View source for Runs Hit 133-year Low In Test Summer

<br>Not since since Test cricket's early days of Fred Spofforth and George Lohmann some 130 years ago have batsmen found the going so tough in Australia.<br> <br>For so long a haven for batsmen on flat and hard pitches, for once it is a battle dominated by ball as Australia and [http://edublogs.org/?s=India%20share India share] the series after the first two Tests this summer.<br> <br>The average run per wicket this summer is just 21.50 - the lowest in any Australian summer since way back in 1887-88.<br> <br>It's a far cry from the mark of 34.01 when David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne dominated Pakistan and New Zealand last summer, or even the 30.03 from when India toured two years ago.<br> <br>Run-rates are down too, with the scoring rate of 2.63 the slowest of any summer this century.<br> <br>All this in a time where limits on shining balls and banning the use of saliva due to COVID-19 was meant to make things harder for  [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-du-lich-ha-giang-cao-nguyen-da-dong-van-3-ngay-2-dem.html tour hà giang] the bowlers.<br> <br>Yet somehow, all three of Australia's quicks are averaging under 20.<br> <br>"If you look at both teams both teams have really struggled to get this scoreboard rattling along," Australia's assistant coach Andrew McDonald said.<br> <br>"So for me that's good planning, good bowling execution, but also the surfaces have lent themselves to slower play.<br> <br>"They left some grass on it which allowed some movement and some swing.<br> <br>"There hasn't been what we normally now assume to be flat, Australian conditions in the first two Test matches.<br> <br>"I hope the surface in Sydney lends itself to having the ball at certain stages being able to dominate the bat.<br><br>That makes for intriguing Test match cricket."<br> <br>Planning does account for much of that after the teams faced off in Australia just two years ago.<br> <br>India have targeted Steve Smith's leg stump and shown he is human with just 10 runs across four innings.<br> <br>The same tactic has largely been employed to Labuschagne, who passed 50 in seven of eight innings last summer, but is yet to post a half-century in four this season.<br> <br>India's batting meanwhile showed a great deal of resilience in Melbourne to bounce back from their 36 all out in Adelaide, but Ajinkya Rahane's 112 is still the only hundred of the series for both teams.<br> <br>The tourists' wall from two summers ago Cheteshwar Pujara is finding it just as challenging, with Pat Cummins having removed him three times.<br> <br>Pujara has scored just 63 runs across four innings, while his 243 balls faced is less than he soaked up in his first innings alone on the last [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-du-lich-ha-giang-cao-nguyen-da-dong-van-3-ngay-2-dem.html tour hà giang 3 ngày 2 đêm].<br> <br>But in that instance, Cummins said it was more about placing a value on patience after doing it tough in 2018-19 rather than extravagant scheming.<br> <br>"It's just trying to bowl good balls and make him make a decision to play or leave it and do it for as long as we can," Cummins said.<br> <br>"Fortunately it has come off so far pretty early in his innings, so long may it continue."<br> <br>LOWEST SCORING TEST SUMMERS IN AUSTRALIA<br> <br>1887-88: 9.35 runs per wicket<br> <br>1886-87: 12.30<br> <br>1878-79: 18.26<br> <br>1876-77: 18.89<br> <br>1882-83: 20.78<br> <br>2020-21: 21.50<br>