Day 4 of a test this summer for the third time with Australia on 7 for 518 and a sizeable lead of 134. With England’s penchant for never playing for draws, when they do bat again, expect them to try and motor along and set Australia some sort of target on a pitch beginning to keep low, but devoid of grass. MCG take notice!!!

 

Head though, in the first session, was breath taking. Not moving his feet but smashing wayward bowling over cover through mid wicket and even deftly upper cutting over the slips cordon.

 

Will Jacks dropped him twice. A soda on the boundary and a more difficult caught and bowled effort which was hit so hard, I thought his whole hand would reach the boundary.

 

England has had butter fingers putting down 16 catches for the series and outside Tongue and Stokes who were again indefatigable with their bowling stints, Carse may have got wickets but again averaged 5 runs an over and Matthew Potts (excuse the pun) was potted and went at more than six and conceded a century from 24 ordinary overs.

 

Head moving to opening has been a seamless transition and with so many tests in a year starting with two in the top end against Bangladesh in the middle of the year the key is to find a suitable opening partner who can develop and settle in, with Weatherald clearly not good enough at the level.

 

As well as every batter passing ten, there have been seven 50 plus partnerships and just one century stand between Labuschange and Head.

 

Webster, who showed why he should have played earlier in the series is still in on 42 and Smith 129 in an unbroken pairing netting an unbroken 81.

 

This Australian batting lineup hardly has a tail with Boland, who can defend with the best of them at number 11 and Starc already with two half centuries under his belt coming in at ten.

 

Head was helped at the start of the day by night watchman, Neser who took forever to score his first run of the day, 38 minutes in fact and played and missed to England’s frustration, but got going and made a valuable 24 off 90 balls.

 

England got the referrals wrong going for two against Neser and lost them both inside the first hour and after giving one up yesterday they had no more left, so they were further under the pump.

 

It didn’t help that Steve Smith who loves his home ground at the SCG was focused on scoring his 37^th Test hundred, putting him four behind Australia’s leading centurion, Ricky Ponting and was his usual fidgety and twitchy self.

 

Like Head, feet movement is not really part of his repertoire but the head is still and he has an eye like a dead fish.

 

His usual array of improvisations including stepping away to the leg side as Potts and Carse who has done it all summer kept bowling short.

 

The acting Australian captain no doubt will have a massive appetite for runs again on Day 4 to try and bury England and set up a comprehensive 4-1 win.

 

Smith received excellent applause when he arrived at the wicket, with the Barmy Army’s boos, which are my only minor criticism of them, were drowned out.

 

The Army need to take note, Sandpaper gate is almost seven years ago. They should just keep singing those great songs they have invented and chanting, Barmy Army every five minutes.

 

When Head perished LB to Bethell, the big crowd were on their feet for the controversial Usman Khawaja coming in, who more than likely was batting for Australia for the last time almost 15 years to the day he made his debut.

 

The stay was relatively short lived as he was adjudged leg before for 17 and took it upstairs, but lost the referral.

 

It’s been an interesting career in and out of the side with this latest resurgence clearly the best.

 

He is set to join Fox cricket in retirement and it will be fascinating if he is as outspoken as he has been in the latter days of his playing career. He is an acquired taste but after 88 Tests, he has been a fine player making 16 centuries and averaging around 43, which are good numbers.

 

In an ideal world, Khawaja could be there at the end on the fifth day helping make the winning runs in a smallish Australian target, but also in another ideal universe, if that exists, Australia will make enough runs and England’s irresponsible batting will see wickets fall in a hurry.

 

There is another certainty in this Test though that frontline spinners needed to be picked at the SCG. Jacks and Bethell are part time at best, Webster started as an offie and then changed to medium pace a bit like my son Alex who was mastering his leggies solidly before also adopting a medium fast style.

 

The wicket is starting to keep low and there is some variable bounce and the plethora of part time slow bowlers are starting to get a touch of assistance and turn, but there is no Nathan Lyon, Murali, the late great Shane Warne and Anil Kumble in either lineup to really take advantage.

 

As for Marnus Labuschange, the partest of part timers, the loose Jamie Smith with the greatest respect should never forgive himself for gifting Marnus a wicket, while Head with the way he is batting, 12 Test match hundreds and vice captain of the team will one day lead this side and is on the cusp of being one of our best ever batters this century, won’t, I would think, be bowling very often even if he is making the decisions.

 

If, and this is a big if, Duckett finally turns his twenties into a special hundred, which helped England run down a big target in the First Test against India last year, Crawley makes runs and Root gets his 42^nd ton, while Brook puts the foot on the pedal more responsibly and Stokes as he has at times set like concrete, England might be able to pull something out of the fire.

 

However, the Poms seemed cooked and on previous batting outings, with Starc, Boland and Neser to handle, in the words of Darryl Kerrigan from one of Australia’s greatest ever movies, The Castle, “Tell em, they’re Dreamin!”

 

 

ESPN Cricinfo Scorecard

 

Read more reports on the Ashes series HERE.

 

 

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