Brett Lee pushes for debutant Brendan Doggett to bowl with the new ball over Scott Boland in the Perth Test.
After Steven Smith declined to disclose who would open the bowling with Mitchell Starc on Friday’s Test match against England, Brett Lee has urged Australia to hand rookie Brendan Doggett the new ball.
South Australia typically uses Doggett, a fast-medium outswing bowler, as an opening bowler because of his prolific wicket-taking in the Sheffield Shield. Boland had a strong record as a change bowler in his first 14 Test matches, taking 62 wickets at 16.53, but he also opens the bowling when he plays for Victoria in the Shield.
Smith, who will skipper the opening Test in Pat Cummins’ absence, would not say who will share the new ball with Starc in Perth. “We’ll see in the morning – or hopefully, maybe two mornings,” he stated on Thursday.
However, Lee, an Australia tearaway who claimed 310 Test wickets between 1999 and 2008, recommended that Doggett open the bowling to ease any anxiety during the debut.
Brett Lee in favour of Doggett with the new ball
“Maybe that’s the best thing for his nerves,” Brett Lee said at a Fox Cricket event on Thursday. “If they lose the toss tomorrow and they’ve got to bowl first, then Steve Smith might go, ‘Alright mate, you haven’t got time to get the nerves. Take the brand new ball and shape a few away.’
“It’s not like he’s just been picked out of the blue. He has been around the squad now for a long, long time. He’s trained with the guys, he knows the guys very well personally. He’s had a couple of really good Sheffield Shield seasons back-to-back, so he’s done the work and he’s earned that opportunity.
“But when you walk out there tomorrow at 10.20am, it doesn’t matter. All that hard work is now going to be transformed. Take that nervous energy, take that pressure, take that opportunity, and hopefully he gets a bag of wickets.
“The thing with Scott Boland is that he can bowl anywhere: I reckon he’d get the ball to seam off ice, he’s so good.”
Curator has his say about the Pitch
For the inaugural Ashes Test at the location, curator Isaac McDonald has guaranteed a pitch with “pace and bounce.” Lee thinks fast bowlers will be rewarded for “patience” over the course of the five days, encouraging them to settle into a broader length than usual because of the more carry.
“You’ve got to bowl a lot fuller, that five-metre length, over here in Perth,” he said. “The teams that get excited when the ball flies through [to the keeper] generally get punished, because nothing goes on to hit the stumps. [Aim for the] top of off, and that means a fraction fuller if it’s a wicket that’s quite bouncy.
“They have to attack, but you can attack and still be patient…. You’ve got to adjust your length in order to hit the top of off stump, which brings in the slips. We will see a lot of catches go through the slips region if there is pace. As a bowler, my form of wicket and dismissals over here is I want the ball to go behind to the keeper, first or second slip, or gully.”