Why Todd Murphy is relishing the prospect of a Bazball battering
Todd Murphy will welcome the threat of a Bazball battering from England’s batsmen after rediscovering the impressive form of his debut Test year during a one-on-one coaching session in Bendigo.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald has flagged a long-awaited first home Test for Murphy at the SCG, pending the development of a particularly green pitch over the next 48 hours before the final Ashes Test.
Sydney has been Australia’s least hospitable venue for spinners – with slow-bowling wickets on the SCG pitch costing 49 runs apiece since 2021 – while this Ashes series has seen just 43.1 overs of spin bowled.
Murphy’s first Test against England, when he replaced the injured Nathan Lyon for the third Test of the 2023 Ashes, began in similar fashion, with Ben Stokes’ side targeting the young spinner and effectively hitting him out of the attack in a three-wicket win at Leeds.
Murphy was dropped for the following Test but responded with six wickets (including a second-innings 4-110) at The Oval, and expects England to come after him again in the Ashes finale.
“I’d say that’s a guarantee if I played, that they would be attacking against me,” Murphy said on Thursday.
Todd Murphy goes through his paces in the SCG nets.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“I think that’s just how they’ve been playing, it’s been positive cricket and I think they’d be no different if I played and was bowling to them.
“You’re always a chance when guys are coming after you and [as a spinner] it does bring you into the game a little bit more. If that presents out there, then no issues.”
Murphy went 18 months between Tests after that Ashes tour, but found himself dropping down the spin pecking order in Sri Lanka last February when Cooper Connolly was preferred alongside Matt Kuhnemann and Lyon.
Sydney would be Murphy’s first Test on home soil after seven away outings, and would come after he shook off a lingering shoulder issue and a pivotal off-season meeting with renowned spin coach Craig Howard in country Victoria.
Howard, regarded as one of Australia’s foremost slow bowling experts, returned from a stint with Sri Lanka in July, and flagged potential issues with Murphy’s action from match footage during a County stint with Gloucester.
Having worked together throughout Murphy’s rise from promising teenager to Test spinner, a catch-up in Bendigo in August helped pave the way for Murphy’s Test recall this summer.
“I had noticed a couple of things and sent him a couple of screenshots saying, ‘How are you going?’” Howard told SEN Radio before the Boxing Day Test.
“When he got back [from the UK] he jumped in the car and came up to Bendigo. He organised it and said, ‘Can we have a look?’
Todd Murphy celebrates a wicket during his maiden Test tour of India in 2023.Credit: AP
“We just had to work through a few things to get [his action] looking [better]… and by the end of the session he was back curving and dropping [the ball] with real force and energy. Which is probably what he was lacking there.
“I don’t know if it was compensation for his shoulder. Sometimes little things just creep in [to your technique]. He’d just gotten into some action positions that he wasn’t sure how to get out of.”
Murphy on Thursday acknowledged the “little technical changes” in his game as he pointed to the shift in his role for Victoria that he believes can be replicated at Test level.
Murphy’s 10 wickets at 23 this summer for Victoria have come on seam-friendly wickets. “[And] I’ve learnt [as a spinner] your job’s not always to come on and take wickets,” he says.
“It might be to play a holding role for four or five overs for the quicks so they can have a break and then come back. And that can be just as important.
“You look across all games and spin still plays a massive part… It might just not be the ‘day four and bowling 30 overs to spin your team to victory’.
“I don’t think going into the [Ashes] series there was ever that planning or idea that spin wouldn’t play a role. I think it’s sort of just been how it’s eventuated.
“There’s definitely a role to play for spin and I think it’ll evolve from year to year.”
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