Australia to take psychological edge into 3rd Test

MELBOURNE, Australia — Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood says his team’s refusal to be intimidated by India’s verbal sledges and physical play during the second Test will give it an advantage when the teams meet again on Friday in the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India greeted Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson with a barrage of short balls and some heated verbal exchanges. But Australia’s response, led by Johnson, helped propel them to a 2-0 series lead in the four-Test series, winning in Brisbane by four wickets in four days.

“It backfired at the Gabba with them trying to get stuck into us and Mitch fired back,” Hazlewood said on Wednesday. “It was good to see him pick up some wickets in the second innings and really fire up and bowl fast.”

Johnson scored 88 runs from 93 balls to help revive the team’s first innings and turn the match in Australia’s favour.

Hazlewood took five wickets in the first innings and another two in the second in his Test debut in Brisbane.

Australia received some good news on the batting front Wednesday when David Warner and Shane Watson returned to training.

Warner batted for the first time since hurting his left thumb on the final day of the second Test.

“It was a bit sore when it hit the splice and toe of the bat, but that’s to be expected,” Warner said. “It’s going to be quite painful, but I can bear that pain and get out there on Boxing Day.”

Watson shook off the physical and psychological effects of being hit in the head by a James Pattinson bouncer and returned to batting in the nets.

On November 25, Australia teammate Phillip Hughes was hit by a bouncer during a domestic match in Sydney, and died in hospital two days later. Warner and Watson were on the field that day at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“It probably shook him [Watson] up a lot more than he would have anticipated,” Warner said. “He was close to Hughesy. It brought back a bit of a memory for him and he got back on the horse and trained again today which was fantastic.”

Mental battles

Warner has described his team’s mental battles with opponents as banter, not sledging, and says he has no plans to curb the exchanges despite things getting lost in translation occasionally.

Australia are renowned for their chatter in the middle, which has often put the team in hot water.

Captain Michael Clarke’s menacing warning to England bowler James Anderson to “get ready for a broken... arm” during the Ashes series cost him part of his match fee but won him more than a few admirers among the Australian public.

The recent death of Australia batsman Hughes prompted calls by pundits for cricketers to be more civil to each other out in the field of battle.

And for three days of the series-opening Test in Adelaide between Australia and India, it appeared the calls had been heeded.

Then Warner, as so often before, managed to get under his opponents’ skin.

Warner was given an almighty send-off when bowled by paceman Varun Aaron on day four but had the last laugh when the wicket was disallowed after a television replay showed the bowler had overstepped the crease on his delivery.

Warner would score two centuries for the match.

Since then, it has been “game on” and Warner said on Wednesday more of the same could be expected during the third Test in Melbourne with the hosts carrying a 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

“If it requires a little bit of banter to get the other person talking, that’s what is going to happen,” Warner told reporters.

“Some players, they don’t say anything at all, but then when they do, you know you’ve gotten into them and they’re actually listening to you.

“You know you’re in their head.

“I like to go at them, to try and get them to bite back at me when I go out there and bat. At the moment it’s working.”

Warner was sledger-in-chief during the Ashes series — even off the field when assessing the struggles of England batsman Jonathan Trott.

India has proved a bit of a challenge, though.

“It’s quite tough with nations that speak different languages,” Warner said.

“The aim for us it’s not really sledging, it’s more banter.”