Adelaide: The period between the first Test in Perth and their arrival in Adelaide has been a torrid one for the Australia team. There has been talk of a divide, Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out, there have been calls for Pat Cummins to get back up to speed and out-of-form Marnus Labuschagne is under the most scrutiny.
Now the team also faces the prospect of becoming the first Australia side since 1988 to lose three consecutive matches at home. They lost to West Indies in Brisbane in January, and that was followed by the 295-run loss in Perth; the day-night Test, starting here on Friday, can be a lottery at times.
“So, we’ve had a chance to reflect. We’re well and we understand that we didn’t play our best cricket in Perth and India totally outplayed us. But with all the other stuff, it’s been quite humorous in a way,” said Nathan Lyon. “Looking at how much has been said and the reactions of so many different people after one loss. The beauty of the five-Test series is that we get the opportunity to turn that around.
“That’s the challenge of what we face right now. Obviously coming up against a world-class India side that played an exceptional game of cricket over in Perth. But that’s been nine days ago now or so. So come Friday we go again, which I’m excited about.”
It isn’t all bad for the Aussies though. They do have something going in their favour: They have never lost a pink-ball game at this ground. But the key to their success has been their batting which currently feels like their weakest suit. They usually bat big in the first innings and build from there.
“We’ve got nothing but respect for every Indian that walks out there on Friday,” said Nathan Lyon. “That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to compete against them. So, we respect them, but we want to make sure that we’re playing our brand of cricket and competing very hard against a quality Indian team.”
The long break between matches is unusual but it has given the Aussies time to process what happened and how to get back on track. But each player does things in his own way.
“I think it’s very individual,” said Lyon of the way in which the team processed the loss. “You look at someone like myself, I think about the game a lot even when I’m at home. So, I’m not really going to comment on the way Starkey or Marnus or Smitty, they all debrief their own games. It’s about making sure that we understand where we can try and get better.
“At the end of the day, we’re humans. We’re going to make mistakes, but if we can go out there and try and get better and try and learn along the journey, then we’re going to put ourselves in a better position in our next fixture.”
One thing Lyon will take a lot of confidence from is his record at the Adelaide Oval. In 13 Tests at the venue, the off-spinner has taken 63 wickets at an average of 25.26. He isn’t alone either, for Mitchell Starc has 47 wickets at 17.76. Hazlewood (41 wkts at 16.82) will be a big miss but Australia will hope someone else can step up and fill the breach.
“We’re going to come down here and try and challenge the defence for long periods of time,” said Lyon. “We understand that we’re going to play against some of the extremely attacking players and that’s totally fine. But if we can get them to hit in the areas where we want them to (discussed in the Aussie bowling meetings), then we’ll see how we go and give it a crack.”
Either which way, the wait is almost over and players from both teams can’t wait to get the party started.
