The more dire the plight of Australia’s Test team becomes, the more likelihood there is of a miracle if recent history is any guide.
With Josh Hazlewood ruled out of the second Test in Adelaide thanks to a side strain, the ever fragile Mitch Marsh not yet passed fit, and Australia’s batting continuing its downward plunge in a 295-run first Test loss at Perth Stadium, the situation looks bleak.
But no bleaker than after the first Test of India’s last tour to Australia four years ago. The only difference is that it was India towelled up in Adelaide.
With a 53-run first innings lead, India were well placed to bat Australia out of the match on the third day. Instead they were bowled out for 36, their lowest Test total in history. Play was over before there was any need to turn the lights on during that third day in the day-night Test.
Captain Virat Kohli was going home for the birth of his child and leading paceman Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the series with a broken arm following a nasty short ball from Pat Cummins.
So how did a weakened and demoralised India go in the second Test at the MCG a week later? They won the Test by eight wickets, and the four-match series 2-1, to claim their second successive series victory in Australia.
Despite the challenges of last season’s Test in Adelaide, which just struggled into a third day against the West Indies on a heavily grassed surface, the core of Australia’s struggling batting line-up will be returning to fond memories.
Certainly Travis Head will be looking forward to his Adelaide homecoming, and not just because he’s a new dad. He scored a match-defining 119 last season, the only score of more than 50 in the game, and made 175 the previous season in Adelaide. He’d still be batting if Cameron Green hadn’t run him out.
Head averages 70.57 from six Tests at his home ground, with two centuries. This is a marked contrast to his overall performance of late, with that 119 his only score above 50 in 24 innings until he made that counter-punching 89 in the second innings of the first Test in Perth last week.
The other significant struggler among this current group, Marnus Labuschagne, has an average of 71.75 from five Tests in Adelaide, with three centuries. Steve Smith and Usman Khawaja both average 46 there.
Not that the Australians have had it all their own way in Adelaide. Kohli averages 61.83 there with two centuries from three Tests. Given his career-reviving, unbeaten century in Perth, Kohli is likely to be even more excitable than usual.
Marnus Labuschagne is congratulated by Steve Smith after scoring a century at the Adelaide Oval in 2021. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
So there is much to look forward to, if curator Damian Hough takes a bit more grass off the pitch than he did last season, when 36 wickets fell on the first two days.
It was the shortest Adelaide Test in terms of balls bowled – and nearly 17,000 spectators filed into the ground for less than a session of cricket on day three between Australia and the West Indies.
This Test won’t lack atmosphere, with Adelaide always supporting what is the most enjoyable Test to attend in the country and the ever-growing Indian diaspora bringing their unique blend of colour and cacophony.
SACA officials are predicting the biggest crowd in Adelaide for at least seven years, with estimates of more than 40,000 a day for the first three days.
So the stage is set for a character- affirming fightback by the Australians, who have the great advantage of being the most experienced day/night Test cricketers in the world.
They have an 11-1 winning record, with the loss by eight runs to the West Indies at the end of last season in Brisbane their only blemish. Seven of those Tests have been in Adelaide. India have played four day/night Tests, the last in March 2022.
And who is likely to lead the charge that can get Australia back on the winner’s list? No it’s not Mitchell Starc delivering booming inswingers with the pink ball under lights, or captain Pat Cummins with his relentless seam.
Josh Hazlewood of Australia holds up the ball after his fifth wicket during day three of the Test win over West Indies at Adelaide Oval in January. (Photo by Mark Brake – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
It is Nathan Lyon, the leading Test wicket-taker in Adelaide by some margin. He has 63 wickets at 25.27 from 13 Tests. Shane Warne is next with 56 wickets in the same number of Tests.
Most of Lyon’s have come during the drop-in pitch/day/night Test era, which began in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
More grass is left on the pitch since it has been a drop-in to encourage the bowlers because drop-in pitches do not deteriorate as the match progresses. The extra grass also protects the pink ball, which tends to go soft.
And while extra grass does help the seamers, it also helps the ball grip and bounce for good spinners. This may encourage India to play their star pair of Ravi Ashwin and Ravin Jadeja.
The Australians would appreciate this after being carved up in Perth by India’s fast bowlers.
It could be just want Labuschagne, Head, Smith and co need for a reboot.
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