Cape Town Test proves Australia’s attack one of their weakest in a long time

Australia's one of the weakest attack.

By Madan Mohan

Brad Haddin’s wild slash at a Vernon Philander delivery to get dismissed caught behind summed up the most incredible Test match I have ever seen. Australia familiarised themselves with term generally used with reference to West Indies in the 90s: hara kiri. In 12 overs of mayhem, their second innings had been reduced to 21 for nine. And in spite of valiant resistance by numbers 10 and 11, they couldn’t bat over 20 overs in all in the innings. And Haddin’s slash summed up the modus operandi to hara kiri: a bizarre absence of context and almost complete disregard or disdain for technique.

When South Africa were dismissed for 96 in their first innings, commentators said this was what winning or losing a Test match in a single session was all about. But Australia were not to be outdone in the game of chaos and madness. If they had slammed the door shut on South Africa by gaining a lead of 186 runs, they pretty much broke the door open again with their second innings effort. South Africa’s comfortable chase of 236 underlined how poor the batting from both sides had been on Day Two.

And that is one aspect from which Australia would take heart. The bowling attack has been one of their weakest in a long time. So, their performance in the first innings would have been very encouraging. It would concern selectors, however, that Shane Watson, 30, and Ryan Harris, 32, were once again the pick of the bowlers, by far. The great hope Mitchell Johnson continues to struggle for rhythm and has failed to step up to the challenge. It remains to be seen if Nathan Lyon can indeed spook the South African spinners traditionally have.

The other heartening aspect for Australia is Michael Clarke’s form. I have never seen him bat so well. There were those who were cautiously optimistic, at best, about Clarke’s prospects as captain. But not many could have foretold that it would do such wonders to his batting. His fluent, attacking 151 was, in hindsight, the only reason Australia were in the match at all. They were on their way to a collapse when Clarke joined Marsh at the crease but his monumental knock steered them to a respectable total.

Not so edifying was the shot selection by veterans Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in the second innings. A cover-drive to an outswinger is a risky proposition on such surfaces at the best of times, but choosing to drive the very first ball you face with the score at 13 for three is truly ‘special’. Hussey has truly lived up to the epithet of Mr. Cricket of late and his momentary lapse of reason will be forgiven.

Whether Ponting’s lapse will survive scrutiny is a more pertinent question. Ponting was caught in front, playing well across the line, with the front foot nearly covering off stump. More interestingly, his bat appeared to be pointing to mid-on, so it is not clear why he wouldn’t have chosen to play such a shot straighter, shuffling so far across. Ponting has all the technique in the world and is one of the greats of the game. Thus, his poor shot selection may have arisen from a lapse of concentration or the pressure of the match situation. At any rate, his place in the side is now more endangered than ever before as his failures continue to mount.

During their glory days, Australia would slam the door shut on the opponent from a winning position and prise it open in spite of seemingly irreparable damage. On Wednesday, they did exactly what opponents once used to do when confronted with their formidable might: they managed to cave in from a position of seemingly impregnable strength. Having done so, they appeared too shell-shocked at the aftermath to drag themselves back into the match and allowed South Africa to ride the momentum.

Notwithstanding the embarrassment of 21 for nine, Australia have begun to take baby steps in the right direction and are putting together the ingredients of a winning side. But the match result shows they still have a long way to go before the Don Argus recipe works its magic.

(Madan Mohan, a 25-year old CA from Mumbai, is passionate about writing, music and cricket. Writing on cricket is like the icing on the cake)