At Headingley this week, Todd Murphy anticipates conflict from the audience and the England batsmen on two different fronts.
Murphy, who made his debut earlier this year in India and participated in all four games of the series, is in line to take Nathan Lyon place, whose streak of 100 straight Test matches has been broken by the calf injury he suffered at Lord’s.
When Alex Carey stumped Jonny Bairstow, the hostile audience that had been assembled for the game became so enraged that it caused terrible disturbances to break out inside the Long Room when the Australian players were accosted at lunch.
Murphy’s first series in India was played in front of extremely emotional and boisterous spectators, but he anticipates a very different atmosphere this time around.
There is unlikely to be any dampening of the emotions of the home audience given the brief three-day turnaround and the fact that the series is now moving to a venue known for its rowdy environment.
Murphy’s first series in India was played in front of loud, raucous spectators who were quite emotional, but he expects a very different atmosphere this time.
Murphy predicted that “they’ll probably come at me even harder.” “Obviously, the fact that I haven’t played a ton of Test cricket offers a difficulty. They continue to engage in the game, so I believe the key is to find a way around it, come up with a couple different solutions, and work to maintain providing opportunities.
Looking back on India, having the chance to play Test cricket and being exposed to competitive situations only helps, and I believe that experience gave me a lot of confidence. I have faith that, if given the chance, I will have faith in my ability to perform at this level.
The two have spoken about the difficulty ahead since it became evident that Lyon’s tour was coming to an end. Lyon praised Murphy’s qualifications after the fourth day of play at Lord’s, when he had staggered out to bat.
“I sat there with Todd in the last session and we spoke about spin bowling as we do,” Nathan Lyon recalled. “I am really confident in Todd. He’s a fantastic young man. He’s open to picking up new skills as he goes. His standard ball performs admirably in international cricket. In India, we have witnessed that.
“The batters from England will present a unique challenge. If they do attack him, Todd will have a respectable task. I’ve let him know that my phone is always on. It doesn’t matter if I’m at home watching it in bed or sitting with him in the changing room.
This time, Murphy will be the lone frontline spinner, a position he has played twice in his first-class career, unlike in India where he operated alongside Nathan Lyon throughout and also had Matt Kuhnemann in the attack for the final three Tests. He has now focused on strengthening and conditioning after experiencing the affects of the increased effort, which is what caused him to withdraw from a county spell with Durham in the early part of the season.
