Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Mark Taylor’s player ratings on The Gabba Test

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La Gabba hosted one of the biggest test matches in history, won by an understaffed India at the end of matchday five.

Former captain Mark Taylor evaluated the performance of each Australian player.

DAVID WARNER: 5

A passing grade. Obviously not a great test match but he started to show some form in the second set before being cheated by the spinner. A tough streak for all the workers and Dave missing the first two tests didn’t help Australia or himself because he just didn’t catch on.

MARCUS HARRIS: 4

He showed a few glimpses in the second inning and he’s got some hits, no doubt. But he has work to do, especially against short ball. If he has to play more test matches, he will be tested a lot with the short ball.

MARNUS LABUSCHAGNE: 9

Australia’s best and most consistent drummer in the series. Another good performance. He’s been up against a whole new ball a lot and he’s denied that and thrived. A fitting result at the end of a good series for Marnus.

STEVE SMITH: 7

A consistent game, got a good ball in the second inning. He will be disappointed with how he came out in the first innings, to an officer. It was a half volley on the outside of the leg stump, which just shows that he’s fallible for me because it wasn’t a good delivery that got him out. But got points in the second set when we needed him and got Australia to win the game.

MATTHEW WADE: 5

I thought he played well in the first innings but he will absolutely fight for the way he came out. He’s going to be under pressure, but was strangled on the side of the leg in the second inning, which often happens when you need a few points. But he had to cash in the first rounds. A bad move after playing so well. He makes his life difficult. I think he can maintain this place; he just needs to convert those starts into big scores.

CAMERON GREEN: 5

Made 47 in the first innings. Played pretty well. Hanging there, even though he was fighting. But he was definitely under-played. One of the issues I have with today’s result is that Australia didn’t beat him enough. They haven’t tried enough things. He was under-played.

TIM PAINE: 7

I think he hit really well. Did some useful shopping. He was captain as part of the game plan and the criticism I have with today’s result is that it was too planned. It was a bit like Sydney. He’s still just looking to get wickets with Cummins, Hazlewood, Starc and Lyon, but that’s not how Test Cricket is. Sometimes you need to craft wickets in Test Cricket. I think Tim Paine has done a really good job for Australian cricket, but we need to see some surge in his harbor office.

Pat Cummins: 9

He’s a quality bowler and he continues to hammer. He’s clearly the leader of the attack and he couldn’t have been better in this game and this series.

Mitchell Starc: 4

He obviously has a problem with his hammy. He kept trying even though his body wasn’t allowing him to be his best, but he was fine.

Josh Hazlewood: 7

He played well throughout the game. Another day he might have more wickets. Josh is still very good. He is always there or there. I usually say I would like to see him show up more and Cummins does the tough jobs in terms of bullying.

Nathan Lyon: 4

A disappointing match for Lyono. Fairly stable but too many balls coming down from the side of the leg. He was also a bit unlucky. That Pujara’s LBW at the start of the day, which was given over to the referee’s criticism, was probably a turning point. He probably needed something early to get started and unfortunately it didn’t work for him.

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