'Use your brains': Test legends filthy with Australian fielding
The Australians are well in control on day four of the second Test against Pakistan, but their effort in the field hasn’t escaped the attention of a few Test legends.
Several regulation chances went begging on day three before Australia were able to enforce the follow-on, drawing the ire of Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Michael Hussey and Kerry O’Keeffe, who were on commentary for Fox Cricket.
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Steve Smith had an uncharacteristically poor day in the field, caught out standing too deep in the slips twice.
Critically, Smith’s poor positioning meant the wicket of eventual century-maker Yasir Shah went begging on two occasions.
The missed opportunities drew some harsh criticism from Waugh, a noted slips fieldsman in his day.
Yasir Shah continuing to dominate Steve Smith this series. More wickets. More runs and more centuries #AUSvPAK @FOXSportsNews @FoxCricket #lol
— Tom Wilson (@TomWilsonFOX) December 1, 2019
“He's way too deep. That was nowhere near it," Waugh told Fox Cricket.
“That does surprise me, a player of his experience.
“You'll have to ask him, I thought he had more brains than that. There's no set rule, you just have to use your brains.”
Smith wasn’t spared by Warne either, who accused the former skipper of dropping a ‘regulation chance’ because of his positioning.
“That was a regulation nick and that's what the slip should be there for,” Warne said.
“You would have thought Steve Smith would have learned his lesson in Brisbane.
“That should have been straight to him."
Shah lets loose with wild celebration
Plucky and lucky Yasir Shah had a premonition before becoming the oldest Pakistani to score a maiden Test century.
It came to the 33-year-old on the way to Adelaide Oval on Sunday for day three of the second Test against Australia.
When dream became reality, Shah conceded: "I wasn't aware of what I was doing really.
"But I know I jumped in the air and swung my bat around and I enjoyed it a lot. It was great fun."
The excited leg-spin bowler was confident in his batting abilities.
"I had this thought in my mind that I will bat throughout the day - and if I bat throughout the day, I will make a century," Shah said.
"That was exactly what I was talking to my friends Naseem Shah and Muhammad Musa about this morning.
"Then I went to the nets and batted and kept thinking about batting throughout the day."