Summary
A long drawn out frustrating and contentious start to the SCG Test. Hopefully there’s better to come. Here’s how Geoff saw it. See you tomorrow.
Of course, that means we’ll start earlier tomorrow, so please stop by at 10am for Geoff’s coverage of the opening ball of the day.
Close on day one: Australia 147-2
There we go, the plug has been pulled.
Updated
The last rites have still yet to be called on the day’s play, but rest assured we won’t have any more action. It’s still raining at the SCG and it’s as dark as ever.
The official attendance has come in at 31,264. Shame they’ve endured such a frustrating day.
This is the sixth Test out of the past seven in Sydney to be impacted by rain. Sydneysiders, what’s going on?
I don’t think we’ve had official confirmation play has been called off for the day, but Channel Seven have ended their broadcast 90 minutes early, and Fox Sports have cut to the Pakistan v NZ Test.
Replays of the final over before play was curtailed are a treat for fans of fast bowling. The four deliveries Nortje sent down to Labuschagne bounced in almost exactly the same place, just back of a length and angling in. One lifted a fraction and caught the leading batter in Test cricket on the gloves. Two held their line. The fourth and final climbed and jagged away off the seam, taking the outside edge on the way through to the keeper. Unplayably good, even for the best of the best.
The full square is now covered to protect it from the rain. It is very gloomy.
Before the moment passes, credit to Nortje for finding a jaffa like that with an old ball on a flat deck. One of the few South Africans to enhance his reputation on this difficult tour.
Now there’s some drizzle in the air and the strip is swaddled in hessian.
What a frustrating day this is.
Regular correspondent Trevor Tutu, in Cape Town, agrees, emailing: “It’s not fair that all my good work in procuring the services of a decent witchdoctor can be undone by an overbearing third umpire!”
Bad light stops play
And now the umpires lead the teams from the field yet again.
WICKET! Labuschagne c Verreynne b Nortje 79 (Australia 147-2)
Khawaja is unperturbed by the lack of strike, driving an ove-pitched Nortje delivery square for three runs, a haul helped in no small part by a wicked bounce from one of the many unused strips on the long uneven SCG square. The fast bowler is better to Labuschagne, landing the ball back of a length and rapping the batter on the gloves. This is good disciplined pressure bowling. And it pays off! An absolute ripsnorter from Nortje, getting the final delivery of the over to fizz off a length, catch the shoulder of the bat and fly through at pace to the wicketkeeper. That was a scintillating delivery.
47th over: Australia 147-2 (Khawaja 54)
Updated
46th over: Australia 144-1 (Khawaja 51, Labuschagne 79) Jansen continues around the wicket to Labuschagne, searching for some reverse swing to wobble the ball away from the batter late on its journey. There’s not a lot happening for the paceman, but Labuschagne is cautious nonetheless, leaving outside off, defending anything straight and riding the bounce on the final delivery of the over for a couple down to fine-leg. Finally, Usman Khawaja gets a turn.
45th over: Australia 142-1 (Khawaja 51, Labuschagne 77) Nortje is bowling to a 6-3 field, and two of those legside fielders are out on the pull, so consequently the line is outside off, aside from the bumper, which Labuschagne pulls easily in front of square for a couple. Another tip-and-run single from the final delivery of the over continues the No 3’s monopoly of the strike since the resumption of play.
44th over: Australia 139-1 (Khawaja 51, Labuschagne 74) From around the wicket, the left-armer Jansen commits to a consistent line on or around off stump to the right-handed batter. Labuschagne leaves and blocks effortlessly, even pinching a single from the final delivery of the over.
Here we go then, two-and-a-half hours after the last delivery, Marco Jansen is about to bowl to Marnus Labuschagne.
The meter reading was obviously a good one, because play will restart at 4.45pm!
The covers are being peeled away and another light reading will be taken soon.
I wish I had more to tell you, but I don’t. Based on the past couple of hours I’d be surprised if there’s any more play before the close, but cricket being cricket (and we know all about that today) we’ll be made to wait until nigh-on 7pm on the off-chance.
Updated
Now the covers are coming back on as the second band of showers stalk the SCG.
@JPHowcroft Perhaps a journalist can clarify: are they playing cricket out in Sydney or red light/green light?
— Dr Meghan Purvis (@meghanpurvis) January 4, 2023
I haven’t heard this played over the PA system yet, so I cannot confirm.
While we wait for the light to improve, the rain radar suggests another shower may not be far away.
What a day. There’s a bloke playing who failed a Covid test this morning. There’s a fella batting who was out caught in the slips. And we’ve spent most of the past two hours not playing despite only a brief flurry of rain passing through. I’m thankful Twitter’s down.
Updated
So the players trudged out into the middle, the umpires rested their light meters on the stumps, and before a ball was bowled in the post-tea session everyone buggered off again.
Bad light stops play
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Cricket, go home, you’re drunk.
Updated
The turnaround at the SCG has been impressively quick. The players are already on the boundary edge ready to resume. There’s no guarantee further rain or bad light won’t intervene but for now, we’re good to go.
The good news: Play will restart at 3.45pm.
The bad news (for me): Play will continue until 7pm – so we’ll have a three hour 15 minute session of play.
Updated
The covers are being removed and the mop-up is underway.
And as I type the umpires are making their way into the middle, the groundstaff are hard at work, and the rain has pretty much stopped. After a few minutes to clear up we should be back in action in no time.
The very worst of the rain in NSW is drenching the Central Coast, north of Sydney. And there’s a chance that second band of rain I mentioned earlier might also skirt around the SCG to the north, so once this current storm passes through we might get back on sooner rather than later.
Rain stops play
As expected, it is now raining over the SCG. The first band of storms has almost passed through, but there is a second following behind.
Updated
Tea: Australia 138-1
Tea has been taken. It officially began at 2.41.
Let’s get Channel Seven’s cameras on this while there’s no action! Very wholesome behind the scenes at the SCG.
Meanwhile, the darts earlier today was sensational. No stopping for bad light at Ally Pally.
The past hour or so has been very cricket, from the third-umpire’s unnecessary intervention to now watching a dry empty field, waiting for the pre-arranged tea interval to occur, after which we will then watch rain fall.
With the light failing to improve we’re likely to have an early tea. The rain has reached Homebush in Sydney’s urban west.
It hasn’t started raining yet, but now that we’re off I’d be surprised if we saw any more play before tea. Whether we see any play afterwards will depend how much rain lands on the SCG when that storm hits, and how long the burst hangs around for.
Project weather for Sydney in the next hour and a half according to the @BOM_au radar pic.twitter.com/gJ7jlTYtCw
— Rick Eyre on cricket (@rickeyrecricket) January 4, 2023
Bad light stops play
And just like that, my presence causes play to be halted for bad light. The floodlights are in full effect, but it is very gloomy out in the middle.
The darkness is the consequence of massive storm clouds that are barrelling in from the west. They will likely shed their load over the SCG shortly. Who knows how much more action we will see today.
Thanks Geoff.
Before we go any further, that overturned catch decision stinks. I’m not normally one to get worked up by these things but that was an awful outcome, the consequence of a dreadful process.
In real time that was out. For the entirety of Test cricket that was out. The on-field umpire gave it out. But for whatever reason the third umpire (the normally superb Richard Kettleborough) seemed fixated on proving it was not out, selectively using one frame in the midst of all the other evidence to make a call he did not need to make.
Not only that, but it took an age to reach the decision. And then the yelp he made when he found the supposedly decisive frame was a bad sound for the sport.
What an unnecessary mess. Why can’t we just get out of the way and let sports regulate themselves?
43rd over: Australia 138-1 (Khawaja 51, Labuschagne 73) Nortje comes back, but even for him there’s not much bounce from the surface. A few singles, not much action. Time for drinks. And time for me to make way for JP Howcroft.
42nd over: Australia 135-1 (Khawaja 50, Labuschagne 71) Jansen runs into bowl again, and it’s still Labuschagne looking back at him, blocking, leaving, glancing.
Half century! Khawaja 50 from 114 balls
41st over: Australia 134-1 (Khawaja 50, Labuschagne 70) While South African blood continues to boil, Khawaja plays a delicate cut behind point for a boundary and his fifty. Rabada 0 for 45 off 12.
40th over: Australia 130-1 (Khawaja 46, Labuschagne 70) Close-up replays and I think that you can say that his fingers were pushed into the ground by the ball. So the ball looks low on the side-on shot, for that reason. Technically if a blade of grass touches the ball you can rule it not out, but we all know that cricket has never been umpired that way. Anyway, that’s the call.
Wicket overturned!
Oh, this one is going to get the treatment. Angled across from Jansen, Labuschagne pushes at it, and edges it low to Harmer at slip. The umpires refer the low catch. The crowd don’t like one replay from the side, where it looks like the ball is low enough to be touching the ground between the fingers. And in the end, third umpire Richard Kettleborough agrees.
But from front on you can see that his fingers are down under the ball, I would say. That’s a wrong decision. And it’s inconsistent with one earlier in the summer, when Australia while fielding got the benefit of a very similar situation.
39th over: Australia 128-1 (Khawaja 45, Labuschagne 70) Rabada hits Labuschagne! Nasty. Just after the batter has absolutely creamed a cover drive for four, Rabada is sick of this and bowls a brute. Short but fast and on line, leaping at the collarbone, and Labuschagne leans back out of the way but has the ball skim his chest and the grille of his helmet. Appeal for a catch behind not there was no glove involved.
38th over: Australia 124-1 (Khawaja 45, Labuschagne 66) Jansen back on, immediately squaring up Khawaja but again the edge goes to ground and between slip and gully for four. Must have been half a dozen of those today. Elgar brings in a second slip, so Khawaja knocks a run into the new gap at midwicket.
37th over: Australia 118-1 (Khawaja 40, Labuschagne 65) Get me into the action! So says Khawaja, striding forward into a lavish cover drive to Rabada. It gets saved with a slide in the deep, three runs. Shades of his 140 in Wellington in 2016 there. Pretty sure he made 100 of those in drives. 100 partnership up too. Labuchagne continues being fed, another one outside leg stump for him to glance for four.
36th over: Australia 111-1 (Khawaja 37, Labuschagne 61) I don’t understand this. Maharaj has been poor. Harmer has looked much more dangerous. Yet with Rabada back on, Maharaj continues rather than bringing Harmer around to the other end. Maharaj promptly gets swept for four by Labuschagne, not once but twice.
Half century! Labuschagne 53 from 102 balls
35th over: Australia 102-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 53) A bowling change, pace returns with Rabada. And almost gets a result immediately: top edge as Labuschagne hooks but it goes fine of the fielder in the deep for four. That takes him to 49, then a much better pull shot gets him four more to raise his fifty.
34th over: Australia 94-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 45) Poor bowling from Maharaj. Too full again and outside the leg stump into the bargin. That’s so easy for Labuschagne to sweep away for four. Picks up a single to follow, he’s cruising now.
33rd over: Australia 89-1 (Khawaja 36, Labuschagne 40) A milestone of 4000 career runs for Khawaja as he drives Harmer through cover for four. Then reaches for the next couple and stabs at them suspiciously. A bit of drizzle is making the grass wet and dampening the ball, which is bad for spin. Grey clouds all over the place in Sydney. A couple more singles follow.
32nd over: Australia 83-1 (Khawaja 31, Labuschagne 39) Better lines from Maharaj when Labuschagne comes back on strike, bringing the stumps into play. But he overpitches eventually, bringing the on drive into play. Three runs with Bavuma chasing. Khawaja mimics the Labuschagne sweep, mirror image with a left-hander batting and left-armer bowling, only one run to the outfielder.
31st over: Australia 78-1 (Khawaja 29, Labuschagne 36) Too short from Harmer, his first bad ball, and Khawaja goes right back to pull. There’s a boundary rider at deep square though. One run. Bowls nicely to the right-hander too, lots of flight, Labuschagne reaching forward, looking a chance to squeeze one out via the inside edge and pad. Finally Labuschagne takes a risk, reaching well outside off stump to reach the ball where it pitches and sweep hard across the line to deep midwicket. That’s the shot he practised in the nets for weeks ahead of the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tours.
30th over: Australia 73-1 (Khawaja 28, Labuschagne 32) Maharaj carries on at the other end, double spin for the time being. A couple of singles only.
29th over: Australia 71-1 (Khawaja 27, Labuschagne 31) Gets a wicket given second ball! But overturned. Khawaja tries a reverse sweep. Misses it, hit on the back thigh. But he reviews immediately and replays show a kiss of the glove. Lucky. I wonder if it actually hit him just outside the off stump, too? Either that or the angle of Harmer from around the wicket may have had it missing leg. Anyway, you miss a sweep and umpires get interested. Khawaja still there, but it looks like Harmer will get him sooner or later. Drives a couple of runs from the last ball of the over.
Updated
We’re back after the break, Simon Harmer with the ball.
Lunch - Australia 68-1
Not many runs in the session but nine wickets in hand, a good position for Australia. For South Africa, the second session should be all Harmer with some Maharaj and a sprinkling of Nortje, by the looks of the first. Back with you shortly.
28th over: Australia 68-1 (Khawaja 25, Labuschagne 30) Last ball of the session, and Labuschagne soaks up most of it before leaving Khawaja one ball to face. Could have been fateful, as he walks across to the off side to block it away, and sees it ricochet off his pad back past the stumps. Luck is with him, and so goes the session Australia’s way.
27th over: Australia 67-1 (Khawaja 25, Labuschagne 29) Harmer gets the edge! Khawaja nicking wide of slip. He’s had problems with good off-spin before. Nearly another edge as he plays back with a straight bat. Tension rising.
26th over: Australia 65-1 (Khawaja 23, Labuschagne 29) Maharaj mixing it up, spearing the ball through at Labuschagne, flighting it to Khawaja. Labuschagne picks up three runs on the cut shot to raise a 50 partnership.
25th over: Australia 61-1 (Khawaja 22, Labuschagne 26) Here goes Harmer. Essex legend, long-time Kolpak player meaning he couldn’t play both country cricket and Test cricket, but since Brexit he can do both again. If you want to know more about that, go down some online rabbit holes. And he starts beautifully! Off-spinner, he’s got a left-hander in his sights, turning the ball away from Khawaja’s edge and beating it. Lots of loop in his delivery. Getting Khawaja playing back when he’s straight at the stumps.
24th over: Australia 61-1 (Khawaja 22, Labuschagne 26) Maharaj getting some turn in his third over. Already purchase on day one. Labuschagne is watchful against it. Harmer is warming up as well.
23rd over: Australia 60-1 (Khawaja 21, Labuschagne 26) Impulsive from Labuschagne but it works. Short ball again, outside off this time, and he reaches for it with a horizontal bat, snicking a bottom edge down into the ground between slip and gully. Rabada frustrated but he keeps bowling that length.
22nd over: Australia 56-1 (Khawaja 21, Labuschagne 22) A couple of singles from Maharaj’s over, as he lands them more consistently after warming up.
21st over: Australia 54-1 (Khawaja 20, Labuschagne 21) The fifty comes up with a no-ball, then Rabada drops short again and Labuschagne is lining those up now. Whack through midwicket for four.
20th over: Australia 49-1 (Khawaja 20, Labuschagne 17) Spin for the first time in the match, with Keshav Maharaj on. He hasn’t done much in the two Tests so far, and bowls a low full toss first ball, cover-driven by Khawaja for four. Whips the next down to long-on for one. Then short to Labuschagne, cut for one. Finally starts landing them right, the ball does turn! And Khawaja turns one perilously close to short leg. Get Harmer on.
19th over: Australia 43-1 (Khawaja 15, Labuschagne 16) Yep, he’s starting to read the pace of the surface. Labuschagne plays a square punch off the back foot and hits Nortje for four. That’s a perfect shot. Not too far from his body, but he got in the right position and sent it packing. Timing.
18th over: Australia 38-1 (Khawaja 14, Labuschagne 12) I know we talk a lot of mumbo-jumbo about pitches, so I’ll try to explain what things look like. We’ve seen very little lateral movement after the ball pitches. Meaning it’s hard for bowlers to dislodge batters. But it also is bouncing fairly low, making it hard to time shots. So you’ll hear that it’s “flat”, but in this case that means it’s easy for the batting team to survive, but not easy to score.
Of course, someone like Travis Head might come in and score at a run a ball anyway. And there may be turn when the spinners come on. These are early impressions only. And when the ball it too short, a player in touch like Labuschagne can crash it to the boundary, as he does to Jansen here.
17th over: Australia 34-1 (Khawaja 14, Labuschagne 8) Nortje is perhaps settling in for more overs than he would normally bowl, with his pace coming down to normal fast bowler levels in the 130 kph range rather than 140s or 150s. One run for Labuschagne, chasing width outside leg stump and knocking it fine.
16th over: Australia 33-1 (Khawaja 14, Labuschagne 7) Jansen finally tries a short one, and Labuschagne pulls a run. Khawaja drops another soft-handed edge towards gully and runs a couple.
15th over: Australia 30-1 (Khawaja 12, Labuschagne 6) Drinks break comes to an end. The bowlers have kept Australia very quiet in the first hour, but the runs will come later in the day unless they can find a way to more wickets. Nortje carries on, Khawaja mistiming a cut shot hard into the ground. Looks like there’s not much pace in this wicket, the ball is often looping through to the keeper with lollipop bounce. No run from this over either. Will Pucovski has bobbed on TV commentary, he sounds quite confident. A shame he’s not out on the SCG.
14th over: Australia 30-1 (Khawaja 12, Labuschagne 6) Three overs, one scoring shot conceded, for Jansen so far. Six more dots in this over, as he gets the line a little closer to Labuschagne’s off stump and is shaping the ball inwards a bit. There’s one drive to the cover field, and that’s the only attempt to score.
13th over: Australia 30-1 (Khawaja 12, Labuschagne 6) Nortje is back quickly to replace Rabada, and finally Khawaja gets onto a pull shot. Rockets it to the boundary, just after flicking a brace. Nortje responds with a snorter to beat the outside edge, serious lift from a fuller length and perhaps some seam movement in. Khawaja had not a single clue about that ball. Survives it though, and doubled his score during that over.
Updated
12th over: Australia 24-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 6) Jansen still all over the place with his line. Coming around the wicket to the right-handed, but still way outside off stump, except a straight ball that Labuschagne flicks straight to square leg.
11th over: Australia 24-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 6) Rabada finishing his sixth over, coming around the wicket and angling in at the left-handed Khawaja, who again doesn’t score. That’s 36 balls for six runs for Khawaja. Biding his time.
10th over: Australia 24-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 6) Jansen on for Nortje after four overs, Dean Elgar following the formula. The tall left-armer doesn’t get it right, bowling way wide of off stump and eventually being cover-driven by Labuschagne for four.
Here’s an update on Renshaw: he does have covid. He told the doctor he was feeling crook before play, but the teams were already locked in at the toss. Since then he’s had a positive rapid test. He’s still allowed to play, while keeping his distance from others, as long as he’s feeling up to it. If he’s not, he can be subbed out of the match. So Renshaw and Handscomb could both make comebacks here. They both got subbed in for the Joburg Test of 2018 too, straight after the sandpaper thing, which was probably the least fun Test ever to play in as an Australian.
9th over: Australia 20-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 2) Some moves being picked up by Peter Lalor – the Australians included Peter Handscomb as an emergency on the team sheet this morning. Matthew Renshaw has been sitting separately to the other players. So you would guess that Handscomb is a like-for-like replacement if they need to sub Renshaw out of the game? But then, if he had covid then why would he have been picked at the toss? My guess then is that he feels crook, has tested negative, but they’re guarding against the test changing later in the match.
Rabada to Khawaja, who again can’t get anything going. Runs a leg bye in the end. Labuschagne glances one.
8th over: Australia 18-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 1) No run from the over from Nortje, Labuschagne leaving alone where he can and defending on the off stump. So they haven’t tried the short ball to Labuschagne, which is interesting in itself.
7th over: Australia 18-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 1) First run for Labuschagne, the old hop and drop to midwicket. Khawaja tries and butchers another pull shot, this time skimming it to mid on. Hasn’t got onto one yet.
6th over: Australia 17-1 (Khawaja 6, Labuschagne 0) Nortje continuing his short bowling. Khawaja heaves a pull shot but drags it into the ground and straight to Zondo at square leg. Then gets a good length ball, plays with very soft hands, and edges it along the ground through the cordon for four.
5th over: Australia 13-1 (Khawaja 2, Labuschagne 0) Very circumspect too against Rabada is Labuschagne, after getting on strike. He’s had a strong method this summer, starting slow before going large.
4th over: Australia 12-1 (Khawaja 1, Labuschagne 0) Nortje hits a length immediately to Marnus Labuschagne, who sees out the over.
WICKET! Warner c Jansen b Nortje 10, Australia 12-1
The Nortje choice pays off. Pace, bounce. The weapons that he offers. Warner sees some width again, goes for the cut shot again, but the ball rushes through him. Takes the top edge and doesn’t have enough elevation to get over the massive Jansen at slip. Bright start from Warner but he falls the way he played.
Updated
3rd over: Australia 12-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 10) Too short again from Rabada, this time on a straight line, and Warner can get up and under the pull shot to help it around the corner. Four more. Poor start from South Africa. Rabada finally gets the length fuller and provokes a couple of drives.
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 5) Odd from South Africa. Sure, Nortje has been their best bowler. But he’s also super fast and bashes the ball into the deck. On a humid morning with cloud coming over, I would have thought you would give the ball to Jansen first and see if it swings, rather than have Nortje bowl short at the hip. Leg bye, single, pull shot for none. This isn’t good use of a new ball.
Murray Henman writes in. “I guess we can be glad that this pitch isn’t as green as the Gabba and hope we get to Day 3 for Pink Day. Hoping for a better contest, and thanks for the OBO.”
You’re most welcome.
1st over: Australia 5-0 (Khawaja 1, Warner 4) So the Old Firm open up, Khawaja and Warner. The latter hasn’t been taking the first ball of the innings since that Rabada dismissal in Brisbane. And it is Kagiso Rabada with the new ball. Decent line to Khawaja for most of the over, then strays on the pads and gets nudged for one. So Warner does face a ball from him, just one… and cracks it for four. Square cut, bouncing to the rope, too wide.
Updated
Don’t forget that you can drop me a line today, as always on the OBO, just as Trevor Tutu has done from across the ocean.
“I thought I would stay up and watch the first hour’s play, and see if my sacrifice would cause the Protea batsmen to ‘... stiffen the sinews and summon up the blood.’ But reality has crept in, and I can see that I am much better off going to the local witchdoctor and asking him to brew up some weird potion to fortify our batting line up. Nothing short of a miracle will help those fellows! I am going to follow the first over, and then it’s off to get Qonqotwane to make the Proteas invincible. Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
At least, Trevor, you know you can’t have a batting collapse this morning? Because they’re bowling first.
Gadigal elder Allen Madden gives the Welcome to Country. Then we have the anthems.
So what are the moves? Klaasen for de Bruyn, who has gone home, but South Africa still going for five bowlers despite their paper-thin batting. A different five bowlers though, with Ngidi’s pace out and Harmer’s spin in. So they’ve got double spin plus three quicks. Jansen batted well in Melbourne but he still doesn’t look like a natural number seven. More like a decent eight.
Australia have Hazlewood back for Boland, and Agar taking up the spot vacated by Mitch Starc’s injury. Bear in mind that Agar has barely played first-class cricket in the last three years, and has played 17 times in the last six. And it’s not like he has ever set the world alight with his bowling in that format. It’s a huge risk to my mind. Renshaw bats at six, you can get overs from Labuschagne, Smith, or Head, but there’s a big chance for South Africa to prosper if they can get on top of Cummins and Hazlewood. If they’re good enough.
I would have gone Carey six, Agar seven, Boland or Morris in the bottom four. But then maybe they figure they won’t need more than three and a half bowlers for South Africa.
Teams
South Africa
Dean Elgar *
Sarel Erwee
Heinrich Klaasen
Temba Bavuma
Khaya Zondo
Kyle Verreynne *
Marco Jansen
Keshav Maharaj
Simon Harmer
Kagiso Rabada
Anrich Nortje
Australia
David Warner
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Steven Smith
Travis Head
Matt Renshaw
Alex Carey +
Ashton Agar
Pat Cummins *
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood
Australia win the toss and will bat
No surprises there. If you’re not sure what a pitch will do, bat. And if you’ve picked two spinners (!), try to bowl last.
What else has been going on this week? The new CA broadcast deal worth $1.5billion AUD, which they’re talking up as a big increase even though it’s basically the same annual rate, it has just gone from six years to seven.
It has also gone to Seven, the channel, with Foxtel, the pay-TV lot. Much better situation than England, with not too many games behind a paywall. But a weird decision for a range of other reasons. Here is a partial explanation from a few days ago – things played out almost exactly as we anticipated.
How will the teams shape up? We won’t know until the toss, with both reserving their options given the pitch has been hard to read. Green grass on it a couple of days ago, but surfaces have been turning here this season.
Here are some of the things to consider. More recent reports are suggesting that Renshaw and Agar could both play, with Agar one of four bowlers. That would be quite the gamble.
Preamble
Well, hello. It’s a new year and all. First over-by-over of 2023. What a time. Were your celebrations festive? Did you go to glorious parties for two days until you made yourself sick but it was totally worth it? Did you ignore the whole lot and stay quietly at home insisting that it was like any other night? As a friend of the show said, “2023 will still be there in the morning.” Whichever direction you took, I hope that it pleased you. And we have one more Test match in the Australian season that may please you too.
South Africa may have already lost the series with the first two Tests, but they’re still some chance to make the World Test Championship final based on their results over the last two years if they don’t get smashed in this match as well. The likelihood of that, given what we’ve seen from their batting on this tour, is slim. But the main reason we like sport is the unlikely bits. Just floating it out there.
Australia, meanwhile, could guarantee their own WTC spot with a win here, meaning they could go to India and get whomped 4-0 and it wouldn’t affect the standings.
So, a few things to play for in the New Year fixture, which will also feature McGrath Foundation Pink Day on day three. Sydney weather check: the air is moderate in temperature but sticky with humidity. It rained last night, some sun this morning, rain forecast later in the day, but we never really know what’s next around these parts. We’ve had some fast matches this series, so a few delays shouldn’t affect the result.
