Watching Steve Smith bowl wristspin in the final overs of the New Year’s Ashes Test at SCG reminded Michael Hussey of the infamous 2008 Test at the venue against India where Michael Clarke’s effective left-arm spin did the trick for the Australians.
The situation was quite similar. As England fought hard to salvage a draw with only two wickets left and a handful of overs remaining, Australia introduced Smith into the attack. The modern-day batting great rolled his arm over, got one to bite the rough side of the surface and had left-hander Jack Leach out nicking the ball through slips.
This made Hussey reminisce of the time when the then Australian captain Ricky Ponting turned to Clarke’s part-time left-arm spinner as the shadows began to lengthen at the SCG, and India started inching closer to a draw with their lower-order, led by the great Anil Kumble.
As soon as the solid-looking Kumble got off the strike, however, Clarke turned on the magic trick and got Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh and Ishant Sharma out to finish off the Test match in Australia’s favour, giving them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-game series.
Smith couldn’t quite run through the tail and give the hosts another such exciting victory, but his ball to dismiss Leach and the role skipper Pat Cummins had asked him to play brought back fond memories of watching Clarke go about his business for Hussey.
“It actually reminded me of a few years ago when Michael Clarke came on in a Test match and took two or three late wickets against India.
It had that feel about it when he got Jack Leach out. I thought, is he going to spin his magic and spin Australia to a famous victory?
But England were able to hang on. All the experience of Jimmy Anderson. It was phenomenal.”
Hussey told Cricbuzz.
England’s lower-order showed great resistance for a final couple of overs of a rain-marred Test as veterans Stuart Broad and James Anderson took their team to safety. Australia fell one wicket short of taking a 4-0 lead in the Ashes 2021-22, which concludes in Hobart with the final Test starting January 14.
