Australia vs India. 1st Test. Perth. 2024/25. Review.

A week ago, most Australians would have been comfortable about the national team’s chances in the First Test in Perth. India was struggling, under the pump and missing key players in Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Then they left out both Ravi Ashwin and Ravi Jadeja from their XI. Australia on the other hand, apart from Cameron Green, was nominally at full strength. And after the first two sessions of the match, there could be only one winner of the match.

 
And Australia did not win one session for the next three days. And India is now back at its arrogant steamrolling best.

 
India was superb. Bumrah, Siraj and Rana laid waste to the Australians batting twice. Even as Head, Marsh and Carey built small innings and partnerships of consequence, the bowlers did not panic or stray from their plans. And with 534 runs to defend, they didn’t have to. Bowling the lines, bowl the lengths, and let the pitch do its job. Or the batters to blink. Despite the talk of the pitch, the bowling was what got wickets yesterday. Khawaja being drawn into a pull shot fourth ball of the day was lower grades stuff. The match situation required more than that stroke offered. Smith fought hard but was undone by a terrific delivery. So too Head who played with typical intent but like Smith found a ball that just caught the edge of his bat. Marsh looked to follow but fell to the crooked bat where a straight bat may have seen him survive. The final action of dominance came from Josh Hazlewood being crashed in his helmet by a perfect bouncer. Australia’s final totals of 104 and 238 suggest either an opposition who is far better than the batting team or conditions that are foreign to the home team. Neither is true here.
India is now suddenly awash with a wealth of players trying to force their way into the Test XI. Rohit Sharma has arrived ready to resume the captaincy, while Shubman Gill is likely to be fit for inclusion for Adelaide. While Washington Sundar did the job for his team you can be sure that both Ashwin and Jadeja will want to get in on this Aussie bashing as soon as possible. Kl Rahul has again proven his worth, Jaiswal proven his talent. Whoever India chooses for the pink ball Test, they will be brimming with confidence and all primed to continue to rub Australia’s nose in the dirt.

 
Australia has other problems, ones that have been rumbling for some time but have been buried by the selectors. They spent two years ignoring David Warner’s waning form, constantly suggesting his position was not under threat, and that he was still ‘one of the best six batters in the country’. Somehow Australia was able to win in most situations despite this, and he got the fairytale exit he wanted. It was the new selection policy – back the guys we have, don’t worry too much about form, and in the process have the talent in the rest of the country, cricketers worthy of selection on the basis of ACTUALLY scoring runs, wither on the vine as opportunities dried up.

 
Now the selectors face their next quandary. Marnus Labuschagne. He looks cooked. His mind is rattled, his thoughts at the crease unclear and confused. His luck and runs have nosedived. Mitch Starc looked more composed at the crease in this Test than Labuschagne did. He looks like a man who needs a rest, the chance to rediscover his touch and mindset at a lower level and come back as the player he was between 2019-2022. This of course won’t happen, mainly because the Sheffield Shield is about to go into hiatus for three months because of the BBL, which means there is no opportunity for this to occur as was the great thing about Australian cricket up until 20 years ago.

 
The other two reasons are these – one, there doesn’t appear to be any easy solution to replace him, and two, the selectors have shown that they just don’t do this. Stick with what you have, keep the group together, ignore everything coming from the outside, and remain solid to a man.

 
Was there a selector at the Shield yesterday watching Henry Hunt score a century from the opening position for South Australia? What about one watching Kurtis Patterson score an excellent 99 for NSW? Or Bancroft finally breaking through to be 71 not out at stumps against South Australia? Or Marcus Harris being 50 not out against Queensland? I guess not, because George Bailey was in Perth alongside Andrew McDonald and Pat Cummins. Tony Dodemaide is the only other selector, and he couldn’t have been at all three Shield games at the same time. So have those innings gone to waste? And what about the conditions and the bowlers they faced? Does ANYONE at the national level have any clue as to what is happening in first class cricket in Australia?! Because it seems as though it doesn’t matter what happens there, because the team is chosen and this is what we are going with.

 
We know the same team will be chosen by Australia for Adelaide. It will be said that the first Test was a blip, and that they won seven of the eight Tests they have played since last November before this Perth Test. But the signs were there last summer. Pakistan were awful and competed manfully, while the Windies won in Brisbane against the odds when the Australian team seemed as though they thought they just had to turn up to win. And only the fact that New Zealand still has an inability to believe they can beat Australia in big games stopped them from doing so in February. If the Kiwis believed like they do against England and like they did just last month against India, they would have won that series earlier this year. But because they didn’t, the selectors choose to inform us that everything is fine.

 
If Australia lose in Adelaide, expect panic stations. And the selectors only have themselves to blame. England have rotated batters and bowlers for two years, ensuring that whenever injury or form rules a player out, there are several options to bring in to the team, all of whom have at least tasted Test cricket. India has done the same, the benefit of which we have just witnessed. Australia has just had its first debutante batter in three years, since Will Pucovski’s only Test in Sydney. Since Chadd Sayers single Test in 2018 only three fast bowlers have debuted for Australia – Jhye Richardson with 3 Tests, Michael Neser with 2 Tests and Scott Boland with 10 Tests.

 
Now I’ve said these things before, and when Australia bounces back and win, I am ridiculed. And that’s okay. I accept I don’t get everything right and my opinions at times are at opposite ends of the spectrum from most. But as a lover of cricket, this result is worrying for the future. The team is ageing rapidly. As wonderful as the top order has been, all three of Khawaja, Smith and Labuschagne are waning, and it appears to be speeding up alarmingly. After all of the angst over recent months in just replacing one of the top four, they may well be looking for three more in quick succession. The bowling group has been together so long that they have taken over 1000 Test wickets when all four play in Tests together. That is an amazing stat, but it also suggests that time is not on the side of any of them, and sooner or later replacement have to be found, prepped and actually given an opportunity. Spencer Johnson is hooped a pink ball at the Gabba in Shield cricket at the moment, Jhye Richardson and Lance Morris are bowling heat in Adelaide.

 
Australia just got their arses handed to them in a match they would have felt comfortable about winning. The way they attack the next Test could well decide the fate of this series, but also the fate of some Test careers in the very near future.

Australia vs India. 1st Test. Perth. 2024/25. Day Three.

Test cricket is still a joy to watch, even when your team is being man handled and monstered by their opposition. Once this Test is completed, probably sometime this evening, there will be a lot of discussion over just where it all went wrong for Australia.

 
As I was out day drinking on Saturday I saw none of Day 2. But for the first two sessions yesterday, I thought Australia overall bowled pretty well. Starc was too full or too short initially, but all three seamers beat the outside edge of Jaiswal’s bat on multiple occasions without reward. You have days like that. Cummins looks short of a run which after this Test he won’t be. The pitch still had pace and bounce, but the tinge of green that gave that nip off the seam on Day 1 had vanished, leaving a pretty good surface to bat on.

 
Wickets came sporadically, each one looked upon by the Indian batter dismissed as though they were dreadfully unlucky. That does become a little annoying. Given the state of the game, Kohli’s hundred was easily predicted. He tried nothing flashy, he got in on a good surface and did what all batters of his calibre should do. The supporting cast did their job and made sure he got his century before the declaration came. Australia’s bowling in that final session was ragged, along with the tactics. They had been perfectly burned to a crisp by the heat, the pitch and the batting. Which all made what happened next all too obvious.

 
After three days of only two balls not bouncing as they should have, McSweeney’s fourth ball stayed low on cue and cannoned into his front pad. When the cricket Gods are in your corner, they perform wonderful feats. It has been a tough debut. He will have better days ahead.

 
The decision firstly to send in a night watchman with over 20 minutes of the day remaining, and that being the captain himself, is hard to fathom. What does that say about the mindset of our number three bat? His job is to face the new ball when necessary. This was his time to show leadership. Ian Chappell and Ricky Ponting would have stridden purposefully to the crease to face the music with a determined steel in their eye. It was another admission of his failing powers. Cummins flashed at a wide ball he didn’t need to play at to give Labuschagne only a small respite, and once at the crease his mindset was exposed for what it is, the indecision in how he should be approaching his batting. His dismissal last ball was almost prophetic, not offering a shot whereas in the past he would be clear minded and assertive in either leaving the ball or playing the defensive stroke. He is in a sea of madness at the moment. It is fair to say that he had a run of good fortune up until 18 months ago in regards to being dropped during an innings or being saved by a no ball. That has well and truly deserted him, and he needs to work his technique out fast if he is going to save himself and his team in this series.

 
At 3/12, today may determine if Australia is capable of being in this series by Melbourne. The bowlers for the most part stuck to their guns and fought hard on a pitch that was against them on Day 2 and 3. The top order batting has been average for some time. They are marvellous on a shirtfront, but in dire danger when the ball is moving around. Today is a Test for Khawaja, Smith, Head, Marsh and Carey. They are playing on their home pitches, which is supposed to be an advantage. They need to stand up and be counted today. If Australia is rolled for under 200 then questions must be asked. If they can get to 5/320 at stumps, then even though winning is still probably out of the question, they will have shown that they won’t roll over this summer.

 
The problem for Australis is – this is their best XI available. Behind them... just who is there that could possibly take their place?...

Australia vs India. 1st Test. Perth. 2024/25. Day One.

The first day of the first Test of the summer is almost always fascinating, and can often set the tone for the whole series. What yesterday in Perth did was suggest there could be very little cricket on Day five of any of the five Tests. 

Finally, we have a real Perth wicket. Not as much pace and bounce as the WACA but not far off, and certainly more movement off the seam. It was great to watch after seeing barren flat pitches around the country for so long. It will be interesting to see if the bounce and pace in particular can carry through the whole Test match (no pun intended).

The bowlers of both sides thrived. Starc and Hazlewood’s opening spell was just brilliant. The benefit of playing Shield prior to the Test came to the fore. And Mitch Marsh must have been out the back bowling to Shaun for the last week or so as he showed the benefit as well. The skipper was a little off but that spell will have done him good. He’ll need it today.

Jasprit Bumrah showed again why he is the best in the world. My word he is fun to watch. How happy must he have been to finally see a pitch with something in it apart from a couple of white lines down the middle or a raging dust bowl. He did not waste one delivery and it was a pleasure to see him go about his work. Siraj and Rana on debut backed him up superbly.

The batting had some excuse given the conditions, but overall just proved once again that the deterioration in technique caused by the plethora of T20 cricket means that if the pitch is not a road, batters around the world are in trouble. Only the two wicket keepers and Indian stalwart KL Rahul showed any real ease against the constant attacks. Rahul was unhappy with his 50/50 decision, and perhaps didn’t get the benefit of the doubt especially as Kettleborough had given him not out on the field. That’s the age we live in with referrals. That one went against India (though I still think for all money he hit it). Pant again played the rescue job in his own inimitable way, and Reddy on debut contributed 41 runs that now look like the difference between teams being level on first innings or India have a substantial lead. Alex Carey, the form batter of the summer for Australia, carried it into this game and is now the one thing between India and a 50+ first innings lead.

Today should be fascinating. Can India start better in their second dig. Can Kohli finally break his shackles and regain the powers of old. Can Australia limit India to a total that could possibly be chased down.

Cricket is back and the dash are better for it.