Steve Smith as Captain

[JackOutback]

I know the counter argument will be that we are 1-0 up, a draw suits us etc, but I liked the Australian team when it strived the win every Test. Should have declared 30 odd runs behind and backed themselves in to win or hold out for a draw. As it is, even if we push to 200 ahead, Pakistan will close up shop and force the draw.

 

[frankrizzo]

Getting quickly up to a 100 run lead gives us our best chance of winning as those are runs we don't have to try and score quickly in a day 5 chase.

Declaring behind and bowling them out for say 200 on a dead track means we then have to make 200+ batting last, it doesn't actually give us any more overs to bowl them out and win the game(we still have to get those runs at some point now or day 5) but just gives the other side at least some chance to get a win they don't deserve.

 

[DaRick]

No, at this point there's practically no chance of getting a win.

I'd fully understand if Smith just chose to run Pakistan's bowlers into the ground as much as possible during Day 5. Given the short turnaround between tests, it would probably be the best strategy. No point burning our own bowlers out.

 

[darko]

It'd be an Adelaide type collapse from some 10 years if we were to get up from here.

 

[Andrew Mc]

No, at this point there's practically no chance of getting a win.

I'd fully understand if Smith just chose to run Pakistan's bowlers into the ground as much as possible during Day 5. Given the short turnaround between tests, it would probably be the best strategy. No point burning our own bowlers out.

This. Just bat until they're all out.

 

[DaRick]

No, at this point there's practically no chance of getting a win.

I'd fully understand if Smith just chose to run Pakistan's bowlers into the ground as much as possible during Day 5. Given the short turnaround between tests, it would probably be the best strategy. No point burning our own bowlers out.

Seems like:

1) I was wrong.

2) Even though Smith's captaincy in Brisbane was sub-par, he's certainly made up for it here. Great win.

 

[Badesumofu]

Thought Smith was spot on today. Declared at just the right time, used his 4 bowlers perfectly. Warne was complaining about him being a quick bowlers' captain, but those are the weapons he has. They were aiming to get some use out of the reverse swing today but he was also able to make great use of Lyon during the period between new ball and reverse swing.

Obviously it helped that Starc, Lyon, Hazlewood, and also Bird for that matter bowled very well; and Pakistan played poorly - but everything needed to go right to win that including the captain making the right calls. Thought he nailed it today.

 

[frankrizzo]

It was the perfect declaration really, it gives the opposition very little to play for in a game they feel they deserve a draw in with or without a good day 5 batting effort, they would have loved a small lead or trailing by 50 or less so that every run they scored at least gave them some chance to stay in the match.

 

[boncer34]

Pakistan folding like a pack of cards doesn't make Smith a genius.

 

[Cold Sober]

Paki's were on a hiding to nothing,couple gave lyon easy wickets at a crucial time,but starcs bowling was brilliant.
If they had put more of an effort in earlier they may have saved the game

 

[The Swans Blog]

Hard to criticise him after the last 2 tests

 

[legend166]

The criticism over his (under) utilisation of Lyon is silly. Lyon is basically a rich man's Paul Harris, who at the absolute peak of his powers just sneaks the average under 30. Meanwhile Starc and Hazlewood are most likely going to end their careers with averages under 25 and be our best bowling partnership since Warne and McGrath. I know who I'm bowling.

 

[boncer34]

Hard to criticise him after the last 2 tests

Yeah if you ignore that we coughed up the highest fourth innings total and that Pakistan collapsed hilariously this match.

 

[Hellgood]

The criticism over his (under) utilisation of Lyon is silly. Lyon is basically a rich man's Paul Harris, who at the absolute peak of his powers just sneaks the average under 30. Meanwhile Starc and Hazlewood are most likely going to end their careers with averages under 25 and be our best bowling partnership since Warne and McGrath. I know who I'm bowling.

Spot on.

I don't think there is a batsman in the world who would feel comfortable about their off stump seeing Starc's missiles honing in on them around the wicket. Absolutely perfect weapon to have on the last day as you don't have to rely on swing or seam off the pitch - pure angle did the trick for the well-set Sarfraz. He was pretty ordinary in the first innings, but it was clear that was only a temporary glitch with normal transmission to resume.

Would hate to face Hazlewood too. He gives away absolutely nothing, just so relentlessly awkward outside the off-stump. Can't cut, can't drive and then he fires in one of those vicious bouncers that rear up at surprising pace. Over the past half a decade or so the consistent answer from the worlds top batsmen to the question "who is your least favourite bowler to face?" has been Morne Morkel, which is interesting because his wicket list is a bit shorter than what you'd expect watching him. Hazlewood causes all the same discomfort amongst batsmen but also has the nip off the seam that is the killer instinct that is the point of difference between his average of 25 and Morkel's 29.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

Also Morkel can be relied upon to bowl at least 2 pies an over.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

I think Smith's doing okay. He's a basic type of captain who lacks the natural flair of a couple of others in terms of making things happen, but he doesn't get a lot wrong.

One area I'd like to see him work on is applying more pressure at the beginning of a session, or when a new batsman comes in. Too often we see a new batsman walk in an face up to the same field as before instead of bringing in a new slip and/or bat-pad. It's all a part of creating perceived pressure.

 

[Dayan Warna]

Well
Beautiful decisions paid off
As a critic of smith, flawless test match!

 

[DaRick]

The thing about Steve Smith is that, like Graeme Smith, he has a tendency to persist with a certain bowler, or with a certain tactic, when it's just not working, so at times the game just drifts unnecessarily.

RE Lyon, I also get the impression that he's happy to use Lyon as a stock bowler. Lyon is considerably more effective when he attacks and tosses the ball up, especially on bouncy decks. Lately though he often hasn't done this. I suspect that he may be acting on Smith's instructions, otherwise he would be as attacking as he was under Clarke's captaincy.

Both Smith and Lyon did well yesterday though.