Internet Desk: Before the ICC Champions Trophy began, the team whose bowling attack caused the most excitement was undoubtedly Australia. Even if you knew that it was unlikely its four big quicks would feature together, the prospect of watching at least three of them still caused a frisson.
In Australia’s first match of the tournament, against New Zealand on Friday, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all played. But as it turned out, at least two of them would want to put the day behind them entirely. An undercooked Australian attack was bludgeoned by Luke Ronchi (65 off 43), then clinically dismantled by Kane Williamson (100 off 97) in a match that eventually ended up as a washout due to the incessant rain at Edgbaston.
New Zealand had the better of the proceedings by then, having reduced Australia to 53 for 3 in nine overs chasing a DLS target of 235 in 33, after they had put up 291 all out.
Starc bowled nine overs for 52 runs. Cummins was a bit unfortunate in having a catch dropped off him, but conceded 67 runs in nine overs while picking up a solitary wicket.
It was no wonder that Steve Smith, the captain, bluntly spelt it out for his team after the washout. “I thought it was probably one of the worst bowling displays that we’ve put on for a very long time,” said Smith. “We bowled on both sides of the wicket. We gave them a lot of freebies and it was pretty ordinary, to be honest with you.”
The one shining exception to the rule was Hazlewood. He finished with 6 for 52 in nine overs, and given that his first two overs had gone for 20, it was an outstanding effort that played a large part in stopping New Zealand from getting a lot more. Ironically enough, the performance of the day came from the one member of the quicks who is the least ‘out and out quick’ of the foursome. But Hazlewood also happens to be the one with the most control among the four.
Those were the best figures for Australia in the Champions Trophy, and also Hazlewood’s career-best, but the right-arm pacer acknowledged that he could have done things better.
“I think especially the first 10 to 15 overs, we bowled too full and both sides of the wicket. In England, you’ve got to bowl fairly straight,” said Hazlewood. “We were too wide outside off a lot of the time, whether we were short or full. We obviously missed that practice match the other day (against Pakistan, which was rained out) to give a few boys a run. In the end, that probably came back to get us, but we’ve obviously got to be better in these shorter tournaments from ball one.”
What Hazlewood did better than his teammates was suss the right length and pace at which to bowl after the first two overs, where there were plenty of balls that Martin Guptill could drive. He slowed it up, mixed his pace and pulled his length back. That gave him an economical second spell, and 3-0-15-5 in his final spell when New Zealand attempted to do justice to the slog overs but just couldn’t hit Hazlewood with either timing or precision.
“I guess a few things were missing. Rhythm, for one, and I wasn’t bowling the balls as hard as I could, if that makes sense,” he explained. “You sort of place the ball if you’re guessing a bit, coming off such a long break. I think we will be better for getting a run, all the bowlers. It was just about assessing the conditions as well. Bashing that wicket back of a length obviously was hardest to hit, a few cross seams, a few wobble seams.”
Australia also didn’t read the conditions quickly enough. Given the morning start and cloud cover, they expected the ball to swing. But when it didn’t, it reacted too slowly, which allowed Ronchi and Williamson to run away at the start.
“With it being a 10:30am start, and with the overhead conditions, we were expecting it to swing around a little bit, which it obviously didn’t,” acknowledged Hazlewood. “It probably did take us too long to get that message around and go straight to Plan B. We could have brought in in the fourth or fifth over of the game, start changing it up. So we’ll fix that for next time.”
The format of the Champions Trophy means both New Zealand and Australia will likely have to win their remaining two matches to ensure a semi-final spot. For Australia, Bangladesh is up next at The Oval in London, and Hazlewood said the pitch was as batting friendly as the one Edgbaston had dished out.
“It was a very good wicket,” he said of Australia’s warm-up match at the venue against Sri Lanka. “We had a short boundary on one side, but the wicket itself was very good. It was similar to this one. So it’s hard work for the bowlers in this tournament, but we’re going to have to come up with a way to first of all build that pressure and stop the runs, and then consistently take wickets through the innings.”