One more time
One more time, we’re gonna celebrate
Oh yeah, alright, don’t stop the dancing
~ Daft Punk (2000)
Forget the squads, forget bouncy pitches, forget Bazball on bouncy pitches, forget when the England pace battery might break down. This series will be decided by one factor alone.
Have the Australian selectors pushed this squad one series too far?
We may already have our answer before a ball is bowled in anger.
Pat Cummins (32) and Josh Hazlewood (34) are both out injured for Perth (Pat back, Hoff hamstring), with no certainty they’ll play any part in the series. Time to lean in on Mitchell Starc (35) and Nathan Lyon (38), the veterans among veterans.
Sure the Australian batsmen have formidable records on their home tracks. Led by Steve Smith (36), with Marnus Labuschagne (31), Travis Head (31) and Usman Khawaja (38) providing moral and sometimes actual support, the latest crop of strapped up English trundlers may have a tough time shifting them.
Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
But can enough of them fire up the muscle memory to go one more time? With a depleted attack, big runs may need to be that much bigger to compensate.
This team is being pushed to its limits. George Bailey and his yes-men have gone all in on the capacity for modern science and lifestyle choices to stretch things out for professional athletes. Whether it’s one series too long or one series just enough will be evident in about seven weeks. Probably sooner.
In truth, the broader issue is less how this series pans out and more what the Australian Test team looks like in England in 2027 and how much they’ll lose by.
Gone are the days of a fresh-faced 23-year-old right-hander from NSW piling on the runs at first class level with 5-10 Tests already under the belt. Nor is there a raw-boned, tearaway quick from Subiaco bristling to get into the Poms.
Like the selectors though, let’s sweep all of that under the carpet and focus on what’s at hand.
With everyone fit and available for both teams, the lazy-but-effective combined XI analysis would lean heavily to the home side. Ben Duckett has to be better than any opener Australia can’t find and the hundred-less Joe Root probably squeezes into the top six. Jamie Smith vs. Alex Carey for keeper-batsman is a genuine coin toss. No other Englishman comes close to the combined XI on paper, though the versatile ‘Steptoe’ Stokes would be the heavy favourite for glove shuttle duties.
Even with Cummins and Hazlewood unavailable, 36-year old Scott Boland steps straight into the combined team though Jofra Archer, the former West Indian under 19s prodigy, probably pips the likely debutant, Brendan Doggett, for the last spot.
We can debate the players, the preparation, the pitches all we like though.
What is clear is that this Australian team has been very good for a very long time, and that also makes them very old.
So one more time it is.
Don’t stop the dancing.
Unless the music stops.
Juniorhttps://https://ift.tt/pSL4rv1 it one series too far, or one series just enough, for Australia’s golden oldies?
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