Pakistan opener Abdullah Shafique was given a let-off on day two of the third Test after neither Alex Carey or Steve Smith went for an edge off the bowling of Pat Cummins.
It’s the latest in a number of chances that have gone begging behind the stumps this summer, with debate raging over whether Carey or Smith should have gone for the catch.
Given the sluggish nature of the Pakistan pitches, Carey is already standing closer than he would in Australian conditions, while Smith at first slip is in an unusual position in front of the wicketkeeper.
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Bag of tricks’ that could decide SBW-Hall grudge match
READ MORE: Nadal’s Roland-Garros bid cops major blow
READ MORE: Green’s hopes of maiden Test hundred dashed
Normally first slip would be behind Carey.
According to Pakistan great Waqar Younis, that’s one reason for the confusion between the pair.
“When you stand in front, you don’t know where the keeper is standing. So when the ball comes to your left, you sort of think ‘there’s a keeper behind me, he’ll catch that’,” he said.
“The keeper is probably looking at the slip thinking that he will catch that and the reaction time is so little that it’s hard to catch them.”
Carey came under pressure during the Ashes series after a number of chances went begging to his right.
Former England batter Rob Key said Australia was in a no-win situation in trying to find the ideal position for Smith to stand.
https://twitter.com/juniorwaugh349/status/1506225081520844800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“I’m not sure what he (Smith) should have done because if he goes any narrower he’s in the way of the keeper,” Key said. “He’s just not going to catch that when he’s so close.
“He’s got to get across, but then he’s going to be in Carey’s eyeline.
“If he goes back to a regulation first slip it doesn’t carry. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
https://twitter.com/danbrettig/status/1506222870497992709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Chief cricket writer for The Age, Dan Brettig, tweeted that missed chance once again exposed Australia’s problems behind the wicket, after Smith dropped three chances in the second Test.
“Carey you’ve gotto go for those,” he wrote.
“And have Aust got a single catch this series from moving slip in front of keeper?”
Former Australian batter Mark Waugh, one of the game’s best ever slip fielders, replied that Smith was to blame.
“That is Smith’s catch every day of the week,” he wrote.
Pakistan finished on 1-90 in reply to Australia’s first innings of 391.
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!