SET FOR BROADSIDE
Bouncer barrage warning
CRICKET: The Australian bowling attack won’t make the same mistake twice, and English tailender Stuart Broad can expect a barrage of short balls when he next bats after playing an Edgbaston innings which could end up matchwinning.
Broad’s top half has always been a target for the Aussie bowlers but it was a plan they went away from on day three of the opening Test, and to their detriment.
The 33-year-old survived for 25 overs in a 65-run partnership with Chris Woakes, with the pair taking their team from just in front to miles ahead and every run could prove vital.
Broad’s 67-ball stay was his longest since 2013, and by the time he was out, England were 79 runs in front.
Everyone not on the field knew what the bowling plan to Broad should have been and when Pat Cummins finally got him out, hooking a short ball to fine leg, the chorus of “finally” rang out among the smattering of Aussies in the crowd.
Aussie speedster James Pattinson conceded it was part of the plans, but they didn’t execute as well as they could have.
“I think it was just how short you went. Patty Cummins was just saying that he thought the ball was almost hitting him on the toe, that’s how short he had to bowl to get it up,” he said.
“I think he obviously was trying to do that but the ball wasn’t getting up. Once we figured out we had to bowl it a little bit shorter and almost hit you on the toe, it probably paid off.
“It’s something that we can look upon doing early on in his innings when he comes out.”
Pattinson said a soft Dukes ball, which the Aussies tried several times to change, didn’t help their cause. But nor did a plan to treat the English tailenders as actual batsmen.
“We had a message before we came here to try and bowl as we would to the tail as we would to the top order,” he said.
Pattinson is feeling fit and fresh after delivering 27 overs at Edgbaston, his highest workload in an innings at any level since 2014.
The ongoing first Ashes Test marks the first time Pattinson has rolled his arm over for Australia in three-and-a-half years.
Pattinson, who will have to play a key role with the ball if Australia are to secure a 1-0 series lead, hasn’t bowled so many overs in an innings since an epic 2014 Test in Cape Town.
He delivered 45.5 overs in that game, triggering one of the many back injuries to have derailed his career.
Pattinson is just thrilled to be playing Test cricket again, something he feared might never happen. “It’s pretty special,” he said. “A couple of times when the crowd was going crazy I had to sit there and pinch myself a bit, knowing I’ve gone through a lot of things to get back. Just to be out there after having a pretty horrid run with back injuries is something special.”