World Test Championship Final 2023 (7th June - 11th June)

First topic message reminder :

The second edition of the World Test Championship concludes with the final between Australia and India, starting on Wednesday at 10:30 BST (that's half an hour earlier than tests in England usually start, so be aware!).

Australia narrowly missed out on reaching the first final, but for this cycle they comfortably topped the table with 11 wins in their 19 tests. This included a 4-0 hammering of England at home and also a narrow win in Pakistan, although they did lose to India in India by a margin of 2-1. India edged out South Africa to 2nd place to reach their second consecutive final, and they'll be hoping to go one better than 2021 where they were defeated by New Zealand in the final.

The two squads are as follows:

Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Josh Inglis, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

Reserves: Mitch Marsh, Matt Renshaw

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadakt, Umesh Yadav.

Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav

Must be noted that Josh Hazlewood, who has hardly played any tests over the past few years, has been officially ruled out of the final, as he continues to battle troubling injuries. Boland will be the likely beneficiary.

Unlike the 2021 final, the weather forecast is for continuous sunshine and temperatures going into the high 20s. There is a reserve day in place, but it's not probable that this will be required.

I favour Australia to win this one. Their batting and seam bowling seems much the stronger, plus Australia are likely to find conditions more to their advantage than India.

guildfordbat wrote:In the words of Sir Geoffrey a few years back, ''Starc goes for a few but he gets a few''.
He'll still do for me, Joey. 

And obviously Smith again as the Aussie catcher. 

I'm surprised they took that long to get Lyon involved, but it didn't take long for Lyon to make an impact. India will struggle to dodge the follow-on, although I highly doubt the Aussies will enforce it.

So no surprise recovery from India. If anything, the batting has been more atrocious than the bowling. On a still flattish pitch with a bit of up and down bounce, 5 down in less than 40 overs is downright pathetic. Only Kohli got a really challenging delivery to get out. Rohit's was not the best of shots, Gill and Pujara the less said the better. Jadeja, who played really well, again falling to a poor bit of batting to get out to Lyon. Rahane got hit and didn't look comfortable afterwards though he has managed to hang in to fight another day. But he has been a really terrible resumer and I won't be surprised if he doesn't last the first 3 overs tomorrow. Srikar Bharat isn't good enough to be a test bat even at home, will be really surprised if he gets anything much of a score though as KPF said above, would be glad to be proven wrong. Follow-on pretty much on the cards though Australia may not really enforce it. They would hope to roll India for around 200, bat the rest of tomorrow and a bit more and set them 500+ in the 4th innings.
For India, there are no real cricketing possibilities, only miracles, like a double hundred from Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav getting 6 wickets in an over...

Even with the extra half-hour played and knocking off 2 overs for the change of innings, what the paying spectators at the ground were served up was 13 overs short. 

guildfordbat wrote:Even with the extra half-hour played and knocking off 2 overs for the change of innings, what the paying spectators at the ground were served up was 13 overs short. 

The only way to sort it is either penalty runs or suspensions of captains. Knocking the odd point off here and there in the WTC or Super League doesn't cut it.

The over rates frustrate me but more from a game play situation than the fans as is often raised. Maybe I'm in the minority but I've never attended a game and felt short changed by fewer overs. Nor have I ever seen the full allotment and either realised it was happening at the ground or felt it improved the experience as a spectator! Likewise sitting at home I don't think I've ever seen a less engaging days Test cricket and felt the over rate caused it or an engrossing day and even really clocked the overs bowled until it's mentioned by someone after stumps.

From a game play perspective I think it is an issue as having a match that should have time for 500 overs and ends up with far less than that even without rain or light is fairly ridiculous. In most sports you get small shifts in 'ball in play' times. Some deal with it by stopping the clock or injury time. Others, rugby being one, accept those small shifts in actual game play as they are relatively small usually. Whereas Tests see these massive vagaries in overs bowled across 5 days due to the shifting over rates which is quite silly from a sporting perspective.

In terms of solutions I don't think most suggested re suspension or docking runs would work as it presumes that it's usually the fielding side responsible. On rare occasions journalists get players to talk about this that's really not the case though. If the ball's hooping about in ideal conditions batters always slow things down. If it's a really hot day and batters are cooking in their pads they slow it down. If the game situation makes slowing it down in any way beneficial the batters slow things down.

It often feels that the presumption is it's the bowlers 95% of the time then very occasionally you get Bilal Shafayat running right-handed gloves on for Anderson in Cardiff '09. Whereas I honestly think it is far more 50/50 than that with who's to blame. Hence making sanctions difficult as you're then into the completely subjective area of umpires and match referee trying to adjudicate on which side is the problem.

With how well Boland went today, I wonder what chance of him starting over Starc at Edgbaston if Hazlewood is fit? Or do Australia prefer Starc's left arm angle and searing pace that much?

Anyway, in terms of the actual game, the contest looks over. Expect Australia to end up with a lead of around 250, bat on, and declare, most probably, late tomorrow or early on Saturday.

Starc did only play 1 Test in 2019 with Siddle favoured so there have definitely been doubts about him in England before.

I'd certainly pick Starc for T1 if they're wanting Edgbaston playing flat and fast. When Edgbaston is flat and the sun comes out it's an absolute road. A motorway as they come. That's when you want a 6'5" left-arm quick with over 300 wickets who can do what he did to Kohli today. Regardless of sometimes going for runs I think his ability to take wickets counteracts it.

Australia really taking an iron grip on this game as none of India's top four were able to work through the difficult period against the hard ball - unlike Australia where Warner and Labuschagne managed to take up a fair slice of that dangerous part of the innings.

The Aussie bowlers also just more consistent than India's on day one. Boland in particular just giving virtually no easy runs ; and Cummins has been able to rotate them in short spells to good effect. Starc does indeed "go for a few" - but always remains dangerous.

Good fight shown by Rahane and Jadeja but the latter's dismissal late in the day has just about snuffed out any chance of India turning this into a substantial score . Can't see Australia enforcing a follow on even if it is available to them ; but with the sizeable lead they are going to have and a lot of time left in the match you'd expect India to be faced with batting again early day four with a theoretical 500 + to chase.

Over rates pretty slow from both sides - partly just what you get when the pace bowlers do most of the work of course ; and I take KC's point it is often little delays caused by the batting side which contribute to the general problem. And DRS / umpire reviews which take up significant slices of time - in the actual process and then the resetting of players positioning afterwards. All adds up. But it's a problem that has been with us for years and difficult to see how it can be solved completely. Just cancel drink breaks if running behind an acceptable rate ? Shorten intervals ? Broadcasters wouldn't like that ...

Hopefully for the game's sake India can somehow make a bit of a fight of it but I honestly can't see anything other than a very comfortable Australian win - they've been very much the better team and are unlikely to slip up from here.

India will get bowled out in the first session for 250ish [b]~90% probability scenario
then Aus will bat 3 sessions and give 5 sessions to chase down 575

Rahane will bat thru with a 150* with Bharat and Shardul cracking half centuries and tail wagging to get India to 450 a.o by end of day ~2% Probability
and then a single inning shootout

Duty281 wrote:With how well Boland went today, I wonder what chance of him starting over Starc at Edgbaston if Hazlewood is fit? Or do Australia prefer Starc's left arm angle and searing pace that much?

Anyway, in terms of the actual game, the contest looks over. Expect Australia to end up with a lead of around 250, bat on, and declare, most probably, late tomorrow or early on Saturday.

I suspect with doubts about Hazlewood's fitness in general, Boland might be preferred for the first test. Would you be risking Hazlewood this early in the series? His style of bowling probably better suited away from Edgbaston too I think

Bharat exceeds my expecttaion of sub-20 runs and confirms.....he ddoesn't belong as a No7 or even No 8 batter

what a horrid convoluted analysis that keeps Ishan Kishen out for this bunny

I was about to say surely, surely India have a better option out there than this Bharat dude? Everytime I've seen him he looks like he can barely hold a bat

Boland's show will give Aus enuf confidence to not rush Hazlewood while he is even 1% tender
and also to rest Cummin at some point in the series when Smith will be happy to take over as captain, like he did in India
( and btw I sense it will be a standard plan of Aus to use Smith as a captain for 1 or two tests in every series)

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:I was about to say surely, surely India have a better option out there than this Bharat dude? Everytime I've seen him he looks like he can barely hold a bat

Somehow has a first-class triple century.

Rahane showing plenty of fight at least... Nice way to reach your fifty

Brave resistance from these two , who might end up with a few bruises...

Aussie slip catching letting them down a bit but not much else has gone wrong for them.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Duty281 wrote:With how well Boland went today, I wonder what chance of him starting over Starc at Edgbaston if Hazlewood is fit? Or do Australia prefer Starc's left arm angle and searing pace that much?

Anyway, in terms of the actual game, the contest looks over. Expect Australia to end up with a lead of around 250, bat on, and declare, most probably, late tomorrow or early on Saturday.

I suspect with doubts about Hazlewood's fitness in general, Boland might be preferred for the first test. Would you be risking Hazlewood this early in the series? His style of bowling probably better suited away from Edgbaston too I think

Think there must be a very good chance they take the same XI into the first Ashes Test. Boland always struck me as a bowler who ought to do well in English conditions and this match hasn't contradicted that judgement.

However if by some miracle India manage to keep them in the field for a couple of days in their second knock I suppose workloads might be a consideration.

I think if they get two tests out of Hazlewood in this series they'll have done well. So maybe tests two and four or five could be an aim?

Either way, I think Australia have the depth to handle it. Boland is superb, and with a FC record like his it shouldn't have taken him so long to get his test debut, then they've still got Neser and Abbott to come.

The first test starts a week today, so I suppose we should hope for India to bat for as long as possible!

Decent depth , yes. But with six Tests to play they will still need to have an eye on managing the loads. Couple of injuries could mess up plans - another reason to err on the side of caution with Hazlewood.

Also will want to keep Green healthy as he could be vital in the 4th seamer role - Marsh doesn't really present the same threat.

Handy little partnership this , for India. The importance of those early wickets being seen now as despite there being some unsettling bounce on offer , runs have been flowing quite quickly. If this were four down now rather than six we might be looking at a very different game.

Australia should still be pretty comfortable. They won't be looking to enforce a follow on anyway as there is plenty of time yet. Though they might be getting a little frustrated with Thakur...

I cannot wait for us to Bazball Boland into oblivion

Against the run of play and in hostile conditions where balls are again jumping off a length and pitch has visibly become faster...Ind win another session ......class of Rahane and courage of Thakur  
I am a very big and vocal fan of Thakur...so underrated.....worth a place as a 3rd seamer alone...averages 24 with ball at a SR of low 50s checked he has a bowling SR of 41balls/wkt ....and every now and then comes up with these hard fought and attacking innings in Eng and Aus in difficult conditions. Has faced 83 balls and that's no mean feat here.

If only Jadeja had not fallen tamely last evening and Ind had an Ishan for Bharat.....Ind could have made a game out of it.
There are 3 number 11s after this for these conditons unfortantely if a wicket falls.

There are no Iffs & Buts.....very happy for Rahane hope he converts this to a 100 and gets another BIG score in 2nd inning.

Another Cummins overstep costs Australia another wicket. May be wrong, but overstepping isn't something I associate with him. Six no-balls in this innings.

And India, with Rahane's strokeplay and Thakur's grit, get to lunch only six down. Bit of Aussie frustration at the moment.

Cummins might be a little annoyed with himself ...twice now he's lost a wicket with a no ball... Poor for a player of his experience.

Mind you Thakur would have been unlucky to be given out that time...looked to be a very minimal umpire's call on it !
And Australia burn a review as lunch arrives.

Fine session for India

108 stand at five per over from these two...suppose that might suggest the New England approach could prove the right way to play against Australia ? Though chances have gone down so I guess it could all have been different.


Has been gutsy from both of these bats. Battered early on but just kept battling away. And I really like the way they have run those singles...

Problem for India is that there are three number elevens left to bat once one of these comes out.

I thought it was a good fightback, and it is, but having just caught up on some highlights, Australia are really helping India with three poor dropped catches and that no ball. If India can somehow get within a hundred of Australia it could well be a close finish

Great catch from Green to deny Rahane a century...and some relief Cummins didn't overstep that time!

That's an absolutely stunning grab.

Such a shame for Jinx. I was really hoping he'd get a deserved ton there. He batted really well in tough conditions.

Yes that was indeed a great catch ...Green making up for his earlier miss with a much needed wicket.

Helps to have the wingspan of a giant Condor

Would have liked to see Rahane get a hundred after the resolve he has shown but not to be...

Officially avoiding the follow on if they can scrape five more runs - academic anyway. But hard to see Thakur and the rabbits getting them much closer so Australia well placed to bat again without pressure and have a handsome lead by stumps tonight.

Yadav for these conditions has the skills of a No. 11 and he gets bowled out like a No. 11 and sadly Indi's No. 7 too fell exactly like a No. 11

there are 4X No. 11s and 4 Oldies of whom only one clicks in an innings.....and so that leave the weight of batting on shardul, Gill & Jadeja

One rabbit shot down quite quickly. Thakur now with a dilemma : farm the strike or just try and encourage his tail end mates ?

Every run counts and I'm not sure fiddling around trying to get singles will work well so I'd go with the latter method.

Ha . Shami on fire anyway . Boland who ? Put him on both ends

Fifty for Thakur ...well done that man ! After the battering he took early he's done a fine job for his team

Am led to wonder why Yadav bats ahead of Shami , by the way ?

Gone now though...Green striking with ball as well as amazing reach and agility...

Won't be long now. in fact only a couple of balls...

Lead of 175 should be decisive : well done Australian bowlers

Edit : oops too quick . DRS saves Siraj. But not for long , I fancy.

At least India have fought well today to keep some interest in the match...

Decent fightback from India, but unless they bowl Australia out for 150 in this third innings, it's unlikely to count for much.

173 the lead. Wickets shared nicely between the bowlers , though I reckon Boland was arguably the pick of them...certainly the most economical by a street.

Probably have to bowl Australia out for about 160-180 now to have any sort of chance so I don't fancy their chances ! But at least the game will be "live" going into tomorrow...

Warner unable to repeat his handy first innings display...gone for just one edging Siraj low to the keeper .

Where does that leave him , I wonder ? Still going to be selected for Edgbaston , I am sure. But if he were to have a bad match there questions would be asked.: bit of added pressure for him.

Some good early bowling from India here. They weren't able to keep it up persistently enough on day one : wonder if they can do better now ?

Bit of nervy batting here...ball leaping sharply ...and there really should have been a run out then.

Khawaja struggling to get going : though that pull for four might help him settle down

Siraj looks so dangerous when he gets up to full pace like this but needs to keep it in the right area. A couple too wide, a beauty, 2 in a good area and the poor short ball.

When you're getting the movement Siraj can just keep it in the right areas.

Bharat up to the stumps again for Shardul to stop Marnus getting out the crease. It's something we might see more and more in Tests are batters start changing their stance to disrupt the bowlers length.

A really good battle there, with Siraj at full flight, and Labuschagne taking a few knocks but managing to repel him.

An absolutely pathetic 43 overs (call it 45 for the changeover) have been bowled in four hours.

Yadav hitting his straps would make a big difference in keeping the theatre going here. At his best he was a similar bowler to Siraj in style but maybe even quicker.

Shardul and Rahane fought as well as they could with the help of some poor catching and overstepping from the Australians. But that horer show from the top order meant it didn't count for much other than extending the game into a 4th day. Thakur justifying his selection a bit, had a couple of wickets and very hard fought runs at 8. Umesh couldn't even slogg a couple to make it worthwhile selecting him. Gets the breakthrough now though, with a rather ordinary delivery. Poor from Khawaja there... Australia 27-2.

Well Khawaja was going nowhere...no surprise he's gone cheaply at leave Australia 24/2.

Yadav will be relieved to have actually done something in the match at last. And by the way , that Bharat chap can't bat for toffee but he's taken a couple of nice catches behind the stumps so not total rubbish.

Of course this just means Smith and Labuschagne are together early : no doubt determined to drive everyone to distraction with a combination of excellent batting and seriously annoying exaggerated gestures and vocals...

If India want to make a real game of it they need to nip one or both out quickly. But Smith has started like a man who averages 100 on this pitch : not betting against another one either !

king_carlos wrote:Yadav hitting his straps would make a big difference in keeping the theatre going here. At his best he was a similar bowler to Siraj in style but maybe even quicker.

Siraj usually operates at a slightly fuller length and is more skilled. Umesh has had pace always, and he could come into his own when there is some reverse on offer. Better on tracks that are not that bouncy. At his best, he can be lethal on slow and low tracks. But he has never been one for consistency in line and length. Quite the opposite in fact. Here he's some way off his best. The pace is mostly in the mid 130s rather than the early to mid 140s that he can bowl at. But the line and length are as irratic as ever, and as usual, he has not been able to hit the right length on this track...
I am still waiting for him to take those 6 wickets in an over, the only way India is coming back into this test!

They tied Khawaja down brilliantly, then they forced a slightly rash shot. But even though Khawaja didn't make many, he ensured Smith didn't have to face a delivery until the 15th over, and Australia will prosper in the Ashes if Khawaja achieves that more often than not.

The way Boland collapsing over his front leg sees fewer of his deliveries bounce over the stumps than most bowlers of his pace and height is really interesting. Having as many deliveries as possible able to hit the stumps is basically what the wobble ball has changed in seam bowling. A 'good length' has moved a full metre up the pitch. Boland having such accuracy an excellent wobble ball and so few balls bouncing over the stumps is a lethal combination in the DRS era.

He also collapses across himself, getting that bowling arm 'past the perpendicular' at release which creates a sharper angle in than you'd usually get from a seamer relatively close to the stumps. For the Gill and Pujara bowled whilst leaving dismissals Green is wider on the crease but Boland's release point is still slightly wider than Green's.

I find it a really interesting little anachronism that collapsing over the front leg is something that we try to coach out of seamers as young as possible yet here we are with a complete statistical anomaly of a bowler in Boland thriving in part due to it!

msp83 wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Yadav hitting his straps would make a big difference in keeping the theatre going here. At his best he was a similar bowler to Siraj in style but maybe even quicker.

Siraj usually operates at a slightly fuller length and is more skilled. Umesh has had pace always, and he could come into his own when there is some reverse on offer. Better on tracks that are not that bouncy. At his best, he can be lethal on slow and low tracks. But he has never been one for consistency in line and length. Quite the opposite in fact. Here he's some way off his best. The pace is mostly in the mid 130s rather than the early to mid 140s that he can bowl at. But the line and length are as irratic as ever, and as usual, he has not been able to hit the right length on this track...
I am still waiting for him to take those 6 wickets in an over, the only way India is coming back into this test!

Umesh's main skill has of course been as a fantastic home bowler. 100 wickets at sub 26 is fantastic from a seamer in Indian conditions. Along with at first Ishant and Shami, then Bumrah and latterly Siraj, he formed a key part of India's impressive seam quartet when this side were at their best.

I thought Umesh at his best used to show more varied skill with his cutters in particular at high pace but also with seam movement. It could just be that as is pace has naturally declined that effectiveness has though. You will have seen more of him than me I accept msp!

The harsh reality would seem with Yadav is that he's tailing off with age as so many quicks do. I expect India at the start of this WTC cycle India would have wanted Ishant rather than Yadav to be the 'first reserve' to Bumrah, Siraj and Shami but it hasn't worked out that way.

I think Siraj is a terrific bowler and hope he can keep going for a while yet. At 29-years-old already he has broken through relatively late though.

Smudge and Marnus doing their usual job of puncturing the bowlers spirit by calming everything down whilst still ticking the board along. God they're just good at cricket. The sort of good at cricket that makes me wish I could be good at things. It wouldn't solve my problems but would certainly give me something else to think about.

Smith comes in and almost immediately it looks like a totally different pitch they're playing on. Nineteen overs down , OK : but still remarkable how much easier he makes batting look - and it has caused Marnus to look infinitely more comfortable too.

I can't claim to "love" watching Smith bat because he does far too much of it very successfully against poor old England

But I simply have to admire him. Astonishing the way he has developed from the "bits and pieces" late order bat/spin bowling role he had in that first Ashes Series so long ago...

Game going away from India now. Just didn't take enough wickets in that new ball burst, and now the middle order will savage the Indian bowling.

Smith, Labuschagne and Head all in form ahead of Edgbaston...

king_carlos wrote:

msp83 wrote:

king_carlos wrote:Yadav hitting his straps would make a big difference in keeping the theatre going here. At his best he was a similar bowler to Siraj in style but maybe even quicker.

Siraj usually operates at a slightly fuller length and is more skilled. Umesh has had pace always, and he could come into his own when there is some reverse on offer. Better on tracks that are not that bouncy. At his best, he can be lethal on slow and low tracks. But he has never been one for consistency in line and length. Quite the opposite in fact. Here he's some way off his best. The pace is mostly in the mid 130s rather than the early to mid 140s that he can bowl at. But the line and length are as irratic as ever, and as usual, he has not been able to hit the right length on this track...
I am still waiting for him to take those 6 wickets in an over, the only way India is coming back into this test!

Umesh's main skill has of course been as a fantastic home bowler. 100 wickets at sub 26 is fantastic from a seamer in Indian conditions. Along with at first Ishant and Shami, then Bumrah and latterly Siraj, he formed a key part of India's impressive seam quartet when this side were at their best.

I thought Umesh at his best used to show more varied skill with his cutters in particular at high pace but also with seam movement. It could just be that as is pace has naturally declined that effectiveness has though. You will have seen more of him than me I accept msp!

The harsh reality would seem with Yadav is that he's tailing off with age as so many quicks do. I expect India at the start of this WTC cycle India would have wanted Ishant rather than Yadav to be the 'first reserve' to Bumrah, Siraj and Shami but it hasn't worked out that way.

I think Siraj is a terrific bowler and hope he can keep going for a while yet. At 29-years-old already he has broken through relatively late though.

Ishant was certainly ahead of Umesh in the queue. Then he went ahead and had a few really poor games wherein the old issues that tormented him returned so badly, kind of making him really unselectable. Yadav managed a couple of decent games in between. Ishant in his 2nd coming, usually was so economical if nothing else. And as always, he could bowl those long spells, day in and day out. But the spark just went and with Covid and injuries, he never had a chance to return... Did make a return in the recent IPL, but I think Ishant is done at the top level. Time for India to also move on from Umesh as well, particularly as an overseas option. Hopefully, Bumrah will sort that back of his soon enough, and the first choice lot of Bumrah, Shami and Siraj are as good as any. Hopefully, Hardik will once again take to test cricket, then he and Shardul can give them options with batting ability as well.

Jadeja into the attack. Might as well try him I guess as the pace men just aren't bothering these two now. Some of the lively aggression we saw from the bowlers before and after tea seems to have slipped away...

Bit early to say they're reduced to hopefully waiting for a mistake but the threat of a wicket that was apparent pre-Smith just isn't there any more. Not sure how many overs will be bowled today but you'd think the lead is going to be over 300 by the close even if Head doesn't get a chance to have a hit tonight.

Declaration timing will no doubt keep the pundits and 606ers amused tomorrow morning