Jhulan Goswami, the former India and Bengal fast bowler, will have a stand named in her honour in the ‘B’ Block of Eden Gardens in Kolkata, following a proposal by the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).
“I never imagined something like this would come to fruition. I would definitely love to watch a match from there,” Goswami said. “For any cricketer, the ultimate dream is to represent her district, state or country, but receiving an honour like this is truly monumental.
“A dedicated stand is a huge, significant honour, and it’s only possible because of the CAB’s vision to promote women’s cricket. Words can’t do justice to this recognition.”
Goswami finished her international career with 44 wickets in 12 Tests, a world-record 255 wickets in 204 ODIs, and recorded another 56 dismissals in 68 T20Is. With 355 wickets, she also has the record for the most wickets in women’s international cricket.
Eden Gardens also has stands named after former India captain Sourav Ganguly, and former international cricketer Pankaj Roy. There are also stands named for two former BCCI presidents, Jagmohan Dalmiya and Biswanath Dutt.
The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) remain at loggerheads with the ECB over the men’s T20 Blast’s schedule. The union, which represents all professional players in England and Wales, has reiterated concerns about player welfare after only a small reduction in the number of back-to-back matchdays in the schedule for 2025 unveiled by the ECB on Thursday.
The ECB heralded a reduction by “almost a third” in the number of back-to-back fixtures (down from 55 in 2024 to 37 in 2025) in the men’s Blast in a press release on Thursday. Neil Snowball, the ECB’s managing director of competitions and major events, said the reduction showed that they “have listened to the players” after “constructive conversations with the PCA”.
But while the PCA are encouraged by the changes, they believe they do not go far enough. “There remains a significant number of fixtures on successive days which suggests little improvement compared to the 2023 schedule,” a spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo. “There is a lot more work needed to meet player welfare needs.”
The counties generally prefer to play a majority of their Blast fixtures between Thursday and Sunday, citing a beneficial impact on ticket sales. But players have become increasingly vocal in the last 18 months about the drawbacks of that model, with back-to-back games heightening the risk of injury and diminishing the quality of cricket played.
The PCA are represented by interim chief executive Daryl Mitchell on the Professional Game Committee, who sign off on the domestic schedule and are involved in discussions around the fixture list ahead of its publication.
The ECB’s revamp of domestic women’s cricket for 2025 will see the eight Tier One women’s teams compete in the Women’s T20 Blast and the ten Tier Two teams in a second tier. Every county will host at least one men’s and women’s joint-matchday, with a total of 52 double-headers due to be staged across 20 different venues.
Snowball said that the Blast will be “bigger and better” in 2025, while Beth Barrett-Wild, the director of the women’s professional game, said the joint announcement of fixtures marked “the beginning of a new era” for English cricket: “It’s one of the clearest demonstrations to date of our aligned ‘one game’ approach to the delivery of men’s and women’s domestic cricket moving forwards.”
The first women’s Blast Finals Day will take place at The Oval on July 27 while the men’s knockout stages will continue to be staged in September, six weeks after the conclusion of the group stage. England’s best white-ball players will again miss men’s Finals Day, which is set for September 13 and clashes with a T20I series against South Africa.
The rest of the men’s county fixtures will be released by the ECB on Tuesday morning, with no change in the volume of County Championship and One-Day Cup matches. Fixtures for the Hundred are likely to be released early next year, with the tournament staged in its usual August window.
Key T20 Blast fixtures 2025:
May 29 – June 1 – ‘Blast Off’ weekend (opening fixtures) July 18 – ‘Friday Finale’ (final group-stage matches) July 26 – Women’s Tier 2 Finals Day (Northampton) July 27 – Women’s Tier 1 Finals Day (The Oval) September 3-6 – Men’s Quarter-Finals September 13 – Men’s Finals Day (Edgbaston)
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
India had last played a day-night Test, against Sri Lanka, in Bengaluru in March 2022, when they won by 238 runs. When India last played a day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval, they folded for 36 in their second innings but they bounced back spectacularly to win the series 2-1.
Mohammad Nazir, the former Pakistan offspinner and umpire, has passed away. Nazir jr, as he was also known, passed away in Lahore after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He played 14 Tests and four ODIs for Pakistan. Although the Tests were spread across 14 years, he was best remembered for the impact in his very first Test, against New Zealand in October 1969.
Playing in Karachi on a pitch which took spin from the start, Nazir picked up 7 for 99 in his very first innings. In addition, he scored a handy, unbeaten 29 with the bat, and was not out on 17 in the second innings as well. The Test was drawn, but proved to be a significant one, in that it was the great Hanif Mohammad’s last Test, and his younger brother Sadiq’s first.
“On behalf of the PCB, I express my condolences and grief over the demise of our former Test cricketer Mohammad Nazir,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said. “We extend our deepest sympathies, and share the grief of his friends and family. His contributions for Pakistan cricket will always be remembered.”
Despite being a consistent performer at domestic level, Nazir played only one more Test after his debut series until November 1980, when he was picked to play in a home series against West Indies. That was another high point; he dismissed Viv Richards three times in the series, including bowled twice. However, in the second Test, in Faisalabad, Nazir was hit for three successive sixes in an over by Sylvester Clarke. The 22 he conceded in that over was a Test record at the time.
Despite taking 16 wickets in the four Tests against West Indies, Nazir was dropped again and didn’t return until nearly three years later, in a series in India. In between, he kept taking wickets in domestic cricket: 86 in 1981-82, and 70 the year after that.
Nazir took the last of his three Test five-fors in Nagpur, but only played three Tests after that – all in Australia. He wasn’t on the winning side in a single one of his 14 Tests.
Nazir continued on the domestic circuit thereafter as he had always been before: a prolific wicket-taker. Unusually, he was a one-team man, playing for Pakistan Railways all the way through. He also looked pretty fit, taking 85 wickets in the 1985-86 season when he was on the cusp of turning 40. Nazir ended with 829 first-class wickets, at an enviable average of 19.26.
He became an international and a domestic umpire soon after he retired, standing in five Tests and 15 ODIs.
You run into fast bowlers everywhere in Perth. One of them was walking down Plain Street, which is a five-minute walk from the WACA, with a bag of groceries. Mitchell Starc will be a little less chill once the clock hits 10.20am on Friday.
This Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been on simmer for a fair while. Rohit Sharma faced questions about it at the start of the India home season in September and the wrap-up press conference in November was in large part about easing the pain of a home series whitewash by trying “to do something special” in Australia. Pat Cummins has had a similar experience.
Some of the best Test cricket in recent times has happened when these two teams meet, so it’s their own fault that everywhere they go they get asked questions about it. A day out from the first Test, most of them appear to have been answered. Australia have their new opening batter, Nathan McSweeney having made a late push for the job. India have KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana primed and ready should they be needed. All that’s left is for the experience to take over.
On Thursday evening, in front of an empty Perth stadium, the morning-of-day-one-drills were taking place. Regular people were pretending to be India and Australia captains to check how it’d look on screen. It was easy to be transported to the moment when all that will actually happen, and its just one sleep away. One sleep away until Jasprit Bumrah charges in. One sleep away until Steven Smith is back at No. 4. One sleep away until Virat Kohli brings the crowd to their feet. One sleep away until Rishabh Pant is broadcast all around the world via the stump mics.
The cricket, fun as it will be, is likely to come with a fair bit of flavour added in from the outside. There’s already been a little bit of needle. Ricky Ponting’s quotes being taken out of context got Gautam Gambhir fired up. India’s efforts early on to train in private caused a stir. Josh Hazlewood did a fly by when he said he was happy not to see Cheteshwar Pujara in the Indian team. Every kind of fan will be satisfied with what the Border-Gavaskar Trophy will offer and the first ball is just one sleep away.
Australia: WWLWW (last five matches, most recent first) India: LLLWW
It’s been over eight months since Australia have played Test cricket and it seems Mitchell Starc has spent some of that getting into the best shape of his life. He’s 34 now. He shouldn’t be looking like a six-foot-tall brick wall. Nor should he be bowling at speeds that turns the red ball into a red blur. There has been an admission that in a five-Test series, no matter how fit they are, the big three Australian quicks might need to be managed extra carefully but right now, with the series starting at Perth stadium, where Starc averages 19, then moving to Adelaide for a pink-ball Test, in which Starc averages 18.72, they could very well set themselves up to take their time off with the series already in the bag.
KL Rahul just can’t seem to get off this ride. Grew up as an opening batter but had to make his debut in the middle order. Then got that spot up top but started losing his stumps a little too often for someone to stay in that position. A shift back into the middle order, especially in white-ball cricket, seemed to indicate that’s where his future lies. An 86 against England at No. 4 in January 2024 furthered that notion, but since then he’s gone off the boil to the point that he lost his place in the side. Now he’ll be opening the batting in conditions that will not be in his favour against one of the world’s best bowling attacks.
Australia are as settled as can be, having put their trust in McSweeney, whose ability to stay calm and unflustered has earned him the nickname “Buddha”.
India are of course without their full-time captain and grappling with a minor personnel crisis, meaning they will go into Perth relying on several fringe players. Padikkal (24), Jurel (23), Reddy (21) and Rana (22) are all in line for a spot in the XI. It is possible there will only be room for one spin bowler and R Ashwin might just make the cut ahead of Ravindra Jadeja.
All this said, the last time India had a personnel crisis in Australia, remember what happened?
Although some unseasonal rainfall two days ago denied the Perth stadium groundstaff from getting the pitch up to where they want it to be, there has since been a lot of sunshine, hardening the surface up and getting it to where it should offer excellent pace, bounce and carry. Head curator Issac McDonald and his staff have been working towards creating a “happy medium between bat and ball”.
“This is the toughest challenge. So I give this message to everyone: if you come and perform in this country then your cricket level will go up, and then your level will keep increasing. So we as a team are focusing to put ourselves in tough challenges so that we become better and take our cricket up.” India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah on how he’s been motivating a somewhat young and inexperienced Indian side
“It’s weird, you know, it’s basically been the same side for the last two or three years. So the week lead-in’s very normal, it’s all very relaxed. Everyone knows how they need to prepare. So it’s pretty seamless, you know, all the meetings, training, all those kind of things. We’ve done it heaps before with the same people. So, yeah, it’s just about kind of reaffirming what we do really well.” Australia captain Pat Cummins wasn’t prepared for this much continuity but is still glad for it
Bangladesh will get their usual Caribbean welcome. They will play the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, where they have opened the two previous tours with scores of 103 and 43 all out. This time, the visitors are also without two of their best batters, Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto, so the job to tackle West Indies’ pace and bounce will become that much harder for an under-par batting line-up.
Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph have the returning Alzarri Joseph to form a lethal attack. Kemar Roach is also in the squad, and given his superb record against Bangladesh, a four-man attack could be the way West Indies go. Add Anderson Phillip in the mix, and Bangladesh’s problems are likely to amplify.
West Indies, on the other hand, would like their batting unit to fire. The likes of Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Mikyle Louis, Keacy Carty and Justin Greaves are relatively new to the scene but it has been a year of promise for this batting line-up. They hold the key for the future, but their top seven have the lowest batting average among all teams this year. West Indies have won just one out of the seven Tests in 2024 so the batting, despite its lack of experience, must now step up.
Their opponents are also undergoing a batting nightmare. South Africa brushed aside Bangladesh at home in a 2-0 defeat that will rankle for a long time. Bangladesh’s overall batting has been ordinary, and now without Mushfiqur and Shanto, these West Indies Tests will feel like an uphill climb.
Two misfiring batting line-ups and impressive fast bowling attacks could produce a tight contest. It will be up to the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and Mominul Haque to get their respective batting line-ups in order. The fast bowlers meanwhile will want to ensure that the runs come at a premium.
West Indies LDLLL (last five Tests, most recent first) Bangladesh LLLLW
In the spotlight: Shamar Joseph and Mehidy Hasan Miraz
Shamar Joseph will be licking his lips at the prospect of having a crack against an inexperienced Bangladesh line-up. He has the opportunity for a big finish in the last Test series of his breakthrough year. Joseph started 2024 with a stunning five-wicket haul on debut in Adelaide, followed by his famous 7 for 68 in Brisbane. While he didn’t have a great time against England, having the red ball back in his grip could fire up Joseph.
Few would envy Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s job at the moment. Appointed vice-captain ahead of the Test series, Mehidy has to now step up as captain following Shanto’s injury. Mehidy led the side in the last ODI against Afghanistan, but it will be a taller order against West Indies minus Mushfiqur and Shanto. Mehidy also has been off-colour with the ball recently, but the team will look up to him for his 2024 batting heroics.
Team news: Who will fill the big boots of Mushfiqur and Holder?
Justin Greaves and Alzarri Joseph are likely to replace Jason Holder and Gudakesh Motie as West Indies look to bolster their batting and fast bowling attack.
Litton Das will return to the side but there’s going to be debate about who will get the other batting spot in the absence of Mushfiqur and Shanto.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Zakir Hasan, 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Shahadat Hossain, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Nahid Rana, 11 Hasan Mahmud
Pitch and conditions: Rains and Pace
The pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium traditionally favours fast bowling. There’s, however, rain in the forecast on all five days around North Sound.
Jasprit Bumrah and Pat Cummins kinda sorta sparkled in their freshly pressed Test whites on Thursday morning. Swap the green grass for a catwalk stage and Perth for Paris – the picture would’ve been complete.
A photo op with the Border-Gavaskar trophy brought two of the world’s leading fast bowlers together and over the next few days they will determine the course of the cricket.
Captaincy has usually been the domain of batters. Their workloads allow them the space to work on tactics and team management, and the division of labour is arguably a little bit easier. When you’re at the crease, you just have to worry about scoring runs. As a bowler, you’re planning your spell – R Ashwin says he sequences 25 balls at a time – you’re focused on millions of minutiae – line, length, pace, variation – it can become taxing to keep an eye on the big picture.
Bumrah, though, argues the big picture is merely the next natural step of the whole bowling process and it comes with a pretty cool perk.
“I can manage myself the best when I am the captain,” he said on the eve of the first Test in Perth, “Because I know when I am fresh, I know when I have to push myself and I know when I have to take extra responsibility. Obviously yes, there are different challenges but there are advantages as well I look at the advantages, that I understand bowling. You understand where the wicket is changing, what changes you have to make, what field sets are good at this moment. Obviously, bowlers do a lot more research and data-driven as well than batters because that is how the game is headed. So I look at the positives more than the negatives. Obviously there will be challenges and you want to be tested and you want to have challenges.”
Bumrah got into cricket because he was struck by the whole experience of fast bowling. As he has grown in stature, assuming first the senior bowler’s position and then broader leadership roles, he’s been eager to do more. It might also excite him that there haven’t been a lot of people who’ve walked the path he’s on – temporary though it may be given Rohit Sharma is expected to be joining the team ahead of the day-night practice game in Canberra at the end of November.
India’s only other fast bowling captain – Kapil Dev (played 34, won 4, lost 7, tied 1, drawn 22) – was more of an allrounder. There are others that come with the same asterisk – Shaun Pollock (P 26, W 14, L 5, D 7), Ben Stokes (P 29, W 17, L 11, D 1) and Jason Holder (P 37, W 11, L 21, D 5) being notable examples. Wasim Akram (P 25, W 12, L 8, D 5) and Courtney Walsh (P 22, W 6, L 7, D 9) didn’t just captain their respective countries, they actually got the chance to front up as fast-bowling captains against each other in 1997. There haven’t been too many occasions for that bit of history to repeat itself. In early 2024, Cummins faced off against Tim Southee’s New Zealand and now eight months later, he’s front and centre with Bumrah.
Cummins is a little further down the road in his dual roles than his opposite number. He was thrown into captaincy without doing a lot of it at domestic level but his Australian teams have found enormous success, particularly last year when they won the World Test Championship, retained the Ashes and became ODI World Cup winners as well.
It took a while for him to get into this groove. “I’d say, yeah, maybe, you know, maybe a summer or so,” Cummins said. “So maybe a year, maybe, you know, 10 Test matches or so. I think until you’re fully comfortable [with the dual role].
“But I don’t think I’ve particularly changed too much over those 10 Test matches. Your intuition gets a little bit stronger. But, you know, even when I was really new to it, I’ve just got wonderful, you know, team-mates and staff who are helping you out. So you never really feel like you’re out there alone.
“The question is always just are you bowling too much or not enough? That’s always the question, which, yeah, again, gut feel. Speak to some other people out there, kind of come up with a decision.”
Bumrah will have the same kind of support – he made his Test debut under Virat Kohli in 2018 and spent a lot of time with Rohit Sharma right from his IPL debut in 2013 – but he’s also very keen to stand out on his own.
“So I spoke to Rohit,” Bumrah said about the captaincy, “But when we came here, then I got a little more clarity because he was also not sure about his situation at that moment. But yes, when I came here then the coach [Gautam Gambhir] and the management gave me the clarity that I will be leading in this game.
“My way is, you have to find your own way, you can’t blindly copy anyone. Obviously both of them are very successful and have gotten a lot of results. But my way, I have always never followed a copybook plan in terms of my bowling as well. If you can see that I have never followed a module, I go with my instincts. That’s how I have always played my cricket and I have a lot of faith in my instincts and gut. So that is what I go with and tactically as a bowler, you always make a lot of plans. You are well aware of what to do, what adjustments you have to make during the game of cricket. So yes, I look at it this way and I try to cover all bases as much as I can.”
Australia have played four Tests at Optus Stadium and won all four. They have a very settled side for the last three years of Cummins’ captaincy, which he found a little “weird” considering international sport tends to come with a fair bit of churn. India are facing that churn right now, starting this tour on the back of a 0-3 defeat at home to New Zealand, and having to come up with an XI with a couple of first-choice players missing.
Bumrah has been doing his bit to address this discrepancy between the two teams. “The message that I would give them is that I always believe on self-belief that is there,” he said. “Because at this moment how cricket is going, everybody has played a lot of cricket. On that day, if you believe that you are good enough, you can make an impact It doesn’t matter if you have played 100 Test matches or 50 Test matches, it depends on what is going on inside you.
“When I came here [in 2018] it was just my second tour. But in my head I wanted to make a difference and I was not looking at I am inexperienced I was looking at myself that how can I contribute And if I believe I can do it then I will make a difference So that is the message that I have passed on as well.
“A lot of players are coming to Australia for the first time, but they have a lot of first-class cricket, IPL experience, international experience behind them. The players have now learned how to handle the good days and the bad days. On the good days, it’s not as if we go too high, and similarly, we also need to learn to deal with the bad days if we have to play international cricket. Those are the conversations which we have been having. Moving forward is most important. The focus of our preparations has been to start from zero, get used to the conditions, get used to the weather, and focus on what needs to be done to succeed over here.”
Perth Scorchers 126 (Mooney 44, Halliday 41, Gardner 4-21) tied with Sydney Sixers 126 for 7 (Perry 67, King 3-21) Super overSydney Sixers 15 for 0 tied with Perth Scorchers 15 for 1
Perth Scorchers edged into the WBBL finals frame with a dramatic Super Over tie against Sydney Sixers with Mikayla Hinkley hitting Ashleigh Gardner’s last ball for four to again tie scores
Gardner had taken four wickets as Scorchers stumbled to 126 all out from 19.2 overs. Sixers then fell one run short of a regulation win despite Ellyse Perry’s fine 67 from 53 balls.
In the initial super over, Perry smacked a six and a four as Sixers made 15 for 0 from Amy Edgar’s spin bowling. Gardner removed Beth Mooney with a sharp return catch in the reply, although replays suggested the ball may have been ground, before Hinkley provided the final drama.
Both sides received one point, which lifts Scorchers (nine points) from fifth to fourth, while Sixers (eight points) remain in sixth spot.
Perry starred with the bat and Gardner did likewise with the ball – she took 4 for 21 as Scorchers dramatically lost their last 9 for 31
After Gardner claimed her first wicket in the second over of the innings, Beth Mooney and Brooke Halliday produced a fruitful partnership.
The duo took the score to a solid 72 for 1 after 10 overs, but 23 runs later Halliday became Gardner’s second victim, ending an 85-run stand with Mooney. Halliday’s dismissal triggered the slide. Mooney followed in the next over, and from then only Sophie Devine reached double figures.
Perry paced the chase, posting her half-century from 42 balls. But the skipper was caught on the long-off boundary from the bowling of Alana King in the 18th over, and the legspinner struck again next ball, trapping Maitlan Brown leg before wicket.
That left Sixers needing 20 from 15 balls, and the equation was 12 runs to win from the last over delivered by Edgar, who conceded 11.
Edgar was summoned to bowl the super over and Perry smashed a six and four. Gardner then conceded the same amount, with Hinkley unbeaten on 14 from four balls – three of which she hit to the boundary.
The wait is finally over, and Pat Cummins might feel a sense of relief that the Border-Gavaskar series has arrived.
He stood on the outfield at the MCG three weeks ago, the day before the start of an ODI series against Pakistan and fielded more questions about the Test side than he did about the one-day team.
All Australia’s captain has been asked about for months has been the arrival of India. Australia’s exit from the T20 World Cup in the Super Eight phase in June passed by relatively quietly at home because it happened in the middle of the night. Australia’s white-ball of the UK tour only made headlines because of the injury to Cameron Green and the ramifications that would have on the Test team.
The ODI loss to Pakistan caused a brief storm, ironically because five players were rested to prepare for the Tests. Barely anyone made any complaints when those same players were rested from the following T20I series that only finished on Monday, which was won 3-0 by Australia.
For the Australian public, only one thing seems to matter, and that is beating India in a Test series at home this summer.
They haven’t done it in 10 years. Australia have won a T20 World Cup, a World Test Championship and an ODI World Cup in that time, all away from home. But none of those achievements appear to matter quite as much to Australian cricket fans as back-to-back home defeats to India.
“I think for about half the change room we haven’t won the Border-Gavaskar, so it’s kind of one of the last things to tick off I think for a lot of us,” Cummins said on Thursday. “I also think almost every challenge that we’ve had thrown at us over the last few years, we’ve stepped up and done well. I think to do that for another year, another home summer would kind of cement this, rather than just being a two or three season thing, it’s suddenly into a half generation thing. So, yeah, we’re all excited.”
The anticipation has reached fever pitch. The back pages of some of Australia’s major papers have been printed in Hindi.
While a lot of focus has been on India in the build-up in Perth, due to the questions around their form and the make-up of their XI, this quietly looms as a big moment for this Australian team.
Cummins’ side has talked a lot about legacy. They want to be known as a great Australian team. But the reality is they haven’t got long left together. Ten of the XI in Perth will be over the age of 30. Usman Khawaja turns 38 on the fifth day of the third Test of this summer. Nathan Lyon turned 37 on Wednesday. Steven Smith is 35. Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will turn 35 and 34 respectively in January.
Despite strong insistence otherwise from the selectors, there is no doubt Nathan McSweeney’s addition to the side as a makeshift opener is partly due to his age of 25.
A third successive home series loss to India would not only tarnish the team’s legacy, it would also spell the end of an era. But Cummins believes there is no extra weight of expectation on his side.
“I’m not sure if it’s pressure,” Cummins said. “You always feel pressure playing at home. You want to do well. Us, as Aussies, expect to do really well here at home. So we know they’re a really strong side, and a lot of us were part of those most recent two or three series. It’s a big series. We’re kind of not looking too far in the past. It’s more every summer, whoever we’re playing against, we want to do well.”
There are no excuses this time. Australia were missing Smith and David Warner in 2018-19. There was strong discontent within the group around the coach Justin Langer in 2020-21.
This time the camp is as settled and as comfortable as they have ever been. Their opponents are the ones under fire. India enter Australia off a 3-0 home defeat to New Zealand. The last time Australia lost three Tests in a home series, in the 2010-11 Ashes, the selectors were sacked, the captain resigned and Cricket Australia commissioned a full scale independent review which led to the coach resigning after he was asked to reapply for his job.
Australia have been able to prepare quietly and calmly in Perth. But they know the knives remain sharp if they were to slip up. The saga around Smith’s stint as opener and the mass resting around the ODI series loss to Pakistan was proof that the Australian public are not unwavering in their support. But that decision was all about the big picture. And Cummins was confident it would bear fruit across what looms as a brutal five-Test series.
“A Perth ODI, 48 hours after playing Adelaide, we just thought it was kind of high risk for our players to go there and then fly back to Sydney, and then fly back here a few days later,” Cummins said. “Some people might disagree. I think it’s one of those ones that you might not necessarily see the benefits of it right away, but obviously we’ve got five Tests then into Sri Lanka and lots of other cricket. So it might not be until a few months later that you see those extra four days of travel kind of paid dividends.”
Australia have timed their preparation to the minute after months of talking. A vulnerable India awaits. It’s now or never to claim the Border-Gavaskar trophy for Cummins and his crew.
Alex Malcolm is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
On the eve of the first Test, as he went about various media duties, Australia captain Pat Cummins appeared extremely relaxed and seemingly sported a permanent smile.
He seems to have good reason to feel at ease. While much of the focus ahead of the series has been on the uncertainty over India’s line-up, Australia’s XI has been settled ever since uncapped Nathan McSweeney won the race to partner Usman Khawaja at the top of the order.
It’s an experienced group of players and they are relatively refreshed with a lot of forward planning having been made in a bid to get them through a gruelling five-match series played within seven weeks.
But if there has been a cause for concern, it’s the fitness of allrounder Mitchell Marsh who has only bowled four overs since tearing his hamstring during the IPL.
All of those overs were in the fourth ODI against England at Lord’s in September. He then pulled up sore and missed the subsequent match before playing as a specialist batter for Western Australia in two Sheffield Shield matches in October.
Marsh had publicly declared ahead of the second Shield match, against Tasmania, that he would return to bowling but his body was not quite ready. His role with the ball has grown in significance for Australia with Cameron Green missing the entire series due to a stress fracture of his back.
Having become a father a day earlier, his wife Greta giving birth to their first child, Marsh on Monday pushed through weariness and built up his bowling loads in a lengthy centre wicket session as Australia started their first Test preparations. There were no signs of discomfort as Marsh powered through the crease and he also impressed during Australia’s training session on Wednesday.
“He will definitely bowl this Test. He is an allrounder and with the way us four bowlers set out, we never really budget around an allrounder bowling heaps,” Cummins said.
Marsh, however, is unlikely to be able to cover Green’s workload. He was used sparingly during the seven Tests last summer where he never bowled more than nine overs in an innings.
Marsh, 33, is set to be utilised across a couple of short spells, possibly relatively early in the innings given his ability to produce outswing and also around the 60-70 over mark with the old ball.
“We never put an upper limit [on overs] on anyone,” Cummins said. “But he’s ready to go and happy to bowl as much as we need. I would imagine a few spells each innings. He’s been bowling great this week, his body is the best it has been for a while.”
Along with Marsh and Travis Head’s handy offspin, Cummins might also revert to Marnus Labuschagne, who has emerged as an unlikely seam bowling option after lengthy stints in the Shield caught many observers by surprise. He has almost exclusively bowled seam rather than legspin, which has yielded him some success previously at Test level.
Having taken the captaincy reins of Queensland, Labuschagne has utilised himself with the ball and took 2 for 5 from 6.2 overs in the season opener against Western Australia at the WACA. He then bowled 27 overs across the match against South Australia at Allan Border Field.
His bowling has been marked by short-ball aggression, which he has also unfurled during Australia’s training sessions ahead of the first Test, providing a potential tactic for Cummins to utilise.
“He’s always trying to impress the ball, which is great,” Cummins said. “He loves bowling. He’s one of those guys, as we know, who always wants to be involved. He’s bowled some handy overs for Queensland. Obviously, he’s got legspin, a bit of offspin in the past and then this year, it’s been on to pace bowling.
“I’m sure he’ll get the ball at some stage and bowl quite a few bouncers as well. So that’s maybe something we’ll turn to at some point as well.”
While there is intrigue over Australia’s back-up bowlers, a refreshed Cummins and his frontline attack are hoping to mostly shoulder the workload. He will enter the series having not played red-ball cricket since March in New Zealand.
Cummins was earmarked to play a Shield match for New South Wales, but has instead played one domestic 50-over game and two ODIs against Pakistan.
“I feel great. Couldn’t have asked for a better lead in, so hopefully it translates into a good summer,” he said. “I’ve been really lucky to have four or five months off to build up, get strong. I feel as strong and as fresh and as fit as I have for a long time.”
