|
|
|
| November 3, 2005 | Thursday | Ramzan 29, 1426 |
Australia prefer Bracken’s swing over MacGill’s spin
BRISBANE, Nov 2: Australia have matched an expected pace barrage by picking swing bowler Nathan Bracken over second leg-spinner Stuart MacGill for the opening cricket Test against the West Indies starting on Thursday.
The Caribbean tourists, looking to rediscover their lost clout under Australian taskmaster Bennett King, are likely to unleash a four-pronged speed attack on the seam-friendly Gabba pitch.
The Aussies countered by going for 28-year-old left-arm seamer Bracken to add more firepower and variety to an attack launched by Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath and backed up by all-rounder Shane Watson and champion leg-spinner Shane Warne.
Selectors found Bracken’s Gabba form claims irresistible. With high humidity and the prospect of rain during the Test, he won the day over MacGill, who captured nine match wickets in his last Test against a World XI last month.
“Bracken has got a great record up here and he will bowl well on that wicket. There’s still a bit of moisture in the surface and maybe a little bit of weather (rain) around, that’s the way we’ve decided to go,” skipper Ricky Ponting said on Wednesday in announcing his line-up.
Bracken performs well on the Gabba pitch, taking 4-15 for his state New South Wales in a one-dayer against Queensland last month and claiming 6-27 and 2-54 to set up last season’s Sheffield Shield final win over Queensland.
“Having done work with (former left-arm Test paceman) Bruce Reid in the past, he’s helped me to perform better on wickets and conditions like these,” said Bracken, who captured 43 Shield wickets at 18.79 last season.
“I enjoy coming up here and the last three times I’ve come up here, I’ve got five, four and six (wickets), so I can’t complain.”
Ponting is also trying to get the most out of tearaway Brett Lee, whose 22 Test wickets over the last 12 months have come at a cost of 41.73 runs each.
“I had a chat with Brett yesterday. He’s working very hard on being able to maintain line and length for longer periods of time in Test cricket, rather than be that out-and-out tearaway,” Ponting said.
“He thinks that it will make him a better bowler by being more patient.
“I’ll be still wants him to bowl (with venom) more often than not in the Test, that’s his greatest strength, to run in and be able to intimidate batsmen.
“But if he can couple that aggression with some really good line and length disciplined bowling then it will make him a better bowler.”
Ponting said the Ashes loss to England was now behind the team but they would pay the unpredictable West Indies the utmost respect during the three-Test series.
“We know they are a very dangerous side and we have spoken about that in our meetings,” he said.
“Their batting is very good, they’ve got quality batsmen right down through their list and we’ve had a look at their bowlers (on tapes) and most of them can bowl quite quick and there are a lot of guys we haven’t seen much before.
“It’s a matter for us of winning the first hour of tomorrow’s play and keeping the West Indies under pressure for long periods in this game.
“The Ashes loss is a long way behind us and the next time we play for them is a long time ahead of us, and we have to stay right in the present now and make sure we are paying attention to the West Indies team.”
Meanwhile, Ponting is working with Michael Clarke to try to make the most of one of the great talents of Australian cricket.
Clarke’s star has waned since his 151 in his debut Test against India in Bangalore and the 141 in his first home Test here against New Zealand a year ago.
In his next 17 innings the 24-year-old right-hander, known by team-mates as ‘Pup’, has unable to compile another Test century.
Ponting can identify with Clarke. He scored 96 in his first Test against Sri Lanka in Perth in 1995 and the first of his 23 Test centuries in his seventh Test match and has now amassed over 7,000 Test runs.
“I think he’s finding his feet a little bit at Test level,” Ponting said.
“We know he made a dynamic start and probably the same way that I did at the start. Our careers are following fairly similar paths.
“He’s someone who’s going to be around the team for some time, he’s got immense ability and potential and he’s moved up the order to No 4 spot, he’s working extremely hard on his game.
“I’ve done a lot of one-on-one work with him over the last few weeks, talking about the game and working on a few technique side of things with his game.
“We know how good he can be and if he gets his game in order and keeps learning about himself and what he has to do to prepare for Test matches, then you’ll see Michael Clarke make some big runs this summer.”
Clarke has been elevated to No 4 in the Australian batting order, coming in after Ponting in the batting and taking the place of discarded Damien Martyn.
Teams:
AUSTRALIA: Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey, Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath.
WEST INDIES (from): Chris Gayle, Devon Smith, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Dinesh Ramdin, Tino Best, Daren Powell, Fidel Edwards, Jermaine Lawson, Corey Collymore.
Umpires: Ian Howell and Rudi Koertzen (both South Africa).
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).
—AFP
|
|
|
|
