Australia will have pull off one of the biggest comebacks of all time to defeat India in Perth, with Usman Khawaja falling cheaply following last night’s capitulation at the hands of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
It has not been helped that Josh Hazlewood has come under fire for comments he made after play on Sunday, which former India coach Ravi Shastri said illustrated “cracks” in the Australian side.
The Australian paceman fronted the media after play on day three and was asked how his side would handle Monday from an effectively hopeless position of 3-12 chasing 534.
Hazlewood effectively said it was a question for the batters rather than the side’s No. 11.
“You probably have to ask one of the batters that question,” he said.
There are very few athletes I respect more than Usman Khawaja but this shot is absolute garbage. If I had a controller in my hand I might’ve thrown it at the TV. #AUSvIND #Cricket pic.twitter.com/ATErmtk8fG https://t.co/q082Dtm5JM
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottlieb) November 25, 2024
“I’m sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of physio and a bit of treatment, and I’m probably looking mostly towards next Test and what plans we can do against these batters.
“I guess the batters are just sticking to what they what they do, their preparation, they’ll have a hit in the morning and talk around plans of how what happened the first innings, how they can negate that and move forward and improve on that.”
The reaction stunned many commentators, notably former England captain Michael Vaughn.
“I must admit, I’m staggered by that,” Vaughan said on Fox Cricket.
“Josh Hazlewood is a great bowler, terrific team member. Publicly, I’ve never heard an Australian come out and kind of divide the camp into batters and bowlers.
“There’s 11 batters that will never change. Every single player has to bat. There’s two days to go in the Test match. It’s a long shot, a huge shot for Australia to get anything out of this game, but to publicly see a player basically saying, ‘I’m thinking about the next game’ before that this game is finished.
“Publicly to come out and say that I’ve never, ever seen that from an Australian player, any player really, around the globe, but particularly Australians.”
Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. (Photo by Jason McCawley – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
Despite Vaughan’s complaints, Hazlewood received a more sympathetic response from former Australian stars Matthew Hayden and Simon Katich, with the latter believing the Aussies can take lessons learnt from the Indian second innings.
“I know the perception out there will be that he’s just wiped his hands of any kind of significant outcome for the batters. But in essence, what more can a man do?,” Hayden admitted this morning ahead of play resuming.
“He was absolutely brilliant yesterday. He was a real standout. He was economical, he bowled his heart out. The bowlers actually in this Test match have really stuck to what they’ve wanted to do, and they’ve been outplayed.”
“I think the hard part is when you come off the field all that late, on a day when you’ve been out on the field for a couple of days, sometimes your train of thought might not be as sharp as it needs to be, and it’s a throwaway line,” said Katich.
“In the fact that the batting, they don’t have to reinvent the wheel, all they have to do is look at the way India approached their second innings, because the lessons are there for them.
“They rotated strike, they had very, very sharp footwork, they had clear minds, they didn’t let the first innings affect the way they went about it, and they were able to go out there and get a great result.”
Marnus Labuschagne is dismissed LBW. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Whateley calls for Labuschagne to be dropped for Adelaide
Criticism is flying left and right for the performance of the Australian side, but few are copping it harder than first drop Marnus Labuschagne.
Being dismissed for just 2 and 3 in the Perth Test, only adding to a poor run of form stretching back to his last century – against England in July 2023 – his decision to attempt bouncers against Virat Kohli was universally condemned, with SEN’s Gerard Whateley calling for him to be cut from the squad.
His complaints were echoed by fellow co-host Peter Lalor, who was stunned at the first drop’s sudden loss in form – all culminating in his dismissal for LBW last night.
“Inexplicable cricket from Marnus Labuschagne in that situation,” Lalor said on SEN Cricket.
“How do you not use your bat when you’ve seen that this ball is skidding through?
“I don’t know how you can pick him for the next Test.”
“It’s a scrambled mind, it’s a lost technique.” Whateley added.
“You cannot go out there without the intention to use your bat. It’s so symbolic of where he finds himself in his game.
“He’s going to have to be relieved of his place in the team.”
Pundits pile in on perilous Aussie position
As the Aussies continue to flounder, criticism has come thick and fast from all around the world at their stunning drop and form – with Labuschange the key target.
Former Aussie quick Damien Fleming was aghast at the technique employed by Australia’s first drop.
“That type of dismissal is just not good enough from your number three in a tough battle,” he said.
“It was a good length, it was just outside off stump, it didn’t do anything extreme.”
(Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
Michael Clarke went out to ask about the decision to bring several bowlers into the attack.
“I can’t understand if Mitchell Marsh takes a couple of wickets in the first innings, why doesn’t he bowl a lot more … why are we bowling Marnus and Head if he’s your all-rounder?,” questioned the former Aussie captain.
“It was like we just expected to knock India over again for not many – there was no intent.
“They were right in our faces, but I didn’t see any of our bowlers give it to any (India) batsmen … it all looked a bit flat for the first Test of the summer.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has turned his ire on the entire side, stunned at how badly the team has performed during the second innings.
I’m looking at this Australian side, they’re a terrific side, and for whatever reason they bowl out India for 150, then only bat well enough to get 104,” Vaughan said late last night.
Then, with the ball in hand, they had periods where they bowled nicely but that last half an hour is something I’ve not seen in Australia.
“I think the debate over the next week or two going into the second and third Test matches will be: Are Australia short of a gallop and they needed this game to get back into Test match cricket mode? Or are they a team that’s just starting to get over the edge?
“The standards generally get driven in a team because you’ve got many players pushing for places in it – I just don’t see too many doing it.”
Yashasvi Jaiswal bats during day two. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Indian skipper Ravi Shastri also echoed Vaughan’s concerns, with depth his key worry.
“I am seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket,” he admitted on Fox Sports.
“There were times when players had to play years and years of cricket to make the cut. Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden – years and years, and you look down the ranks there in Shield cricket and some of the youngsters coming through the ranks, there aren’t many there.
“When you look at the batting line up, a couple of guys in the evening of their career, on the other side of 30 – deep into the 30s, you want to have some depth.
“Australia will have to find something from somewhere.”
However, more recent former players, notably Michael Hussey, said now is not the time for panic stations – though the performance is concerning.
“I’m not willing to jump at shadows just yet,” Hussey admitted on Sunday night.
“You just think about coming into this series, all the talk was about India. They’d lost 3-0 to NZ.
“The Australian batting order has had one innings.
“Yes, they didn’t perform as well as they would have liked… I’m willing to just wait, be patient and see and make more of a judgement after three Test matches.
“The Australian public don’t like the Australian team getting beaten, and beaten badly.”
with AAP
Nick Wasilievhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/11/25/divided-the-camp-hazlewoods-batter-whack-leaves-vaughan-staggered-whateley-calls-for-labuschagne-cull/‘Divided the camp’: Hazlewood’s batter whack leaves Vaughan ‘staggered’, calls for Labuschagne cull
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