Optimism and uncertainty as Optus primes for Test debut

Apart from being Australia’s head cricket coach, Justin Langer is also a board member at the West Coast Eagles footy (Australian Rules football) club. “It’ll help me become a better cricket coach,” is what he had cited as one of his reasons for joining the Perth-based outfit. And Langer’s address to the team at the end of the last footy season was then subsequently cited by the Eagles’ captain as having been the trigger for what inspired their eventual 2018 AFL title triumph, after a 12-year gap, this October. In fact, one of their key players even admitted to have heard Langer’s speech over half-a-dozen times in preparation for the grand-final.

So when Langer asked those in-charge at Perth’s Optus Stadium, which is also home to the Eagles, to let his Australian cricket team use the footy team’s dressing-room for the venue’s maiden Test, it’s not surprising he’s expected to get his way. Australia have played two internationals at the Optus Stadium so far-one on either side of the “elite honesty” era. They lost both, to England and South Africa respectively. And it’s learnt that the home team were in the other dressing room on both occasions.

The dressing-room scene from their game against South Africa at Optus two months ago of course was all over social media. It was when they had five specific slogans flashed around the room, including the new buzzwords in Australian cricket. But as Test cricket moves to a new venue in Perth after the iconic WACA stadium had played host to the traditional format here for over four decades, Langer is perhaps hoping that soaking in the positive vibes left behind by the all-conquering Eagles will come in handy as his team looks to come back into the four-match series.

There’s in fact only been one other first-class match played at Optus, and that took place as recently as 10 days ago. Some reports have even indicated that it was Langer himself who asked for the Western Australia v New South Wales Sheffield Shield encounter to be played at the new ground, so that everyone concerned gets some idea at least of how it shapes up for a multi-day contest. Langer later revealed to have been at the ground to watch some of the action.

The home team lost as per norm but not before local pacer Jhye Richardson returned figures of 8/47 on the opening day. Richardson was in attendance on Wednesday at the WACA too, running in and testing the Aussie Test batsmen with his disconcerting bounce as they went about their centre-wicket practice. Maybe he was also there to give some of the players in the squad a lowdown on the Optus Stadium. After all, Thursday will be the first time a number of them – four at least – will get their first real sighting of Australia’s latest Test venue.

The list of first-timers will include local boy Marcus Harris, even if he has moved base to Victoria. Peter Siddle, Peter Handscomb and Usman Khawaja are the others to have not set foot inside the Optus – those who have from this lot, have done so courtesy a BBL match or the few who were part of the ODI loss to the Proteas. It’ll also mean that even the Indians will get first taste of the ground and its conditions only on the eve of the Test. They’ll be eager to do so too. No wonder, they’ve opted for the morning practice session on Thursday. At least they’ll take some solace from the fact that the second Test will be a dive into the unknown for both teams.

Even if Test cricket is all set to move across the Swan River to what can be best described as a bowl-shaped new venue, it wasn’t like the WACA didn’t looked primed to host a Test itself on Wednesday. There was the customary bounce and pace on the centre wicket. The grassbanks looked manicured and ready to play host to the fun-loving yet laidback WA family audience as did the Lillee-Marsh and Prindiville Stands. The ball kept speeding across the pacy outfield both while the Australians and the Indians took strike in the middle, while the trademark light towers basked in the glowing Perth sunlight. And there was the customary breeze too blowing across the ground, tempting you to call it the Freemantle Doctor, even if locals insist that the most recognisable moniker for a natural phenomenon impacting a cricket match hasn’t had a role to play at the WACA for over a decade – ever since the Fraiser Suites tower came up on the city side of the ground at the turn of the century.

Even Harris couldn’t help but talk about how “great” it would have been to have played his first “home” Test at the WACA. It was here after all that he grew up idolizing his heroes and dreaming of one day emulating them. He reminisced about his childhood experiences of watching cricket for good measure too.

“I remember coming to Test Matches here all the time. I remember coming to watch India here a few years ago, a while ago now, and it might have been Shane Watson getting 50 I remember how loud the crowd was and just the feeling imagining if you were that bloke in the middle of the field. So, it is good to be the person on the field now,” he said. The left-hander then stretched his memory back a few more years ago, to when he was 8 and had watched Glenn McGrath take a hat-trick against Brian Lara & Co. in 2000.

“I remember the first Test that I ever came to I think within the first five minutes, Glenn McGrath had a hat-trick against the West Indies so there have always been great memories for me coming to Test Matches in Perth and hopefully I can create some memories for young kids coming to games at the new stadium,” he added. Unlike Harris, many locals around Perth lament more brazenly about Test cricket moving out of the WACA, even if it’s been on the cards for a few years now.

“It’s basically because they could only fit in some 10,000 people at the WACA. The Optus has a capacity of 60,000 but how many will actually come there to support Test cricket? And can that ground ever recreate the aura of the WACA?” says one.

Langer and his legacy are well represented at the WACA of course. The water fountain that greets you upon arrival reads, “Drinks Break? This is the Water that Langer & Co grew up on.” There’s a stand named after him on the far side next to the pavilion. And it’s only because the gutsy left-hander rose to the highest echelons of Australian cricketing royalty in the new millennium that his name doesn’t feature in the “Greatest WA cricketers of the century” list that’s featured on the old scoreboard. No wonder he was among the first to express his disappointment last year upon the official end of Test cricket at his home ground.

He was all over the place on Wednesday too, having multiple one-on-one meetings with his key players, patting them on their backs, dishing out throwdowns and generally playing mentor. Interestingly, one of the ends at the Optus Stadium is named after Langer. It must excite him for sure, considering his beloved Eagles have been playing and winning at the same venue. It’ll give him greater joy if his cricket team do the same at the Optus, and if his inspirational addresses can turn around their fortunes as well, starting this week.

RELATED STORIES