Bazball… works? Smith declares Aussies must ‘talk about’ batting change, explains pitch’s key flaw

It was a concession from an Australian captain almost as wild as the scenes that unfolded throughout an extraordinary Boxing Day Test at the MCG that resulted in England ending a 14-year drought downunder.

When appraising the difference in England’s four wicket win at the MCG, Steve Smith conceded Australia could have taken a leaf out of the manner with which star Bazballer Harry Brook approached the task over the past two days.

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Excuse me? The same Harry Brook that was mocked for his audacious opening on Boxing Day when, with England at 3-8 in the fifth over, he danced down the track to Mitchell Starc on his first ball and tried to launch the Aussie out of the MCG?

It was not quite as blunt as saying that Bazball actually worked for once but Smith said the scoresheet did not lie, with the aggressive Brook top-scoring with 41 runs from 34 balls in the first innings before finishing unbeaten on 18 in the second.

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“It’s something that we could probably talk about now,” Smith said.

“I think the guy with the most success on that wicket was probably Harry Brook, you know, running down the wicket, playing some kind of rogue shots, I suppose, and trying to get the bowlers off their lengths that way. Whether we could have been a bit more proactive potentially and played a few more of those, that’s something we’ll talk about.

“But in the end, it’s also a tricky one to do that (because) you want to try and dig in for your team sometimes and if we were able to just extend a couple of those partnerships, then maybe the ball would have got a bit softer and played a little easier.

“We never really got to that point in the game, with both teams getting bowled out inside of 50 overs, I suppose, so it never really got to the point where it got soft and potentially would have been easier to bat.”

MCC chief executive Stuart Fox and head curator Matthew Page will front a special press conference on Sunday to discuss what went wrong with a pitch that outfoxed both sides in a match lasting two days.

Smith, who had described the deck as fuzzy on Christmas Day, said it was the reason Australia opted to proceed without a spinner and noted it was a testing wicket to bat on for everyone.

Prior to Christmas, Page said he was trying to replicate a wicket similar to the thriller last year in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but the deck was cut to 10mm, which is three millimetres more in length than the one used against India.

“It’s tough as a groundsman. I think he’s always looking for the right sort of balance, I suppose,” Smith said.

“Last year’s wicket was an outstanding one. It went to day five, the last session, and in an ideal world, every wicket does that and it’s exciting for for everyone.

“But maybe if you took it from 10mm to eight, it would have been a nice, challenging wicket, but maybe a little bit more even, I suppose. Groundsmen are always learning and, yeah, he’ll probably take something from that.

“There’s been some tricky ones, I think, over the last four or five years, particularly with the new ball. It wasn’t easy, as you could see. But we’ve played on quite a few tricky ones.”

Cricket Australia chief executive Todd Greenberg said on Saturday that short Test matches were bad for business, with the CA coffers certain to take a multi-million hit for the second time this summer following a similarly quick Test in Perth.

The first two days of the MCG drew more than 180,000 fans and are the two highest-attended cricket matches in Australia ever. But another 90,000 were expected to attend on Sunday and a strong crowd would also have been expected on Monday.

Greenberg flagged the prospect of CA taking more of a hand in the curation of Test pitches to ensure matches lasted longer than two days prior to another astonishing day where the ball largely dominated the bat.

Smith, for his part, said Australia could well have clinched the Test had they managed to add another 50 to 60 runs over their two innings, accepting there was some poor shots played by the team.

“I’m not sure (why it was different). We let them judge it and do what they see fit,” he said.

“I said before the game, it looked like it was probably going to offer a fair amount. That’s why we didn’t play a spinner. It probably did a little bit more than we thought it was going to do, but you still have got to find ways to adapt and if we got 50 or 60 more runs across both innings, then it could have been a different result.”

Top order batters Marnus Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald, along with all-rounder Cameron Green, have struggled for form over the past two Tests in particular and head to Sydney under some pressure.

“It’s not been easy. I’ll start with Marn. Obviously he got dropped, went back to Shield cricket and demanded selection, really, (because he) scored a mountain of runs,” Smith said.

“He probably hasn’t had the output that he’s wanted in the last couple. He played some really nice innings in the first two Tests … and then the last couple he’s obviously missed out. But that’s the game.

“Greenie, again, he’s had a few nice starts as well. He just hasn’t been able to go on with it and get the results … he’s been after. But we know he’s a quality player. He’s done it against some good oppositions in the past and hopefully he can turn it around.”