Playing 20 Test matches in 12 months is a challenge in the post-T20 era for most all-format young cricketers. But surviving this hectic schedule is a challenge of epic proportions for players on the wrong side of their 30s.
As Australia begin their new season with the first match of the two-Test series against Bangladesh at home on Thursday, all eyes will be on their legendary bowling quartet — Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.
The season ahead could be gruelling for the four veterans, with Australia scheduled to play 20 Test matches across continents, with an additional match potentially up for grabs if the team make the final of the ICC World Test Championship.
There is every possibility that in the next 12 months, one or two members of the ‘Big Four’, Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins and Lyon, could show the white flag and walk into the sunset.
For more than a decade, these four world-class performers have scripted memorable wins for Australia with their contrasting styles.
If Cummins, 33, tormented batters with his pace, swing and seam, Starc, 36, brought his wonderful left-arm angle at scorching speed.
The line and impeccable control of Hazlewood, 35, complemented Cummins and Starc. Lyon’s crafty off-spin was the icing on the cake for Australia.
This was an attack that made pundits reminisce about Australia’s greatest era of domination in the first decade of this century, when Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett Lee and the incomparable Shane Warne knocked the stuffing out of every opposition.
Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon may not have come close to dethroning McGrath, Gillespie, Lee and Warne as Australia’s all-time best bowling attack, but their combined tally of 1,610 wickets proves their skill set and resilience.
The past 12 months, though, have been challenging for the Australian bowling unit.
Cummins, Hazlewood and Lyon suffered serious injury issues, with the former playing only the third Test of the Ashes series, which Australia won 4-1.
While a back injury has troubled Cummins in recent times, Hazlewood’s severe hamstring and Achilles issues kept him out of the entire Ashes series.
Lyon was battling a hamstring injury, raising serious questions about his future.
A former groundsman who became Australia’s second-highest wicket-taker of all time in Test cricket with 564 scalps, Lyon rubbished retirement rumours early this year.
Now the unassuming spinner is back for Australia’s new season to bring his spin variety to the pace, swing and seam of Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc.
All four of them are now fit and raring to go.
But the big question is, how far can they go? Can their ageing bodies and minds survive the rigours of Test cricket in the next 12 months?
Or are they getting closer and closer to the finish line of their great cricket journey?
But one thing is certain. These battle-hardened warriors are unlikely to give up without a fight.
“This group’s been together for quite a long time now,” said Hazlewood, who needs five wickets to join the 300 club in Tests.
“The big series are obviously England and India. I haven’t won in South Africa either, so there’s three that are coming up that are a few boxes to tick off there for not just me but from this whole playing group.”
Age is not on their side, but write them off at your own peril.
Source: Khaleej Times