Ashes 2011 Read online

  97

  4

  0

  42.26

  SM Katich

  c Strauss

  b Broad

  4

  22

  16

  0

  0

  25.00

  *RT Ponting

  not out

  51

  96

  43

  4

  1

  118.60

  EXTRAS

  (b 4, lb 1, w 1, pen 5)

  11

  TOTAL

  (1 wicket; 26 overs; 119 mins)

  107

  (4.11 runs per over)

  FoW

  1-5

  (Katich, 5.2 ov)

  BOWLING

  O

  M

  R

  W

  ECON

  JM Anderson

  5

  2

  15

  0

  3.00

  SCJ Broad

  7

  1

  18

  1

  2.57

  (1w)

  GP Swann

  8

  0

  33

  0

  4.12

  ST Finn

  4

  0

  25

  0

  6.25

  KP Pietersen

  2

  0

  6

  0

  3.00

  Part III

  SECOND TEST

  Adelaide Oval

  3–7 December 2010

  England won by an innings and 71 runs

  2 DECEMBER 2010

  SECOND TEST

  Winds of Change

  An old joke runs that it is harder to get out of the Australian cricket team than into it. The word in Adelaide today was that it is ripe for reconsideration.

  Due for makeover in the Second Test is Australia's four-member specialist attack, which toiled fruitlessly for the better part of two days of the First as three English batsmen broke three figures. Andrew Hilditch's selection panel looks set to drop Mitchell Johnson for the first time in his three-year career. Ben Hilfenhaus, who is said to have twinged a hamstring in Brisbane, may also make way.

  That entails Test recalls for Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris, who were added to the squad in the aftermath of the draw at the Gabba. It is not an altogether easy fit, with Johnson, a Test centurion, probably giving way at number eight to Xavier Doherty, who has two first-class half-centuries in 59 innings and an average of 13.7. But teams generally find themselves shorter of wickets than runs at Adelaide, and it is the kind of bold selection many have called for, showing what Shane Warne now describes as 'cojones'. In long-term prognostications, in fact, most pundits deemed Adelaide Oval the likeliest venue for a draw in the Ashes summer. But then, they also deemed the Gabba the likeliest place for a result, and the sides took eleven wickets each.

  This result has confounded most everyone. An hour after stumps at the Gabba when I checked The Times website, the headline read 'England Triumphant'. Steady on, I thought, and so did someone else, because an hour later it had been scaled back to 'England escape with draw'. Hmmm, still not quite right. By now curious, I returned in another hour to find the report of my esteemed colleague Mike Atherton bearing the headline 'England's ascendancy'. Probably a little closer to the mark – the last two days, anyway. 'Australia's descendancy' would also have fitted the circumstances.

  Quite what the result means in the balance of the series may not actually be much. Australia had much the better of the first draw of last year's Ashes then were soundly beaten at Lord's; England held a decided edge for much of the second draw at Edgbaston, then were utterly monstered at Headingley. Players are rather more practical than onlookers. They are apt to draw lines beneath games and start afresh, leaving it to the likes of us to speculate about 'momentum'.

  In truth, the slowness of the pitch at the Gabba tended to obscure the shortcomings of both teams. The majority of players in both sides had modest to poor Tests. Cook, Strauss, Trott and Bell impressed, but Anderson looked the business only for an hour and a half, and the rest of the attack was inconsistent. When Pietersen donated a lazy four overthrows in Australia's second innings, it looked like someone a little frustrated by a lack of attention.

  Apart from their star turns, Hussey, Haddin and Siddle, the Australians performed humbly, struggling to get into the game. Although it is Johnson's psychology that is presently being pulled apart as if he were an episode of Oprah, Hilfenhaus was perhaps as much a let-down, with a wicket after three deliveries, no more from the remaining 303, dropping generally a yard and a half short, and exhibiting little variety. An opening bowler need not be the fastest, Glenn McGrath being a classic instance of making up in nous what he lacked in knots. But he needs to have a presence, disturbing to opponents and reassuring to his captain, and this, in Brisbane, Hilfenhaus conspicuously lacked.

  The other player to arrive in Adelaide on seemingly borrowed time is Marcus North, still to find a neap tide in his batting after the flood of five hundreds and the ebb of seventeen single-figure scores in his first twenty Tests. 'I'm a big fan of loyalty,' said his captain of North during the preliminaries to the Gabba Test, as though the only alternative was disloyalty. But if we're to use such emotive phraseology, what sort of loyalty is being shown Usman Khawaja, Callum Ferguson or even Cameron White when their way is barred by a batsman with a home Test average of 20.8?

  Hilditch and his colleagues may also be missing a trick. In the last few years, perhaps because of a general decline in overall quality, perhaps because the incessancy of international cricket is depreciating its assets faster, debutant players have had disproportionate impacts. Consider the current England team. Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott and Matt Prior all made hundreds in their first Tests; Kevin Pietersen top-scored in both innings of his; Ian Bell made 70 in his. Likewise did Australia's one real experiment of the last two years, Phil Hughes, have an immediately rejuvenating effect on Australia's top order, even if the bush telegraph soon spread the word about his technical shortcomings.

  Such case studies argue not for continuity, but turnover, against a 'loyalty' that phases into obstinacy, and in favour of choosing hungry cricketers whose methods have not been heavily scrutinised by opponents and whose physiques have not been ravaged by nonstop competition. To be fair, Australia's selectors did introduce a new cap at the Gabba in Doherty, even if the theory Hilditch espoused that a left-arm orthodox bowler would be a 'better option' against 'a predominantly right-handed English middle order' remained untested when 156 of his 210 second-innings deliveries were to left-handers Cook and Strauss.

  Rain fell in Adelaide yesterday and thunderstorms are predicted today, but the expectation for the next five days is congenial to uninterrupted play, with the probability that the two teams will need every minute in which to conjure a result from new curator Damian Hough's pitch. The batsmen who had no impact in Brisbane will be eyeing it covetously, particularly Michael Clarke, who averages 102.4 here, and Paul Collingwood, who averages 228, albeit from one Test. The bowlers? Two already look like they will be otherwise engaged.

  3 DECEMBER 2010

  Day 1

  Close of play: England 1st innings 1–0 (AJ Strauss 0*, AN Cook 0*, 1 over)

  It was the battle of the losers in Adelaide today, between the two countries who would not be hosting the football World Cup for the foreseeable future. Misery loves company, and there is something consoling about tradition too: no matter how many brown paper bags change hands at FIFA, Australia and England will always have each other. So there was something rather warming and reassuring about the preparatory rites of the Second Test: all rise for the national anthem, and let's salute the red, white, blue and green, the last provided by the Milo munchkins, lined up to mix their corporate message with the patriotic ones.1

  There had, however, to be a winner from be
tween the losers, and on this first day that was emphatically, irrefutably and astonishingly England, despite them losing what looked like a handy toss, despite their middling-to-poor record at this ground, and despite it being not ten days since they were dumped on their backsides at the Gabba by a marauding Peter Siddle – an event that now seems almost like it occurred in a previous series.

  Such are Adelaide's genteel customs and its reputation for flat pitches that it hosts the kind of Test you might be tempted to wander into a little late. If you did this morning, you never will again: the first ten minutes were electric, involving more wickets than fell on the last two days at the Gabba.

  From Anderson's fourth ball, Watson set off for a nervous single on the on side, catching Katich slightly unawares, but not Trott, who darted quickly to his right, and threw the stumps down from side-on with the Australian not even in the frame. In front of Chappell Stands solid with St George Crosses, English fielders piled on like footballers celebrating a World Cup hat-trick.

  Early losses are one thing; self-inflicted wounds another. Katich's was the sort of death by misadventure that rocks a dressing room, still to seat itself comfortably, still to obtain the day's first cups of tea or sports drinks, maybe still straining to detect early movement on television. Passing a batsman yet to face a ball was certainly not the manner in which Ponting would have imagined batting in his 150th Test.

  In the recent stages of his career, Ponting has sometimes looked overanxious to make early contact with the ball. The South Africans two years ago worked on the theory that the right avenue to Ponting in his first half-dozen deliveries was just outside his eyeline, where his tendency was to push with hard hands: they had him caught in the cordon first ball at Perth and Sydney. Ponting's first ball from Anderson was even better, tight on off stump, compelling a stroke and eliciting an edge. Both captains on winning the toss this series have now been out within five minutes of the start.

  Over the last couple of days, Michael Clarke has been a model of fastidious professionalism, undertaking lengthy net sessions, tiring out arms with his avidity for throwdowns, talking about his technique in a press conference, generally announcing himself ready for a big one. Last out of the practice area yesterday, he chirpily thanked the net bowlers whom he'd politely enslaved. His hundred here was instrumental in Australia's Ashes triumph four years ago and he has added two more since.

  Again, though, Anderson found close to the ideal length, Clarke rather sauntered into his drive, and Swann collected a second catch. To think that there had been so much learned debate before the series about Anderson's ability to swing the Kookaburra: here he was making it laugh. His bowling coach David Saker has described him as a potential challenger to Dale Steyn as the world's number one quick bowler. On the evidence of today, he might soon be more than a challenger.

  The match was ten minutes old, and three batsmen with a total average at Adelaide of 234 had been removed. Two for three was the worst start to a Test by Australia against anybody. The Adelaide Oval's defiantly analogue 1912 scoreboard was somehow apposite for the scoreline: this was no time for a noisy advertisement or a pop video. It brought to mind the famous photograph of Australia's second-innings nought for three at the Gabba sixty years ago. That, though, was in the middle of a match on a mudheap; here we were on the first morning of a Test on reputedly Australia's most benign cricket surface; here the Australian contingent on the hill cheered the first boundary as though Mafeking had been relieved.

  Australia would have been 12 for four had Anderson held a return catch low to his left when Hussey (3) chipped one back. But it was blindingly hot, Broad and Finn struggled with their lengths, and Hussey and Watson put the pitch in truer perspective by scoring with impressive fluency, even panache; indeed, with the bowlers pitching up in search of swing, and fields configured to attack, there were ample scoring opportunities.

  Hussey looked at his compact, industrious best, turning the strike over busily, while Watson drove five boundaries in his first 30 with that confident two-stage front-foot stride, then sent Australia to lunch in good heart by pulling Finn off the front foot for four to reach his half-century. But, as here last year, he drove carelessly at Anderson soon after resuming, a shot as arrogant and foolhardy as lighting a cigar with a $100 note, and Australia were almost back where they started. For although Hussey was by now deeply entrenched, his state colleague North is taking baby steps towards form. The run rate dwindled, as Swann was treated with caution and Anderson with downright suspicion; the wicket fell, as it sometimes does, to the bowler least fancied, Finn, who drew from North a shot without a name, a poke very nearly an afterthought, followed instantly by a pang of regret.

  As at the Gabba, Hussey looked to Haddin to help him pick up the pieces. There were now rather too many. Hussey used his feet vivaciously to Swann, but fell after five hours' hard graft, and Haddin provided some delectable shots, then was perplexed how to operate in the company of Australia's elongated tail – Johnson's batting, or at least the promise of it, had provided some lower-order ballast. Haddin reached a fluent fifty by hoisting Anderson over fine leg but was bounced out soon after by Broad.

  Late in the day, Xavier Doherty drove Anderson through the covers on the up for four. Nice shot for Doherty, but not a bad indication for England: if Doherty is confident enough to have such a dart, then there is nothing much amiss with this pitch. Australians will need a lot to go right for the general national sporting outlook to improve in the next week.

  3 DECEMBER 2010

  ENGLAND IN THE FIELD

  Killer Looks

  Adelaide is burdened with a reputation – unfortunate, unfair but also kind of fun – as the serial-killer capital of Australia, the 'City of Churches' doubling as the 'City of Corpses'. Bowlers would probably agree. The average first innings of the last fifteen Tests here is a bloodstained 517; four sadistic double hundreds have been committed since 2003.

  Which doesn't mean it is impossible to claim twenty wickets. But it does mean you must seize every opportunity, lest batsmen dash you against its short square boundaries, and cook you in its enervating heat. England's accomplishment today was not necessarily to generate more wicket opportunities than usual, but to accept all but one very difficult chance, and between times to keep the game fantastically tight.

  The first thirteen deliveries of the Second Test, as will long be remembered, especially by those who arrived a little late, presented three chances: a run-out and two nicks to second slip. Most England sides in Australia in my lifetime would have missed one at least; a few would have missed the lot, and spent the rest of the day kicking the ground, cursing the gods and mentally preparing excuses for their ghosted columns. Today you could call to mind that worn-out word of modern coaching, 'execution', because it could also be applied in a colloquial sense. Katich, Ponting and Clarke could not have been despatched more peremptorily had they been lined up against a wall and shot.

  As the day unfolded, England were hardly less impressive in the field. Chases were full tilt. Diving saves were routine. Bell, despite glasses that look less suitable for fielding than for watching Avatar in 3D, made one electric interception at point; even Finn threw himself around, looking like a frisky antelope.

  There was some sloppiness in Brisbane, Anderson's drop in the first innings and Pietersen's all-too-casual four overthrows in the second innings the most heinous lapses. Today, both were on top of their form. When Strauss called Anderson in from deep backward square leg to a close-to-the-wicket on the on side, he fairly sprinted in, despite the heat, despite his overs. Pietersen also took a smart catch, only his fifth against Australia, and used his huge reach at gully effectively.

  Shane Watson endured through the early chaos. Sometimes against Swann he was stretching so far forward as to touch the knee roll of his right pad on the ground, as though he was proposing marriage, or maybe genuflecting to Warnie. As Swann approached, too, Watson looked to be shuffling his feet in the crease, as if to disr
upt the spinner's length; he undertook this challenge still more decisively ten minutes from lunch when he slog-swept in the direction of the statue of Adelaide's founder, Colonel Light, atop the hill overlooking the ground. It testified to the power of modern bats that Watson imparted the force of a flail without significant wind-up or follow-through. But England were ready for Watson, posting two gullies in anticipation of his hard hands and poor concentration around breaks.

  Again, the go-to guy Hussey was gone-to. His shouldering arms no longer sends a tremor down Australian spines, as it did in England last year, and his defensive bat now seems to descend in ample time, and almost to be waiting for the ball. As at his zenith, he is acquiring busily, advancing a few paces with every nudge and nurdle, as though a single is his default setting. Shortly before tea, he worked Finn to leg and set off at such a gallop that he almost lapped his partner in completing three.

  Yet England's bowlers, commendably full, made Hussey work for every run. Adelaide's boundaries beckoned, shaved still further by a boundary rope for the sake of additional advertising, but there was little on offer to cut or pull. Having made the pull shot his signature in Brisbane, Hussey played it today just once, for a single off Finn.

  It is in the final sessions of hot days in Australia that attentions often stray and fielding teams unravel. England remained on the qui vive. Collingwood had stood at slip to Swann for twenty-six overs when he finally received a nick from Hussey; he caught it. Strauss was at short mid-wicket for the low-flying catch when he sprawled to make a save, and took advantage of Doherty's double hesitation to run him out from the prone position; short-leg Cook rugby-passed the return to Prior even though he had his back turned on the runners.

  The Australia of old made a leitmotif of such quicksilver routines. The Australia of new dropped five catches in England's second innings in Brisbane, and it is England that are becoming the streamlined and efficient unit, performing their tasks not just well but easily, as if it were second nature. Despite the city's reputation, this bore no resemblance to the work of a serial killer. It was, instead, that of the most clinical and cold-blooded assassin.