Australia’s hopes of a series whitewash over South Africa took a blow at the SCG on Wednesday with day one of the third Test ending after just 47 overs.
The hosts are 2-147 at stumps with Marnus Labuschagne back in the sheds with David Warner, whose ultra-aggressive approach didn’t pay off.
Meanwhile, the Australians are walking on thin ice with their team selection leaving very little margin for error.
These are the Talking Points after day one of the third Test.
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WARNER MUST FIND RIGHT BALANCE
Following his career-defining double century at the MCG, David Warner vowed to play more like his old self as he enters the final chapter of his Test career.
“My attack’s the best form of defence,” the veteran opener told reporters after the Boxing Day Test.
“If I’m going to go down swinging, I might as well go out playing a cover drive and nick off rather than defending and getting caught at third slip.”
Warner certainly abided by that simple philosophy on Wednesday morning, smacking his first delivery of the day through point for a boundary.
The 36-year-old has built his entire reputation around putting the opposition on the back foot early, a high-risk strategy that has paid off for most of his career.
But it backfired on day one of the New Year’s Test. In the fourth over, Warner looked to cut Proteas quick Anrich Nortje through point, only managing to edge the Kookaburra through to Marco Jansen at first slip.
With the power of hindsight, Warner may have considered leaving that particular delivery alone, but it’s difficult to criticise too harshly, considering the left-hander peeled off a remarkable 200 last week by attacking anything wide of the stumps.
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Ahead of gruelling Test tours of India and England, Warner must find the right balance between attack and defence. On several occasions this summer, he has found himself back in the sheds cheaply after attempting reckless shots outside the stump.
However, Warner has declared his intention to maintain his aggressive mindset in India and England, even when confronted with tricky wickets.
Sometimes it will pay off, sometimes it won’t. That’s the beauty of David Warner.
“Tentative’s the wrong word, but I think I’ve allowed myself to go a bit defensive instead of actually looking to score because of the wickets,” Warner said last week.
“It’s about just having that comfort of backing yourself, and I always do that, but I felt a sense of responsibility to actually adapt to the wicket and conditions that were in front of me, but now it’s just going back to looking to score and then my defence will take care of itself.”
Despite recent speculation about his future in the Test side, Warner is firmly focused on upcoming Test tours of India and England, two nations where he has previously struggled, averaging 24.25 and 26.04 respectively.
He’s never won a Test series in either country, failing on five attempts.
The veteran opener rubbished suggestions he would retire this summer, confirming that national selectors wanted him available for both of next year’s Test tours.
Returning home with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy or an Ashes urn, or both, is all the motivation he needs.
AUSSIES ROLL THE DICE
National selectors took a gamble playing Ashton Agar for the New Year’s Test, but the bigger risk was selecting Matthew Renshaw, which left the hosts without a third seam bowling option.
Needless to say, the loss of Cameron Green and Mitchell Starc was a massive blow for the Australians, but it also created an intriguing selection dilemma for the Sydney Test.
The SCG pitch warranted picking a second spinner, and selectors would have been eager to give Agar some Test experience before the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
However, Agar’s selection left Australia with only two pace bowling options in the starting XI, one of which has just returned from a side strain.
Josh Hazlewood, who missed three-consecutive Tests with injury, was picked ahead of Scott Boland for the New Year’s Test, partnering with captain Pat Cummins.
Hazlewood also missed four Tests last summer, while this is only his fourth match in the past year.
Over the past couple of summers, whenever an Australian bowler has broken down due to injury, Green has stepped up and filled the void. It’s a luxury the Aussies won’t have in Sydney.
If Hazlewood’s side strain complaint flared up again this week, it would be disastrous for the hosts.
“(Hazlewood) will definitely be feeling the pressure, and he will not want to let his team down,” South African legend Shaun Pollock said on Fox Cricket.
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“He’ll be concerned, and those first few overs, he’ll be wanting to ease his way into the Test match.
“I wouldn’t see too many bouncers in the first three or four overs, he’ll eager to make sure that sides perfectly warm, and then he’s good to go. Then he’ll be looking forward to actually bowling on this kind of surface. I think he’ll get the ball to stand up nicely, especially if it’s a bit drier than expected.
“But he will feel slight pressure, and he also doesn’t want to have the stigma around him of being the one who’s always injured. So he wants to be getting through this and also wants to be fit for all the India Tests.”
Former Australian batter Michael Hussey continued: “Australia’s only got the two fast bowlers. We’ve always had Cameron Green and Scott Boland in the past. But now it’s just the two. So he’d be nervous thinking, ‘I can’t really afford to get injured,’ and then they’re going to have to make up some overs.
“Obviously the two spinners will bowl a lot, but maybe Labuschagne might bowl a few overs, Steve Smith, Travis Head might bowl a few as well. It will be a different looking Australian attack at various stages.”
Pollock responded: “Thanks goodness you guys have won the toss and decided to bat first, because that kind of takes the pressure off.”
AUSSIES PASS FIRST SPIN TEST
Australia’s Test side is about to embark on a four-Test tour of India, and their batting against spin will be tested to the absolute limit.
It’s no secret Indian pitches are catered for spin, and the dry SCG wicket closely resembles what the Australians can expect to be confronted with in the subcontinent next month.
“We’ll probably get more spin overs here. Our batters are obviously going to face more spin here as well,” Australian captain Pat Cummins told reporters on Tuesday.
“It’s a really good connection. Even personally captaining here might be different to the last few Test matches. It’s good preparation for India.”
The New Year’s Test provides Australia’s top order a unique opportunity to test their craft in spinning conditions ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy — and day one can be considered a success.
South Africa picked two strike spinners for the third and final Test, with Simon Harmer replacing Lungi Ngidi in the starting XI.
Harmer and Keshav Maharaj bowled in tandem throughout the afternoon session on Wednesday, with the SCG pitch offering some turn and grip.
Harmer’s third delivery of the day beat Khawaja’s outside edge, with the left-hander edging a delivery past first slip soon after.
Following the lunch break, Khawaja was given out LBW after mistiming a reverse sweep against Harmer, but the left-hander called for a review with replays showing the ball scraped his glove.
Apart from those half-chances, South Africa’s spinners didn’t bother the Australian batters on Wednesday, combining for figures of 0-51.
The pitch will play more tricks later in the Test match, and Indian decks are a different kettle of fish altogether, particularly when Ravichandran Ashwin is working his magic.
But early signs suggest Australia is up for the challenge of tackling spin on dry wickets, something that’s troubled them over the past decade.
‘ASTOUNDING’ PROTEAS TACTICS UNDER FIRE
Not for the first time this summer, South Africa’s tactics came under fire on day one of the third Test.
South Africa had done well in the first session to restrict Australia to 1-68, but things quickly changed after lunch.
Khawaja and Labuschagne came out with a different mindset and started going on the attack, particularly targeting Keshav Maharaj and Kagiso Rabada.
To that point, Simon Harmer and Anrich Nortje had comfortably been the Proteas best bowlers, although the former was taken off early, and the latter wasn’t used until midway through the second session, just before bad light was called.
Mark Waugh and Shaun Pollock both agreed that captain Dean Elgar should have been using the duo over Maharaj and Rabada.
“I’m astounded at the captaincy,” Waugh said at the time. “I can’t believe Harmer is off and Maharaj is still on.
“I don’t understand the tactic. I thought Harmer looked good. He was getting some drift, some spin. He’s been taken off. Maharaj hasn’t looked like getting a wicket and he’s still bowling.”
Pollock agreed, while Kerry O’Keeffe said Harmer looked the most likely to get a wicket for the Proteas.
O’Keeffe was also surprised that Elgar declined to bowl just his spinners when given the option to do so instead of leaving the field due to bad light.
He said it was a “curious thing”, adding: “I thought Harmer looked the most likely to take a wicket.
“Usman Khawaja, there’s a number of left-handers to come; Head, Renshaw, Carey.
“It was an opportunity to get Australia in batting and getting them out. And he said ‘no, I was going to bowl the quicker men, we’ll go off’.”
