Australia may drop spinner at scene of Warne’s wonder

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Manchester: Thirty years since Shane Warne’s “ball from hell” to befuddle Mike Gatting at Old Trafford, the Australian side may not field a spin bowler at all in the Test match that can seal the destination of the Ashes.

The Australians are leaning towards the omission of Todd Murphy in order to fit both Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green into their XI for the Old Trafford Ashes Test. It would be the first time in over a decade they have taken the field without a specialist spinner.

Mike Gatting stands in disbelief after falling victim to Shane Warne’s “ball of the century” in 1993.Credit: Popperfoto

Pat Cummins’ reluctance to use Murphy at the pointy end of the Headingley Test has been compounded by damp conditions in Manchester and the forecast of significant showers over the final two days of the game.

Marsh’s runs and wickets in Leeds made him difficult to drop, while Green is fit again after a minor hamstring strain and his inclusion would seriously lengthen Australia’s batting lineup – having batted at eight at Edgbaston, Cummins would be listed as low as 10 in the order.

“That’s part of the conversation for sure. How do two all-rounders fit in, is spin going to be important this week, so that’s part of the stuff we work through,” Cummins said on Tuesday.

“Nathan Lyon is the greatest off-spinner we’ve ever had so it’s not quite apples for apples. We are really excited by Todd, we think he’s fantastic. Would have loved to use him a bit more last week, think conditions just favoured pace bowling.

Australia captain Pat Cummins speaks with Todd Murphy during a nets session at Emirates Old Trafford on Monday.Credit: Getty Images

“We played a Test in Hobart last year in the Ashes where Nath didn’t bowl an over. It’s all conditions based, we are really excited by Todd, with think it’s a gun, we love having him around, he’s got a big future. It was more conditions or the way I used him, as opposed to how he bowled.“

Cummins pointed to the off-breaks of Travis Head, who put in some lengthy spells in the nets at training on Sunday and Monday, as a viable alternative to bowl spin at Old Trafford, having also used him with some success at Lord’s after Lyon tore his calf and was ruled out of the series.

“Even when [Head] started his career with Australia he was basically the frontline spinner in ODI cricket,” Cummins said. “He bowled 10 overs quite a bit, and I think he’s got better and better.

“So when Nath’s played [Head] hasn’t had to bowl much, but he still provides something a little bit different to Nath so we have used him a little bit. But really confident. I think he defends himself well, he uses a bit of drift, as much as spin, and he’s quite clever. So lots of confidence in his bowling.”

The last time Australia did not field a spin bowler was at the WACA Ground against India in January 2012. In England in 2009 and 2010 there were occasions when the team, then led by Ricky Ponting, played Marcus North and Steve Smith as spin bowling all-rounders without playing a slow bowling front-liner.

Cummins also confirmed that Josh Hazlewood was returning to the side in place of Scott Boland, while David Warner would get another chance to open the batting due to the strength of his contributions at the top of the order alongside Usman Khawaja before a pair of brief innings at Headingley.

“Davey didn’t have his best week at Headingley, but prior to that I thought he looked really good,” Cummins said. “He’s had three 50-run partnerships, which can be rare over here in England.

“So I thought the way he and Uzzy have started off innings prior to that has been really important to setting up our innings. Steve Smith got a great hundred at Lord’s, a lot of that was off the back of a really important first session from the openers.

“It is a tough role, and some of the roles he’s had to play are in tough times this series, it hasn’t been easy for Uzzy and Davey in particular when they’ve walked out to bat a few times under lights. I think the other one is he might not have scored the Test run’s he’d have liked in the last couple of years, but if you go to ODI or T20 cricket and he’s still showing his class, scoring plenty of runs.”

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