Steve Smith has labelled the Gabba green-top as the toughest pitch he has played on in Australia and is hoping conditions at the MCG will be more suited to batting.
South Africa were smashed in Brisbane as 34 wickets tumbled in just two days to open the blockbuster series, making it the shortest Test on Australian soil in 91 years.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) took a dim view to the game lasting just six sessions, with match referee Richie Richardson grading the Gabba pitch as “below average”, and saying it was “not an even contest between bat and ball.”
Even though Australia went 1-0 up with a six-wicket triumph against the Proteas, Smith wants to see batters given more help during the Boxing Day Test.
(Photo by Quinn Rooney – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
“As a batter I’d like it to do a little bit less,” the Australian star said in Melbourne on Wednesday.
“I think it’s a fine balance just trying to get that even contest between bat and ball.
“It (the Gabba) was probably the most difficult wicket I’ve played on here in Australia.”
Proteas captain Dean Elgar slammed the pitch as dangerous in his post-match press conference and asked umpires during the last session if it would be deemed unsafe to continue playing on.
Smith conceded there were moments during the match when he was taken by surprise.
“I think there were a few instances that the ball did some stuff that was just out of nowhere,” Smith said.
“Some balls were sitting in the wicket, making divots, some were zinging through and it was just incredibly hard to bat again.
“Whether it was unsafe or not, it’s not really my place to judge, but it certainly wasn’t easy to bat.”
Travis Head ducks under a bouncer at the Gabba. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Cricket Australia’s head of cricket operations Peter Roach has accepted the ICC’s assessment, conceding the Gabba pitch too heavily favoured fast bowling.
“We encourage all our matches to look at how do we make the right balance over it going deep into the fourth day,” Roach told reporters.
“We say that not being disappointed when a match goes into the fifth day; late on the fourth day gives a chance the game to go a bit further.”
Last year’s Boxing Day Test ended before lunch on the third day as Scott Boland famously tore through England’s batting line-up in the second innings with 6-7 on debut.
But it was only five years ago when the MCG was slapped with a “poor” rating following a dull draw in which only 24 wickets were taken over five days.
Roach said MCG curator Matt Page would not be changing his preparations based on what happened at the Gabba. Smith looked slightly puzzled when told there would be no message from CA to make it more batter-friendly at the MCG said it all.
“(Last year’s MCG Test) went three days, was a difficult weekend and this year we’ve again got two really good bowling attacks so we’ll sum up the conditions and try to play accordingly,” Smith said.
Graham rolls through India with hat-trick
An awesome display of hitting by Ash Gardner and Grace Harris has secured Australia a 4-1 series win in the T20 international series in India.
The duo smashed 129 in 10.2 overs in an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership in Mumbai, providing the platform for an impressive 54-run win.
Their exploits even overshadowed a hat-trick by Heather Graham, though that was also because six overs were bowled between second and third dismissals.
Australia, put into bat, racked up 4-196 off their 20 overs. In reply India could only muster 142, being all out off the final ball.
CLICK HERE for a seven-day free trial to watch cricket on KAYO
“I loved watching Ash and Grace today. We pride ourselves on fearless cricket, like to take the game on and stay ahead,” said Australia’s stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath.
Heather Graham celebrates. (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
As in the fourth match Gardner was the all-round star also taking 2-20 and two catches.
“I think it’s easy batting with someone like Grace, who has the power game to back up the chat,” said Gardner ,adding: “I’m just enjoying my cricket more than anything else, reaping the benefits on the field.”
The New South Walian cracked 66 off 32 balls with 11 fours and a six. Queenslander Harris bludgeoned 64 off 35 with six fours and fours sixes, her highest T20i score.
Their onslaught put the game beyond an Indian team who lost world ranked No.3 batter Smriti Mandhana for four in the first over after which wickets tumbled regularly. Harleen Deol (24 off 16 balls) got going but she was run out by McGrath.
Belated resistance came from Deepti Sharma, who snacked 53 off 34 balls before being last out, fittingly caught on the ropes by Gardner off Graham.
That gave Graham remarkable figures of four wickets for eight runs off two overs including a hat-trick taken off the last two balls of the 12th over and the first of the 19th.
“Not sure how that [hat-trick] happened,” she admitted. “I really didn’t realise it was the hat-trick ball.”
Australian captain Alyssa Healy had strained her calf while batting in the fourth match so McGrath took the reins, Beth Mooney the gloves, and Phoebe Litchfield stepped in as opener. Australia also made a change in their bowling attack with Kim Garth replacing Megan Schutt.
Litchfield, playing in her second international but making her batting debut, began well, straight-driving her second ball to the boundary. She then gained a fortunate six as an attempted run-out as she ran two produced four overthrows.
However, off her ninth ball she was stumped for 11 as she sought to attack Sharma.
That left Australia 2-17 midway through the third over as Mooney was already back in the hutch after chopping on fourth ball for two.
By the end of the fifth over, with Australia 2-24, McGrath knew it was time to lead by example. Hitting sixes over extra cover and long-on the No.1 women’s T20 batter took 17 off the sixth over, plus a wide.
However, with McGrath stumped for a run-a-ball 26 and the in-form Ellyse Perry caught at long-on for 18 off 14 Australia reached the mid-point 4-72.
Gardner and Harris steadied matters, then cut loose with Gardner hitting four successive fours and Harris three sixes in seven balls. They kept that pace up hitting at least two boundaries off each of the last eight overs as India wilted to the extent two more sets of four overthrows were conceded.
Between them they had crushed India’s spirit and set Australia on course for victory.
Short goes big as Strikers thump Thunder
Behind another Matt Short masterclass, the rampant Adelaide Strikers have maintained their perfect start to the BBL season with a six-wicket win over Sydney Thunder at Adelaide Oval.
Short (65) was circumspect early on Tuesday night before exploding after the powerplay to pilot the ladder-leading Strikers past the Thunder’s 5-150 with eight deliveries to spare, and to a 3-0 record.
After the early departure of Jake Weatherald (seven), Short, this season’s leading runscorer, opened his shoulders and bludgeoned five sixes in his scintillating 44-ball knock.
Short, who also was miserly with the ball (0-13 off three overs), took a liking to Daniel Sams’ offerings and dominated an 83-run, second-wicket union with Chris Lynn (28), who was cast in the unlikely role of second fiddle.
Both men fell to superb yorkers from left-arm pacer Nathan McAndrew (2-25), Lynn’s castle disturbed and Short trapped in front, before English import Adam Hose (28no) came in and applied the finishing touches.
“My job at the top of the order is to make runs and I feel like I’m doing that reasonably consistently now,” Short said.
“It (result) shows we can win games if we bat first or second.
“(The team had) a big emphasis on starting well and getting early wins to set us up and we’ve definitely done that.”
Earlier, the Strikers bowlers put their team in a strong position after recovering from an early Alex Hales onslaught.
The English masterblaster top-scored with 68 but was kept in relative check after crunching 36 of the Thunder’s 39 powerplay runs.
The Adelaide crowd broke into a round of applause in the third over when the Thunder’s score went past the T20 world record low 15 that they embarrassingly posted against the Strikers on Friday night.
Hales put on 63 for the third wicket with young Ollie Davies (42) before both succumbed to Colin de Grandhomme (2-25).
The Thunder, whose win-loss record fell to 1-3, were eyeing 180-plus after reaching 2-79 at the halfway stage before being restricted to 3-71, including just three boundaries, in the last 10 overs.
“We were maybe 15-20 (runs) short with the bat … but I would have still backed us to win that game if we’d bowled to our best ability,” Thunder seamer Gurinder Sandhu said.
“We could have bowled better, we could have batted better and we could have had more energy in the field.
“We haven’t done all those things well in one game.
Friday’s destroyer Henry Thornton captured 2-19 to take his season tally to 11 wickets at a phenomenal 3.82 average.
