Bird holds his own amid uncertainty

A fortnight ago, Jackson Bird celebrated his 30th birthday. Chronologically he is the old man of Australia's current pace attack, but based on Test experience he is its greenest member. Mitchell Starc, 26, bowls the "wow" balls that rattle stumps at 150kph. Josh Hazlewood, 25, has an uncanny wicket-taking knack and is on the verge of 100 Test victims. By comparison, Bird flies under the radar.

When opposition batsmen see off Starc and Hazlewood, they may well breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of Bird, who operates in the low 130kph range. He doesn't mind that. All the better to lull them into a false stroke or a lapse in concentration. On Boxing Day, at the MCG, it was not Starc nor Hazlewood but Bird who removed Pakistan's two most senior batsmen: Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.

It continued a productive 2016 for Bird, who started the year with only three Tests to his name, the last of which had come back in the 2013 Ashes. At stumps on Boxing Day, Bird had 32 wickets at 25.87 from eight Tests, including 19 at 27.63 this calendar year; not a bad tally for a bloke who was dropped from the squad at the start of this summer because did not make enough runs.

"The thing that probably cost him his place was his batting. We've got to get runs at the bottom of the order as well, particularly against a very good attack," chairman of selectors Rod Marsh infamously said of Bird when naming the squad to play South Africa in the first Test of the summer in Perth.

Never mind that Bird had taken seven wickets in his most recent Test in Christchurch in February, and had then been viewed as good enough to be part of the Test squad in Sri Lanka, although he didn't play as Australia opted instead for two spinners. Peter Siddle was fit again and came into the XI for Perth, and the uncapped Joe Mennie ousted Bird from the 12.

The selection criteria must have irritated Bird - after all, batsmen are not judged on whether or not they can bowl - and he made a point by using a Sheffield Shield game the following week to make his highest first-class score, occupying the crease for 71 deliveries in making 39 for Tasmania against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.

Notably, he kept taking Shield wickets as well, and has 18 at 26.05 from his first four games of the season. And so, when Mennie was axed after his Test debut in Hobart, Bird was recalled as one of the five changes to the XI for the final Test against South Africa in Adelaide. Now playing his third consecutive Test, Bird just keeps doing his thing, keeping the runs tight and snaring wickets here and there.

"It's disappointing when your name doesn't get read out when you feel like you're in and around the team," Bird said. "It's disappointing, but I feel like I've been bowling pretty well and contributing at good times for the team now, which is pleasing for myself. It has been good fun the last couple of weeks. I'm really enjoying it, and it's nice to contribute."

That Bird was able to strike twice on an abbreviated Boxing Day was perhaps not surprising for, apart from his home ground, Bellerive Oval, the MCG has been Bird's most successful first-class venue. In six first-class games at the MCG he has 29 wickets at 17.10 - nearly twice as many wickets as what he has at any other venue besides Hobart.

"I think it's the type of wicket where, whichever length you're bowling, you really have to hit the wicket hard," he said. "If you're sort of float them up, it's quite easy to score. I think to get the most out of the wicket you really have to hit the wicket hard, and bowl a decent length.

"The wickets I've played on at the MCG have usually been pretty good with a bit of bounce and carry. Maybe it might have been a little bit tennis bally today, but I think the wicket is pretty good... It swung a fair bit in the warm-ups, so we thought it was going to swing during the game, but it didn't really swing. There's definitely enough in the wicket if you're bowling in the right areas."

Quite what Bird's Test future holds is anyone's guess: James Pattinson and Pat Cummins, with their youth and pace, may be preferred if and when they are fit and ready for Test cricket. Siddle might be available again at some point, and Chadd Sayers will likely continue to pile up domestic wickets and push for a debut. But, for now, Bird is holding his own as the third pacer.