Australia v India: third Test, day one – live!

The umpires are having a good look at the pitch, the area just behind the pitch where the bowlers run, while motors with ropes attached are doing their level best to clear the outfield of surface water.

Watching it all unfold, Mark Waugh is only a shade short of apoplectic. He wants cricket. And let’s face it, we all want cricket.

“Why are they inspecting at 2.30pm? Why aren’t we playing at 2.30pm? Put some sawdust on there and let’s play.”

Has Junior even not made sense?

Three interesting takeouts from the telly interview with Tim Paine:

1. David Warner is the most annoying member of the team;

2. Warner is fine, injury-wise, despite looking far from comfortable during his short stay in the middle;

3. Play should resume shortly.

On the third point, the sun is out and there is a pitch inspection at 2.30pm EDT, so the Aussie skipper might well be right.

Linguistics and OH&S, our topics for today. Alex Kupa writes in.

“I have a few family members with ‘ethnic’ names that are perpetually mangled, and my own middle name, which is from Indonesian, is never pronounced quite right (Guntur, the Indonesian for thunder, is pronounced as if it is of German origin). I would never want to change my name’s pronunciation just for others.”

“The name Labuschagne is originally French. Presumably it was pronounced in the French way, like champagne, before being shifted on migration to South Africa in the 18th century. If one is opposed to the Australian tongue causing a change in the pronunciation I see no reason to be more comfortable with the Afrikaans tongue doing the same. To me, the Aussie pronunciation recalls the original French, and may be more true to the name’s origins than the Afrikaans pronunciation.”

It’s a question of how far along the line of change we are. If the Afrikaans shift happened generations ago, then those bearing that pronunciation may be proud and protective of it. The same as there may be Australian Labuschagnes three generations hence who will see the Australian pronunciation as key to their identity.

In this case, we’re at the point where the pronunciation first shifts, and the person with the name said that he shifted it deliberately because he wanted it to be easier in his adopted country. Wanted to fit in. Which seems a bit sad.

Different linguistic practices will never get every nuance of pronunciation right – I can’t pronounce the current Indian names exactly like a native speaker. But we can try to get as close as possible.

The machines are out in the middle trying to soak up water, looks like the rain might have stopped again. Around we go.

A couple of responses to Scott Lowe earlier. One from David Markham.

“While there are some lunatic fast bowlers out there in the world, fast bowlers who bowl short are generally not trying to hit the batsman in the head – that would clearly be unethical. They are basically trying to mess up batsmen’s footwork so they play back to balls they should be playing forward to. As a Test opening batsman, you can hardly expect the other side to go easy on you.”

Kerrith Britland in Kent says, “I was thinking something similar to Scott. I’m not sure any bowler wants permanently damaging another player on their record, which means they could consider not bowling short at all. This is obviously not in the interest of the game. In boxing, if you don’t protect yourself, the fight is stopped. Perhaps that could inspire a similar rule in cricket; if you can’t protect yourself (either by playing your shots or getting out of the way) you get warnings and suspensions. If you get concussion, it’s an immediate month ban.”

I think Scott’s position was that he knows it’s a legit tactic, it just feels wrong. Uncomfortable to watch as entertainment, especially. I guess there’s the part of the game that isn’t entertainment though, it’s the challenge for the player.

Re Kerrith’s point, putting it in terms of being banned would make it seem punitive rather than preventative. But in some ways that’s already the protocol: that all hits have to undergo concussion tests, and that once that’s diagnosed players are prevented from returning until they’re fit. If teams could get rid of, for instance, the best opposing bowler by badging him, and having him sit out for a month even if fit, that might encourage more dangerous bowling and head knocks.

Gavin Robertson (not that Gavin Robertson, he hastens to add) is at the Test. I think the other Gavin Robertson is there doing radio commentary, perhaps they can Gavout together afterwards.

“Sitting at a social distance in the SCG right now. Isn’t this rain/sun/rain thing frustrating? I’m wondering why Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins is batting for Australia today? Has he ever been seen in a room with Pucovski, or are they actually the same person?”

One Cummins is never enough, I’m sure we can agree. I had the same thought earlier this morning. Your request for a side-by-side, Gavin, is granted.

“In the absence of any cricket, let me ask a question to what everyone else seems to know the answer. I’ve been asleep for a few years. What is the correct and incorrect way of pronouncing Labuschagne?”

Gavin Twedily with the thirst for knowledge. It’s a South African name via Dutch, presumably, so the G is the glottal sound in the back of the throat that you hear in Afrikaans. Think Lah-boo-skagh-nay.

Apparently that’s too difficult for Australia, so we made it Lab-boo-shane.

“So who are the favourites here?” asks Richard Liddle. “India with the momentum but Australia looking so much better on the injury front. And would the Black Caps beat both sides comfortably?”

I doubt they’d beat Australia. New Zealand have been playing beautifully, but they have a remarkable ability to choke against the trans-Tasman rival, no matter the respective situations. The Kiwis were flying in 2015 but came over and got steamrolled. Similarly when Australia visited in 2016, and the same story when NZ toured Australia a year ago.

It would be a great story to see that hold get broken, and to see NZ make it into the World Test Championship final if that can go ahead mid-year.

And now it’s started raining again. Covers coming back on.

The umpires are out there for an inspection, and some of the Indian players are warming up again. Plenty of ground staff still out in the middle.

“On the topic of pronunciations, what about debut?” writes Angus Crouch. “The ever contentious issue alongside wickets before runs or runs before wickets – the latter for me.”

This one’s interesting. Australians of a certain type tend to be sniffed at for saying “day-boo” but that is also how the French original is pronounced. With a bit less sinus, perhaps. The usage that is supposedly more proper in English is “day-bue” in sync with things like “music”, but that version has been changed. Do we blame the Normans? I say why not. But maybe Australians are right.

On the other hand, maybe Australians should accept that when the entire rest of the world does the score a certain way, maybe we’re wrong. Runs are the currency that decides cricket matches, wickets are merely the means to earning it. So yes, runs should come first. I’ve made peace with that. Bowling figures are the other way because a bowler’s main currency is wickets.

We actually had a meeting about it some years ago to decide what should happen on the OBO for Australian matches being covered by Guardian Aus, and decided to go with the global method rather than the parochial.

Some movement at the SCG, with the ground staff emerging from their burrows like groundhogs squinting for the sun. Might be easing off. The inspecting umpires still have their brollies up though.

David Griffiths is whiling away the hours. “The Pucovski conundrum reminds me of travel writer Paul Theroux’s bewilderment at being called ‘Mr Thorax’ by Australian locals while researching his Happy Isles of Oceania book in the 1990s. As a rule, you can opt for the pronunciation the name-bearer uses. It doesn’t always work, however, as I soon discovered on my own travels back in 1999 when I said Sydney (‘Seedney’) to a taxi driver who threw me out on the spot: “You’re taking the piss, mate. Geddout.” Travelling down under as a Brit is a real linguistic tightrope: err one way and you’re an arrogant colonist; err the other and you’re a condescending piss-taker.”

Mr Thorax sounds like a truly horrifying inhabitant of nightmares.

An email in from Scott Ahpee on phonetics. “In regards to Jervis Dean’s (quite valid) observation of the pronunciation of Pucovski, it’s worth mentioning the highest mountain in the land of Mt Ko-zee-os-ko… or Ko-shoo-shko, as my Polish friend Arek has informed me. I am doing my best to follow your lead on the proper Labuschagne pronunciation, but often feel like a dick while I’m doing so… All the best.”

Haha. Me too, and I’m still not sure what the right answer is on that one: do you decide that someone accepting the wrong pronunciation is personal preference, or do you resist it when that personal preference is made under some broader social pressure? Maybe it can’t be untangled.

You won’t believe this, but it’s still raining in Sydney.

If you’re curious, it’s currently not raining in Brisbane, though it’s forecast.

Lovely sunny days in Melbourne and Adelaide, low 20s. Cloudy but dry in Canberra.

Too hot in Perth, max of 38 today. Hobart? It’s 18 degrees. Brr.

This has been your Australian Cricket Capital Weather Round-Up.

Well, we were looking forward to a big first session, but we got 7.1 overs. Even by today’s rates, that is slow. The rain has forced an early lunch, so the second session will in theory start in 40 minutes, at 1pm local time. (Hint: it won’t actually.)

Do you want something to fill the time? We can’t have one SCG, so we’ll have another.

This is SCG MacGill, a long audio interview that Adam Collins and I had with the great leg-spinner a few months ago. He has the most wickets at the SCG after Warne, and he was a wonderful person to speak to. Very honest, very emotional, about his career and his achievements and his regrets.

You can listen to it here while I grab a sandwich. Back in a tick.

Another Pucovski question, this time from Scott Lowe.

“Throwing this out there for your comment and others – if a batsman hypothetically has had issues with concussions in the past, is it unethical to deliberately bounce them? I suspect many will say no, but I know that even if it’s completely within the laws of the game, it just doesn’t sit right with me.”

I understand the feeling of it not sitting right. But I think the issue comes down to the fact that short bowling is currently part of the game. People can make a decent argument that it shouldn’t be, but it is. And if it is, then I would say that it’s the responsibility of a player to be able to medically cope with it, not an opponent to accommodate them if they can’t.

Just as if a footballer turns out with a dodgy ankle, they can’t expect other players to run away from them more slowly or go easy on a tackle.

Of course concussions have the risk of real lasting damage, in a way that other injuries don’t. But I’d say that fundamentally it’s the player’s choice to play, and that they know that playing will necessitate playing short bowling. So if they’re not able to do that safely, they can’t volunteer themselves to play elite cricket. Ultimately they have that choice.

An email from Jervis Dean, as the wait continues. Not much the OBO audience likes more than pedantry, after all.

“Some pedantry for you. While it is rare for Australian commentators to put much effort into pronouncing the more challenging surnames of our cricketers, it is still somewhat grating to hear on air commentators say Puck-ov-ski. In Czech the C is a soft Z sound like the Z sound in ‘pizza’. So his surname would be pronounced Puts-ov-ski or something to that effect. Not sure how the kid himself pronounces his name but it doesn’t seem like it should be much of a stretch for commentators to be attentive, especially if Will observes the correct pronunciation of his name.”

I haven’t heard it discussed, and there’s a strong tendency in most languages to turn unfamiliar sounds into familiar ones, until the new version becomes the accepted one. Like Phil Jaques (Jakes) or Michael Kasprowicz. Someone like Labuschagne is at the earlier end of that process, having decided himself to tell Australians to pronounce his name the wrong way… so how long does it take to become the right way? I’m not sure where along that timeline Pucovski is.

“Morning, Geoff, from Kent. There’s something so reassuring about hearing the warmth of far-off cricket in the darkness. While my friend says things are getting serious in Sydney, they’ve closed the nightclubs…”

Hello James, I hope you also enjoy the warmth of far-off rain delays. They closed the nightclubs years ago, when Mike Baird tanked the city’s nightlife while moonlighting as NSW Premier. Now he’s a new Cricket Australia board member.

Or not! The hessian is going back on. What’s better than rain? Interminable, light rain that teases everyone.

Looks like we’ll be back underway shortly. The Indian players coming out to warm up, while the rope buggy cuts some sick laps.

Paul Reiffel and Blocker Wilson are umpiring this Test match, a tall pair who could have opened the bowling together 20 years ago. Today they walked out to look at the pitch, then walked back in again as it got covered up. Now they’re just hanging about on the outfield waiting for some drizzle to stop.

“What’s Pucovski like as a personality? I love Marnus’ hyper type personality and wonder how they’d get along.”

Hello, Ruth Purdue. He’s much more chilled out than Marnus. Not that it would be hard to be that, but mostly Pucovski seems pretty contained, aside from being a bit satirical about the senior players at training. But very quiet and focused when he’s batting. So he’s not at all shy, but not manic.

“How do you see the 4th test proceeding, if at all? The Brisbane test seems less likely day by day, and the briefings / leaks from the Indian set up seem to be gathering steam. Assuming it’s not at the Gabba, how long would it take to prepare a stand by pitch at an alternative venue? Would Victoria have them back? Maybe Manuka Oval is an option?”

Hello to David Marshall. I think we’re fine for Brisbane now. The Indian reaction was to reports that they would be confined to their rooms, but because they’ll have hotel floors to themselves they’ll actually be able to hang out in common areas with the travelling party. That all looks like it’s going ahead as planned.

Who would have thought? At the Sydney Test, of all places. A squall blows in from nowhere and the covers are pulled out. It doesn’t look like this will last long, though.

7th over: Australia 21-1 (Pucovski 14, Labuschagne 2) Pucovski keeps harvesting runs, while Labuschagne has barely had strike. Another couple of runs squeezed off the pads from Bumrah, then a neat single tucked square of mid-on after the previous ball went straight to that fielder.

6th over: Australia 18-1 (Pucovski 11, Labuschagne 2) Siraj tries the bouncer, and Pucovski gets his first Test boundary in streaky style. A fine top edge that goes high but lands safely. More convincing is his on-drive the next ball to a fuller one, picking up three. He’s into double figures on debut.

Captain John Starbuck is on the emails. “You can’t help thinking that how the Aussies perform in their first innings will be the crunch point. It isn’t always the case, especially since 2nd-innings debacles are already assumed as a distinct possibility in this series.”

5th over: Australia 11-1 (Pucovski 4, Labuschagne 2) Bumrah to Pucovski again, defending on the off stump, but playing through midwicket when Bumrah bowls straighter. The bowler thinks for a second that he’s going to nail the front pad in front of middle stump, but Pucovski gets bat on it.

4th over: Australia 8-1 (Pucovski 1, Labuschagne 2) A big moment for Siraj, breaking the opening partnership and forcing the player on debut to adjust to a new partner and the loss of a senior presence. Here comes Marnus Labuschagne, and he’s off the mark quickly by leg-glancing two.

All that talk, and Warner falls! Siraj moves the field to indicate that he’s bowling straight, then accidentally I fancy bowls very wide. That ball starts outside off stump but keeps tailing further away. Warner has already committed to the big drive but doesn’t account for the movement, and only gets a thick edge to third slip. Gone!

3rd over: Australia 6-0 (Pucovski 1, Warner 5) Again Pucovski faces most of the over, not troubled as yet against Bumrah after Warner drops a single to cover in his usual style.

2nd over: Australia 5-0 (Pucovski 1, Warner 4) Mohammed Siraj with the new ball to partner Bumrah, and Warner gets on with things straight away! Punches off the back foot out through the covers for two runs. That makes Siraj err onto the pads and Warner glances another run. Comfortable start for him. Siraj is getting swing as well. Pucovski gets his first run in Test cricket with a nudge off his legs.

1st over: Australia 0-0 (Pucovski 0, Warner 0) Will Pucovski gets to face the first delivery and get his work underway right from the start. Bumrah has a false start with his run-up, then a rusty start with a very wide ball swinging away. He gets back on target from then on, letting Pucovski get bat on ball in defence for the first time. There is outswing for Bumrah, noticeably. Pucovski defends a few with soft hands, then receives his first short ball and shapes to play but doesn’t get it.

“Is this where the openers win the Test?” asks John. You could almost sum it up that way. Warner’s return feels hugely important for Australia – indeed, I wrote about that yesterday. Surely Steve Smith will find some runs very soon though? India too have had a shortage of runs, and it was Rahane’s outstanding innings in Melbourne that set them up to claim that Test.

We already had India’s team last night, and Australia goes as expected: dropping Travis Head to move Matthew Wade down the order and bring in a new opening partnership. “He hasn’t done a whole lot wrong, Heady, we’ve just changed the balance of our side with an all-rounder so he’s unlucky,” says Paine.

Australia
David Warner
Will Pucovski (debut)
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Matthew Wade
Cameron Green
Tim Paine * +
Patrick Cummins
Mitchell Starc
Nathan Lyon
Josh Hazlewood

India
Rohit Sharma
Shubman Gill
Cheteshwar Pujara
Ajinkya Rahane
Hanuma Vihari *
Rishabh Pant +
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravichandran Ashwin
Navdeep Saini (debut)
Jasprit Bumrah
Mohammed Siraj

The coin lands for Tim Paine again. It did so in Melbourne and that didn’t help, with India rolling the home team for 195, but Australia get another chance here.

In the grand tradition of the OBO, you can drop us a line. Send your spicy John Barilaro memes, your amateur epidemiology assessments, your outraged invective about state rivalries… no, wait, don’t send any of those things. Just write me a nice email about something interesting or fun if you feel like it. Some will wind their way into the thread of the day’s conversation. My address(es) can be found in the sidebar.

A new day dawns, and a new Test match approaches. This being one that is attracting more attention than most, and not just for cricket’s sake. Plenty of political argument about whether it should be going ahead in Sydney, and whether an audience should be allowed to attend. The Australian Medical Association thinks not, the New South Wales government says yes, for those keeping score. The issue is the recent spread of coronavirus in Sydney. For those in places like the UK or USA, the numbers in Australia will look tiny, but as we often see more optimistically in sport, humble beginnings can lead to things of greater magnitude.

The deal in practical terms is that the SCG is capped at a quarter capacity, which I think means 10,000 people maximum. Whether 10,000 people will still show up is another question. The MCG had a 30,000 max on Boxing Day and didn’t quite reach it.

On the cricket side of the equation, we have a series levelled at 1-1 with two matches to play. We have an Australian team desperate to stay in the hunt for a trophy after being squashed in Melbourne, and an Indian team feeling surprisingly good after the all-out 36 debacle at Adelaide not long ago. Two big names are back at the top of the order: David Warner and Rohit Sharma. But this ain’t Hyderabad v Mumbai in Abu Dhabi. They’re both back from injury in a Test match with a need to deliver right away. Two years ago, India made 600+ here and forced Australia to follow on, only stopped from winning by rain. This time around… we’re about to find out.