‘Annoyed’ Marnus’ agonising tease; Head’s shock problem as Smith blow shakes up selection — Talking Points

The first Test of this highly-anticipated series between Australia and South Africa is set to go the way of the visitors following another dominant day in Durban.

With a day to play, Australia need six wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series - their first in South Africa since Sandpapergate in 2018 - after setting the hosts 421 for victory.

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South Africa reached stumps at 4/102 in pursuit of 421 on a day where runs flowed with the Australians in attack mode as Matt Renshaw and skipper Pat Cummins once again led the way with both bat and ball.

It added to an excellent captaincy performance so far from Cummins, but the sour note for the Australians was Steve Smith not taking the field after being struck on the helmet by an Anrich Nortje bouncer.

Smith batted on, as he did at Lord’s in 2019, but Cricket Australia’s medical team assessed him for concussion later in the day.

If he is concussed, Smith will miss the second Test starting on Sunday in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) and Fox Cricket ran the rule over potential replacements at No.4. Cricket Australia is monitoring the star and will provide an update on Tuesday.

But first Australia have a Test match to win!

Scroll down for the biggest talking points from day four in Durban!

SMITH LATEST: Nasty bouncer blow triggers big concerns for Aussie superstar as CA provide update

AUSSIE BOWLERS PUT TOURISTS ON THE CUSP ON VICTORY

Nathan Lyon declared he was feeling fitter than ever and Josh Hazlewood looked as strong as an ox as he furthered Australia’s ascendancy with a sizzling spell to finish Day 4.

The New South Welshman missed the entirety of the Ashes due to injury, raising concerns as to how long he would be able to feature in Test cricket.

But to watch him running in with steam and bowling serious heat against the South African top order on Monday afternoon suggests the 35-year-old is still at the peak of his powers.

Hazlewood snared the wickets of Ryan Rickelton and then David Bedingham, the Proteas top-scorer to date, later in the session while also peppering away at Aiden Markram.

So brilliant was the delivery to dismiss Bedingham LBW for 46, the veteran fast bowler almost forgot to appeal as he charged towards the striker’s end, such was his enthusiasm.

When at their peak, the champion quartet of bowlers featuring Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Lyon have hunted as a pack and that has proven the case in this Test.

Cummins was intimidating in South Africa’s first innings and finished with three wickets, while the members of the Fab Four finished with two apiece to pass 600 wickets as a quartet in games in which they have all featured.

It was Hazlewood who did the damage on an afternoon that thankfully progressed to 5pm, the first full day of play for the Test.

All-rounder Beau Webster, who snared a wicket in the first innings and finished unbeaten on 39, said it had been a pleasing rally for the Australians after they were reduced to 6-124 on the first day of the series.

“It was a good day, a good couple of days there actually for the boys. We’ve still got a job to do tomorrow, obviously with the the six wickets in hand,” he said.

The challenge on Friday will be to snare six wickets and Lyon, who switched ends in the latter stages of the day’s session to assess what might be on offer, stands as a key.

Matthew Renshaw, who has the man of the match honours secured barring an extraordinary performance from Aiden Markram, could be handy as well after snaring his first Test wicket late in the piece when removing Temba Bavuma.

The Australians punished the South African spinners Simon Harper and Keshav Maharaj, with the former recording figures of 1-121 while conceding almost five runs an over and the latter going for more than six runs an over when finishing with 2-56.

But the Australians had the benefit of a hefty first innings advantage and also the knowledge they had top attack given the time that had been lost due to fading innings.

South Africa, unless Markram can pull off a miracle, will be batting to survive, which adds a layer of difficulty to bowling them out.

But the weather radar is clear and while the Aussies will be racing the clock, they will enter the final day confident of taking the lead into Gqeberha.

WHO MIGHT REPLACE SMITH?

There is a layer of complexity surrounding the concerns with Smith, who is in doubt for the second Test and being monitored for concussion, given the most logical replacements waiting in the wings are also under injury clouds.

Both Cameron Green and Josh Inglis were injured during Australia’s white ball series against Zimbabwe and South Africa preceding the three Test series and yet to prove their fitness.

Inglis, who returned home to Australia after fracturing a finger against Zimbabwe, rejoined the squad midway through the Durban Test with a view to playing at some stage.

Green, who injured his abdomen in an ODI against South Africa, has remained with the squad despite a lack of clarity as to how long the problem will sideline him for.

Both players completed run-throughs on Kingsmead Oval preceding play on Monday and there is still six days until the second Test begins in Cape Town.

“The boys look like they’re tracking well,” Webster said after stumps.

“Obviously, Ingles got back to us from Perth in the last couple of days. He’s had a hit today.

“Greenie, I suppose, looks like he’s up and he’s running. I haven’t really spoken to him. I’ve got no real time timeline there. I’m not a physio or a doctor, so I’ve got no idea there, but it looks like they’re progressing well.”

Nic Maddinson’s flurry on Monday means he remains in the frame to open in the second Test, but there are question marks surrounding the other two reserves in Cooper Connolly and Sam Harper.

Connolly was overlooked in favour of Maddinson, while Harper joined the squad as a replacement for Inglis as the reserve wicketkeeper.

It would be a stretch, but Harper has been superb when opening for Victoria over the past 12 months and made a century in an Australia A game against India A last month.

Adding a further wrinkle to the situation is the prospect of rain leading into the Port Elizabeth Test, with more than 20mm predicted for Friday, which would restrict time in the nets.

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Pat Cummins earned rave reviews for his bowling on Sunday, with his pace up and his ability to bounce the South Africans into mistakes giving Australia the upper-hand.

But the Australian captain, whose first innings partnership with Matt Renshaw helped the tourists get a toehold in the game, has been praised for another element of his repertoire.

There have been times in his captaincy where Cummins’ tactical acumen has been questioned despite Australia’s success during his tenure, particularly in Test cricket.

But former South African batsman Ashwell Prince has no doubt Cummins’ clear-thinking in this Test has been a factor in the Aussies charging towards victory going into the final day.

Cummins has the happy knack of snaring a wicket when Australia needs one.

But according to Prince, what he also did well was sniff out a potential opportunity for the rest of the attack to profit as well, which blunted the Proteas capacity to reduce the deficit.

“He’s obviously an astute captain, Cummins, and when there’s a sniff, he’s going to push his fast bowlers to keep going, because a wicket keeps falling every so often,” Prince, who is a South African assistant coach, said.

“Just as the partnership looks like it’s going to wrestle advantage towards us, a wicket falls, and every time a wicket falls, it energises the bowling attack and they feel that they can push on a little bit more.

“If you lose a wicket every so often, those fast bowlers get a bit more energy and they come again, because it’s only so long before you get through the backbone and then you get to the tail end, isn’t it?”

It is not just with the bat and ball that the influence of Cummins, who smashed Simon Harper for three sixes in four balls when making a sizzling 32 not out from 12 balls before declaring, has been crucial in this Test.

The struggle in the first two sessions of the opening day aside, Australia’s batsmen have also followed instructions superbly, with Renshaw a case in point in both innings.

The Australian captain has been imploring the top order to value their wickets and grind through difficult periods and the big Queenslander did this superbly in the first innings when making 190 from 397 balls at a strike rate of 47.85.

In the second innings, with the Australians intent on upping the ante mindful of leaving enough time to bowl the Proteas out, Renshaw and the others increased their tempo.

The rangy Renshaw scored 82 from 99 balls at a strike rate of 82.82 and was only undone by a bizarre, juggling caught and bowled by Keshav Mahraj, while Nic Maddinson set the tone in a reversal of his first day horrors by scoring a rapid 49 from 38 deliveries.

Steve Smith (27 runs from 41 balls) and Marnus Labuschagne (37 runs from 58 balls) also batted with positive intent and a team-first approach to setting a target.

“We tried to get that sort of one day batting out and make sure we were ticking the board over to have plenty of overs to give ourselves, you know, the best chance to win the game,” Webster said.

“That’s a little bit above my pay grade, the declaration discussions, no doubt, but the message was just to tick it over as we saw (with) Maddo and all the boys right through the order,” he said.

“(We wanted to) play with a little bit more intent, I suppose, in the first innings and then you know when Paddy ran a message out to up the ante just before Renners got out, he was obviously pretty keen on a declaration around there.”

RENSHAW MAY HOLD KEY TO INDIA CHALLENGE

Matt Renshaw’s outstanding Test match may prompt questions about the exact make-up of Australia’s batting order, but it has solved a key puzzle that is on the horizon.

When Australia head to India in January to try win the Border Gavaskar Trophy away from home for the first time since 2004, Renshaw will be one of Australia’s most important players.

The left-hander has long been regarded as one of the nation’s finest players of spin.

He was afforded the chance early in his career after a breakthrough maiden home summer to tour India and Bangladesh in 2017.

The selectors recalled Renshaw for the 2023 series in India and even made the bold call to leave Travis Head out for the first Test of that series to deploy Renshaw and Peter Handscomb in the middle order.

The Queenslander’s returns on the subcontinent do not tell the full story, however.

He averages 21.45 from six Tests in India, having scored two half-centuries, and 19 from two Test in Bangladesh.

In a famous Australian victory in the series opener at Pune in 2017, Renshaw made 68 from 156 balls to top score in the first innings while battling a case of Delhi belly - even having to run off the field at one point.

He found runs harder to come by from then on, but that knock planted the seed of what may be to come for Renshaw.

As shown by his stellar play in this Test, highlighted by an array of sweeps and reverse sweeps against Proteas pair Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, Renshaw is a much finer player of spin now.

It is why the Australian hierarchy shifted him to No.5 for this Test - even if Maharaj and Harmer eventually claimed his wicket in each innings.

And it is why he has become a three-format regular in the past 12 months - Renshaw was even drafted into this year’s T20 World Cup at the last minute as a spin-facing specialist.

Former Australian batter Simon Katich and some of his colleagues in the media centre in Durban were saying on Sunday that the exposure Renshaw has had to the turning ball in white-ball internationals has taken him to a new level.

He reaped the rewards of those experiences and Katich is certain he will going forward too.

“I can see him being a part of this Australian team for a long time,” Katich said on commentary as Renshaw brought up his half-century on day four.

“With the challenges coming up ahead, he is going to have a big role to play wherever they decide to bat him.”

Katich is a cricketer who knows all about a reigniting their Test career.

The left-hander was dumped from the Australian side late in 2005 following an underwhelming Ashes series in England.

He remained in the ODI team following his Test axing and then returned to the baggy green in 2008 after dominating at Sheffield Shield level.

Katich played 33 more Tests as an opening batter after previously batting in the middle, and he believes this Test could catapult Renshaw’s career as so many other Australians have done.

“Players who have come in and out of the side, there is often a turning point. You wonder if he looks back in five or six years time and thinks Durban was the one,” Katich said on commentary.

One of Australia’s greatest ever comeback kids was Matthew Hayden.

Renshaw has drawn comparison to his fellow tall, broad shouldered Queenslander throughout this Test match, and his strong sweeping may hold the key in India like Hayden so famously did in his monumental tour in 2001.

“I like the way he’s developed his sweep shots and his little tricks from T20 cricket and his white-ball cricket has made him come full circle as a Test player, in my opinion, because he doesn’t have to take the risk with playing pace like he like he did for a little while there,” former Australian opener Phil Jaques told foxsports.com.au in Durban.

“He had his game really worked out and disciplined to pace bowlers when he first came into Test cricket and made a really big hundred as a 20-year-old.

“He then tried to reinvent himself and expand as a player a little bit more and he actually got dropped from the Queensland side because of that, because he lost that ability to be a bit more patient outside off-stump to the pace bowlers.

“But now he’s actually being patient with the pace bowlers, but dominant to the spinners because of that experience, and his strike rate is up at a level now where you’re saying he can be a dominant Test player and not just occupy the crease, but can dominate a Test attack.

“I thought the way he played here was outstanding and his methods for me reek of a Test opener ready to go if they ever want to put him back up the top again.”

Keshav Maharaj was full of praise for the way Renshaw batted and said South Africa would need to adjust their plans for the second Test.

“He played really well,” the Protea spinner said.

“From the first innings to the second innings, he was quite clear in his game plan and never deviated from that. He never missed one sweep - even the LBW shout, he still got glove on it - but there was maybe a little bit of tactical awareness going into the next one.

“But kudos to him, he played really well. I think the foundation that he set in the way he absorbed pressure in the first innings allowed him to play with the freedom that he did, just by reading the conditions really well. And you’ve got to give credit where it’s due sometimes.”

‘ASK MORE QUESTIONS’: MARNUS TEASES AS BETTER ‘SIGNS’ EMERGE

Marnus Labuschagne teased that his former, world No.1 ranked, self was back in this Test.

But Australia’s No.3 failed to capitalise on two starts - remarkably falling for exactly 37 off 58 balls in both innings.

On Monday, he miscued an attempted drive off spinner Keshav Maharaj to South African captain Temba Bavuma seemingly when he was doing it easy.

Australia was building its lead and Labuschagne was looking comfortable, but in the blink of an eye he was gone.

“He’d be annoyed at that, Marnus,” former Australian fast bowler Brendon Julian said on Kayo Sports during the lunch break.

Former Australian captain Alyssa Healy replied: “He tried to hit it too square.

“He was trying to work the gap. The length wasn’t quite there. Yes, it held in the surface a little bit, but that’s just him trying to work that delivery a little bit too square in the wicket.

“He’d be disappointed. I mean, he looked pretty good for his 30 again.

“And now it’s just going to ask more questions.”

“You don’t want to throw your wicket away when you know you’re sort of always getting questioned about your form,” Julian added.

Australian great Mark Waugh went on to say that even though Labuschagne’s intent was clearly better than it has been in recent times.

The nature of his dismissal showed that the South African-born Queenslander still has plenty of work to do to rediscover his former glory.

“A couple of years ago, he would not have got out then. He’d nailed a 70 or 80,” Waugh said.

“But now he’s still, I think, still searching for his pristine form.

“He made that shot too hard. Should have just hit it straight to mid-off.

“So maybe he’s overthinking it still a little bit.

“But the signs are there. He’s been more proactive, more positive, which are all good things for him.”

While Healy suggested that inside the Australian dressing room, they would be pleased with how Labuschagne approached the situation.

“The only thing I will say is that’s a real team-first mentality in that he was looking to keep the scoreboard moving,” she said.

“He wasn’t worried as much about his innings and himself and staying in there and hanging about.

“He was actually trying to keep the scoreboard moving for the team, which is a good thing.”

Labuschagne and Steve Smith’s willingness to attack South African speedster Anrich Nortje was impressive in the first session of day four.

Nortje hit Smith on the helmet when he was on 2 - he went on to make 27 - and Labuschagne responded by cracking two boundaries through the off side in the same over shortly after.

Then Smith hit consecutive three boundaries, that were only interrupted by a bouncer that sailed over his head for a wide, the next over to take 14 from it.

The pair eventually came unstuck against the hosts’ spinners, but the battle with Nortje may have acted as a boost for Labuschagne and a glimpse into what is to come for Smith.

“I think the way that Steve Smith got shortened up early on in his innings, he just broke the shackles straight away and then went, ‘All right, I’m going to get you before you get me.’,” Healy said.

“And I think it helped Marnus along the line as well.”

Waugh added: “I think this might be a sign of things to come for Steve Smith.

“I think he’s going to cop some short-pitched bowling in this series and against New Zealand.

“But he always finds a way, doesn’t he?

“And probably the dismissal was just probably a lack of respect for Harmer. That’s what got him out.”

‘NOTHING SHOT’: HEAD UNDER FIRE AS MADDINSON RESPONDS

It was a mixed bag for Australia’s openers in the second innings against South Africa, with Travis Head once again struggling while Nic Maddinson showed some promising signs.

Head managed just 11 runs from 18 deliveries, while Maddinson came out firing with an attacking 48 from 38 balls.

But are the pair really the answer for Australia at the top of the order?

Head’s recent form has become a concern, with Australian great Mark Waugh questioning his shot selection after another disappointing dismissal.

“He’s chipped a few up like that a lot recently. He’s been caught down the leg side,” Waugh said.

“Just a real lack of commitment to the shot and concentration, really.

“It’s just a nothing delivery, nothing shot.”

And Waugh warned Head could find himself in a rut if the dismissals continue.

“He doesn’t want to get into this bit of a rut where he throws his wicket away too often,” Waugh said.

“Then you start to self-doubt, you know, doubts come in.”

Since smashing 163 in the final Ashes Test in January, Head has averaged just 18.3, including scores of nine and 11 against South Africa.

And with Alyssa Healy previously calling for Head to return to No.5 and Matt Renshaw to open, the pressure is only growing.

But while Head continues to struggle, Maddinson showed some promising signs after his 33-ball duck in the first innings.

The 34-year-old looked far more comfortable in his second outing, with Kerry O’Keeffe praising his change in mindset.

“He was much freer in his mind,” O’Keeffe said.

“He looked a lot easier with himself.”

Waugh, however, wasn’t completely convinced.

“They bowled rubbish. Good that he got 48,” Waugh said.

“But he’s going to need more than that. He’s going to need a proper Test match innings to keep his spot.”

And while Maddinson’s attacking cameo was encouraging, Healy still had concerns about his technique.

“You saw him still look a little uncomfortable with that ball coming in right in his knee roll,” Healy said.

“But all in all, you’d take those runs, wouldn’t you?”

Australia has struggled to settle on an opening partnership, and with Head battling for form and Maddinson still having plenty to prove, questions remain over whether the pair are the answer going forward.