Australia believe the harder pink Dukes ball and longer night sessions in Jamaica will result in spin having little impact during the third Test as Nathan Lyon was left out for the first time in 12 years.
Scott Boland replaced Lyon in Australia’s XI for the day-night Test at Sabina Park that began early Sunday morning Australian time, which is the first time the Victorian quick has played in a four-man pace attack alongside captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
National selector Tony Dodemaide told reporters at Sabina Park after the toss that it was a “conditions-based decision to go with the four quicks”.
“An unusual selection for us, it’s not something we generally want to do,” he said on Saturday local time.
“It’s certainly fair to say it wasn’t front of mind when we first got here to Sabina Park.
“What we found here with the data – limited data that we have on particularly the pink Dukes ball – is that it behaves a little differently to the Kookaburra one, it doesn’t go as soft.
“The Kookaburra one tends to have a trough when it doesn’t move so much in those middle overs.
“That’s not the case with the Dukes one, history tells us that and that’s been a lived experience when we’ve been here for the past couple of days, in terms of the practice sessions that we’ve had.
“There’s longer nights here (in Jamaica) – the night sessions are genuinely night sessions (and) dark conditions kick in. We know that’s also very difficult for the batters as well.
“Based on all of that, we thought that spin would not really have a significant part in the game; the previous West Indies pink-ball Test, (leg-spinner Devendra) Bishoo bowled two overs for the game.”
That match against Sri Lanka in Barbados in 2018 is one of only two previous Tests played with a pink Dukes ball, with the second a year earlier also featuring West Indies, who were beaten by an innings and 209 runs at Edgbaston, which did involve a lot of spin as England peeled of 8(dec)-514 batting first.
The last time Australia picked four specialist seamers for a Test was in Sydney 2013 when Lyon was part of an attack featuring Starc, Jackson Bird, Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson, defeating Sri Lanka by five wickets.
But it was a year before that when Lyon was last left out in favour of four quicks, when Ryan Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus, Starc and Siddle bowled Australia to an innings and 37-run win over India at the WACA Ground in January 2012.
Dodemaide said the veteran off-spinner – who is one wicket away from drawing level with Glenn McGrath as Australia’s second highest Test wicket-taker – was naturally disappointed as “he wants to play every game”.
“It’s a one off,” Dodemaide said.
“It’s no reflection on performance for Nathan; it’s simply the best way we think we can win this game.
“He’s a great competitor and he believes he can be effective in any conditions.
“But he’s a team man as well and understands the right thing for the team, and he will do his best to support the guys.”
Lyon bowled just one over in his most recent pink-ball appearance in Adelaide last summer, with Boland also playing in that match and taking 2-54 and 3-51 in Australia’s 10-wicket win over India.
However, Dodemaide said that wasn’t a factor in his non-selection in Jamaica as there had been times when Lyon had bowled a lot with the pink ball, including Australia’s last day-night clash with the Windies in Brisbane where he bowled 50 overs across both innings, taking 2-81 and 3-42.
“It’s true that there’s been a couple of occasions when he hasn’t (bowled much),” Dodemaide said.
“He didn’t bowl at all in Hobart for the Ashes (Test) down there (in January 2022). But there have been times in pink-ball games when there has been those flat spots and Nathan has bowled and done well in that environment.
“But we just thought the differences here … there’s more night-time hours.
“We’ve seen out there in practice last couple of days that the ball does a lot, it’s very difficult for the batters.
“We can rotate the four quicks; we’ve got Scotty coming in fresh as well so that’ll even allow us to perhaps give the quicks who have played a couple of games more of a chop out.
“It was certainly a difficult one, but we thought the exceptional circumstances justified having the four quicks so that we could rotate those guys and keep the pressure on and on a well-grassed and hard surface with lots of night-time play hours, (we think) that’s the best way to win the game.”
Meanwhile, West Indies recalled their spinner, Jomel Warrican, for the pink-ball contest after playing four front-line quicks in the second Test in Grenada last week, with the left-armer deployed for one over before lunch on day one.
Qantas Tour of the West Indies
First Test: Australia won by 159 runs
Second Test: Australia won by 133 runs
Third Test: July 12-16, Kingston, Jamaica (4.30am AEST)
Australia Test squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
West Indies Test squad: Roston Chase (c), Jomel Warrican (vc), Kevlon Anderson, Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Keacy Carty, Justin Greaves, Shai Hope, Tevin Imlach, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Johann Layne, Mikyle Louis, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales
First T20I: July 20, Kingston, Jamaica (July 21, 11am AEST)
Second T20I: July 22, Kingston, Jamaica (July 23, 11am AEST)
Third T20I: July 25, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 26, 9am AEST)
Fourth T20I: July 26, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 27, 9am AEST)
Fifth T20I: July 28, Basseterre, St Kitts (July 29, 9am AEST)
West Indies T20 squad: TBC
Australia’s T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Cooper Connolly, Tim David, Ben Dwarshius, Nathan Ellis, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Inglis, Matt Kuhnemann, Glenn Maxwell, Mitch Owen, Matthew Short, Adam Zampa
