As Australia’s back-up bowlers turned in a less than convincing display on a rain-ruined second day against Derbyshire the game’s intrigue centred around the man who was behind the stumps and the man who was not, as friends Peter Nevill and Brad Haddin vie for one wicketkeeping spot for the third Test at Edgbaston.
This game itself is headed for a draw or a contrivance after two sessions were lost to drizzle. After the Australians declared before play at 413 for nine Derbyshire reached 81 for two at lunch but were not able to resume thereafter. Play was abandoned at 3pm, with the day’s 29 overs shared between a five-man attack.
With Peter Siddle and Patrick Cummins inaccurate early on Derbyshire’s Ben Slater and New Zealand international Hamish Rutherford were able to dig in. The left-handed openers would have profited had they got their bats on the many deliveries down the leg side but several still reached the rope off the pad. Siddle may be next in line for the Tests but was wayward, his second over adding three boundaries in extras. At one stage the partnership was worth 32 with 15 off the bat.
Fawad Ahmed had little chance to show his leg-spin tricks in the cold and damp, getting through five economical overs before lunch. The all-rounders Mitchell Marsh and Shane Watson bowled best, Marsh energetic through the crease and fast through the air while Watson was the more accurate, at one per over and dismissed Rutherford with a sharp bouncer.
Cummins, though, remained the point of interest, playing a first-class game for the first time in two years. Despite inaccuracy he bowled speedily in the gloomy conditions and those he landed properly looked difficult. “It’s pretty relaxed out here. My first game for a little while, it was good to not have a massive crowd and just bowl, and it felt like it came out pretty well,” he said. “The last 18 months have been uninterrupted. I feel really good and I feel strong and fortunately injury is one thing I don’t really have to think about now.”
Cummins broke the opening stand for 49 in his second spell, with Slater edging behind. But of more pertinence to the Ashes was the man who took the catch: Nevill, with Haddin in an unfamiliar position at point. Though unencumbered by pads and gloves, Haddin’s occasional chases to the boundary showed a marked lack of enthusiasm for outfielding.
It may be naive to read too much into a three-day frolic in the Midlands but, with Nevill batting two spots higher than Haddin and taking the gloves, it is hard not to. Nevill’s polished Test debut at Lord’s netted 45 runs and seven catches. In 21 innings since the last Ashes Haddin has passed 20 five times and 50 once, averaging 15.23. With Nevill looking good, it is hard to change a winning team.
Cummins was complimentary. “The thing over in England is how much the ball wobbles after it lands. Just in warm-ups I’ve taken the mitt a few times for Hazlewood and Johnson and it’s pretty scary. I know as a keeper it must be hard work. He looks like he’s moving really well behind there.” He was quick to acknowledge Haddin, as team-mates have been all tour, but the chance increases that an uncomfortable decision may have to be made.
