Pronunciations, absent crowds and quiet Australians – here’s our diary from day on day two of the First Test between Pakistan and Australia in Dubai.
Marnus who?
Much confusion at the Test has revolved around how to pronounce Aussie Test debutant Marnus Labuschagne’s name, especially in the Pakistan media.
Labuschagne hails from Klerksdorp in South Africa and when he arrived in Australia at the age of ten he didn’t speak any English, knowing only his native tongue Afrikaans.
The pronunciation of his name in Afrikaans is “La-boo-skak-nay” but in an effort to assimilate Marnus began pronouncing his name “La-boo-shane” as in “pane”.
The Aussies won’t care too much about how you say his name at the moment as he was one of the stars on day two, getting a huge brea through with the wicket of Asad Shafiq thanks to his occasional leg spin, caught behind by Tim Paine.
He then combined again with Paine for the run out of the dangerous Babar Azam with a sharp throw from cover.
The 24-year-old Queenslander should also have had the wicket of Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed on eight but another debutant, Aaron Finch, dropped the sharp chance at first slip.
At least Finch made up for it running out Sarfraz after he had added just seven more runs.
Peter Siddle (r), Nathan Lyon and thousands of empty seats
Where have all the people gone?
A real talking point in the first two days of the Test, especially among the visiting media, has been the lack of a crowd.
The Australians are used to playing in front of tens of thousands of spectators at great sporting cathedrals like the Sydney Cricket Ground and Gabba.
So a deserted Dubai International Cricket Stadium (DISC) is a far cry from a packed MCG on the first morning of an Ashes Test.
Indeed there was probably more people watching David Warner’s recent century in a grade cricket match at Coogee Oval in Sydney than there is at this Test between the No3 and No7 Test teams in the world.
The DISC seats 25,000 on its shades of blue seating so the paucity of bodies is noticeable everywhere you look.
According to the few who are at the ground, there were more people on day two than day one and the figure was helped by Dubai Sports City inviting a local school group to come and help fill some seats – they cheered on every Pakistan run with great excitement.
The Australians kept a lid on their emotions.
Well-behaved Australians
With so few spectators at DISC, it made the noise level at the ground very quiet so you can hear virtually everything that’s happening out in the middle. And what is most noticeable is the distinct absence of “chat” by the Australian team to the batsmen.
Whereas in the past an Aussie team would be getting right up in the face of their opponents, needling, discomforting, distracting, essentially doing anything they can to try and get a wicket – this Australian team are demure in contrast.
There has been some gentle encouragement for their bowlers but none of the bite and snarl that has become synonymous with the Baggy Green.
Even pace bowlers Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc have refrained from a few verbals as the batsmen have trotted past for a run.
Captain Paine said before the Test that Australia would be professional and respectful – and they have been both, as well as disciplined.
But watching this Aussies team is sort of like curry without spice – it looks like curry and tastes like curry but something is definitely missing.
