The ‘Gabbatoir’ awaits
ENGLAND FACE TRIAL BY FIRE IN THE OPENER AT HOSTILE GABBA
England’s Ashes debutants face a baptism of fire in tomorrow’s opening Test at the Gabba, where four years ago the tourists’ batsmen crumbled under an Australian short-pitched bowling assault.
Joe Root’s team spent their final tour match in Townsville last week trying to acclimatise to the muggy conditions that will greet them in Brisbane but few of the players will have any inkling of the challenge that awaits them.
The “Gabbatoir” has proved impregnable to visiting teams for nearly 30 years, with its willing pitch, stifling weather and hostile crowds adding up to one of the world’s tougher introductions to a Test series.
Only Root, former skipper Alastair Cook, Stuart Broad and James Anderson remain from the England team that suffered a 381-run hiding at the Gabba in 2013/14, when a marauding Mitchell Johnson took nine wickets and set the tone for the series. The rest of the side, and particularly their inexperienced batsmen, face a big step up after preparing against weak tour sides on tepid pitches far from Brisbane.
The wrap-around terraces at the bowl-like stadium create an impression of being hemmed in and stifle any breeze that might relieve the players as they labour in the soupy heat of a Brisbane summer.
“It’s a tough wicket to come and start a series on, especially when you’re not playing on wickets or having practice wickets like that,” former Australian quick Ryan Harris, one of the victors at the ground four years ago, said.
“You get the humidity as well at this time of year, which drains you,” said Harris, who played much of his domestic cricket at the ground for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield.
Bad things seem to happen to England in Brisbane. Four years ago, an ailing Jonathan Trott was dismissed cheaply in both innings amid a barrage of bouncers from Johnson and the Australian quicks. He promptly left the tour with a stress-related illness.
In 2006/07, England fast bowler Steve Harmison famously sent the first delivery of the series to his captain Andrew Flintoff at second slip. England lost the match and the series 5-0.
Another England quick, Simon Jones, also had a first day to forget at the Gabba when he ruptured knee ligaments sliding to retrieve a ball in the outfield in the 2002/03 series. He was abused by spectators as he lay in agony and the injury ended his series. Nasser Hussain’s team lost by 384 runs and the series 4-1.
England have not won at the Gabba since Mike Gatting’s team in the 1986/87 series and it may be no coincidence that the last time they held their own at the Gabba in 2010/11, they went on to win the Ashes. Cook’s brilliant, unbeaten 235 in the second innings ensured a draw that galvanised Andrew Strauss’s team at the start of their 3-1 series triumph. –
AUSTRALIA (World ranking: 5)
David Warner, Cameron Bancroft, Steve Smith (capt), Jackson Bird, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.
Darren Lehmann
Coach:
Capacity: 42 000 Named for the Woolloongabba suburb that surrounds it, has a been a fortress for Australia in the 28 Tests since the West Indies were the last touring team to win there in 1988.
England last won at the ground in 1986 – only their second Test victory in Brisbane since World War II – before the modern concrete bowl replaced the wooden stands and open grass banks.
Steve Harmison’s first-ball delivery to second slip famously set the tone for Australia’s 2006/07 whitewash and Mitchell Johnson’s devastating day two spell in 2013/14 triggered another.
A lively, greentop wicket is expected at first, offering pace and bounce for the seamers, with spin coming into play as an attacking option if it stays dry and the strip deteriorates later in the match.