Australian coach Justin Langer knows where his wickets are coming from – he always has. But less than three weeks out from the first Test, where the runs are hiding is anyone's guess.
However fast-bowling spearhead Pat Cummins is adamant the runs will come as he prepares to shoulder a heavy workload with the ball this summer.
Has Marnus Labuschagne done enough?Credit:Lukas Coch
A Sheffield Shield clash in Canberra was billed as a showdown between the Australian bowling attack and three batsman desperate to join them for the first Test on December 6.
But the Australian selectors may have walked away with more questions than answers following NSW's decimation of the Queensland top order on day two at Manuka Oval on Saturday.
Joe Burns missed his first chance with a single-figure score and Matt Renshaw (21) didn't fare much better.
It left Marnus Labuschagne (52) to stand up with his Test incumbency on the line against Nathan Lyon (4-83) and the three-pronged pace attack of Cummins (3-41), Josh Hazlewood (2-53), and Mitchell Starc (1-71).
Labuschagne is on shaky ground ahead of Australia's looming Test series against India after scoring just 81 runs across four digs in the national side's recent bouts with Pakistan.
A classy half-century suggests the 24-year-old may deserve another shot despite an inside edge off Cummins that sent leg stump cartwheeling.
However the efforts of the star bowling quartet offer plenty of encouragement as Australia set their sights on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"We’ve shown once we bowl all together and bowl well, hopefully more often than not we’re going to get 20 wickets," Cummins said.
Mitchell Starc was bowling heat for the Blues.Credit:Lukas Coch
"The thing that really helped us last year in the Ashes was how well we batted as well, we had big breaks in between innings. That’s always going to be nice.
"We’ve got plenty of guys scoring runs in Shield cricket and new guys coming in that did well over in the UAE. I’m not too worried.
"Any time you come off a layoff you get an idea of how you’re travelling, but it’s not until you play a game that you really feel how your form is.
"Especially for me, not bowling heaps in games over the past few months, knowing I can bowl 20 overs in a day easily and my legs still feel pretty fresh [is reassuring].
"I feel like I can do it again in the second innings. I’m pretty much ready for a Test match now."
A day after NSW collapsed around a mercurial Moises Henriques century, the Australian quadrella combined for all bar one of the 88.4 overs to roll Queensland for 260.
The bowlers were made to toil for the final wicket amidst a 49-run stand but Cummins says that's just what he needed as the Blues took a 52-run lead at stumps against an outfit set to be without Brendan Doggett for the remainder of the game with a strained left quadricep.
"I got some miles in the legs and it was a really good hitout. It feels like I have covered most of the areas you're going to get in a Test match," Cummins said.
Is a half-century enough for Marnus Labuschagne?Credit:Lukas Coch
"It wasn’t easy out there, the batters were batting well and the wicket felt pretty flat. A really tough grind, but a pretty good result to bowl them out in 80-odd overs for less than what we got."
Australia's – or the Blues' for that matter – ability to take 20 wickets isn't the problem.
Thirty-five per cent of Australia's runs over the past five years have come from two men who will play at Coogee Oval rather than the MCG this summer.
India are yet to win a Test series on Australian soil but the absence of superstar batsmen Steve Smith and David Warner is making the image of Virat Kohli lifting the silverware more vivid by the day.
At a time when results haven't gone Australia's way, form is all that should matter. Trevor Hohns best be watching the final days of this Shield round.
SHEFFIELD SHIELD
Stumps, day two: NSW 279 (M Henriques 152; M Steketee 4-38) and 0-33 (N Larkin 20*; M Swepson 0-5) lead QLD 260 (M Neser 62, N Lyon 4-83) by 52 runs at Manuka Oval.
Source: Read Full Article