ACS Overseas First-Class Annual 2019

37 Australia in 2018/19 By September 2019 twelve months of varying fortunes found the Australian Test side down one place to fifth in the ICC rankings and still struggling to recover from the impact of ‘sandpapergate’, but on the other hand enjoying the major consolation of retaining the famous urn away from home after the first drawn Ashes rubber since 1972. At the start of the 2018/19 season a restructured side, with key players missing through injury or sandpaper-related bans, had faced the daunting prospect of two Tests against Pakistan in the UAE. In the first, the sensational collapse of Australia’s first innings (in reply to 482) from 142-0 to 202 all out suggested that the visitors’ worst fears were about to be realized. That they were not was almost wholly thanks to Usman Khawaja’s monumental 141 off 302 balls to force a hard-earned draw. But there was no such reprieve in the second Test as Pakistan romped to a crushing 373-run win. The side might have hoped for better times on returning home since their next opponents, India, although comfortably top of the Test rankings, had so often struggled to adjust to conditions outside Asia. Indeed, in eleven previous tours down under, India had never claimed better than a drawn rubber (on three occasions) and had only five Test wins to set against 28 defeats. But it was a case of twelfth time lucky as India, following a narrow win in the first Test and defeat on an unpredictable wicket in the second, showed increasing assurance as they gained a comfortable win in the third Test and were apparently on their way to an even more convincing victory in the fourth when rain washed out the last two days. Australia’s problem was not so much the bowling which, if not formidable, was at least workmanlike; it was much more the inability of the batsman to build a score, and over the four Tests not one Australian reached 80. More normal Australian service was resumed with the visit for a short two-Test rubber of Sri Lanka, a side contending with its own troubles. Overwhelming home victories in both Tests meant that Australia ended the season in better heart. In their next Test assignment, an Ashes rubber in England, Australia could also look forward look forward to reinforcement as players such as David Warner and Steve Smith once again became available after serving out their bans. Warner, as it turned out, was a complete disappointment but Smith made up for everything. Such was his form that it was even speculated that, despite missing a Test, he might surpass Don Bradman’s long-standing record of 974 runs in a rubber; but in the end, two relatively modest scores in the final Test meant that he had to settle for a tally of ‘only’ 774. This included remarkable twin scores of 144 and 142 in the first Test and 211 in the fourth, not coincidentally the two matches won by Australia. In reply England grabbed a sensational one- wicket victory in the third Test thanks to an outrageous 135* by Ben Stokes, and they also gained a solid (and more conventional) win in the fifth. But Australia’s supporters could fairly point out that the first of England’s victories was a real ‘black swan’ event and the second was gained only after the Ashes had gone, and there is little doubt that, despite serious problems at the top of the order, Australia were the better side overall. The only commitments byAustralia’sAside in 2018/19 were two matches against their counterparts in India. They were spun to victory by Jon Holland in the first but were comfortably outplayed to lose the second. In 2019 they visited England for a tour consisting mainly of limited-overs games, but they played, and easily beat, Sussex in their single first-class match. The 2018/19 Sheffield Shield, a competition dominated by the faster bowlers, was a triumph for Victoria, who beat nearest rivals New South Wales in both encounters during the regular Shield season and then a third time in the final. It was Victoria’s fourth Shield win in the last five seasons. Defending champions Queensland had the satisfaction of inflicting Victoria’s only Shield defeat but otherwise suffered a disappointing season, finishing fifth. But they were well ahead of South Australia who very comfortably retained the wooden spoon, finishing winless in a competition in which each of the other sides claimed at least three victories.