The week in Australian cricket: Chappell v Tendulkar

Shane Watson’s 87,862^nd comeback

Or is it his 87,863rd? Either way Australia, who at the heights of their dominance of the early 2000s preferred not to pick a single all-rounder might, by the time the first Test against India rolls around, be in the mood to plump for two in one side. Putting aside the slim chance of Glenn Maxwell conjuring some kind of supernatural mind-control technique to erase his Abu Dhabi struggles from the collective consciousness, those two would be Watson and Mitchell Marsh. The latter impressed greatly with his patient batting and did next to nothing with the ball, despite that being the reason he was picked in the first place. It was that kind of tour for Australia and its selection panel.

It’s hard to say what of Watson’s batting would have particularly helped the cause against Pakistan, but his partnership-breaking reverse swing was sorely missed. Lest there was any doubt, the man himself says he’s prepared to bat anywhere against India. Watson is now fully recovered from his various ankle and calf complaints and found in the last two weeks that the best place to bat was half the world away from his Australian team-mates, on the North Sydney Oval.

All things considered, it looks increasingly likely that he’ll slide in to No3 at the continued, and perhaps terminal, expense of Alex Doolan. And to the probable frustration of both Phillip Hughes and Usman Khawaja. Hopes remain that a fit and refreshed Ryan Harris will, like Watson, also be firing on all remaining cylinders within the month. That UAE malarkey wasn’t such a bad tour for either of them to miss out on in the end, was it?

The wash-up from Abu Dhabi

There’s probably much more that could be said about the manner in which Australia were so comprehensively outplayed in Abu Dhabi (Barney Ronay did so to great effect here and I had a bit of a go at it too) but there’s no more time for that with the pressing matter of Australia’s limited overs clashes with South Africa hurtling at us at a decent clip. The latest word is that Brad Haddin’s injured shoulder is not fractured as first feared, and the Australian keeper might even take the gloves back from Matthew Wade by the end of the one-day series.

The Little Blaster

It’s hard to say yet what will come from this latest Greg Chappell-India fracas, in which Sachin Tendulkar has used his soon-to-be-released autobiography to aim some fairly lusty blows at his former coach, but we probably haven’t heard the last of it. Tendulkar claims that Chappell was not only a “ringmaster” who divided the Indian players during his ill-starred tenure as national coach, but a meddler who in the months leading up to the 2007 World Cup sought to install Tendulkar as national captain at the expense of Rahul Dravid.

If these initial extracts are anything to go by then should we buckle in for Tendulkar’s hot takes on the Monkeygate affair? There is some irony at play here, because for all Tendulkar’s “dismay” and Chappell “not showing the slightest amount of respect for the captain”, Tendulkar’s own response of instructing the BCCI to send the team off to the 2007 World Cup without Chappell was perhaps a tad hypocritical.

For his part, Chappell returned served swiftly, flatly denying Tendulkar’s claims in a statement issued through Cricket Australia. In doing so, he positioned the Indian great as an exaggerator at the very least. It all augers rather inauspiciously for the upcoming Indian tour to Australia, during which such niggles are becoming a tradition. As ever, there will be at least one clear winner in this one and that’s book sales. And perhaps the lawyers.

The Sheffield Shield is back

There was an emphatic start to the first-class season by South Australia and their prolific paceman Chadd Sayers, who managed a hat-trick in his side’s eight-wicket win over Queensland at the Adelaide Oval. Of the losers, Chris Hartley (142 not out in the first innings) gave the national selectors another gentle nudge but after Adam Zampa (4-45 from 20.4 overs) had run through the Bulls for 152 in the second innings the Redbacks motored to their target of 228. Undefeated on an even century in the first innings, Callum Ferguson had also compiled another 65 by the time the chase came to its conclusion.

Tasmania sagged to a seven-wicket loss at the Waca and aside from Ed Cowan’s second innings century, had few answers to Western Australia’s battery, of whom the Nathans Rimmington and Coulter-Nile were most prolific. A few weeks shy of his 22^nd birthday, Cameron Bancroft broke through for his maiden first-class century for the Warriors.

Finally, Victoria needn’t do much this season to improve on their horrors of 2013-14, but a commanding nine-wicket win over New South Wales was a perfect start to the season for Greg Shipperd’s side. There was a century to veteran David Hussey, all the more poignant for intersecting with Australia’s shoddy display against Pakistan’s spinners, and likewise for all-rounder Dan Christian and the ever-promising but often under-delivering Peter Handscomb. Marcus Stoinis (84 not out from 63 deliveries) guided the Bushrangers to their 131-run victory target in rousing style.

‘Ronnie’ McDonald promoted to store manager

Rounding out domestic cricket news this week, 33-year-old former Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald has been appointed as Leicestershire’s new head coach, effective as of the 2015 County Championship season.

“Coaching has always been something I have harboured ambitions to pursue,” he told the Guardian. “I think that going into coaching at a relatively young age, while still involved in cricket in the way I am in Australia as a player, is a very progressive move for both myself and Leicestershire.”

Leicestershire’s interim CEO Andrew Boyce was effusive in his praise of the man currently plying his trade for South Australia. “Andrew McDonald is the epitome of Australian grit. He has a strong mental attitude to winning games,” Boyce said. “He helped us to get over the line on numerous occasions. Andrew was a good performer on the pitch and a very good person to have in the dressing room.”

Injuries never helped McDonald’s national prospects of course but those words sort of make you wonder how Australia, in such a fallow period, conspired to under-utilise his talents to the degree of just four Test appearances.

Weekend Warriors

I don’t know about you, but in the hack cricket leagues I’ve graced over the years, the sight of a camera strapped to the helmet of a batsman would have been an immediate target for both fast bowlers and fast talking fieldsmen. Not so in this clash between Salisbury North Cricket Club and Para Teacher in South Australia, which I’ve personally come to 11 months after the fact but found a real guilty pleasure since it was brought to my attention earlier in the week.

I’ll avoid any spoilers as to the content of the colourful conversations between the two batsmen, but should at this point issue a language warning and note that the YouTube user who uploaded it, “Froffies McVeigh”, purports to have since received a five-year ban “for sledging on Facebook”. Whether that is a ban from uploading videos or actually playing is not detailed.