Late on Tuesday the Australians confirmed the omission of Todd Murphy in order into their XI for the Old Trafford Ashes Test. It is the first time in over a decade they have taken the field without a specialist spinner.
Mike Gatting stands in disbelief after falling victim to Shane Warne’s “ball of the century” in 1993.Popperfoto
Pat Cummins’ reluctance to use Murphy at the pointy end of the Headingley Test has been compounded by damp conditions in Manchester and the forecast of significant showers over the final two days of the game.
Marsh’s runs and wickets in Leeds made him difficult to drop,while Green is fit again after a minor hamstring strain and his inclusion will seriously lengthen Australia’s batting lineup – having batted at eight at Edgbaston,Cummins is listed as low as 10 in the order.
“Nathan Lyon is the greatest off-spinner we’ve ever had so it’s not quite apples for apples,” Cummins said on Tuesday. “We are really excited by Todd,we think he’s fantastic. Would have loved to use him a bit more last week,think conditions just favoured pace bowling.
“We played a Test in Hobart last year in the Ashes where Nath didn’t bowl an over. It’s all conditions based,we are really excited by Todd,with think it’s a gun,we love having him around,he’s got a big future. It was more conditions or the way I used him,as opposed to how he bowled.”
Australia captain Pat Cummins speaks with Todd Murphy during a nets session at Emirates Old Trafford on Monday.Getty Images
Cummins pointed to the off-breaks of Travis Head,who put in some lengthy spells in the nets at training on Sunday and Monday,as a viable alternative to bowl spin at Old Trafford,having also used him with some success at Lord’s after Lyon tore his calf and was ruled out of the series.
“Even when[Head] started his career with Australia he was basically the frontline spinner in ODI cricket,” Cummins said. “He bowled 10 overs quite a bit,and I think he’s got better and better.
“So when Nath’s played[Head] hasn’t had to bowl much,but he still provides something a little bit different to Nath so we have used him a little bit. But really confident. I think he defends himself well,he uses a bit of drift,as much as spin,and he’s quite clever. So lots of confidence in his bowling.”
Guide to the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford
Teams
Australia:David Warner,Usman Khawaja,Marnus Labuschagne,Steve Smith,Travis Head,Mitchell Marsh,Cameron Green,Alex Carey,Mitchell Starc,Pat Cummins (c),Josh Hazlewood.
England:Zak Crawley,Ben Duckett,Moeen Ali,Joe Root,Harry Brooks,Ben Stokes (c) Jonny Bairstow,Chris Woakes,Mark Wood,Stuart Broad,Jimmy Anderson.
Pitch:Pat Cummins described it as “really good” despite a lot of recent rain,which is typical of Manchester’s climate. Former England and Lancashire captain Mike Atherton believes the Old Trafford pitch is one of the best in the country because of its consistent bounce and carry,which suggests a good contest between bat and ball.
Weather:The Australians remember the Old Trafford Test of four years ago as the coldest they’ve played. There may be a heatwave in parts of Europe,but Manchester will be cloudy with a temperature in the high teens and a chance of showers over the weekend. Sounds like good bowling conditions.
Key players
Australia:The soft dismissals of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith to Moeen Ali during Australia’s second innings at Headingley left Australia short of runs and opened the door for an England victory that kept the series alive. Smith made 211 and 82 in Australia’s 185-run victory at Old Trafford four years ago. Just half that many runs would put Australia on course for their first series victory in England for 22 years.
England:Like Jofra Archer’s pace changed the series in 2019,the arrival of Mark Wood in this series after missing the first two Tests recovering from injury shapes as a game changer. Wood uprooted the middle stump of Australia’s most prolific batsman in this series,Usman Khawaja,then swept away the tail,claiming a player of the match 5-34. A similar performance at Old Trafford could leave this series 2-2 with one to play.
The last time Australia did not field a spin bowler was at the WACA Ground against India in January 2012. In England in 2009 and 2010 there were occasions when the team,then led by Ricky Ponting,played Marcus North and Steve Smith as spin bowling all-rounders without playing a slow bowling front-liner.
Cummins also confirmed that Josh Hazlewood was returning to the side in place of Scott Boland,while David Warner would get another chance to open the batting due to the strength of his contributions at the top of the order alongside Usman Khawaja before a pair of brief innings at Headingley.
“Davey didn’t have his best week at Headingley,but prior to that I thought he looked really good,” Cummins said. “He’s had three 50-run partnerships,which can be rare over here in England.
“So I thought the way he and Uzzy have started off innings prior to that has been really important to setting up our innings. Steve Smith got a great hundred at Lord’s,a lot of that was off the back of a really important first session from the openers.
“It is a tough role,and some of the roles he’s had to play are in tough times this series,it hasn’t been easy for Uzzy and Davey in particular when they’ve walked out to bat a few times under lights. I think the other one is he might not have scored the Test run’s he’d have liked in the last couple of years,but if you go to ODI or T20 cricket and he’s still showing his class,scoring plenty of runs.”
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