If the ground staff at the MCG continue to produce batting surfaces that yield 20 wickets a day then the national discourse about team balance becomes very bland.

Nathan Lyon, or any other spinner, will never play a Test match in East Melbourne again. The statue of Shane Warne whirring away in the direction of St Kilda beach on the members’ forecourt will be the solitary reminder of past spinning deeds inside the great stadium. Warnie wouldn’t even get a chance to turn in his home graveyard.

When explaining the omission of off spinner Todd Murphy in this match, Steve Smith said Lyon would not have been selected for Boxing Day even if he had been fit, due to the 10mm of green grass sitting on top of the Merri Creek clay strip. The Test would be punctuated and underlined with fast bowlers. Is it really Test cricket if no spinner plays?

Cricket XIs are built around a fundamental three-tier structure of batsmen to make runs, bowlers to take wickets and a wicketkeeper to catch and stump. Teams do not consist of 11 bats or 11 bowlers. Some sub-continental Tests don’t rely on seam bowlers at all, and recent Tests in Australia haven’t required spinners, but those two styles are generally at either extreme of the spectrum.

A deviation from orthodox Test play is as good as a holiday. Players are selected for specific skill sets: opening the batting requires quick reactions, fast twitch muscle fibres, keen eyesight, powers of concentration over long periods and consistent techniques (before Bazball, that is).

Fast bowlers are constructed upon muscle power, physical resilience, high pain thresholds and skill under fatigue. Hybrid players fill the quota –........

© The Age