CAUGHT IN THE LINE OF FIRE!
Old failings return as England fall apart
Well, it was good while it lasted. For almost three whole days of this first Test it really did look like england might compete and, whisper it, even win at the Gabba.
Sadly, normal service quickly resumed and england will head to Adelaide pondering a horrible feeling of 2006 and 2013 deja vu.
Time and again england had chances to make an early mark on the Ashes but time and again they squandered them before being hurried to the brink of an emphatic and demoralising defeat.
The opening exchanges turned into a tale of what might have been for england. But the gulf in class we feared Down Under has rapidly emerged.
Australia flexed their muscles and battered england after three days of near parity, firstly rushing them out for 195 and then, chasing just 170, easily adding 114 through David Warner and Cameron Bancroft. They should have had no problem in completing the last rites today.
every time england looked set to put the pressure on at the Brisbane fortress, they either sold their wickets cheaply or found the old enemy had the greater strength and character to get themselves out of trouble.
england knew at the start of the fourth day, with two wickets down but their noses just in front, that if they batted all day they would have a chance to finish what has been a quite wonderful Test in the most glorious manner.
Yet old failings resurfaced at the worst possible times and england must quickly address their shortcomings. Coach Trevor Bayliss made it perfectly clear that half-centuries would not be good enough to win the Ashes and that england had to convert them into big hundreds to compete.
But, in contrast to the mammoth display of concentration and skill from Australia captain Steve Smith in making an unbeaten 141, england’s batsmen got start after start yet could not go on to match- defining innings. Their problem was summed up yesterday by england captain Joe Root, who has just as much class and ability as Smith but who is falling short of joining him in becoming a true great.
Root got to 50 on a morning when so much depended on him but, even though he barely acknowledged the landmark because of the need to kick on, he fell immediately afterwards.
It might seem harsh to criticise a captain with such a fabulous record, who has conducted himself so well and who led his team in the field, at least in the first innings, with imagination and authority.
But the statistics do not lie. Root has passed 50 on 46 occasions in Test cricket but has ‘only’ 13 centuries, while of his last 25 half-centuries he has only gone on to three figures five times.
Compare that with Smith, who made his 21st Test century here and almost single- handedly dragged his team into a small but decisive first-innings lead by dealing expertly with everything england could throw at him.
Root’s dismissal by Josh Hazlewood came after Nathan lyon, gaining more turn and bounce throughout than england’s Moeen Ali, had struck two early blows with pearlers to dismiss Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan.
Yet even after such a potentially fatal blow, england clawed back to the brink of ascendancy before Moeen fell in controversial and unsatisfactory fashion.
Moeen had added 42 with Bairstow before he attempted another slog sweep at lyon and saw Tim Paine whip off the bails. Nobody seemed to think Moeen was in trouble apart from the wicketkeeper.
But after countless replays, TV umpire Chris Gaffaney decided there was no part of Moeen’s left foot behind the line and gave him out even though there had to be doubt. What happened to giving the batsman the benefit of it?
england’s sense of grievance was not helped by pictures that showed the crease had been painted much thicker on the cut strip than off it. If it had remained the same width all the way across, Moeen would have survived. Cue ‘Wobblyline’ and ‘Shoddyline’ jokes on social media, while even Moeen, such a calm character, shook his head. By his standards it constituted serious dissent.
The writing was not quite on the wall while Bairstow was still there but Ben Stokes’s absence leaves a tail that looks extremely vulnerable to Australia’s express pace.
Up popped Mitchell Starc, now known as The Mop for his ability to wipe out lower-order batsmen, to blast through the last four wickets for 10 before tea.
Bairstow will be criticised for playing an upper cut straight to third man but it was a shot he would not have attempted had he felt any confidence in the batsmen around him once Chris Woakes had become the first of Starc’s three victims in 10 balls.
And he had clearly been unsettled by sledging led predictably by Warner but also featuring his old Yorkshire team-mate Peter Handscomb.
It was a worrying glimpse of what lies ahead for england unless their talisman Stokes is suddenly cleared by police and rushed to Australia. And that is unlikely. Only twice has a target above 200 been successfully chased in Tests at the Gabba but 170 never seemed enough to trouble Australia on a pitch that got quicker and easier for batting as the match went on.
With the rain forecast before this Test nowhere to be seen, Australia had ample time and there was quickly a resigned air among the england team when they could not strike early.
england will be concerned at the lack of impact of Woakes and Jake Ball, who offered scant support to Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, while Moeen looks rusty and hindered by a cut to the spinning finger on his right hand.
Nothing was more demoralising for england than the leading part played by motor- mouth lyon who, infuriatingly, backed up his flammable words with actions.
The second Test, starting on Saturday under lights, gives england their best chance of success but they will need a huge improvement. They cannot contemplate a repeat of the nightmare that broke them four years ago.