Andrew Faulkner, in The Australian, 29 August 2017, where the heading reads ”
Black clouds are billowing over Australian cricket but the Test team would prefer clouds of a more literal kind to intervene at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. With Bangladesh 1-45, and leading by 88 runs, the monsoon looms as the most likely saviour in the first Test after the Australian batsmen played true to form by not playing very well in Asia. Actually, no one bats as badly in Asia as the ugly Australians. Even Zimbabweans — who haven’t won a Test since 2013 — bat better in Asia than Australians.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz roars after pinning David Warner lbw Getty Images
As the tourists succumbed for 217 all out yesterday, with Ashton Agar making an unconquered 41 to show up the batsmen, Fox Sports posted numbers that told a chilling story. Australia are ranked last among the Test playing nations for scoring runs in Asia. Certainly no one would describe the Fox stats as a beautiful set of numbers. At 26.69 per innings, Australian batsmen average the lowest in Asia across the past 10 years.
As the tourists tumbled to 4-33 and then 8-144, the average fell by a tiny fraction before experiencing a minor correction as Agar and Pat Cummins added runs and respectability to the total.Even if they can extricate themselves from their Dhaka dilemma there is no escaping Australia’s horrid record in the Far East, Middle East … anywhere where the wickets are slow and the spin fast and furious.
Black clouds are billowing over Australian cricket but the Test team would prefer clouds of a more literal kind to intervene at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. With Bangladesh 1-45, and leading by 88 runs, the monsoon looms as the most likely saviour in the first Test after the Australian batsmen played true to form by not playing very well in Asia.
As the tourists tumbled to 4-33 and then 8-144, the average fell by a tiny fraction before experiencing a minor correction as Agar and Pat Cummins added runs and respectability to the total.
Even if they can extricate themselves from their Dhaka dilemma there is no escaping Australia’s horrid record in the Far East, Middle East … anywhere where the wickets are slow and the spin fast and furious. As each brick fell from the collapsing facade yesterday, anger on the home front intensified. Are they still on strike, some asked, forgetting the pay dispute featured a lockout and not a refusal to work. Perhaps they should hand back their pay rise? Perhaps, but Australia succumbing to quality spin is not exactly a recent phenomenon.
Neither is a lack of tour preparation a new development; the one tour game here was cancelled and all the net sessions in the world — including the Darwin ones reportedly prepared to replicate Bangladesh conditions — are no substitute for the real thing. Yes, on the face of it a cricket powerhouse is being outpointed by a minnow; but Bangladesh has been a bigger fish for some time now.
The only real success story for Australian — Agar — said he tried to take time out of the game. “Pretty much watch the ball and try and make good decisions,” he said. “Hit mostly with the spin. They bowled quite well, to their credit. Their spinners were really accurate and it was quite tough out there at times. You just have to wait for a bad ball … something to capitalise on.”
Just look at how their openers showed how to bat in a tricky little period before stumps last night. Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarker added a vital 43 before the latter was out caught and juggled by Usman Khawaja in the outfield.
There are diamonds to be found in the rough Dhaka turf. The Matt Renshaw/Peter Handscomb stand was something to work with if the Australians are to improve in Asia. Their 69-run partnership was a study in patience. Going all old-school to don caps against the spinners, the duo’s union was also redolent of an age before patience was stripped of its virtue by smash and bash cricket. Renshaw (45 from 94 balls, five fours) worked the ball smoothly off his legs, dabbed productively behind point, and ran smartly. But most of all, he was patient. Handscomb (33 from 67, five fours) is as economical as a Depression housewife. Moving not a muscle more than required is a prudent method in conditions as oppressive as Dhaka.
Steve Smith is the world’s best batsman playing in a middle ranked power. Without him they would already be languishing in the depths of the world rankings, rather than simply being in danger of falling to a new low.
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ALSO SEE https://cricketique.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/australias-horrid-statistics-in-asian-lands-an-appraisal-in-2016/#more-9884
