Cummins, Starc, Hazlewood and Lyon were a joy to watch in Perth
Alex Malcolm16-Dec-2023There is something special about watching a great four-piece rock band in concert. There’s a familiarity, a seamlessness to how they come together to make the music they do.For Australia, day three in Perth against Pakistan was a case of the band getting back together. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon were back together for the first time since Lord’s when Australia went 2-0 up in the Ashes series. And that was the first time they had played together since Perth last year when they became the first four-man attack to take the field with 200 wickets apiece.They are the longest-serving bowling quartet in Test history, having featured together in 24 Tests. On a Perth pitch that had just enough in it for all four of them, they played their greatest hits.It wasn’t a rock show that melted your face off. It was just a long 101.5 over set where the band was in sync and the music was high quality throughout to bowl Pakistan out for 271 to set up a 216-run lead for Australia. For Pakistan’s batters, there was no respite. No lulls. No periods to breathe easy. The bowling was unrelenting and, in some ways, they did well to stretch the show as long as they did.The return of Lyon, the long-time drummer in the band, elevates the quartet to a new level. Coach Andrew McDonald had spoken in the build-up about how Lyon’s absence in the final three Ashes Tests had “destabilised” the attack. His importance was highlighted in Perth.On day two, Pakistan’s openers had weathered good first spells from the big three quicks to reach 74 for 0 after 36 overs. The frontmen had put on a decent show but the crowd wasn’t yet fully engaged. The drummer had to change the tempo. He went around the wicket to Abdullah Shafique and placed a leg slip in. It took three balls for Shafique to glance one straight to leg slip.On day three, Lyon changed the tempo again. Imam-ul-Haq had held out for 198 deliveries for 62, patiently bobbing and weaving against the quicks and sitting on Lyon. He went over the wicket to the left-hander and slowed up the pace, Imam was tempted to skip out and swing wildly and was stumped by a mile.Mitchell Starc can be a bit up and down but he can also produce magic•AFPWhile the drummer set the tempo, Hazlewood set the rhythm. He’s like the bass guitarist. Metronomic, unflappable, plucking away relentlessly to drive the band forward. He hardly got any rewards despite bowling beautifully. He beat the bat all day long.But finally, later in the day, his bandmates let him riff solo, and he blew a speaker out with the heaviest note of the day. Saud Shakeel had looked comfortable in his debut innings in Australia. Out of nowhere, having hit the perfect length to Shakeel, he got one to rear at his throat and the left-hander fended it to first slip.Starc is the lead guitarist. He’s enigmatic, with a propensity for breaking strings and guitars. But his best riffs are out of this world. Late on day two, having not extracted much swing with the new ball, he got one to curl away late from Shan Masood to catch the outside edge.Then on day three, with a 76-over-old ball, he delivered a searing inswinger at 140.1kph that sent Sarfaraz Ahmed’s off stump flying and had the stadium in raptures. He later sprayed the second new ball everywhere and left the field after experiencing trouble with his bowling boots.But the band kept playing while Starc got a new guitar. The frontman took control of the show. Cummins is the lead singer. He’s not the flamboyant Freddie Mercury type. But he’s the face of the band, consistent, irrepressible, and the glue that brings it all together.His spells on day three were mesmerising. He set the tone for the show with a cracking legcutter to remove the night watcher in the opening over. He also bowled the best over of the day to Agha Salman that went unrewarded. He beat the bat five out of six deliveries, with the sixth being defending on the front foot. Four balls whizzed past the outside edge jagging away from the good length. The other jagged in past the inside edge and thundered into Salman’s front pad. Umpire Richard Illingworth went up with the crowd and gave Salman out. The decision review system didn’t reward the delivery as ball-tracking showed it was doing too much and missing leg stump.Cummins would later get some reward with Faheem Ashraf spooning a catch to midwicket.Pat Cummins bowled outstandingly through the day•Getty ImagesHazlewood said there is an inherent trust between the four of them whenever they come together as a unit.”I think everyone just does their role and does it does it well, for majority of the time. We’re all a little bit different, obviously. Starcy is very attacking. Maybe leaks a few runs here and there, but a hell of a strike rate. Patty and I and Gaz [Lyon] don’t go for many runs a lot of the time and try and build pressure through that way and sort of suffocate the batting unit.”I just feel like we’d bounce off each other pretty well. And it felt like that out there today. Really strangled him for the majority of the time. So it was enjoyable.As the band has gotten older, they added more pieces to add depth to the sound. Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head also played their part. Marsh produced the solo of the day, removing Babar Azam with a beautiful outswinger to scratch the outside edge.Head chimed in late with a cameo to deny Lyon his 500th Test wicket, as Shaheen Shah Afridi miscued him to mid-on.All in all, it was a great show with all six men playing their roles. The band was in balance, with every man providing the right amount to bring it all together. It’s what makes Australia so good and so consistent. When they’re fit and firing there are no weak links.The show rolls on and on and the hits keep on coming.
