Australia keep Todd Murphy can nonetheless play a giant position in making an attempt to retain the Ashes, after the offspinner was restricted to only two overs in England’s fourth innings at Headingley.
Playing his first Test as Australia’s sole tweaker, Murphy went nearly unbowled on Sunday by Pat Cummins because the hosts chased down 251 in exactly 50 overs.
The 22-year-old was handed the ball for the ultimate over earlier than lunch on day 4, earlier than gaining one different single over when England wanted 30 for victory.
The lack of use of Murphy got here with Australia taking part in their first Test with out chief spinner Nathan Lyon in nearly 10 years, after a calf tear dominated the veteran out of the collection.
“It was mainly just conditions-based,” Cummins mentioned.
“Didn’t quite spin as much as we thought it would. And probably didn’t bowl as many overs as we thought we would as well.
“We bowled below 60 each innings. I’d have appreciated to get Toddy into the sport a bit extra. But I’m certain (the fourth Test in) Manchester will likely be a bit extra spin-friendly.”
Murphy took 1-36 in 7.3 overs in the first innings, getting the wicket of Ben Stokes after being hit for three sixes on the extremely short straight boundary.
Cummins also defended the decision to have up to seven men on the boundary at times with less than 50 runs to win in the fourth innings.
England were six wickets down at the time and their tail on the brink of being exposed.
“I’ll have one other have a look at it and see if there’s something we would do otherwise,” Cummins mentioned.
“I nonetheless felt like with the ball, there was a little bit bit in there.
“So we were happy to give away a single but still felt like we left our catchers in, the two or three slips where you felt like you were going to take your wickets anyway.
“Overall, I believed we dealt with it not unhealthy. You may have a look at just a few other ways to go about it, however I felt like we made some first rate choices on the market.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
