MELBOURNE: Australia will look to use the disappointment of their late Ashes fade-out in England to push for a series whitewash of New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Tim Paine’s men took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series against the Black Caps on Sunday with a 247-run win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).
Australia have now notched four successive Test wins in a perfect home summer but still hold rueful memories of their last match in England.
Having retained the urn with victory in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Australia lost at The Oval to head home with a 2-2 draw and some regrets.
“We’ve probably got to learn a little bit from what happened in the Ashes,” Paine told reporters. “I thought when we won the fourth test it was such an emotional high. With the fast turnaround, guys were just a little bit flat mentally, I guess, a bit drained from having such a big high.
“So we’ll try to keep it nice and level over the next few days. Rest up and hit that fifth Test of the summer with as much energy as we hit the first Test at the Gabba,” Paine said, referring to Brisbane.
In contrast to New Zealand, Australia head to Sydney with the kind of headaches that selectors like to have.
Selectors have brought in leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson into the squad to provide another slow bowling option in addition to incumbent Nathan Lyon for the nation’s most spin-friendly pitch.
Finding a player to make way for Swepson could be a challenge.
Australia’s fast bowlers were outstanding at the MCG, with James Pattinson slotting in with aplomb to deliver six wickets, including a fiery three-wicket burst in nine deliveries to hasten the Black Caps’ defeat on Sunday morning.
With no pace bowling all-rounder in the squad, Australia may be reluctant to break up the trio of Pattinson, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to allow for dual spinners.
Shane Warne offered the novel solution of dropping Lyon to give the uncapped Swepson a chance to shine, a suggestion given short shrift by the man who would be displaced.
“Just giving Mitchell Swepson a taste of it, giving him a chance, I reckon it will pay dividends in the long run,” Warne said.
But Lyon, who took four wickets on Sunday to wrap up late New Zealand second innings resistance, said there was no way he would be standing aside.
“Did Warnie ever want a rest and give Stuart MacGill a go?” he asked, noting the lack of opportunity given to Warne’s leg-spin rival at the height of their careers. “I won’t be resting. I haven’t met any Australian cricketers that would like to be rested.
“It’s that hard playing Test cricket, but it’s that rewarding as well so every opportunity you get to play cricket for Australia it means the world to us. “So I can’t imagine Mitch Starc, Pat [Cummins] or Patto [James Pattinson] putting his hand up to say I need a rest.”
Queensland’s Swepson has been added to Australia’s squad for Sydney, where conditions often assist slow bowlers, and was taking tips from Warne in Melbourne.
There is a chance that Australia will play two specialist spinners in the third Test, with the call to be made after Paine and selectors look at the pitch.
Swepson, who has taken 12 wickets from six Sheffield Shield games at 26.58, was a member of Australia’s Test squad for tours of India and Bangladesh in 2017 but has yet to make his debut.
Lyon said if both of them played, he would be more than happy.
“Mitch has been bowling brilliantly for Queensland,” he said. “He’s a great fella to start off with, but he gives it a rip and that’s what I really love to see.
“I’m a big fan of Mitch, it’s great to see him in and around our squad so he gets his chance and fingers crossed we can have a great combination together.”
If Australia go down that road, they would almost certainly retain Cummins, Starc and Pattinson,
meaning a batsman would be axed with Matthew Wade the likely candidate after Travis Head scored a century in Melbourne.
