Ex-Australia cricketer Tom Moody backs Todd Murphy instead of Cameron Green for final Ashes Test
Jul 24, 2023
Manchester [UK], July 24 : Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody has backed Todd Murphy instead of Cameron Green for featuring in the final Ashes Test against England at The Oval.
Australia marched into the fourth Test at Old Trafford Cricket Ground with an all-out pace attack which consisted of three seamers and two all-rounders. They opted to go without a spinner for the first time in more than a decade.
They ended up conceding 592 in just 107.4 overs as England looked to push for a result before rain wiped out the majority of the fourth day and the entire fifth day.
Moody believes that the inclusion of Murphy could bring much-needed balance to the Australian team.
"I know that they would've had their various reasons behind not playing Murphy, whether that was based around the fact that there was the weather that was potentially on the horizon, but that's no guarantee. That would have looked pretty stupid if it had backfired," Moody told ESPNcricinfo.
"To me, the attack did look like it lacked balance. Murphy is an exciting young bowler. He is not Nathan Lyon, but Nathan Lyon is not Shane Warne either. Murphy needs to create his own path and have his own journey; he has started that already and he has started pretty successfully," Moody added.
Moody further added that he would be surprised to see if the Australian team doesn't include Murphy to create balance.
"I'd be surprised if he doesn't come into the side just to create that balance, but also give the team better combinations for Pat Cummins to lean towards. In that fourth Test match, it was almost like he was looking around the field for options - and he was nearly looking in the mirror all the time," Moody said.
Instead of Murphy, Australia had a plan to use Travis Head as their main spinner in Manchester, which ended up backfiring just like most of their plans.
Head bowled seven wicketless overs and ended up conceding 52 runs. Moody gave his views on this and said, "That highlights the challenge of Test cricket. You need to be a specialist at your craft, and you need complementary specialists in your attack."
Australia will play the final Test after retaining the Ashes on July 27.
