Anyone thinks of the crowd?

Australia broke tradition at the start as well as at the end of the 202526 Ashes In November they opened the series at Perth and not Brisbane for the first time since 198283Last Sunday the hosts took the field without a specialist spinner for the first time in a Sydney Test in 138 yearsAustraliarsquos NospinnerinSydney episode brings to light the importance of winning at all costs never mind if the spectator out there will be bored watching pacemen in operation all the time when England bat They say there is no better sight than a fast bowler running in and letting the ball fly But doesnrsquot the introduction of a spinner create a buzz too And shouldnrsquot those who come and watch be treated to some variety Isnrsquot the Australian cricket team being kind of selfish The above questions may border on the absurd to some and thatrsquos fine but will they also disagree that Test cricket must be a bouquet of varietySpinnerturnedtelevision commentary Kerry OrsquoKeeffe wasnrsquot impressed and did not miss an opportunity to use humour to drive home his pointldquoIf they donrsquot include a spinner Irsquom taking the selection panel to the Haguerdquo OrsquoKeeffe said on Fox Sports Newsrsquo Ashes Daily before the Sunday start ldquoIrsquom going to the highest court in the world Irsquove seen both Sheffield Shield games on this strip this year It spun itrsquos been bouncing for the spinners Murphy Todd is a quality bowler he deserves to play at the SCG Sydney Cricket Ground I will be bereft if Australia go in without a specialist spinner into this matchrdquoApart from being a legspinner who played 24 Tests for Australia between 1971 and 1977 he was part of Kerry Packerrsquos World Series Cricket as well OrsquoKeeffe once headed the spin department for juniors at the Australian Cricket Academy and has spent several years in the commentary box And yes he is a New South Welshman for whom the SCG is homeOrsquoKeeffe and I met on Indiarsquos 200304 tour of Australia and I remember how emphatic he was about the need for India to play two spinners for the fourth and final Test of that series mdash Anil Kumble and Murali Kartik The series was on the line with both teams having a win each and India had a great chance to win their first series in AustraliaSourav Ganguly had Anil Kumble and Kartik as his spin duo and Kerry had a smile on his face on January 2 2004 The game ended in a draw Kumble got 12 in the Test including 8141 Kartik had to wait for the start of Day Five for his one and only wicket Justin Langer of the Test but itrsquos unlikely Ganguly would have regretted his decision to play two spinners at SydneyAustralia had Stuart MacGill as their spin weapon with Shane Warne serving his drug ban sentence But local boy MacGill had only one wicket Virender Sehwag to show dismissed on the penultimate day of the Test MacGill came into the game with 31 scalps in four Tests at the SCGThe other day Australiarsquos interim skipper Steve Smith didnrsquot exactly relish the task of leaving out a spinner He exclaimed ldquoI hate doing it But we keep producing wickets that we donrsquot think are going to spin and seamrsquos going to play a big part You kind of get pushed into a cornerrdquo Australia didnrsquot have a specialist spinner in the Brisbane and Melbourne Tests while alltime great offie Nathan Lyon went wicketless in the first innings of the opening Test at Perth and was not needed to bowl in the second inningsThe pitch conditions forced Smith and his thinktank take such an unusual SCG call and it reminded me of Ian Chappellrsquos decision to leave out offspinner Ashley Mallett for the 1975 World Cup semifinal against England at Leeds where the conditions favoured swing bowling and Gary Gilmour claimed 614 as Dennis Lilleersquos opening partner Many years later Chappell while doing a pre1996 World Cup interview told Harsha Bhogle that he made that call with a heavy heart because not only was Mallett a topclass spin bowler but also a good gully fieldsmanThere used to be a time when Sydney proved to be an ideal ground to beat the allconquering West Indies with spin never mind if it was too late to win series honours Allan Borderrsquos teams did that in 198485 and 198889 Englandrsquos 198687 side under Mike Gatting too succumbed at Sydney after the Ashes were regained by them in the previous Test in Melbourne where Australia were destroyed inside three daysA seething Border went into the fifth and final Test at Sydney where Dean Jonesrsquos unbeaten 184 and the combined efforts of spinners Peter Taylor on Test debut and Peter Sleep provided Border a solace winJones reveals in the documentary Rookies Rebels and Renaissance how he and fast bowler Bruce Reid went up to their captain to acknowledge and thank him for being ldquothrough hellrdquo in the series which Australia lost 12 And Border surprised them by saying ldquoWhat are you so happy about Just because you got 184 Deano You lost the Test series champ You lost the Ashes You know what that meansrdquo Border was as hardnosed you could get In the fourth Test of the 198889 series against the West Indies he spun Australia to victory with 11 wickets in the Sydney Test For an excaptain who watched spinners rule at the SCG Smithrsquos nospinnerformeplease call would have been surprising if not hard to digest The 202526 would be remembered for a lot of things mdash two of the five Tests ending in two days an ldquounsatisfactoryrdquo pitch at Melbourne Travis Headrsquos brilliance etc But it was also a series where the hosts broke tradition that they have been historically proud ofmiddayrsquos Deputy Editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper