Ricky Ponting has declared that Scott Boland should be axed if Josh Hazlewood is fit to play the third Test against India, while Travis Head and Mohammed Siraj are both expected to be charged by the ICC. Boland was brilliant in the second Test in Adelaide, taking five dismissals as Australia thrashed India by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1.
But with Hazlewood seemingly right to go for the third match in Brisbane starting on Friday, Boland appears the unlucky man set to miss out again. Speaking on the final day’s play in Adelaide, Ponting said Boland would be unlucky to miss out but declared selectors only have one option.
“Even though Boland has bowled brilliantly, I would still prefer Hazlewood in the playing XI for Brisbane,” the former Test captain said. Ponting has previously declared Boland the “unluckiest cricketer” in Test history due to the fact he’s been kept out of the Australian side by three all-time greats – Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins.
And speaking after Australia wrapped up the second Test in the first session of day three, Cummins hinted that Hazlewood will come straight back in. Selectors might opt to rest Starc and keep him fresh for the final two matches, although that appears unlikely considering his brilliance in Adelaide.
“I thought it was a Herculean effort from Starcy and Scotty,” Cummins said. “It was hot … humid, and basically just kept rotating the bowlers and bowling all day. Huge effort from those guys, who showed their class.
“I feel very lucky as a captain to have those guys, and then having someone like (Nathan Lyon), who we didn’t even need to call on. It feels I’ve got a lot of tools at my disposal, so I feel very lucky. Fairly confident he’ll (Hazlewood) be right for Brisbane. If someone needs to make way, they’ll be pretty unlucky.”
Travis Head and Muhammed Siraj set to be charged by ICC
Meanwhile, Head and Suraj are both expected to be charged with misconduct by the ICC, but neither are likely to be suspended. There were ugly scenes on the second day in Adelaide when Siraj gave Head a send-off after dismissing him for 140, before Head swore at the Indian bowler.
The rivals appeared to bury the hatchet on-field after the second Test, sharing a hug and conversation. But the ICC will reportedly take a dim view of their altercation and charge both players.
Head had earlier claimed he told Siraj “well bowled” before the Indian quick showed him where to go, but Siraj fired back and claimed that was a lie. “What he said in the press conference wasn’t right, it’s a a lie that he only said ‘well bowled’ to me,” Siraj told Indian broadcaster Star Sports in comments translated from Hindi.
“It’s there for everyone to see that that’s not what he said to me. I respect everybody because cricket is a gentleman’s game but what he did wasn’t right. I didn’t like it at all.”
But Head is happy to move on and draw a line under the fiery scenes. “It was fine,” he said of their conversation on Sunday. “He said: ‘Why did you swear?’ I sort of said, ‘Look, I didn’t at first … (but) I definitely swore at you the second time round’. Sweet with it. He came out and just said (it was) a little bit of misunderstanding. We’ll move on. We’ve had a great week so let’s not let it ruin it.”
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Cummins said the incident is simply part-and-parcel of a heated series, and so did India captain Rohit Sharma. However Rohit did warn Suraj about stepping over the line after a number of flare-ups throughout the series so far.
“He likes to get into the batters, as simple as that. It gives him success and as a captain it’s my job to back that aggression,” he said. “Obviously there’s a fine line between that, we don’t want to cross anything that can bring disrepute into the game.
“But obviously having a word or two with the opposition isn’t a bad thing and he likes it and that is what gets him going. In the past we have seen so many cricketers who like that battle and Siraj is definitely one of them.”
with AAP
