Latest / The Follow-On / Domesticated - AUSSIES UNDER PRESSURE: Who is the solution? Plus: Konstas on the radar + and Patterson and Bartlett on the rise!

Transcript

Domesticated - AUSSIES UNDER PRESSURE: Who is the solution? Plus: Konstas on the radar + and Patterson and Bartlett on the rise! · The Follow-On

0:00
Speaker 1: It was an all-too-familiar batting collapse for Australia again. The
0:03
Speaker 1: series won all heading to Cape Town. Welcome to Domesticated.
0:07
Speaker 1: I'm Justin Edwards. Alongside me is Will Faulkner and we'll
0:10
Speaker 1: touch on the Sheffield Shield as we come to it
0:12
Speaker 1: as well. Let's start with the test match though, Will.
0:15
Speaker 1: It was just a familiar case again. Australia's batsmen just
0:18
Speaker 1: getting rolled for 99. They did much better in the
0:21
Speaker 1: second innings, but their damage was really done in that
0:23
Speaker 1: first innings.
0:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Justin. Great to be here again. It
0:29
Speaker 2: certainly was done in the first innings. 99 is not
0:31
Speaker 2: a figure you would normally associate with an Australian team total,
0:35
Speaker 2: and we saw that in the first innings. Obviously, the
0:37
Speaker 2: follow-on was enforced. They ended up falling short even there
0:39
Speaker 2: again with a couple of valiant efforts. But it looks
0:42
Speaker 2: like it was paper over the cracks in that first
0:44
Speaker 2: test in Durban. Matt Renshaw was able to get Australia
0:47
Speaker 2: out of a big hole with his massive scores and
0:49
Speaker 2: a lot of wagging from the tail. But ultimately, we're
0:51
Speaker 2: left with so many more questions about Australia's top seven teams.
0:54
Speaker 2: than what we would like halfway through a test series
0:56
Speaker 2: against a formidable South African bowling attack. And to their credit,
0:59
Speaker 2: some great captaincy as well from Temba Bavuma, both on
1:02
Speaker 2: field with his batting and also with his use of bowlers.
1:04
Speaker 2: He was down a fast bowler from about halfway through
1:07
Speaker 2: that first inning with Anarik Nortje going down with an injury,
1:10
Speaker 2: but they still managed to come through and win by innings.
1:12
Speaker 3: It was an emphatic result.
1:13
Speaker 2: And as we said, I think we're about to touch
1:15
Speaker 2: on some bigger questions that are hovering over the Australian
1:18
Speaker 2: camp at the moment.
1:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Three main guys under pressure for their place
1:22
Speaker 1: in the XI at the moment. We're going to go
1:24
Speaker 1: through them one by one. We'll start at the top
1:26
Speaker 1: with Nick Maddison. Look, I feel for Nick Maddison. It
1:30
Speaker 1: feels as though he's been thrust into a situation that
1:33
Speaker 1: he's not adequately prepared for.
1:35
Speaker 3: He looks like a guy.
1:36
Speaker 1: that hasn't really played any Red Bull cricket for 18 months.
1:40
Speaker 1: And with Rabada coming into this South African team, that
1:43
Speaker 1: is suddenly a much harder equation. It's one of the
1:46
Speaker 1: toughest tests in world cricket, having Rabada and Jansen with
1:49
Speaker 1: the new ball and having Maddison off so little Red
1:54
Speaker 1: Bull cricket coming into this series. It's scores of 0, 48,
1:58
Speaker 1: 0 and 8. And just for me at the moment,
2:02
Speaker 1: even with putting the scores aside, the way he looks
2:05
Speaker 1: at the crease... fishing at things outside the off stump,
2:08
Speaker 1: it looks untenable for me at the moment having Maddison
2:10
Speaker 1: at the top of the order.
2:14
Speaker 3: Yeah, I tend to agree, Justin.
2:15
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people would have said that
2:17
Speaker 2: going into this series and we all wanted Nick to
2:19
Speaker 2: go so well. As you said, he looks like a
2:21
Speaker 2: player who hasn't played Red Bull cricket in 18 months
2:23
Speaker 2: and that's because he hasn't played Red Bull cricket.
2:26
Speaker 3: in 18 months.
2:27
Speaker 2: I think it's pretty fair to say, I know the
2:28
Speaker 2: selectors wouldn't like people coming to this conclusion, but he
2:31
Speaker 2: was selected off the back of a 128 made in
2:34
Speaker 2: a September 50 over game in Melbourne at Junction Oval,
2:37
Speaker 2: and it was an excellent innings, but he hasn't had
2:39
Speaker 2: that Red Bull experience for a long time, and we've
2:41
Speaker 2: spoken about it previously on the show. He's gone through
2:43
Speaker 2: a lot of hardship, he's overcome testicular cancer, he's an
2:46
Speaker 2: excellent feel-good story, but he just wasn't the selection at
2:49
Speaker 2: the top of the order, and as you said, those
2:51
Speaker 2: four scores, three of them were utter failures, and he
2:54
Speaker 2: really looked at seeing all three of those innings that
2:57
Speaker 2: fourth inning was the 48 he made in the second
2:59
Speaker 2: innings in the first test in Durban he looked great
3:01
Speaker 2: on the counter-attack but even then he probably was found
3:04
Speaker 2: out by Andrik Nortje and the raw pace that he
3:07
Speaker 2: possesses so um untenable I think is a fair use
3:11
Speaker 2: of the word and what I would say is that
3:13
Speaker 2: he's been thrown to the walls in the absolute truest
3:15
Speaker 2: of forms this is not on Nick Maddison this is
3:18
Speaker 2: a task he was dealt that I think is very
3:20
Speaker 2: very unfair from selectors and I'm going to be interested
3:22
Speaker 2: to see how they, not perhaps justify, but sort of
3:25
Speaker 2: how they explain his potential axing for the third test.
3:28
Speaker 2: I think, as you said, it's very, very hard to
3:30
Speaker 2: back it up from here. He looked all at sea,
3:32
Speaker 2: particularly against Kegiso Rabada, coming back from his own injury.
3:36
Speaker 2: So he probably hadn't had a whole lot of time
3:38
Speaker 2: out in the middle, but he just made him look
3:39
Speaker 2: so lost at sea, like he did with a few
3:42
Speaker 2: of the other Australian batters. But it's no harder than
3:44
Speaker 2: facing the new ball against such a quality South African attack.
3:47
Speaker 2: And I think Nick Maddison will be the first name
3:49
Speaker 2: to fall heading into that third test, unfortunately.
3:52
Speaker 1: This selection panel has got more rights than they've got
3:55
Speaker 1: wrong in the last few years, but this was clearly
3:58
Speaker 1: an error and it would be an additional error, I think,
4:02
Speaker 1: to persist with Maddison, to give him an extra test
4:05
Speaker 1: in the idea of giving him a fair go. but
4:08
Speaker 1: it just looks so unlikely that he's going to score
4:11
Speaker 1: any significant runs at the moment in what is one
4:13
Speaker 1: of the toughest tests in world cricket. Another guy under
4:16
Speaker 1: significant pressure is Bo Webster. Now this will, with Cameron
4:20
Speaker 1: Grant and Josh Inglis being fit for the next test,
4:22
Speaker 1: that gives Australia two middle order options. Webster scores four
4:26
Speaker 1: and 39 not out in the first test. The 39
4:28
Speaker 1: not out was a pretty good innings in the circumstances
4:31
Speaker 1: and 13 and eight in this test. It doesn't look
4:35
Speaker 1: like at this stage that he is doing enough to
4:37
Speaker 1: keep his place. But where he could keep his place
4:41
Speaker 1: is with the ball because he bowls important overs, but
4:45
Speaker 1: he just hasn't quite looked threatening with the ball. It
4:47
Speaker 1: was none for 43 from 19 overs with the ball.
4:51
Speaker 1: I'm just not sure he's doing enough with the ball
4:53
Speaker 1: or the bat, to be honest, to justify his selection
4:57
Speaker 1: as an all-rounder at the moment, even though Cameron Green,
5:00
Speaker 1: if he was to return, is not yet going to
5:01
Speaker 1: be fit to bowl.
5:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're right there.
5:06
Speaker 2: I think the extra heat on him at the moment
5:07
Speaker 2: is certainly coming from a batting perspective. That 39 not
5:10
Speaker 2: out that you spoke about was crucial in the context
5:12
Speaker 2: of making runs in that second inning to the first test.
5:15
Speaker 3: He looked really good. It was a cameo.
5:17
Speaker 2: He probably has the unfortunate argument that he could have
5:18
Speaker 2: made a lot more if Australia hadn't declared. in that
5:21
Speaker 2: position so he's probably been robbed of a few runs
5:23
Speaker 2: there when he was feeling good in the middle but
5:24
Speaker 2: my qualm with him in that second test was the
5:27
Speaker 2: way he was getting out it was an awful awful
5:29
Speaker 2: shot in the first innings and it's very easy to
5:31
Speaker 2: sit back and say that watching on tv in a
5:33
Speaker 2: different country uh but yeah the motor dismissal was getting
5:37
Speaker 2: caught by caught behind the wicket in that first innings
5:39
Speaker 2: to a ball that was really not there to drive
5:41
Speaker 2: or back foot punch and then the second innings he
5:43
Speaker 2: just got trapped on the crease by Salmon Harmer who
5:45
Speaker 2: had a very good second test with bat and ball,
5:48
Speaker 2: but it did look a little bit ugly. And I
5:49
Speaker 2: think just because Australia is crying out for runs so much,
5:53
Speaker 2: there is that extra emphasis on his output there. It
5:56
Speaker 2: is intriguing the fact that he's batting seven. I thought
5:58
Speaker 2: that maybe the slide between him and Carey would come.
6:01
Speaker 2: You drop Carey back to seven and Webster back to six.
6:04
Speaker 2: He does have that extra responsibility. as a bat, and unfortunately,
6:08
Speaker 2: I think that might be where his downfall comes if
6:10
Speaker 2: he doesn't play in that third test. His bowling, again,
6:12
Speaker 2: it was quite economical. He put it on a good
6:15
Speaker 2: line and length and didn't look very threatening, which was
6:18
Speaker 2: probably the main concern, but he was able to tie
6:20
Speaker 2: down an end. Unfortunately, with Josh Hayswood off the field
6:23
Speaker 2: on day two with food poisoning, which then meant he
6:25
Speaker 2: couldn't bowl in the early parts of day three, they
6:27
Speaker 2: relied on Webster a lot more. As you said, bowled
6:30
Speaker 2: 19 overs and bowled very well, but didn't look like
6:32
Speaker 2: getting a wicket at most times, and there's only so
6:35
Speaker 2: much you can have of that, I think. You want
6:37
Speaker 2: a wicket-taker, Cameron Green, who has been that bowling option
6:41
Speaker 2: as an all-rounder. He's used almost exclusively under Pat Cummins
6:45
Speaker 2: as a wicket-taker. He's okay with him going at five
6:47
Speaker 2: or six runs and over, bowling a lot of bounces
6:50
Speaker 2: and having some quite wide fields set for him, but
6:53
Speaker 2: he does get you that wicket, and that's how Cummins
6:55
Speaker 2: likes to deploy him. So Webster's probably in that middle ground.
6:58
Speaker 2: I think in terms of where Maddison's at and where Marnes'
7:02
Speaker 2: is at, Labuschagne, which we'll touch on in a minute,
7:04
Speaker 2: I don't think he's that far down the line. His
7:07
Speaker 2: performances haven't been that bad or that consistently not as great,
7:12
Speaker 2: but he's going to be under some pressure. The interesting
7:15
Speaker 2: thing I will note, Justin, is that of the 12
7:17
Speaker 2: tests that Webster's played, seven of those he's played with Green,
7:20
Speaker 2: which I think would surprise a few people. So there
7:22
Speaker 2: is a world where Green comes in and Webster holds
7:25
Speaker 2: his spot, but I suspect with Green probably unlikely to
7:28
Speaker 2: bowl in that third test. It does make it a
7:30
Speaker 2: little bit harder for Webster to hold his spot and
7:33
Speaker 2: for selectors to maybe not go for an extra genuine
7:36
Speaker 2: batter in their top seven.
7:38
Speaker 1: Webster, it's not just these two tests where he's been disappointing.
7:42
Speaker 1: He was poor in the Bangladesh series, scores of 12-5
7:45
Speaker 1: and a golden duck, and his bowling across this South
7:49
Speaker 1: Africa series and the Bangladesh series is figures of one
7:53
Speaker 1: for 118. He hasn't been able to... He's a similar
7:56
Speaker 1: bowler to South Africa's Vian Mulder, But what Mulder has
8:00
Speaker 1: been able to do, taking wickets in that really tight,
8:03
Speaker 1: they bowled a very similar way, keeping it in the
8:05
Speaker 1: channel nice and tight. But Mulder is an all-rounder who's
8:07
Speaker 1: taken really important wickets and that's guaranteed his place in
8:11
Speaker 1: the side. Webster, it just hasn't been able to do
8:14
Speaker 1: that with bat or with ball. You mentioned Bo Webster's
8:18
Speaker 1: poor shot. Speaking of poor shots, Marnus Labuschagne. It just
8:22
Speaker 1: seems to be the constant story with Marnus. Over the
8:25
Speaker 1: last three years, he's getting a start but not going
8:28
Speaker 1: on with it.
8:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great segue there, Justin.
8:33
Speaker 2: So, yeah, I mean, Marnus is having 47 test innings
8:36
Speaker 2: without 100.
8:38
Speaker 3: So that's July 2023.
8:38
Speaker 2: You can pinpoint it on the fourth test in Manchester
8:42
Speaker 2: of the 2023 Ashes. It was a great 100. It
8:45
Speaker 2: saved Australia from a loss. They ended up having a draw,
8:48
Speaker 2: but we really haven't seen anything from him since then.
8:51
Speaker 2: Of those 47 innings, he's only passed 72 once.
8:55
Speaker 3: So it's not even the 100.
8:55
Speaker 2: He's only gotten to near 100 once. There was a
8:58
Speaker 2: 90 in Christchurch back in 2024. In March, another great innings.
9:02
Speaker 2: But again, it's been such a long time since we've
9:05
Speaker 2: seen the absolute best of him. He's gone eight straight
9:07
Speaker 2: tests now. without a half century. That first test in Durban,
9:11
Speaker 2: I actually thought he looked quite good. He made 37
9:13
Speaker 2: in each innings and he looked like he was at home.
9:15
Speaker 2: I thought he was pretty unlucky to get given out
9:17
Speaker 2: LBW in that first innings. It was umpires called by
9:20
Speaker 2: the barest of margins and probably wasn't the correct on-field decision, but...
9:24
Speaker 2: He's just been so scrappy, and he keeps getting starts.
9:26
Speaker 2: And maybe in isolation this series, it wouldn't be that
9:30
Speaker 2: much of an issue, but this has been the.
9:31
Speaker 3: Story for three and a half years.
9:33
Speaker 2: And as we've spoken about previously on this program, he
9:35
Speaker 2: has made a lot of runs at domestic level when
9:37
Speaker 2: he's gone back, particularly last summer. But there has to
9:41
Speaker 2: be a point where, you know, the straw that breaks
9:44
Speaker 2: the camel's back, and I think that's probably.
9:45
Speaker 3: Where we're at with Marnus.
9:46
Speaker 2: He's been a beneficiary of, A, having a lot of
9:49
Speaker 2: brownie points in the back for his meteoric rise coming
9:51
Speaker 2: into the test team all those years ago.
9:54
Speaker 3: He's a tremendous fielder.
9:55
Speaker 2: I think that probably gets lost a little bit, but
9:57
Speaker 2: having someone in the field, his chat, as well as his...
10:00
Speaker 2: fielding ability, certainly shouldn't be looked past. But C as well,
10:04
Speaker 2: probably the argument that there hasn't been a lot of
10:05
Speaker 2: people knocking down the door, specifically as a number three
10:08
Speaker 2: bat at Sheffield Shield level. Now, I think Curtis Patterson,
10:11
Speaker 2: who we've spoken about before, will be right in the
10:13
Speaker 2: frame to be in that spot come the first Test
10:15
Speaker 2: this summer. but it's really hard to see where they
10:19
Speaker 2: go from here. I suspect he'll play in the third
10:21
Speaker 2: test and I'll give him one last chance, but it's
10:23
Speaker 2: a washing machine.
10:24
Speaker 3: It's the same story every time we're going around this cycle.
10:27
Speaker 2: Selectors have been very willing to pick people in an
10:30
Speaker 2: opening position who don't open, as we've just spoken about
10:32
Speaker 2: with Nick Maddison. So by that theory, I do wonder
10:35
Speaker 2: whether or not they would maybe apply that to the
10:37
Speaker 2: number three spot. Having said that, it would give Australia
10:39
Speaker 2: less stability if they went rogue. I don't know if
10:41
Speaker 2: Cooper Connolly or Josh Inglis are in the squad and
10:43
Speaker 2: in the conversation for the third test. I don't know
10:46
Speaker 2: if they're the people to put in that position to
10:48
Speaker 2: close out the series. So it'll be interesting, Justin, as
10:51
Speaker 2: to where that lies. But unfortunately for Marnus, the clock
10:54
Speaker 2: is running out very, very fast, and it has been
10:56
Speaker 2: for quite some time.
10:57
Speaker 1: One of the options available to Australia would be to
10:59
Speaker 1: have Lavachan open the batting, which he did in the
11:02
Speaker 1: World Test Championship final. Look, it scores of 37-37, 14-39
11:05
Speaker 1: in the series for Labashane, which is not awful. It's
11:10
Speaker 1: not like he's getting ducks. He's getting the starts but
11:14
Speaker 1: not being able to go on with it. In six
11:17
Speaker 1: of his last eight innings, he's got a score between
11:19
Speaker 1: 30 and 50, and I think that will be enough
11:22
Speaker 1: to see him keep his place in the third test,
11:24
Speaker 1: not really because he's likely to score a big 100,
11:27
Speaker 1: but because he's likely to score 30. and 30 is
11:31
Speaker 1: better than zero, and he might be a better option.
11:34
Speaker 1: He might be more likely to get to 30, 40, 50,
11:36
Speaker 1: a decent score, than another option that they bring in.
11:39
Speaker 1: The thing with Labashane is, if they drop him, they've
11:44
Speaker 1: already done that. They dropped him in the West Indies,
11:46
Speaker 1: asked him to go back to Sheffield Shield Cricket. He
11:48
Speaker 1: went back to Sheffield Shield Cricket, got a bunch of runs,
11:51
Speaker 1: and got his way back in. What do they do
11:53
Speaker 1: this time? Is it probably going to be the same
11:56
Speaker 1: things that are going to happen? He'll go back to
11:57
Speaker 1: Shield Cricket, be a class above Shield Cricket, come back,
12:01
Speaker 1: And we hope it's better.
12:07
Speaker 3: I think so.
12:08
Speaker 2: I think, as I said before, I think Curtis Patterson
12:11
Speaker 2: is the man. He's got that big score already under
12:13
Speaker 2: his belt coming back from a groin injury this spring.
12:17
Speaker 2: And I think even before that, I think he should
12:18
Speaker 2: have been right in the frame if it hadn't been
12:20
Speaker 2: for that injury to go on the plane to South Africa.
12:22
Speaker 2: So I think this time around, if Marnus does do
12:24
Speaker 2: the same thing, we all hope he makes runs at
12:27
Speaker 2: domestic level heading into the test summer. I think you
12:29
Speaker 2: just have to give another person a crack. As you said,
12:31
Speaker 2: this would be, in theory, the second time he's been
12:34
Speaker 2: dropped from that role and has had more than enough chances.
12:37
Speaker 2: And I think even he would admit that. So I
12:39
Speaker 2: think you just have to keep getting him runs at
12:40
Speaker 2: shield level. And after the New Zealand series this summer,
12:43
Speaker 2: there's an even bigger series in India.
12:45
Speaker 3: And maybe that's one.
12:46
Speaker 2: That you just try and prime him for and make
12:47
Speaker 2: sure that he's a ready-made option. If called upon, you
12:50
Speaker 2: give Patterson all the time in the world this summer
12:52
Speaker 2: in Australia to make those runs. There might be a
12:55
Speaker 2: couple of other names that pop up. McSweeney is one
12:57
Speaker 2: that we'll probably talk about later from South Australia who
13:00
Speaker 2: will be there or thereabouts and has had Australian test caps.
13:03
Speaker 3: Under his belt in recent years. So there are options.
13:06
Speaker 2: And Usman Khawai just spoke about that on Fox Cricket's
13:09
Speaker 2: coverage last night before the start of Day 5.
13:12
Speaker 3: There are options.
13:13
Speaker 2: It's just who you want to pick and just how
13:14
Speaker 2: patient they want to be with Marnus. But I suspect
13:16
Speaker 2: that the domestic scene and making runs there, it's going
13:18
Speaker 2: to be something he has to do again to get
13:19
Speaker 2: back in this team.
13:20
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to put our money where our
13:22
Speaker 1: mouth is. We're each going to name our top seven
13:24
Speaker 1: for the third test in Cape Town.
13:26
Speaker 3: I'll go first.
13:28
Speaker 1: So I'm asking Matt Renshaw to open alongside Travis Head.
13:31
Speaker 1: I know he got the big runs at five, but
13:33
Speaker 1: he was initially selected as an opener for... the series
13:37
Speaker 1: against Bangladesh. I'm asking him to go back there.
13:39
Speaker 3: He's versatile.
13:40
Speaker 1: He's proven he can do it. I'm sticking with Manus
13:42
Speaker 1: Labashain at three, not because I think he's likely to
13:45
Speaker 1: score 100. I think he's more likely to score 30
13:47
Speaker 1: than any of the other options. And unfortunately, that is
13:50
Speaker 1: where we're at with the Australian top order at the moment. Smith, obviously,
13:53
Speaker 1: at four. I'm bringing Cameron Green in to play five.
13:56
Speaker 1: He got the 100 against Bangladesh in Darwin in that
13:58
Speaker 1: Test Match Australia. Lost only through injury has he missed.
14:02
Speaker 1: And I know he's only going to be fit To bats,
14:05
Speaker 1: he's not going to be fit to bowl, but I'm
14:06
Speaker 1: playing him anyway. I'm having Josh Inglis into the team
14:10
Speaker 1: as well, and I want him at six. I just
14:13
Speaker 1: think with Alex Carey, Bo Webster is quite suited to
14:16
Speaker 1: batting seven. He actually does that quite a lot in
14:17
Speaker 1: shield cricket. I'm not sure Josh Inglis is. I think
14:20
Speaker 1: Carey is better suited to that with all the nuances
14:22
Speaker 1: of batting seven and working with the tail, farming the strike,
14:25
Speaker 1: everything you have to do there. So that's a total
14:28
Speaker 1: of two changes for me with a mix-up of the order.
14:31
Speaker 1: What is your top seven?
14:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've got two changes as well, Justin.
14:36
Speaker 2: And we've got about 6.5 out of that first seven
14:39
Speaker 2: the same. So I've got Renshaw opening with head as well.
14:42
Speaker 2: Not again, not because I want him to open there necessarily.
14:46
Speaker 2: I would rather him bat at five where he's made
14:47
Speaker 2: those runs in the first test.
14:49
Speaker 3: And that's security through the middle order.
14:51
Speaker 2: But unfortunately, just with the way that the squad has
14:53
Speaker 2: panned out, they don't have that extra opener over there
14:55
Speaker 2: at the moment. He's the best place to replace Maddison
14:57
Speaker 2: at the top of the order, I think.
14:58
Speaker 3: So I have got him.
14:59
Speaker 2: Opening with Travis Head, and we should mention he's an
15:02
Speaker 2: excellent hunter in that second innings against South Africa. He
15:04
Speaker 2: was very overdue, and there were questions as to whether
15:07
Speaker 2: or not he might be the one that slides back
15:08
Speaker 2: down to the middle order, but he's there for now.
15:10
Speaker 2: He's staying opening. I've got Marnus Laberstein at number three,
15:13
Speaker 2: just like you. I think he's best placed in the
15:16
Speaker 2: team with the squad as well to bat three. Smith
15:19
Speaker 2: stays at four. No surprises there. I've got Cameron Green
15:22
Speaker 2: coming in at number five as well, and a lot
15:23
Speaker 2: of responsibility on his shoulders, I think, particularly after that
15:26
Speaker 2: 100 against Bangladesh just a couple of months ago. There
15:28
Speaker 2: will be expectations that he can slide straight in and
15:31
Speaker 2: really stabilise that middle order now that Renshaw is going
15:33
Speaker 2: back up to the top of the order, we suspect,
15:35
Speaker 2: for the third test. Now, I've got Alex Carey at seven,
15:38
Speaker 2: so I'm with you there, Justin. At number six, I
15:41
Speaker 2: either have Josh Inglis, so we might have seven out
15:43
Speaker 2: of seven the same.
15:44
Speaker 3: Or Cooper Connolly.
15:45
Speaker 2: Now, the reason I have Cooper Connolly at six is
15:47
Speaker 2: I think it's dependent on what this surface in Cape
15:50
Speaker 2: Town produces for the third test, which I think is
15:52
Speaker 2: an excellent segue into speaking about the quicks and Nathan
15:55
Speaker 2: Lyon heading into this third test.
15:57
Speaker 3: I think if they go for quicks, which.
15:59
Speaker 2: They could well given Scott Boland's incredible second test with
16:02
Speaker 2: both bat and ball. But also the surface in Cape
16:06
Speaker 2: Town might produce a green deck like we saw in Goberka.
16:09
Speaker 2: Or do they go with Nathan Lyon and maybe do
16:11
Speaker 2: that squeeze out someone like Boland, Hazelwood, Stark, probably not Cummins.
16:15
Speaker 2: But the makeup of that number six, I have hinging
16:18
Speaker 2: on the bowling attack, Justin. So I want to ask you,
16:20
Speaker 2: where do you see this bowling attack fitting in, all
16:22
Speaker 2: things being equal, heading to Cape Town?
16:25
Speaker 1: Well, it's going to be so dependent on conditions. If
16:28
Speaker 1: it's a green seamer, they'll have no hesitation going all
16:31
Speaker 1: four quicks again. If it's a little bit of a
16:33
Speaker 1: drier surface and they want to go back to Nathan Lyon,
16:36
Speaker 1: that is such a difficult conversation. That's the hardest selection
16:39
Speaker 1: conversation they'll have. Scott Boland's coming off six, his superb performance.
16:45
Speaker 1: with the bat as well as the ball. But for me,
16:48
Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of things, he's still the fourth seed.
16:52
Speaker 1: And especially if it's a flatter surface, that's when I
16:55
Speaker 1: would prefer Hazelwood. You remember Hazelwood's six foot from the
16:58
Speaker 1: first test when it starts to go up and down
17:00
Speaker 1: on a wearing surface late. Hazelwood's so good at that. Stark,
17:05
Speaker 1: player of the series in the Ashes, he's so good.
17:07
Speaker 1: Cummins is the captain. So as ridiculous as it seems,
17:11
Speaker 1: if they're playing the spinner, I think I'm leaving out Hazelwood.
17:14
Speaker 1: the best player from the previous test, Scott Bowen.
17:20
Speaker 2: It's incredibly hard to make a call, Justin. So I
17:22
Speaker 2: understand why you've gone that way. I'm probably more inclined
17:25
Speaker 2: to maybe just rest up Hazelwood for the summer. I say, look, mate,
17:28
Speaker 2: I know we're in a serious finale. Unfortunately, we simply
17:31
Speaker 2: can't drop Scott, which is a conversation I've wanted to
17:33
Speaker 2: have so many times. And it's a very good dilemma
17:37
Speaker 2: to have. I think that goes without saying. We're very
17:38
Speaker 2: blessed to have these four quicks and Nathan Lyons still
17:41
Speaker 2: in our team and still.
17:43
Speaker 3: right towards their prime.
17:44
Speaker 2: I think we probably saw during the backovers of the
17:46
Speaker 2: first innings at South Africa play that there really was
17:48
Speaker 2: a need for a spinner. As good as Matt Renshaw
17:50
Speaker 2: is as a part-timer, he's just not going to cut
17:52
Speaker 2: it as that guy that you need 10, 15, 20
17:55
Speaker 2: overs out of in innings.
17:56
Speaker 3: And I think we did miss that.
17:57
Speaker 2: So I think Nathan Lyon would feel particularly hard done
18:00
Speaker 2: by in that sense. So I think it probably is
18:02
Speaker 2: time to bring him back into the team, even if
18:05
Speaker 2: it's a little bit greener, I think, to see what
18:07
Speaker 2: he does. I think he's the greatest off-spinner Australia's ever
18:09
Speaker 2: had for a reason. And seeing what he can do
18:11
Speaker 2: on these surfaces... I know that he's very, very big
18:13
Speaker 2: on the fact that he can offer on those more
18:16
Speaker 2: seam-friendly surfaces as well. Generally, when it seems to seam more,
18:19
Speaker 2: it also seems to spin more. So that's a conversation
18:22
Speaker 2: I'd be having. There's no right answer. I think any
18:26
Speaker 2: quartet that you have going into this test is going
18:28
Speaker 2: to be a good one. It's just whether or not
18:29
Speaker 2: you play Nathan Lyon. And if you do, who goes out?
18:32
Speaker 2: I'd be sticking with Scott Boland. I don't think you
18:33
Speaker 2: can drop someone unfortunately, with figures like that in the
18:37
Speaker 2: first innings, and while Hayes would have had an incredible
18:39
Speaker 2: sixer in the first test, I think it's just incredibly unlucky,
18:42
Speaker 2: whichever way you spin it. So I'm going to be
18:43
Speaker 2: in Scott Bowler's camp, the Victorian camp, down here in
18:46
Speaker 2: South Melbourne, Justin, but either way, the selectors fall.
18:49
Speaker 3: I think it's going to be the right decision.
18:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, the opposite problem that we have with our bowlers
18:53
Speaker 1: is that there's too many to fit in, and with
18:55
Speaker 1: the top seven, there's not enough people making that space
18:58
Speaker 1: their own. Let's talk Shield cricket, and we had a
19:00
Speaker 1: big storyline out of the Sheffield Shield. Sammy Constance returned
19:04
Speaker 1: to form, 151 not out for New South Wales, to
19:07
Speaker 1: go with 71 in the first innings at the WACA.
19:10
Speaker 1: It was a superb performance and a reminder he is
19:13
Speaker 1: still in this conversation.
19:15
Speaker 3: They're not going to.
19:16
Speaker 1: Well, it would be remarkable if they flew him to
19:19
Speaker 1: Cape Town for this third test, but certainly for the
19:21
Speaker 1: series coming up against New Zealand, he is right back
19:24
Speaker 1: in that conversation.
19:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's probably against the clock to get to Cape Town,
19:29
Speaker 2: I suspect, before next Tuesday and maybe just wear off
19:32
Speaker 2: that jet lag that comes with it.
19:33
Speaker 3: But right place, sorry, right runs, right time. Absolutely. I think,
19:37
Speaker 3: as I was alluding to before, I do still feel like.
19:40
Speaker 2: The Australians probably want to bring Travis Head back down
19:43
Speaker 2: to middle or at some point. So the idea of
19:45
Speaker 2: Constance in an opener making consistent runs and a big
19:48
Speaker 2: score as well, which we know that he's made before,
19:50
Speaker 2: in previous summers. He couldn't have done much more, I
19:53
Speaker 2: don't think. It was a batter-friendly wicket, but he certainly
19:55
Speaker 2: made the most of his time out in the middle.
19:58
Speaker 2: He's been in a bit of a lull for quite
20:00
Speaker 2: some time now, but to see him make runs is great.
20:02
Speaker 2: He's still very, very young, and he's someone that the
20:05
Speaker 2: Australian selectors have invested in before, so they'll be very,
20:08
Speaker 2: very pleased to see him make runs. And if things
20:10
Speaker 2: don't work out at the top of the order, which
20:12
Speaker 2: they haven't for the last few years, with a lot
20:14
Speaker 2: of opening partners, I think it's 11 opening partners Australia's
20:16
Speaker 2: gone through since David Warner's retired, And only three of
20:19
Speaker 2: those have made hundreds. So to have someone there at
20:22
Speaker 2: the ready making runs and big scores, very, very important.
20:25
Speaker 2: And as I said, it's a great tick to the youth, which,
20:28
Speaker 2: you know, the Australian team that we filled in the
20:30
Speaker 2: first two tests, we haven't had a player under 30
20:32
Speaker 2: in there. So the idea of a 21-year-old making runs,
20:35
Speaker 2: I'd say that's probably going to go a long way.
20:38
Speaker 1: It wasn't just the runs. It was the manner of
20:40
Speaker 1: the runs for me, for Constance. And I was almost
20:43
Speaker 1: more impressed with his first inning, 71, than his second innings.
20:46
Speaker 1: He showed a patience and a tempo.
20:50
Speaker 3: When he opened.
20:51
Speaker 1: With Oli Davies, who's a very aggressive player, and when
20:55
Speaker 1: Oli Davies reached 50, Sam Constance was on eight. This
20:59
Speaker 1: is not a Sam Constance that we were seeing previously.
21:02
Speaker 1: And it's only when he got that 151 in the
21:04
Speaker 1: second innings, that was only his second Shield century since
21:08
Speaker 1: he played for Australia.
21:09
Speaker 3: Yeah.
21:09
Speaker 1: But what I saw at the WACA, with that first
21:13
Speaker 1: inning 71, being patient against the new ball, understanding that
21:16
Speaker 1: his partner was doing a lot of the run scoring,
21:18
Speaker 1: so he didn't need to, happy to sit back and
21:21
Speaker 1: watch him do his work, then click through the gears,
21:23
Speaker 1: and then in the second innings, when New South Wales
21:25
Speaker 1: had a first innings lead, he was able to be
21:27
Speaker 1: more aggressive, amped up the scoring, and then when he
21:29
Speaker 1: got to 100 and they were really pushing for a declaration,
21:32
Speaker 1: he batted very aggressively. I just feel like I saw
21:36
Speaker 1: a more mature Sam Constis.
21:38
Speaker 3: It was a Sam Constis.
21:39
Speaker 1: able to adapt his game to different situations, going through
21:43
Speaker 1: the gears, and a Sam Constis, a version of Sam
21:47
Speaker 1: Constis that I think is far more likely to succeed
21:49
Speaker 1: in Test cricket than the version we saw against trying
21:53
Speaker 1: to ramp Jasper Boomer at the MCG, which, yeah, it
21:55
Speaker 1: got a bit much for him, and it happened to
21:57
Speaker 1: pay off that first time. But this Sam Constis, this
22:00
Speaker 1: looks like a successful Sam Constis long-term for me.
22:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, maturity is the word there, Justin, that I certainly
22:09
Speaker 2: resonate the most with Sam Constance's two innings that we
22:11
Speaker 2: just spoke about there. I don't think you could really
22:14
Speaker 2: ever expect a 19-year-old to come out with all the
22:17
Speaker 2: answers and all the maturity at test level like he
22:20
Speaker 2: did a couple of boxing days ago. But, yeah, I
22:23
Speaker 2: think having Oli Davies as the guy who's maybe making
22:25
Speaker 2: those runs quicker has probably helped him mould into a
22:27
Speaker 2: more traditional sense. He was always a traditional player before
22:30
Speaker 2: he went into the Australian test side. I remember he
22:32
Speaker 2: made that 100 for the PM's 11 against India last
22:36
Speaker 2: in early December, just a few weeks before he got picked.
22:39
Speaker 2: And that was where we saw him ramping and really
22:41
Speaker 2: pushing the game forward, I think, just because India wanted
22:43
Speaker 2: to have a bat the next day and it was
22:45
Speaker 2: almost a forced declaration of sorts. And since then, you know,
22:48
Speaker 2: we saw him obviously playing a very expensive game, a
22:51
Speaker 2: lot of ramping, but that's not him. And I think
22:53
Speaker 2: a lot of people who have watched him from a
22:54
Speaker 2: very young age coming through the Australian underage ranks would
22:58
Speaker 2: say the exact same thing. And this is the more
23:00
Speaker 2: refined consciousness that we're seeing today His stroke play was excellent.
23:03
Speaker 2: His decision-making was really good. He knows how to flick
23:06
Speaker 2: the switch because he does have that expansive stroke play.
23:09
Speaker 2: But he picked his moments perfectly. And maybe Oli Davies
23:11
Speaker 2: is someone who... You know, made another 50, as you said,
23:14
Speaker 2: in that first innings. Someone who he can yin and
23:16
Speaker 2: yang really well with and find the best out of
23:18
Speaker 2: his game. He'll get tested at international level the next
23:21
Speaker 2: time he comes. We know that forward defence and coming
23:24
Speaker 2: towards the top of our stump is probably a place
23:26
Speaker 2: where he has had a bit of a flaw in
23:28
Speaker 2: the past, but he certainly didn't show that on the
23:30
Speaker 2: weekend against a pretty good WA bowling attack.
23:32
Speaker 1: That's a pretty formidable top three at the moment for
23:34
Speaker 1: New South Wales with Constance Davies and Curtis Patterson at three.
23:38
Speaker 1: Patterson making another century, 122 points, There is absolutely room
23:43
Speaker 1: for him in this Australian side coming into this New
23:46
Speaker 1: Zealand series. The pressure on Manus Labashain, if Patterson keeps
23:50
Speaker 1: knocking down these runs, batting in the top three, he
23:53
Speaker 1: will be banging that door down for test selection come
23:56
Speaker 1: that New Zealand series after what's been a good two
23:59
Speaker 1: summers for New South Wales for him.
24:03
Speaker 3: Yeah, he's my man, Justin.
24:04
Speaker 2: I think you probably get that sense now, having spoken
24:06
Speaker 2: about him a fair bit these last few episodes. But
24:09
Speaker 2: as you said, he's made a big score. He's going
24:12
Speaker 2: to be right in the frame. Obviously, we hope that,
24:14
Speaker 2: you know, you'd love to see Marnus make runs in
24:15
Speaker 2: his last test in South Africa. But if he doesn't,
24:18
Speaker 2: I think it just has to be Patterson. He's the
24:20
Speaker 2: perfect mix of someone who has had experience for Australia,
24:24
Speaker 2: albeit only for a couple of tests, but he does
24:26
Speaker 2: have experience.
24:26
Speaker 3: He's got a bag of green.
24:28
Speaker 2: He's learned his own game a lot in the last
24:30
Speaker 2: few years since debuting for Australia. We know that he
24:33
Speaker 2: had his struggles in making runs.
24:34
Speaker 3: He's been there. He's done that.
24:36
Speaker 2: He's been able to battle through the hardship at state level,
24:39
Speaker 2: which I think is something that you want. I mean,
24:41
Speaker 2: speaking about Sam Constance earlier, when he came into the
24:43
Speaker 2: Australian team, He didn't know any better. He hasn't had
24:46
Speaker 2: these runs of, you know, bending down in the troughs.
24:49
Speaker 2: And I think having someone like Patterson, who's an experienced
24:51
Speaker 2: member of the New South Wales outfit coming into the
24:54
Speaker 2: Australian team, is a great person to have during a
24:56
Speaker 2: transition period where I think we're expecting a few of
24:58
Speaker 2: these ageing Australian players to maybe phase out of the
25:01
Speaker 2: team in the coming years. Patterson's someone who still could
25:04
Speaker 2: have four, five, six years left in him. if he
25:06
Speaker 2: takes his chance, he's still got.
25:07
Speaker 3: Plenty of time.
25:08
Speaker 2: So I think he's the perfect mould for someone who
25:10
Speaker 2: you want to come in to the Australian team when
25:13
Speaker 2: things are struggling. There's obviously a time and a place
25:15
Speaker 2: to have youth and guys like Constance and Campbell Kettleway
25:18
Speaker 2: is in the conversation. Ollie Peake will be someone in
25:20
Speaker 2: a couple of years' time having the same thing. But
25:23
Speaker 2: I sort of think of it like Matt Renshaw coming
25:25
Speaker 2: back into the fold, Justin, someone who's had that experience.
25:27
Speaker 2: and knows how to battle through hardship as a professional cricketer.
25:30
Speaker 2: And I think he's a perfect man to replace him in,
25:32
Speaker 2: especially when he's making runs for New South Wales. He
25:35
Speaker 2: certainly couldn't have done much more so so far.
25:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, the only knock on these two innings from Curtis
25:41
Speaker 1: Patterson and Sam Constis would be that it was a
25:43
Speaker 1: flat wicket at the WACA, and it was a flat
25:44
Speaker 1: wicket at the WACA, but not everybody got 100. There
25:47
Speaker 1: was only two centuries in the game, Constis and Patterson.
25:50
Speaker 1: And yes, the wicket was a bit flat, but there
25:52
Speaker 1: was an opportunity for everybody to score big runs. The
25:55
Speaker 1: two players that did were the two class players, Patterson
25:58
Speaker 1: and Constance, and the ones that are knocking on the
25:59
Speaker 1: door of test selection. It was an incredible finish to
26:02
Speaker 1: that game at the WACA. Joel Curtis and Joel Parris
26:06
Speaker 1: batted for 170 balls, unbeaten for the 10th wicket, to
26:10
Speaker 1: deny New South Wales the win. They salvaged the draw
26:14
Speaker 1: for WA, and you just got the sense with how
26:17
Speaker 1: flat the wicket was. New South Wales had the leg spinner,
26:19
Speaker 1: they had Tanvir Sanger, but in the end, they weren't
26:21
Speaker 1: even really bowling him as much as you would expect
26:22
Speaker 1: a leg spinner to bowl in the fourth innings. because
26:25
Speaker 1: the pitch hadn't deteriorated and they were more likely to
26:27
Speaker 1: get wickets with guys like Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarcious.
26:30
Speaker 1: But it was still fantastic to watch. My favourite thing
26:33
Speaker 1: in Shield cricket is getting the stream up when there's
26:35
Speaker 1: 10 fielders all around the bat with a spinner on.
26:39
Speaker 1: It makes me excited as a big domestic cricket fan.
26:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, and with good reason, Justin. I can certainly understand
26:47
Speaker 2: that and relate to that. It was a great finish,
26:50
Speaker 2: wasn't it? I think WA's really held on the last
26:52
Speaker 2: couple of Shield games. They're off to a flyer, really.
26:55
Speaker 2: I mean, for them to hold on for a draw
26:57
Speaker 2: here and after we saw Sam Fanning and Aaron Hardy
27:00
Speaker 2: get it done for them in the match just gone,
27:02
Speaker 2: they've really held their own against some quality outfits. So
27:06
Speaker 2: 170 balls is an absolute captain killer.
27:08
Speaker 3: Well, that's nearly 30 overs, about, what, 28.2 overs? Yeah.
27:12
Speaker 2: It's a heck of a lot of time to spend
27:13
Speaker 2: out in the middle for the last weekend. It would
27:15
Speaker 2: have been nail-biting stuff for New South Wales. And, yeah,
27:18
Speaker 2: they've showed some ticket WA. They've got a lot of
27:20
Speaker 2: good young players. And Curtis is someone who's quite a
27:23
Speaker 2: traditional playmaker in stroke play. So he would have probably
27:27
Speaker 2: had to rein himself in a little bit. And, obviously, yeah,
27:29
Speaker 2: for the tail to do that for WA is.
27:31
Speaker 3: Honourable.
27:31
Speaker 2: That sort of stuff is the stuff that wins you flags,
27:33
Speaker 2: I think. That's not something you can necessarily teach all
27:36
Speaker 2: the time. So, yeah, certainly the kudos to WA. And
27:39
Speaker 2: it was Sting for New South Wales, but as we've
27:41
Speaker 2: just spoken about, still plenty of positives for them on
27:44
Speaker 2: a domestic front and also, broadly speaking, for the Australian
27:46
Speaker 2: Test team.
27:47
Speaker 1: Joel Parrish was doing it with a hamstring injury as well.
27:49
Speaker 1: He had a runner out there. It was fantastic to see.
27:52
Speaker 1: Xavier Bartlett is an interesting one who we spoke about
27:55
Speaker 1: last week. He has continued his outstanding start to the
27:58
Speaker 1: Shield season. Five for 52, helping South Australia to a
28:01
Speaker 1: win over Queensland inside three days. And his opening spell
28:04
Speaker 1: really cracked the back of that game. It's such a
28:07
Speaker 1: good start. He's 16 wickets in two games so far
28:11
Speaker 1: this year, Xavier Bartlett. He's played for Australia at white
28:14
Speaker 1: ball level, but he is absolutely in that conversation, especially
28:18
Speaker 1: with the ageing nature of these quicks. He's only 27.
28:21
Speaker 1: He is definitely one of those who could be next
28:23
Speaker 1: in line.
28:26
Speaker 3: Absolutely. You look through who we've got now.
28:28
Speaker 2: We've got Mitchell Stark, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazelwood, Scott Boland,
28:31
Speaker 2: Michael Nyssa, all well over the age of 30, most
28:34
Speaker 2: of them pushing past 35.
28:35
Speaker 3: So that gap is considerable.
28:38
Speaker 2: And Bartlett, as you said, is about eight years younger
28:40
Speaker 2: than the rest of them at least. But that Adelaide
28:43
Speaker 2: over wicket, I just thought just suited him so perfectly,
28:46
Speaker 2: the way he was bowling. It was great to watch.
28:49
Speaker 3: Five for.
28:51
Speaker 2: What, 16 wickets in two games? I think you said, Justin,
28:53
Speaker 2: that's a great start. And he's going to be in
28:55
Speaker 2: the conversation. I think pink ball as well. I know
28:56
Speaker 2: we haven't seen him do that just yet this summer.
28:59
Speaker 2: But I think sort of like Michael Nessa is going
29:01
Speaker 2: to be someone who bodes really well in the pink
29:04
Speaker 2: ball setting. And Adelaide Oval hosts a lot of those games.
29:06
Speaker 2: So I think if we're picking guys based on locations,
29:09
Speaker 2: I think he's going to be right in that conversation.
29:11
Speaker 2: Jai Richardson is someone who's also been in that conversation
29:13
Speaker 2: for a game like that alongside Michael Nessa. I think
29:17
Speaker 2: the Adelaide Oval, what I'm trying to say, is a
29:18
Speaker 2: great test of where a bowler's at. It offers a
29:21
Speaker 2: little bit for bowlers, but also a fair bit for
29:22
Speaker 2: batsmen when you get in. So you still have to
29:25
Speaker 2: earn your wickets very much so once the new ball
29:27
Speaker 2: wears off. And he's certainly spearheading that attack when Michael
29:31
Speaker 2: Neese is absent in South Africa. So he couldn't have
29:33
Speaker 2: done much more like Patterson and like Constance who we've
29:35
Speaker 2: spoken about so far. It's great to see from a
29:38
Speaker 2: bowling perspective. And I think that age bracket between 29
29:40
Speaker 2: and 30 sorry 25 and 30 particularly in Australian domestic
29:44
Speaker 2: cricket there probably aren't a whole lot of bowlers who
29:46
Speaker 2: are really reaching out and grabbing selectors by the attention
29:49
Speaker 2: Bartlett is certainly one of them he's probably right at
29:50
Speaker 2: the top of that list in terms of quicks so
29:53
Speaker 2: it's great to see and someone who will be in
29:54
Speaker 2: consideration for test selection as we've spoken about before in
29:56
Speaker 2: the coming years.
29:58
Speaker 1: The other bowler that is turning heads in domestic cricket
30:00
Speaker 1: at the moment is, yeah, he's significantly younger than Bartlett,
30:04
Speaker 1: 20-year-old Harry Hoekstra.
30:06
Speaker 3: A nine-wicket match against Tasmania.
30:08
Speaker 1: And if you include the one-day cup, his figures this year,
30:12
Speaker 1: he's gone five for six for five for four for.
30:15
Speaker 3: It's incredible. And this kid is 20.
30:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, there aren't too many words you can put or
30:24
Speaker 2: stick to a man like Hoekstra at the moment. Justin,
30:26
Speaker 2: just with how well he's bowling, we hadn't really seen this.
30:28
Speaker 2: I mean, even for Scott Bowen, the test level, these
30:31
Speaker 2: numbers are just ridiculous from Hoxtra.
30:32
Speaker 3: So his point of difference as a left-arm quick is great.
30:35
Speaker 2: He's not the quickest, but he's clearly finding a line
30:38
Speaker 2: and length that is very, very hard to play on
30:41
Speaker 2: as a shield batter at domestic level. He's just consistently
30:43
Speaker 2: finding ways. He has probably had a little bit of
30:45
Speaker 2: luck with a few of the dismissals he's had. He's
30:47
Speaker 2: had a couple caught down the leg side, but that's
30:49
Speaker 2: certainly not to take away from him. He has burst
30:51
Speaker 2: onto the scene. There are a lot of quicks at
30:54
Speaker 2: domestic level in Victoria, who are going to be turning
30:56
Speaker 2: heads in the next few years. Austin Allenzach, someone who's
30:59
Speaker 2: seen Captain Victoria in the white ball scene, and he's
31:02
Speaker 2: someone who I think will be pushing for opportunity like Hoxtra.
31:06
Speaker 2: Thomas Paddington is someone here at St Kilda Cricket Club
31:09
Speaker 2: who was in the squad for one of their one-day
31:11
Speaker 2: games only last week and has had massive raps on
31:14
Speaker 2: him in Premier Cricket. And another one at Premier Cricket
31:16
Speaker 2: level who's a little bit older than Hoxtra, at 28
31:19
Speaker 2: years of age, is Matt Hennig, Justin, who we're expecting
31:21
Speaker 2: to play for Victoria and make his professional debut tomorrow
31:24
Speaker 2: against Tasmania in a one-dayer. So they have all these
31:27
Speaker 2: options at a mature age, like Hennig, and also Hoxtra,
31:30
Speaker 2: like you said, and Paddington and Anilazak. Tyler Pearson as
31:34
Speaker 2: well is another one who's uncapped here in Victoria who
31:36
Speaker 2: there are big wraps on. So he's certainly leading the
31:38
Speaker 2: charge and he's certainly taken a lot by surprise. That's
31:41
Speaker 2: not to say the talent he has isn't worth mentioning
31:45
Speaker 2: because he's been absolutely exceptional. And I suspect with our
31:48
Speaker 2: annual yarn on foxsports.com.au, the 25 under 25, he's going
31:53
Speaker 2: up by the day, Justin, in those rankings. It's going
31:56
Speaker 2: to be interesting to see where he lands there. But
31:59
Speaker 2: massive signs for Victoria. It's great to see the youth
32:01
Speaker 2: bursting through. And again, more broadly speaking, the quick stocks
32:04
Speaker 2: for Australia in the future generations, they're there.
32:07
Speaker 3: The crops are growing.
32:08
Speaker 1: A couple of one-day cup matches. Hoekstra likely to be
32:11
Speaker 1: in action. Victoria and Tasmania on Saturday. Also, New South
32:13
Speaker 1: Wales and WA. You can catch both of those on
32:16
Speaker 1: KO Sports. In the last one-day cup match, though, there
32:19
Speaker 1: was a big headline. Jake Fraser-McGurk may well be back.
32:23
Speaker 3: 122 from 63 balls.
32:26
Speaker 1: Reached his 50 in 14 deliveries. Now, Fraser McGurk, he
32:30
Speaker 1: flirted with Red Bull cricket a little bit in the
32:33
Speaker 1: last couple of summers, played a few games for South
32:35
Speaker 1: Australia in Sheffield Shield cricket. He's not in South Australia's
32:39
Speaker 1: Sheffield Shield plans at the moment. He's going to White
32:42
Speaker 1: Bull cricket, and it looks like White Bull cricket as
32:44
Speaker 1: the focus, and I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
32:47
Speaker 3: He could.
32:49
Speaker 1: he may well just end up being a great white
32:51
Speaker 1: ball cricketer. And that is absolutely fine. He can be
32:53
Speaker 1: in the mold of Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, you know,
32:56
Speaker 1: Tim David, these kinds of guys. And if you look at,
32:59
Speaker 1: you know, Australia's got just as many problems with their
33:01
Speaker 1: white ball batting as they do with their red ball
33:04
Speaker 1: batting at the moment. There's a one day World Cup
33:05
Speaker 1: in 2027. And if Fraser McGurk has a seriously good
33:10
Speaker 1: summer here with the white ball, could potentially, if he
33:13
Speaker 1: gets back into the IPL again, he'll have to have
33:15
Speaker 1: a good summer to do that again because it didn't
33:17
Speaker 1: go so great for him the last time he was there.
33:19
Speaker 1: But him being back in white ball calculations could only
33:22
Speaker 1: be a good thing for Australia.
33:26
Speaker 3: Oh, absolutely.
33:27
Speaker 2: If Sam Constance is back, then Jake Fraser McGurk is
33:31
Speaker 2: absolutely back. The hitting that he had at Karen-Rolston Oval
33:34
Speaker 2: was second to none. And we've seen Jake make scores
33:37
Speaker 2: before where he's burst out a quick 30 or 40
33:40
Speaker 2: or 50 or 60, which is excellent. It's a great
33:42
Speaker 2: skill to have as a white ball bat to just
33:43
Speaker 2: find the rope and put the pressure on the bowlers early.
33:46
Speaker 2: But it goes without saying that this was probably a
33:48
Speaker 2: different innings. And I think the last hundred he made
33:50
Speaker 2: only not so long ago either, they were different hundreds.
33:53
Speaker 3: He just looks like he's striking the ball so, so cleanly.
33:56
Speaker 3: And I think with.
33:57
Speaker 2: Someone who has a lot of risk versus reward in
33:59
Speaker 2: their game, the balance at the crease is quite key.
34:02
Speaker 2: And he has just been showing that the last couple
34:04
Speaker 2: of times he's been putting on the South Australian colours.
34:06
Speaker 3: So it's very, very exciting.
34:09
Speaker 2: He had a slow patch towards his edge towards 100,
34:11
Speaker 2: but even still, I think it probably showed a maturity
34:14
Speaker 2: in his game that he'd done the damage early, make
34:16
Speaker 2: sure he gets to the next checkpoint, which in this
34:18
Speaker 2: case was his milestone, and then keep ticking from there.
34:21
Speaker 1: So.
34:21
Speaker 2: For South Australia, I mean, it's been a very shrewd recruit.
34:24
Speaker 2: He was really on the outer of Victoria just with
34:26
Speaker 2: the way he was batting and probably wasn't getting the
34:28
Speaker 2: best out of himself. Even had some lulls here at
34:30
Speaker 2: South Australia in his early couple of years. But I
34:32
Speaker 2: wouldn't be changing a single thing. And if that means
34:34
Speaker 2: not playing him in the Sheffield Shield for a long
34:36
Speaker 2: time coming for the Sackers, then I think.
34:39
Speaker 3: Just do that.
34:39
Speaker 2: Because ultimately, this is about making sure that he's going
34:42
Speaker 2: to be ready the next time he's called upon for Australia.
34:44
Speaker 3: I don't think it's if, I think it's when.
34:47
Speaker 2: And this hitting, I certainly wouldn't put it past him
34:49
Speaker 2: to even have him in the squads for these white
34:51
Speaker 2: ball games coming up against England only next month. I
34:55
Speaker 2: think he's hitting the ball that well, and I think
34:56
Speaker 2: he's a player who, when he's on and when he's
34:58
Speaker 2: flicked the switch, he's really on. He's an investment that
35:00
Speaker 2: Cricket Australia has had a lot put into, and rightly so.
35:04
Speaker 2: He's showing right now that his best is better than
35:06
Speaker 2: almost anyone at domestic level, really, when he's at his best.
35:09
Speaker 2: He's scoring quicker than anyone. So, it's excellent to see
35:12
Speaker 2: him there. But as I said, I wouldn't be putting
35:14
Speaker 2: him in the Shield team at all. I'm sure it's
35:15
Speaker 2: a temptation for South Australia to do so. But I
35:18
Speaker 2: think at the moment, while it ain't broke, don't fix it.
35:20
Speaker 2: See if we can get a few more scores under
35:22
Speaker 2: his belt and not just jump at the sight of
35:23
Speaker 2: him having two excellent innings.
35:25
Speaker 3: We'll see where he goes from here. But very, very exciting.
35:27
Speaker 2: And yeah, can't take your eyes off the screen kind
35:31
Speaker 2: of hitting from McGurk in the last couple of outings
35:33
Speaker 2: for South Australia.
35:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, he may well be the most exciting player to
35:36
Speaker 1: watch in Australian cricket at the moment, Jake Fraser-McKirk. So
35:39
Speaker 1: many storylines around Australian domestic cricket at the moment.
35:42
Speaker 3: That's it for Domesticated.
35:44
Speaker 1: Of course, the third test, the all-important third test, is Tuesday,
35:48
Speaker 1: live on Fox Cricket and KO Sports.