You go to war with the army you have – so goes a piece of unintended wisdom from Donald Rumsfeld as cycled through Natasha Lyonne on Russian Doll. Like any good motto leaning towards truism, it’s something you can take beyond the literal and apply to the trivial. It’s a phrase that you can mutter as you plough into the passport queue at a seething airport, or glance at the other adult trying to control an eighth birthday party.
For our purposes, it can apply to any sporting situation dealing with a lack of resources. Billy Beane could have slotted it into Moneyball, just as it fits for a visiting Test cricket team in Delhi this week. They may have been soundly beaten in the first Test in Nagpur, but Australia couldn’t then and can’t now pick a raft of quality spinners or quality players of spin against India because those players don’t currently exist.
What Australia did have was the chance to choose troops who were at least fit and healthy to tackle the job. They chose not to. The initial touring party of 18 looked ambitious in size, covering every eventuality and supposedly reflecting the planning that had gone into this tour. But Mitchell Starc brought along his finger tendon injury from just after Christmas. Cameron Green brought the snapped index bone from the same match. Josh Hazlewood has had a bad Achilles since the Sydney Test that followed. Unless Mitchell Swepson and Jessica Thorpe have had an incredible stealth pregnancy, he would have known he had to leave the tour.
Throw in the way that Ashton Agar has lost rather than gained confidence in his bowling since the pre-series camp in Bengaluru, effectively barring him from selection, and Australia’s group of 18 has shrunk to 13 for the second Test. Batter Travis Head and uncapped fast bowler Lance Morris are the only alternatives from the original squad. Extra spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has been the only addition to it.
So Australia’s management have painted the team into a corner. They picked injured stars hoping they would recover in the shortest possible time, which none has conclusively done. At best Hazlewood might be right for the third Test. Starc has just resumed training without a splint and is unhappy with the strength and control of his bowling hand. Green is bowling well but has five pins in his finger after surgery and could do untold damage if he takes another blow while batting or catching. The impact of ball on bat still makes him wince.
Starc and Green may yet play in Delhi, but that would reflect the desperation to have them rather than the best choice based on their recovery. Starc could bolster the lower-order batting and offer a reverse-swing threat with extra pace - but only if his hand allows. All-rounder Green could offer the chance to pass up Starc for three spinners, bringing Kuhnemann into the team with Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy, with Green to partner Patrick Cummins as the pace options - but could walk out to bat with Mohammed Shami targeting his gloves.
The latter configuration is probably the one that selectors want most, and only one player can provide it. Green made a patient 51 from 177 balls at the MCG two months ago with that finger freshly broken, so batting through pain doesn’t bother him. The risk of damaging the potentially long and lucrative career of a 23-year-old phenomenon should bother those in charge. If Green is not passed fit, two fast bowlers and two spinners remains the likely configuration. If Green and Starc are not fit, Australia may well have to go in with the same XI that fell apart in Nagpur.
Perhaps that would be a blessing in disguise. Teams that panic and make wholesale changes after one loss often get taken apart. But then, teams that stay exactly as they were often suffer the same. Staying put is not a show of faith when there is no other option. Perhaps the visiting team’s choices don’t matter at all when the home team has mastery of the conditions. Perhaps there are no moves to be made. Still, crossing busted fingers and hoping for recovery is not much of a strategy in the end.
