“A good South Australian question,” laughed Justin Langer at Adelaide airport when local journalists finished his departure press conference on the topics of local boys Alex Carey and Travis Head. But the national men’s coach is from Western Australia, and his state is no less parochial.
If you didn’t know where Langer was from, a walk around the old Waca Ground would soon get you up to date. “The water that Langer and co grew up on,” promises a sign above the drinking taps, while an elevated bar is named “Langer’s Loft”. The walkway walls are covered in huge photos of various Western Warriors and Perth Scorchers, and inside one gate is a three-man montage mural of Marshes: Geoff flanked by sons Mitchell and Shaun, in a visual display of elite lineage.
But after decades of bounce and baking sun, the annual Test match will not be played here. It’s over the river via the footbridge at the new Perth Stadium, a spaceship in neutral tones that has made its landing on reclaimed floodplain and industrial landfill, blowing out its state budget to $1.8bn after a change of location under the Barnett government, and which now disgorges embeveraged punters conveniently close to the casino just down the riverbank.
The new ground doesn’t have the same Western Australia cricket fetish, being a multipurpose venue for all major sports and superannuated nostalgia concert tours. What it presumably does have is a proper set of covers, which should preclude a repeat of the Waca’s Ashes farewell a year ago, in which ground staff had to spend hours trying to evaporate a deluge from the pitch using prayers and hairdryers.
But there’s plenty of West Australian focus within the team itself this year. Langer, of course, who made his name as a coach helming the West-based domestic teams. Shaun Marsh, still ticking along – and god, who would have guessed five or six years ago that Shaun Marsh’s Test career would outlive the Waca Ground itself.
Mitchell Marsh is here in the squad, and was smoking sixes from Peter Siddle onto the Waca hill during a centre-wicket practice two days before the game. He had his greatest career moment here a year ago, the brutal 181 he inflicted on a suffering England in the match that clinched the Ashes, but this year will miss out unless a surprise change is made. He and Shaun both suffered a Test slump through this year, but Shaun was able to dominate domestic cricket on return, where Mitch was not.
In his absence, Perth will absolutely claim the new national opener Marcus Harris. He may have forced his way into the team by the weight of Sheffield Shield runs he’s made for Victoria, but he grew up at Scarborough Cricket Club with Langer as a teammate and example.
“It’s pretty special to play in a Perth Test,” said Harris two days out. “It would have been great to have played at the Waca where it has always been but to get the opportunity to play at the new stadium will be pretty special in the first Test there. I know most of my family were in Adelaide, but I think all of them will be here. So I’m looking forward to it, and to play in front of a home crowd will be pretty special as well.”
Harris is relatively anonymous to the rest of the country, so he’s inevitably compared to a raft of previous left-handed openers. “You can call me Marcus David Langer Rogers if you want,” he grinned. “I’ve never tried to bat like anyone. I just bat the way I bat, and people tell me I visually look like David Warner and bat a little bit like JL. It doesn’t bother me. If I can make runs I don’t really give a toss.”
He’ll probably still want to win a toss when the match starts on Friday, though perhaps neither side’s fast bowlers would mind first use of a pitch supposed to offer pace and bounce in true regional style. All the quicks should be fresh if indications from Adelaide airport hold true: Indian captain Virat Kohli moved to economy class to free up scarce business seats for his bowlers, while the Australian cartel arrived together behind the rest of the team, looking fresh and pressed and polished and cheerful and moving freely.
Whoever starts first, it’s a blank slate for both teams. A step into the unknown in terms of the surface and how it will play. India’s bowlers were able to adjust quickly to an unfamiliar surface at Adelaide, and the two Indian batsmen who did so proved enough. Whoever does so the fastest in both disciplines in Perth will stand a chance of becoming a photo on the new stadium’s walls.
