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Not everyone in the England camp supported Jardine’s leg theory during the Bodyline series, but they had an acrimonious 4-1 series win.
Australia’s experienced team, on the back of some strong pace bowling, brilliant batting and great catching hammered Lloyd’s West Indians 5-1 in 1975-76.
After the tour, Lloyd sat down with his friend and former first-class cricketer Dr Rudi Webster, who lived in Melbourne at the time, and vowed to assemble the finest pace bowling attack ever seen, supported by aggressive batting and world-class fielding. What he put together went on to dominate world cricket for the next 20 years.
Babar Azam hits through the offside during the Perth Test. Pakistan need to play with more positive intent in Melbourne, says Greg Chappell. Credit: Getty
Yes. It is tough for visiting teams to win in Australia.
Only five countries have won Test series in Australia. England have done it 14 times, West Indies on four occasions, South Africa three times, India twice and New Zealand once. Pakistan have never achieved the feat.
This won’t change any time soon unless Pakistan play with more purpose and planning in Melbourne and Sydney.
What does it take to win in Australia?
The first thing is to look the Aussies in the eye. Show them that you are their equal. India have learnt this lesson in recent times, stood their ground and returned fire with interest.
Secondly, quality pace bowling is a must. No visiting spinner has won a series in Australia in my memory. Some have played important roles, but Australia requires bowlers with pace, bounce and control to do the heavy lifting and to get the bulk of the20 wickets needed to win a Test.
Obviously, the West Indies of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s had that in abundance and it paid off handsomely. South Africa and India have had the incisive pace to rock Australia. The absence of Naseer Shah due to injury and now Khurram Shazad handicaps Pakistan.
Thirdly, discipline and partnerships in both batting and bowling.
Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson were a great partnership in my time and were well-supported by the spin of Ashley Mallett. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne were a great partnership and interchanged as strike or support bowler depending on the situation.
Accurate wrist spin has been a potent weapon in this country. Nathan Lyon’s record as a finger spinner is therefore laudable. The fact that Jim Laker, Erapalli Prasanna, Saqlain Mushtaq and Muttiah Muralitharan could not help their countries win in Australia highlights Lyon’s achievements. Lyon’s top spin and bounce have been instrumental, as have his productive partnerships with Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc.
The encouraging sign is Pakistan have reflected on their Perth loss and realised that they have to do better with the bat and ball.
They are not the first bowling team to get carried away with the bounce in Perth.
Counterintuitively, when the wicket offers bounce, it is imperative to pitch the ball up to make the most of that bounce. It is hard to drive the ball on the up, and their pace bowlers must challenge the Australians to do so. Charging in without a plan, hoping to take wickets with magic balls is the mistake that many visiting teams make. Their bowling was profligate as evidenced by Australia’s rollicking run-rate of 4.29 runs per over. Wickets follow good balls strung together into good overs and good spells, so the Pakistan bowlers will need to be extremely disciplined.
Their batsmen seemed inert and intent on keeping their wickets intact, as was graphically illustrated by their first=innings return of merely 2.66 runs per over.
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Once again it is counterintuitive; batting, like life, is an exercise in risk management. If one wants to make runs, one has to be prepared to play some shots.
A major part of the art of batting is knowing which balls to attack and which to leave in the prevailing conditions. Even when the pitch is difficult, as it was in Perth, one needs to be looking for the balls from which to score and, if the bowler misses his mark, punish him. If you don’t put the pressure back on him, the pressure will only grow on you.
Pakistan are not out of this series yet, but it could be gone by the first lunch break in Melbourne unless they arrive on Boxing Day with a plan and execute it.
Greg Chappell is a former Australian captain. He led Australia in 48 of his 87 Tests, scoring 7110 runs at an average of 53.86.
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