Todd Murphy relishes the prospect of a Bazball battering; Steve Waugh to present Ashes trophy

Murphy in the frame for first home-soil Test

Dan Walsh

Todd Murphy will welcome the threat of a Bazball battering from England’s batsmen after rediscovering the impressive form of his debut Test year during a one-on-one coaching session in Bendigo.

Australian coach Andrew McDonald has flagged a long-awaited first home Test for Murphy at the SCG, pending the development of a particularly green pitch over the next 48 hours before the final Ashes Test.

Sydney has been Australia’s least hospitable venue for spinners – with slow-bowling wickets on the SCG pitch costing 49 runs apiece since 2021 – while there have been just 43.1 overs of spin bowled so far this Ashes series.

Murphy’s first Test against England, when he replaced the injured Nathan Lyon for the third Test of the 2023 Ashes, began in similar fashion, with Ben Stokes’ side targeting the young spinner and effectively hitting him out of the attack in a three-wicket win at Leeds.

Murphy was dropped for the following Test but responded with six wickets (including a second-innings 4-110) at The Oval, and expects England to come after him again in the Ashes finale.

“I’d say that’s a guarantee if I played, that they would be attacking against me,” Murphy said on Thursday.

“I think that’s just how they’ve been playing, it’s been positive cricket and I think they’d be no different if I played and was bowling to them.

“You’re always a chance when guys are coming after you and [as a spinner] it does bring you into the game a little bit more. If that presents out there, then no issues.”

Murphy went 18 months between Tests after that Ashes tour, but found himself dropping down the spin pecking order in Sri Lanka last February when Cooper Connolly was preferred alongside Matt Kuhnemann and Lyon.

Sydney would be Murphy’s first Test on home soil after seven away outings, and would come after he shook off a lingering shoulder issue and a pivotal off-season meeting with renowned spin coach Craig Howard in country Victoria.

Howard, regarded as one of Australia’s foremost slow bowling experts, returned from a stint with Sri Lanka in July, and flagged potential issues with Murphy’s action from match footage during a County stint with Gloucester.

Having worked together throughout Murphy’s rise from promising teenager to Test spinner, a catch-up in Bendigo in August helped pave the way for Murphy’s Test recall this summer.

“I had noticed a couple of things and sent him a couple of screenshots saying, ‘How are you going?’” Howard told SEN Radio before the Boxing Day Test.

“When he got back [from the UK] he jumped in the car and came up to Bendigo. He organised it and said, ‘Can we have a look?’

“We just had to work through a few things to get [his action] looking [better] … and by the end of the session he was back curving and dropping [the ball] with real force and energy. Which is probably what he was lacking there.

“I don’t know if it was compensation for his shoulder. Sometimes little things just creep in [to your technique]. He’d just gotten into some action positions that he wasn’t sure how to get out of.”

Murphy on Thursday acknowledged the “little technical changes” in his game as he pointed to the shift in his role for Victoria that he believes can be replicated at Test level.

Murphy’s 10 wickets at 23 this summer for Victoria have come on seam-friendly wickets. “[And] I’ve learnt [as a spinner] your job’s not always to come on and take wickets,” he says.

“It might be to play a holding role for four or five overs for the quicks so they can have a break and then come back. And that can be just as important.

“You look across all games and spin still plays a massive part … It might just not be the ‘day four and bowling 30 overs to spin your team to victory’.

“I don’t think going into the [Ashes] series there was ever that planning or idea that spin wouldn’t play a role. I think it’s sort of just been how it’s eventuated.

“There’s definitely a role to play for spin and I think it’ll evolve from year to year.”

Waugh to present the Ashes trophy to Cummins, Smith

Daniel Brettig

Steve Waugh is set to present the Ashes trophy to Australia’s captains Steve Smith and Pat Cummins at the end of the SCG Test.

A year after Allan Border handed over the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Cummins, it will be Waugh’s job to give the Australians the Ashes – meaning they will remain in Australian hands for a decade by the time the next series takes place in England in 2027.

At the start of the game, it will fall to David Warner and Stuart Broad to carry the trophy onto the ground for the pre-match ceremonies.

Cricket Australia was contacted for comment.

While Waugh declined an interview request with this masthead, he had plenty to say in November when handpicked to fly the trophy into the SCG in a helicopter.

In particular, Waugh was critical of what he saw as a lack of regeneration in the team that went on ro retain the urn in the space of just 11 days.

“I’d like to see the selectors pick the sides, not the players,” Waugh said.

“There’s been a lot of players recently picking sides and saying who should be in the team. That’s the selectors’ job.

“George Bailey’s going to have to make some tough calls. I think in the past he’s shown he hasn’t really had the appetite for that at times, so he’s going to have to step up to the plate with the other selectors.

“The bowlers are in their 30s and some of the batsmen are getting on as well. That’s natural for every team. You just want to make sure that three or four players don’t go out at the same time. That leaves a big hole in the team. So they’ve got to just make sure that it is a transition, but not all at once.”

Those spiky comments stood in contrast to what has largely been a stronger series for relationships between Australia’s current side and the greats of past eras.

After Australia sealed the series at Adelaide Oval, Cummins invited all former Australian players at the ground – most of them working in the commentary boxes – to join the team for a celebratory beer in the dressing room.

Another facet of these relationships has been how, in the majority of cases, Australian players have shaken hands with the past players chosen to bring the Ashes trophy onto the field before each Test. Justin Langer, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and Merv Hughes have been the Australian past players to do that job this series, while Alastair Cook, Matt Prior, Michael Vaughan and Sir Ian Botham have done so for England.

In the case of the visiting team, those spontaneous handshakes have been notably absent from proceedings.

Waugh, by the way, made a couple of predictions before the series – and one has stood up well.

“I think the best fielding side will win the Ashes this year, so catching will be really important,” he said.

“I think it’s going to be one of the best Ashes series we’ve seen in a long, long time.”

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