The hounds bark and the cricket caravan moves on, this time to an ODI series. The fans had a gnawing thirst thrust upon them by Shamar Joseph and his mates that would only be quenched by a third Test against the West Indies, but perhaps Cricket Australia’s accountants foresaw a bounty in 50-over games while the Windies were struggling in the Test arena. They got that one wrong.
Two-Test series are a genuine cop-out. Whoever came up with the concept needs some serious attitude adjustment if Test cricket is the genuine pinnacle of the game.
Australia’s caravan trundles along with the clang and clatter of a full trophy cabinet. The loss in Brisbane was a shock in a number of aspects: 1. The home team’s perfect record in pink-ball games; 2. The lengthy string of wins at the Gabba against all-comers; 3. They hadn’t lost to the Windies at home since 1997; 4. The number of rookies and debutants the Caribbean conglomerate where trotting out.
Australia were trying to complete the perfect southern summer by winning five straight Tests and were short-priced favourites to do so, but were outplayed by vibrant and skillful performances. Despite the loss, the series trophy was already in the cabinet – another reason to have three-Test series.
The Frank Worrell Trophy returned to the cabinet to join the World Test Championship, the Ashes, the 50-over World Cup and the Benaud-Qadir Trophy after the 3-0 win over Pakistan in Australia, but was the Gabba loss really that much of an upset?
Shamar Joseph starred for the West Indies in a remarkable Test victory in Brisbane.Credit: Getty
The Test Championship final at The Oval was a doddle with Travis Head and Steve Smith making tons in a partnership of 285 and the Australian seamers (Scott Boland in for Josh Hazlewood) basically too good as Australia won by 209 runs. India were distracted by the venue and seemed more intent on finding issues regarding non-spinning pitches rather than solutions regarding their batting approach.
The Ashes that followed could have gone either way. Some careless, costly England catching, a non-attentive red-headed batsmen, an ill-devised declaration by England in the first Test on the first day, mixed with a bizarre Australian bowling strategy to Ben Stokes, made for riveting viewing. Fortunately, Australia held the Ashes, so the urn was retained (I’d like to say stays at home, but the England and Wales Cricket Board still won’t let the Australian hardwood return to its origin).
England, of course, had a “moral victory”. The denotation “MV” apparently appears in the ECB’s scorebook after the Lord’s Test, the Jonny Bairstow incident and the Ashes result. The Australian record book says “won by 43 runs” with the series tied at 2-2.
Was Australia’s loss to Windies that much of an upset? It’s been coming for a while
9
1
03.02.2024
The hounds bark and the cricket caravan moves on, this time to an ODI series. The fans had a gnawing thirst thrust upon them by Shamar Joseph and his mates that would only be quenched by a third Test against the West Indies, but perhaps Cricket Australia’s accountants foresaw a bounty in 50-over games while the Windies were struggling in the Test arena. They got that one wrong.
Two-Test series are a genuine cop-out. Whoever came up with the concept needs some serious attitude adjustment if Test cricket is the genuine pinnacle of the game.
Australia’s caravan trundles along with the clang and clatter of a full trophy cabinet. The loss in Brisbane was a shock in a number of........
© The Sydney Morning Herald
visit website
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Nikkei Editorial
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
