da aposte e ganhe： There was just one problem for Australia – five spare bowlers, no extra batsmen – which meant there was no one to cover for an injured batsman
da dobrowin： Brydon Coverdale in Cape Town19-Mar-2009
Brad Haddin was batting at No. 6, a position Adam Gilchrist was rarely asked to fill © Getty Images
Doug Bollinger, Brett Geeves, Bryce McGain, Steve Magoffin and NathanHauritz were the Australian squad members who watched on from thedressing room in Durban. There was plenty of variety in the group: aleft-arm fast bowler, two right-arm seamers, a legspinner and anoffspinner. There was just one problem – five spare bowlers, no extrabatsmen.It didn’t matter at the Wanderers or Kingsmead but on the first day atNewlands it came back to bite Australia when Marcus North was struckdown with a bout of gastro and spent the night before the match inhospital on a drip. A team that had spent the first two Tests lookingso well-balanced it was like it had been set with a spirit level wassuddenly off-centre.In one sense it gave the selectors an easy decision as they had spentthe past few days trying to work out how they could squeeze thelegspinner McGain into the side while causing minimum disruption to asuccessful team. But what it really did was expose a big hole in whatwas otherwise a strong squad.The selectors were widely praised for the solid touring party theypicked for this trip and their good judgment was borne out in the 2-0scoreline leading in to this match. But there’s no avoiding the factthat they’ve been caught out by the lack of a spare batsman. Anappropriate touring group isn’t just about the starting XI; thereneeds to be balance in the back-up tier as well.As it turned out Australia replaced North, a man with a first-classbatting average of 44.09, with McGain, a genuine tailender whoseaverage is 11.50. Brad Haddin was forced to move up to No. 6, aposition that his magnificent predecessor Adam Gilchrist rarelyoccupied in Tests, and Andrew McDonald found himself at No. 7.And what happened? They battled to 209, which was their lowestfirst-innings total since the 2005 Ashes. South Africa bowled well andwere at their liveliest for the whole series so maybe an extra batsmanwouldn’t have made a difference. But when Australia found themselveson similarly shaky ground in Johannesburg it was North at No. 6 whoanchored the comeback.”Obviously the balance of the team is slightly different,” the openerSimon Katich said after a day when he top scored with 55 and two ofthe top five made ducks. “[North] has played really well for us at sixthis series so him not being available due to being in hospital lastnight was a big loss.”So while Geeves, Hauritz and Bollinger huddled on the boundary – Magoffin has flown home – withnothing to do but run drinks and maybe dash away for an occasionaltrundle in the nets, prolific scorers like Brad Hodge, Michael Klingerand Callum Ferguson were at home in Australia with their feet up afterthe end of the domestic season. Had the series been alive, it couldhave been a costly error in judgment.The problem stems from the fact that when they left Australia,McDonald was the incumbent No. 6 having filled that role in Sydney. Hehas been a valuable member of the team in South Africa, where hisstump-to-stump bowling has troubled the home side, but he has notlooked like a Test-quality batsman. In Cape Town, not for the firsttime this trip, he was outshone in the lower order by Mitchell Johnsonand a familiar tentative prod was edged to slip for 13.The selectors made a mistake. It hasn’t cost them the series and itwill be forgotten as soon as they leave South Africa with trophy inhand. But in a year when Australia are considering cutting back thenumbers in their Ashes squad, it’s a situation that should serve as acautionary tale. Five spare bowlers don’t equal one batsman.