Sydney is a city of celebration in January. A place that really loves a firework to see in the new year. What they enjoy more than that is the coronation of a rampant Australia finishing off a five-nil Ashes whitewash, or saying farewell to a champion (or three). But with neither of those joys available and the opening morning of the fifth Test washed away, it was all a bit drab until, with a late surge, the ground awoke.
The best treat locals have had at the SCG in modern times was when Steve Waugh roared to his career-saving century in 2003. On this first evening, they got the chance to see a pair of New South Wales lads turn it on as the shadows lengthened. Waugh levels of exhilaration this was not but a wicket from the final ball did get the joint jumping.
Half an hour earlier, Mitchell Starc grabbed an ankle in a fashion that suggested the Australia selectors made a mistake bringing him back so quickly after missing the Melbourne Test. He was bowling slower on average but the talisman’s smile was back as broad as ever when winning an inexplicable error from Joe Root three deliveries after taking the second new ball with minutes to stumps.
Those who waited around for the extended closure of play had been rewarded for their patience. Then, when Jonny Bairstow replaced Root instead of a nightwatchman, it was immediately on again. An enthusiastic leg before appeal against the new man included every partisan in the stadium, surely influencing Steve Smith’s referral. It would not have hit the proverbial second set of stumps but this interrogation was not over.
Josh Hazlewood did not do a lot wrong in Melbourne but looked a bit lost without his mate Mitch at the other end. With one over to deliver with the new ball, the right-armer produced his best ball of the day, shaping an outswinger away from Bairstow and finding his edge. Why the England wicketkeeper was driving so late in the day defied any logic but Australia cared little. “How a Test match can change in the space of 10 minutes,” the former Australia batsman Simon Katich observed.
Until that point, it appeared as though it would be the first day of the series where Pat Cummins would win the headlines for his efforts. The third seamer of the local trio has done everything asked of him but has never ended up Australia’s man of the hour. His 17 Ashes wickets so far have not quite netted the 24-year-old an entry in the five-wicket bag column alongside three handy scores in the 40s with the bat.
With Starc struggling for oomph, Cummins stepped up as Australia’s fastest and most effective bowler. His setup to nab Mark Stoneman was the perfect execution of a plan, pinning the left-handed opener to the crease with a series of accurate full deliveries before dragging his length back from wide of the crease, generating just enough bounce and movement to hit the outside edge.
Cummins’ removal of James Vince was more to do with batsman error but was sent down at 89.6mph (144.3kph) – more than quick enough to give a decent hurry-up. In the three-hour final session, Cummins maintained his pace and persistence. The man most likely to break up the steady partnership between Root and Dawid Malan, he nearly snaffled the captain in his follow-through.
It’s worth remembering Cummins has been back in the baggy green for only nine months – his first Test cricket since making his debut as an 18-year-old five and a half years earlier. Between times, it was easier to identify the parts of his body he had not injured.
Throughout those years, and early in this superb red-ball return, questions invariably came back to when he should rest. Well, he has now clicked over 1,000 balls bowled for the series – more than the more experienced Starc and Hazlewood.
“It has given him a huge amount of confidence that he has been able to get through these last 12 months,” Katich said. Rest can wait because in 2018 Cummins has an opportunity to stitch together his first year of uninterrupted Test cricket. Along the way, there is no reason he cannot be the best fast bowler in the world. Watch this space.
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