Hobart Test, Day 4, Lunch
Sunday, November 25, 2001

Glenn McGrath is having no impact at the moment. He's keeping it tight, but he's too low at the crease, not getting that front knee locked in the delivery stride. He's got to stay patient though – the best way to bowl himself back into form is to get in a good spell, and maybe pick up a lucky wicket or two. Steve Waugh kept him out of the action for most of the morning. In theory it might have fired him up, but Glenn's not on top of his game, and in actual fact I reckon it dented his confidence a touch.

But McGrath has got to accept the decision. If a captain has to fire up his bowlers in Test cricket, then the team has got problems, and I don't think that's the case with Australia. It was a two-and-a-half-hour session, and Steve probably felt he could afford to hold Glenn back a bit, and use him as the second opener later on. Glenn may be the senior bowler, but on current form Jason Gillespie is Australia's No. 1. So long as Steve adopts the same rule for the batters there's no problem!

But Gillespie has been excellent. He's extracted bounce, pace and movement from this wicket, everything that McGrath hasn't. He did get lucky with his wicket, but it was still a great ball, and a tough decision not to give.

Mark Waugh's wicket was a bonus. I'm sure he was only being brought on to allow a change of ends for the pacemen, but he got the wicket and earned another over. In the end he sent down two or three too many, which was a pity as it might have been a good moment to blood McGrath.

Stephen Fleming and Craig McMillan have been really solid, though. Fleming has perhaps got a little bogged down against some tight bowling from Shane Warne, but you'd need to get into his head to know whether he's struggling or simply playing it safe. He's reached fifty 32 times before in Test cricket and only ever gone on to a century twice, and there's every chance that that preys on his mind – he'll be thinking "Today's the day." I'll wager that on the two occasions he has gone on, he's done it with a clear head, and just let the bat do the work. He ought to snap out of it if that's the case – he's the captain and he's got to bat for his team.

Craig McMillan at the other end has been really impressive. He likes to attack, but he got through a fierce spell from Brett Lee without cracking. At the same time he's worked the ball for runs when he can, and he's smacked the bad deliveries. That shows good mental intentions, and he's looking well set for a big one.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing on Wisden.com at the end of every session in the series. He was talking to Andrew Miller.

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