Key events
The soundtrack to the Warne video is of course Coldplday: never forget that Chris Martin was in the Dream BBQ mural that Warne had commissioned.
A good crowd in this morning, and the two teams are on the field while the big screen and the PA plays a Shane Warne tribute video. This will be a big part of the next few days – the first Boxing Day Test without him for so long. As a Victorian while playing, Warne was always a huge part of these occasions, and saved some of his best performances for this ground.
“I would have batted first as well,” says Dean Elgar. “A little bit surprised [at Cummins’ decision]. Normally you’d want to bat first and get through the day. It’s going to be nice and hot, so everything is in favour of the batters. We’ve just got to apply ourselves and make the best of conditions that lie in front of us. We’re in a good space with regard to the ball, so hopefully those mental scars are there [for the Australians].”
“It looks like a good wicket, the most that’s going to be in it will be this morning,” was Cummins’ rationale. “Here at the MCG the wicket normally gets better and better. We had to have one Victorian in the side, so Scotty Boland was here. Josh Hazlewood had a couple of good bowls, but once we got closer he put his hand up and said I’m not quite right.”
Teams
Australia unchanged then, and SA bring in de Bruyn for Rassie van der Dussen.
South Africa
Dean Elgar *
Sarel Erwee
Theunis de Bruyn
Temba Bavuma
Khaya Zondo
Kyle Verreynne +
Marco Jansen
Keshav Maharaj
Kagiso Rabada
Anrich Nortje
Lungi Ngidi
Australia
David Warner
Usman Khawaja
Marnus Labuschagne
Steven Smith
Travis Head
Cameron Green
Alex Carey +
Pat Cummins *
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon
Scott Boland
Australia win the toss and bowl
That’s interesting. The pitch is nowhere near as green as Brisbane, but it does look grassy enough from a distance, that kind of patchy grass that has characterised the surface over the last few years. It’s also fairly cool and a bit cloudy right at the moment, mid 20s with a forecast high later of 32, and forecast to be sunny and in the high 30s tomorrow, so maybe Pat Cummins thinks that the bowling conditions will be easier to handle and will hope to be batting by the time it gets hot.
And why not a potentially soon-to-be-redundant argument for David Warner at the top of the order? Another couple of low scores might throw this out the window, but I’m thinking that patience is the right way to go when a player’s record is this good.
How about my now-redundant argument that Boland Must Play ahead of Hazlewood, even if just this once? It could also be classed as Boxing Day leftovers.
If you want to know more about what’s going on in the South African team, with its wildly good bowling and wildly bad batting, here’s Daniel Gallan.
Preamble
Geoff Lemon
Merry Boxing Day. The best part of the season. The sweat and effort of yesterday is behind you, the rush and worry is no more, and leftovers always taste better than the original meal. Time to kick back on the couch, or take a long walk in the hills, or gather in someone’s garden, and keep an eye on the cricket with us.
The principal equation for this Test is pretty simple. South Africa need runs. Their batting has been dross lately. If they can score some, they’re a chance to level up this series. At least they got a nice long break after losing in two days in Brisbane.
Australia want a win. Captain Obvious, yes, but it’s not just about wrapping up this series. It’s that winning here and in Sydney should (as far as my suspect arithmetic suggests) pretty much guarantee them a spot in the World Test Championship final. They have four Tests in India after this, and winning even a match over there is very difficult, let alone a series. If they go there not needing anything from the series for WTC rankings, that would be one less thing to worry about.
Also, milestones! Little Davey Warner is playing his 100th Test. I’m sure that everyone reading this in England shares the Warner love that is enveloping Australia. Or if we concede that neither of those things are accurate, there is still a lot of admiration for what Warner has been able to achieve in Test cricket from unlikely beginnings, even while accounting for the aspects of his career and conduct that have been less admirable. This week can be about the former.
And Scott Boland is playing. On the arena where he took his famous 6 for 7 last year, winning the Mullagh Medal for best afield, it was unthinkable that he would miss out. So much so that Josh Hazlewood apparently ruled himself unfit. He must have been feeling the vibes.
