Why Marnus situation irks Aussie greats so much; ‘honest’ reveal in selection ‘madness’ — Talking Points

Australia’s batting is once again in the gun as several greats of the baggy green reveal their frustration with the current crop.

Following Australia’s innings and 31-run loss in Gqeberha, the spotlight will firmly shine on the Australian selectors ahead of the series finale in Cape Town as several members of the top seven run out of rope.

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Meanwhile, a recently retired Australian batter revealed the moment that changed Steve Smith forever after the champion endured a tough Test with a neck issue.

He also lifted the lid on why several Australian greats find Marnus Labuschagne just so frustrating.

Scroll down for the biggest talking points from the second Test!

WRAP: Cult hero’s 3-hour vigil, Head ton not enough as Aussies sink to crushing Test defeat

PLAYER RATINGS: Only THREE Aussies pass in Test horror show as brutal failures laid bare

‘EVER SINCE…’: HOW UNFORGETTABLE ASHES MOMENT CHANGED SMITH

Prior to the second Test getting underway in Gqeberha, Australian skipper Pat Cummins brushed away concerns that Steve Smith would be retiring at any time soon.

But there is a reality at play irrespective of what unfolds over the great Test odyssey the Australian Test team is in the infancy of over the next 12 months.

Smith, who said in September he was not certain whether he would still be playing by the time the next Ashes rolls around, is clearly in the golden dotage of a remarkable career.

As a result, the aches and pains and niggles that inflict everyone as they age are becoming part of the process the superstar has to manage as he continues to strive for his best form.

In the first Test in Durban he was struck on the helmet by a bouncer from Anrich Nortje and forced to undergo a series of concussion tests after being rattled by the delivery.

He also ran from the field after taking one of several superb slips catches wringing his finger after copping a nasty blow.

In this Test it was a neck complaint that flares from time to time that badly hindered him when batting in the first innings, with Smith defiant despite the severe discomfort he was in.

As a result, the champion slid down the order to bat at No.7 and was pictured in the rooms on Wednesday afternoon wearing a brace of sorts around his neck.

He appeared uncomfortable throughout his 20-ball innings on day five and perished in uncharacteristic fashion.

Smith miscued a pull shot off Kagiso Rabada, who had the second ball at his disposal, and Matthew Breetzke took a juggling catch.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald was stunned by what he saw from the team balcony.

Smith’s dismissal followed his former teammate Usman Khawaja saying that he had been more susceptible to bouncers and the issues a head knock can cause since being struck by Jofra Archer at Lord’s seven years ago.

“Ever since Jofra got him in that Ashes in 2019, he’s definitely been very susceptible,” he said on Kayo Sports coverage of the Australian tour of South Africa.

“I know, as a fact, playing with him, (that) we used to joke around with him like ‘Woah. Don’t touch his head’.

“It’s obviously something he’s had to carry and he’s still batted beautifully during that time. He’s a world class, quality player. But there’s something that’s been there ever since he got hit by Jofra Archer.”

Fellow Kayo Sports expert analyst Kerry O’Keeffe said that age is an additional factor that veterans have to adjust to in order to keep performing in their prime.

“He’s been hit a few times, Steve Smith, and it’s going to take its toll,” O’Keeffe said.

“He’s now in the veteran class, Smudger, so the more you keep getting hit and the more you keep getting little injuries like this, it’ll play on you.”

Australian captain Pat Cummins declared that Smith would be fit and hopefully firing in Cape Town.

“He’ll be fine. He just twisted his neck a little bit yesterday, I think, when batting, and he was padded up last night,” he said.

“But we kind of thought we would drop him down a couple of spots and then (see how he) woke up this morning. He’s fine, so he’ll be fine for next week.”

‘STRUGGLED TO FIGURE IT OUT…’

If Australian cricket fans have felt confused by some of the selectors’ recent decisions, they are not alone.

An 88-Test batter, who was in the Australian team as recently as January’s Sydney Test, has been baffled too.

Usman Khawaja was left “shocked” by the decision to deploy Nic Maddinson, who fell for 0 and 8 in Gqeberha, as an opener instead of Matt Renshaw.

In a conversation with former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe about whether Beau Webster should hold his place or Cooper Connolly should be awarded a second Test match in Cape Town, Khawaja revealed that he has struggled to figure out what the Australian hierarchy are trying to achieve at the moment.

“Who has the highest all-round ceiling? Cooper Connolly or Beau Webster? For mine, it’s Cooper Connolly,” O’Keeffe pondered.

Khawaja replied: “I think there’s a balance between we’re trying to win this series and we’re trying to blood new players. There’s a fine balance between them…

Brendon Julian interjected: “Which is weird because they picked Maddinson.

Khawaja continued: “Normally, I’m going to be honest, and I love Andrew McDonald and George Bailey. I have a really good relationship with them, and I really like the way they’ve selected over the past five years.

“But the last little bit, it’s been hard to figure out the process and how they’re thinking. I mean, I’ve actually struggled just trying to figure it out.

“I’m always interested because I know for a fact with Andrew McDonald and George Bailey, there’s always a method to the madness, even though they don’t tell you what it is.

“They don’t tell everyone what it is, but there is always a method to it.”

Whatever that method is, O’Keeffe believes Maddinson needs to go at the top of the order.

“I just feel for him because he’s in a really tough role against quality bowlers and he’s been thrown in the cauldron at the toughest spot there is,” he said.

“And he’s an admirable person, Nic Maddinson. We know that and he’s much respected within the side, but Rabada will be in Cape Town, and Maddinson shouldn’t be in Cape Town if Rabada is there.”

O’Keeffe then put the question to Khawaja if the experience of one of his former opening partners against arguably the premier fast bowler in the world two summers ago led to the Maddinson selection.

“Do you think after Bumrah put paid to Nathan McSweeney that Nic Maddinson was an expendable option against Rabada, rather than a Campbell Kellaway or one of those guys?” O’Keeffe asked.

“I think they’re very careful in not putting McSweeney back up top,” Khawaja replied.

“McSweeney likes to bat four, likes to bat in that middle order, and I think they threw him to the wolves a little bit there.

“I don’t understand why we’re trying to find an opener. I think they’re very mindful that if McSweeney plays for Australia again, they’re going to give him a fair crack.”

WHY AUSSIE GREATS ARE SO ANNOYED BY MARNUS

Former Australian batter Usman Khawaja dropped from the Test team eight times in his 15-year career.

While his old New South Wales teammate Simon Katich featured in 56 of the 109 Tests Australia played from his debut in the 2001 Ashes to sustaining an Achilles injury his final Test in the 2010/11 Ashes.

Katich infamously wanted to play on but was axed from Cricket Australia’s contract list at age 35 as his old adversary Michael Clarke became captain.

It is safe to say Khawaja and Katich, who were both also shuffled around the line-up from the middle order to No.3 and opening at various times in their careers, would have loved the leniency Marnus Labuschagne has been shown by the selectors.

Katich made that clear on commentary for SEN yesterday when he bellowed “what the hell is that” as Labuschagne holed out after trying to launch spinner Simon Harmer over the fence, into the wind.

While Khawaja was similarly dumbfounded.

“I always had a rule that when you’re playing against a spinner and you’re hitting into the wind, don’t do it,” he said on Kayo Sports before play began on day five.

Such a horrific dismissal has stamped the papers of many an international batter.

But Labuschagne seems to have nine lives.

Cummins said it is frustrating that Labuschagne is getting out in the thirties but believes it is a mental issue rather than a technique problem.

“The hardest thing about opening or batting three is actually getting yourself in,” Cummins said.

“The ball’s normally doing a bit. He’s actually doing the hard part. He’s getting to 30, but I think he’s gotta find ways to turn those into bigger scores. It’s certainly not a technique error. Maybe a couple of decision-makings.

“Some decisions when maybe the game demanded something a little bit different. Again, we’ll work on that in the next couple of days. He’s hitting the ball well. There’s one Test match left in the series. We’ve got to win this. The next three days will be about, how do we win next week?”

Former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe said on Kayo Sports that he would give Labuschagne another chance in the series finale, but in a different role.

“Oh, definitely, but I’d still give him one last chance, even push him off to open instead of Maddinson at Cape Town,” O’Keeffe replied when asked by former Australian fast bowler Brendon Julian if Labuschagne was running out credits.

The Queenslander seemingly continues to find ways to avoid the axe – be it through others’ failures or strong domestic form.

Khawaja believes several former players are basically jealous that they were dealt with more harshly.

“The reason everyone’s so frustrated, particularly the older generation – you see it like you saw Katich was gone – I see a lot of other people frustrated because he’s been three years without scoring a hundred, 47 innings,” Khawaja said.

“At some point, everyone looks back on their career, even myself being dropped eight times, like you never got leeway for that long.

“So the question is, what is the reason for the leeway? And we haven’t really got a concrete reason from Andrew McDonald and the selectors of what they’re feeling.

“Obviously, we think that they think he’s still in the top six, but even to that, it’s just one of those things where it’s a bit hard to understand at times.”

“We talked about the context of low-scoring games being really important and how they fit in there. He played some nice innings in those low-scoring games,” Khawaja added.

“He actually has done it. It was a couple of years ago in New Zealand. I remember he got 90, he made it really well.

“But then we’ve had some good wickets after that point and he hasn’t scored runs on those good wickets.

“I guess the thing for me is also, when we talk about this, they talked about, ‘If we drop Marnus, who do we have to pick back in this team?’

“But we’ve got plenty of players in Sheffield Shield cricket who are very good players, who are pretty much averaging and doing the same as Marnus in that respect.”

LITTLE-KNOWN LEFTIES SELECTORS NEED TO NOTICE

If the Australian selectors decide to ring the changes to their batting line-up for the third Test, it will be from the squad members who are already in South Africa.

With the next Test starting in Cape Town on Tuesday, it is highly unlikely that they fly over someone straight from the Sheffield Shield when Cameron Green and Josh Inglis are on the comeback trail, and Sam Harper is waiting in the wings.

“It’s not a perfect science,” Cummins said.

“There’s always the challenge of, do you give someone one more game or do you feel like now is the right time to make a move? That’s what will be spoken about in the next few days. I think we probably will have Cam Green and Josh Inglis available next week. I’m sure their names will get thrown around.

“There’s always a delicate balance. Do we feel like someone is about to turn the corner? Or does now feel like the right time for a change-up?”

Calling up prospects out of domestic cricket may have to wait for the home summer against New Zealand.

But one of the criticisms of those plying their trade at the level below, is the many with the best records in Shield, have been tried and tested in the baggy green.

Although, one little known 27-year-old Queenslander has yet to taste international cricket and has caught the eye of his former teammate Usman Khawaja.

While another left-hander, who averages 144 in Test cricket but has only donned the baggy green twice, peeled off a first innings century at the WACA this week and is staking a strong claim for a recall.

“You’ve got Kurtis Patterson right now, he’s scored the house down,” Khawaja said on Kayo Sports.

“Marnus averages 38 in Sheffield Shield cricket. Kurtis is about 39. He’s just scored a hundred. He’s been scoring runs.

“If you look at it, Peter Handscomb, 39. Terrific player. Cameron Bancroft, only 32 years old, also 38.

“Marcus Harris, obviously. These are all Test players other than Jack Clayton. He’s a young guy that I played with.

“He’s scored six centuries, averaging 38, and no one talks about him. He’s played 42 games now. So the narrative when people are saying, ‘Oh yeah, but you know…’

“I’m not going to wholly talk about Marnus here, but when they devalue Sheffield Shield cricket, it frustrates me. Because I’m like, okay, if Marnus is good enough to play for Australia with that Sheffield Shield record, why can’t any of these guys play?”

Former Australian leg spinner Kerry O’Keeffe agreed with Khawaja, saying Patterson and Clayton could come into the mix for the first Test against the Black Caps in Perth on December 9.

“In that list, the two that interest me, and I know you’ve played with and against them (Usman), are Jack Clayton, who bats four for Queensland, and Kurtis Patterson, who bats three for New South Wales,” O’Keeffe said.

“I think they’ve got a higher ceiling at this stage of their careers than some of the others on that list.

“And I think they’ll enter calculations, back in Australia, Clayton and Patterson.”

CENTURION SILENCES DOUBTERS

Travis Head was attacking in a fiery press conference in Durban before the South Africa series had started, determined to smash critics of the Australian selectors over the boundary.

The diatribe was aimed at Matthew Hayden after the former opener’s inflammatory comments surrounding the selection of Nic Maddinson, as accurate as they have proven.

But with his moustache bristling, Head aired his frustration about the chatter surrounding his status as an opener and where he is best suited to bat for Australia.

“I have laughed at a fair bit of it because if a traditional opening batter had pushed out the same sort of numbers in his first 20 innings, I think he would be pretty safe and not talked about in the way that it has been talked about,” Head said.

“But I think that that’s a bit of the media these days: it’s not so much a good day, bad day (assessment). It’s a lot of headline stuff.

“I had a great summer (but) missed out that first day in Darwin and I’m no good at it again? So that (talk) doesn’t bother me in the slightest. If people want to read it and are happy and not having a dig (so be it), but people are going to click on it if it’s drawing the line through someone.

“I’ve played more than enough to know that that happens. More of that will happen on Friday if I open the batting and miss out. The same question marks. Vice versa, if I play well, they’ll probably still think I should go to five. But that is up to you guys.”

‘NOT ABOUT THE HUNDRED’: Head caps off 12-month rampage with latest ton to enter new frontier

Head was not laughing when he walked off St George’s Park on Thursday, but what the Australian vice-captain did with a fine century was lay a marker in the ground.

The Australian batting order had been labelled “pretty gutless” by an old foe Vernon Philander for the way they succumbed meekly for just 99 in a shocker on Wednesday.

But Head showed significant grit in recording his first century against South Africa and just his second on foreign soil after the stunning performance against India in the World Test Century in 2023 at The Oval.

He batted with poise, admirably shepherded by nightwatchman Scott Boland, and rose to the occasion when making 121 in what is a confidence boosting innings.

“It depends what (gutless) means, really,” Cummins said.

“I think you’ve got to find a way in Test cricket. It’s not always going to be easy. You saw today with Scotty and Trav, sometimes it’s going to be about getting through the tough spells, sticking to your method, and I think we went away from that.

“(There were) a couple of loose shots. We could have hung around and waited for the game to come to us a little bit more. Looking around the change room at how good our batters are, and the standards they all hold themselves to, I think we’re short of the runs we’d like. We make it hard for ourselves sometimes … there were a lot of moments where we weren’t good enough.”

Philander was critical of the Australians on Wednesday. But he singled out both Head and Boland for praise during a stint with broadcaster SEN from the ground on Thursday.

The Australians fell short in Gqeberha and there is everything to play for in Cape Town in the Test beginning next Tuesday. But at least Head demonstrated he was up for the fight.

It is not just important for that Test, Philander said. By batting with patience and poise and making a century on foreign soils, he can approach the rest of the odyssey with confidence.

The 32-year-old has opened on the subcontinent before and Philander believes he can excel there, while this will also boost his confidence in opening in English conditions in the Ashes.

“This innings will do his confidence the world of good, just with the tempo he has batted with, He has almost had to bat within himself,” Philander said.

“That will be a good point of reference when he plays in the subcontinent. It is easier to score with the new ball there.”

BOLAND’S EPIC STAND

Speaking of grit, Boland deserves significant praise for the manner with which he batted in support of Head and in the time after the opener’s departure following his fine century.

As the Victorian batted with defiance against the South African superstars Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen to record the highest Test score of his career in his longest innings.

The 37-year-old, who is the oldest fast bowler to represent Australia in 66 years, had already justified his selection with five wickets and then demonstrated real resilience with the bat.

One suspects former Australian Test opener Simon Katich was only half-joking when suggesting that the veteran should be used as the opener in Cape Town because he had at least put a price on his wicket and demonstrated an ability to blunt the new ball.

But there is more to it than that, according to Philander.

Boland, who has now served as a nightwatchman on seven occasions for Australia, demonstrated what was possible on this wicket if they were prepared to dig in.

“It will be sending a clear message to his top order that if you apply yourself, you can bat on this surface,” Philander said.

“Let’s give him a lot of credit for the way he has gutsed it out. To the top order, it is a worthy note to be made. Scotty Boland must be wondering what is happening on the other side.”