How Aussies rose from the dead after ‘revolt’ over selectors’ ‘dangerous message’ — Talking Pts

Australia were on the ropes halfway through day one against South Africa in Cape Town, but punched their way back into the fight to bring the third and deciding Test to life.

The Proteas were eventually bowled out for 329 with Mitchell Starc taking four wickets with the second new ball in the space of just six deliveries in a mind-blowing end to the day.

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Australia’s under-fire batting line-up will be put to the test from the first ball of day two and how they fare may shed more light on Pat Cummins’ controversial decision to bowl first after winning the toss.

It could prove to be a stroke of genius if his batters can cash in on days two and three, but the backlash on the first morning was brutal.

There was also angst after Australia made four changes to the side that was soundly beaten in Gqeberha, and that included leaving out Scott Boland.

While the behind the scenes conversations that needed to happen with a veteran have been revealed.

Scroll down for the biggest talking points from day one of the third Test!

WRAP: Starc sparks Aussies to life with stunning blitz in wild end to crazy first day of deciding Test

Smith was set for ultimate shot at redemption... but bizarre issue brought a great’s warning to life

Boland ‘surprise’ deepens... as shock toss call raises major XI doubt after 8yr Aussie first

THE MOMENT THAT TURNED DAY ONE ON ITS HEAD

Josh Hazlewood’s spectacular catch at Newlands on Tuesday will be replayed around Australia today as a celebration of athleticism and ingenuity.

But it was the veteran’s desperation in the first over after lunch that signalled what has become a familiar feature of this Australian side, namely an ability to bounce back.

After being pummelled to all parts of Newlands Stadium in the first session by Marques Ackerman and Aiden Markram, the Aussies were in need of a spark to unify them.

And the turning point involved a moment where Hazlewood threw caution to the wind.

After Nathan Lyon dropped a sharp caught-and-bowled chance of Ackerman when the dashing left-hander was on 82, Hazlewood threw himself at the ball to save a boundary.

It may have only saved a couple of runs. But it signalled Australia, despite the bombardment of the first couple of hours, had rallied back together at lunch and resolved to fight.

Lyon was attacked by Ackerman. But after deceiving him on 95, the reaction the veteran off-spinner showed was that of a street brawler bouncing back from a beating.

Hazlewood got his reward for his desperation not long after. Then Mitchell Starc, who could barely disguise his fury after Travis Head dropped a dolly early on, regained his menace - finishing with six wickets following a breath-taking blitz with the second new ball.

It all went wrong for Australia on Tuesday morning.

Not since Faf du Plessis inserted Pakistan in January 2019 had a captain who won the toss declined the chance to bat first in a Newlands Test.

Only once before had South Africa lost a Cape Town Test after being sent in to bat. It was in the days before air-conditioning or even press boxes. England told them to bat first and beat them by an innings and 33 runs in March 1896.

South Africa have twice won this century after being inserted; in January 2012 and 2017. Sri Lanka were their opponents both times.

And the call by Pat Cummins to bowl was widely criticised - the collapse does not change that. But less seen was his actions.

After Starc was blasted for four boundaries in as many balls by Ackerman, Cummins kept going to his mate, grabbing him by the shoulders, giving him a pat of encouragement.

Between overs he was dashing back and forth from one end to the other, discussing tactics with his bowlers, flipping the rotations regularly in a bid to find a winning combination.

Australia was on the ropes and almost knocked out of the series within a session of the final Test beginning. But its response said plenty about the character of the senior bowlers.

‘THROWING A DART’ DECISION SLAMMED

A week prior to Mitchell Starc being spanked for four consecutive fours by a rookie Test opener at Newlands, the world’s top-ranked pace bowler was snarling in Gqeberha.

The left-arm quick had just snared the wicket of Wiaan Mulder, caught edging via a defensive prod to Matthew Renshaw in the slips, and the Australians were cockahoop.

Having lost the first Test in Durban by 214 runs, South Africa was 6-110 and on the back foot against the world’s top-ranked Test side, a powerhouse pursuing a year of global glory.

There were cracks evident in the Australian team, with the batting order clearly a concern.

But it would be impossible to predict that seven days on, those cracks would have erupted into broadspread fissures across the entirety of the Australian cricket team.

Australian vice-captain Travis Head dismissed the collapse for 99 in Gqeberha as a “shouse” performance in a “s week” but noted that it happened from time to time.

But the problem with that shithouse performance is that it furthered pressure on those who had been shouldering the load - the champion bowlers - until they, too, cracked wide open.

To see a brittle batting order break down is one thing. For its highly-vaunted attack to be viciously assaulted, even if the pitch at Newlands is a road, was another thing altogether.

Australia is the world’s top-ranked Test team. That status was hard-earned through several summers of strong performances. But have they pushed their luck a summer too long?

It is early days in the Test odyssey this team hoped would lead to legacy-cementing triumphs in South Africa, India and England, another World Test Championship and far more.

Instead of a path to ever-lasting glory paved with gold, potholes are appearing, despite the impressive response to the onslaught after lunch as the champions rebounded.

The shock loss to Bangladesh in Darwin, which arguably came off the back of a mistake at the toss, was brushed away as an aberration based on rustiness. A “s week”, so to speak.

After consecutive wins, they had another. And on Tuesday in Cape Town, they endured the ignominy of an almighty shocker in the opening session. The fightback later in the day showed it is not a crisis, but alarm bells are ringing.

Pat Cummins was Captain Fantastic in Durban after he helped orchestrate a strong revival from a position of peril. But the shock decision to bowl in Cape Town was a headscratcher.

As Fox Cricket’s Kerry O’Keeffe said: “There is only one decision to make as captain when you look up and the sky is blue and look down and the pitch is brown. Then you bat for days.”

Or as his fellow panellist David Warner put it: “Australian way is you bat first every day of the week. I tell you what, Travis Head and Matt Renshaw are probably thinking ‘gee, I’d love to bat on this!”

The injury suffered by Steve Smith, who is increasingly vulnerable to injury, muddled thinking. And the captain’s call betrayed clear concerns about the brittleness of the batting.

Would the call have been made if Marnus Labuschagne was turning his 30s into hundreds? Or if Cameron Green and Josh Inglis did not lack match fitness due to injury? Or if Beau Webster had been batting with the assuredness with which he did when first in the team?

Cummins’ call was likened to former England captain Nasser Hussein’s disastrous call at the Gabba in 2002.

The proceedings after lunch proved that to be a stretch, but the blame must be shared far more widely as a conclusion to a series of missteps.

Former Test opener Simon Katich was stunned selectors did not call for reinforcements from Australia given the injury that ruled Steve Smith out was evident a week ago.

The logic behind the decision to swap Nathan Lyon for Scott Boland is understandable based on past history, for Australia has kept winning and winning when not drawing, and the off-spinner proved critical in helping spark the fightback from lunch onwards.

But when Boland was your best player in a Test - and that includes Travis Head’s century - the spotlight sharpens.

Katich was flabbergasted.

“I am stunned by this decision of Australia to bowl first. I did not think they would be doing that. But they obviously see something in this surface,” he said on SEN.

“If they are concerned about the batting line-up, than potentially, could they have not picked a different batting line-up. And if they thought this was going to be the case, could they not have flown guys over.

“It was like throwing a dart at a dartboard and hoping one lands on a bullseye. And it did not work. And now they have regressed back to what happened at the start of the series, which was Renshaw opening.”

The tourists were on the back foot before a ball had even been bowled. And then Aiden Markram pulled Pat Cummins over the fence for six in his first over.

“I hope the decision wasn’t around the make-up of this Australian batting line-up, because you can run but you can’t hide in Test cricket,” Katich said.

“At some point, you’ve got to face your first ball and face the music. I find it hard to describe why we’ve bowled first.”

STATE IN ‘REVOLT’ AS SELECTORS SEND ‘DANGEROUS MESSAGE’

Former Australian batter Simon Katich believes the nation’s selectors have sent a “dangerous message” by leaving out Scott Boland.

The 37-year-old quick has played just 20 of 52 Tests since his whirlwind debut in front of an adoring home crowd in the 2021 Boxing Day Test.

Boland was once again left out with Australia opting to reunite its most prolific ever quartet by recalling spinner Nathan Lyon.

That call came despite Boland taking five wickets in Australia’s only innings with the ball in Gqeberha and doing his best to save the second Test with the bat.

As nightwatchman, the Victorian dug in for 166 balls to make 40 after Australia were made to follow-on.

Katich was likely only half-joking when he quipped that he would “be surprised if there’s not a revolt happening at the moment in Victoria”.

But was more concerned about what the regular “easy decision” of Boland being the hard luck story “rather than making the hard decision” is telling those within the Australian squad.

“It just sends a dangerous message to the group when you have got someone who has always grabbed his opportunities when he is yo-yoing in and out of the team,” Katich said on SEN.

When the 56-Test batter changed commentary boxes to join the television broadcast, he continued to air his concerns.

“I don’t know what more he could do. And the message it sends, too – he applied himself as you’d expect from Scotty Boland,” Katich said.

“Brilliant with the ball, and then with the bat, soaking up 166 balls when Australia needed that grit and determination. To then lose his spot, I just don’t get it.

“I think he had to play. He was comfortably our best bowler. They talk about him being hard to leave out of this team, and I understand that, because of the respect that the rest of this bowling group has and what they’ve achieved in the game. But very hard to leave a man out that’s applied himself in that fashion, when that’s exactly what this team needs. It needs a lot more grit and determination.

“He’d be disappointed, and so will all of Victoria.

“I’m not privy to how they’re all training, but I think on what we saw in that second Test, obviously Josh Hazlewood wasn’t 100 per cent. That would have been the line-ball call, particularly if you felt like you needed to play spin.

“I feel like it was probably going to have to be Hazlewood.”

While Australian great Mark Waugh shared his belief on Kayo Sports that the winner of the Compton-Miller Medal after a remarkable Ashes series last summer should have been the one to be left out.

“I’m really surprised that Scott Boland’s not playing,” Waugh said.

“I would have snuck him in there somewhere, especially when you’re bowling first.”

“Who would you have left out?” former Australian fast bowler Brendon Julian asked.

Waugh replied: “Good question. I don’t think Mitchell Starc’s bowling as well as he has done for a while, but that’s a tough call on Mitchell Starc, but I definitely would have played Boland.”

AUSSIES’ STRONG MESSAGE TO RECALLED LYON

Former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe revealed at lunch break on Kayo Sports that before his return to the side, the Australian hierarchy had given Nathan Lyon a stern talking to.

The prolific off spinner took two wickets in Durban before he was left out for Scott Boland in Gqeberha.

Those two scalps came courtesy of two superb slip catches from Steve Smith to anticipate Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne’s reverse sweeps, and Lyon went wicketless on days four and five as Josh Hazlewood bowled Australia to victory.

It came after Lyon picked up just one wicket in the shock loss to Bangladesh in Darwin, and then three in the second innings in Mackay.

Following a nasty hamstring injury in Adelaide last summer, the Australians believed they spotted some warning signs for the 38-year-old.

“The intel is they want Nathan Lyon to bowl a little quicker – they feel that his pace isn’t quite there,” O’Keeffe said.

“He contends that it is. And if we noticed in that first couple of overs, he’s bowling noticeably quicker than he has been. He’s looking to keep them around the popping crease.”

O’Keeffe added that the belief in the Australian dressing room has been that Lyon’s pace has dropped about five kilometres per hour from where it needs to be.

“On the back end of Darwin, I think it was like 83, 84 (km/h), normally he’s like almost early 90s (km/h) … that penetration, up and over,” O’Keeffe said.

“That might have something to do with the injury that he had and he’s coming back, and the amount of overs potentially he could bowl in the next couple of months.

“Five kilometres is a big difference for a spinner, when it’s up and over and drifting and dipping. It’s not like a fast bowler – a spinner, it’s the revs on the ball. It’s what entices you to come out the wicket, when that ball drops, that’s when you get your stumpings, that’s when you get them caught on the crease as well. That’s his skill.”

Lyon showed off that skill in dismissing Marques Ackerman, who five runs shy of a maiden Test century was enticed by a delivery thrown wider and Alex Carey did the job behind the stumps.

He also bamboozled Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma in beating his outside edge and crashing the ball into his off-stump for a third-ball duck, following his 179 in Gqeberha.

But Lyon’s former teammate David Warner warned that he must stay on song because the end of an illustrious career can come quickly for a tweaker.

“Look at Graeme Swann towards the back end of his career. He lost that drift, he lost that dip,” Warner said.

“When that goes, that’s your armour. That’s your weapon. It’s a challenge.”

O’Keeffe replied: “When you lose your dip as a spinner, it’s thank you linesman, thank you ballboys. Because you get attacked. And that’s what Marques Ackerman has done in that pre-lunch (session). He’s waited, and he’s attacked him.”

Despite taking important wickets on day one, O’Keeffe also believes that Lyon has not been given the best possible chance to excel in Cape Town courtesy of Pat Cummins’ call at the toss.

“Lyon’s in the team, he may have been really effective Day 4, Day 5. That’s not going to happen, because they’re bowling first,” he said.

“It’s an irrational decision. Pat’s backed the old firm, Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood, Lyon. But there was a reason to back them by batting first and bowling second and fourth, and he chose not to do that.”

CROWDS FINALLY TURNOUT TO GET STUCK INTO AUSSIES

Steve Smith did not need a heroic Cape Town to complete his redemption arc, for his deeds in the years since his return from suspension have confirmed his status as an all-time great.

But his absence due to the problematic neck injury that has bothered him since Gqeberha robbed Australia of its champion batsman and this Test of a fascinating sub-plot.

There has been some terrific cricket played in the first two Tests that, sadly, featured in front of smaller crowds than what was hoped, but Newlands produced a proper first day crowd.

Not surprisingly given the sordid sandpapergate story, there were plenty of Proteas fans who had arrived prepared to rub salt into a wound that eight years on is no longer quite as raw.

One bloke wandering the stands wearing a plastic yellow protective hat and carrying a backpack went to great lengths to produce a poster forecasting a specialised merchandise.

“Aussie special!!! Get your sandpaper here. Cut to size. Fits discreetly in your pocket or down your Y-fronts,” his banner read.

As South Africa was tonking the Australians to all parts in the first session, the locals turned their attention from sandpaper shenanigans to celebrating the task at hand.

But after lunch, as the clouds rolled in and the situation in the match changed drastically, the enthusiasm dimmed significantly.

Among those taking in the festivities was former Australian captain and Fox Cricket expert analyst Alyssa Healy, who is in Cape Town on a break to watch her husband in action.

The Aussie favourite was sought out by a couple of eager local fans keen to enjoy a beer with the great on the hill at the ground looking back towards Table Mountain.

We can report the Aussie star had not yet been forced to buy a brew - at about A$4.50 a pop, the Castle was pretty good value.

But nor are we sure she spotted the slogan on the other side of the banner asking her to come for a beer.

It read: “Sorry. Cape Town is all out of sandpaper.”