THE ASHES OVER AND OUT! What a start! Craig’s first Test victim is top-man Smith
Joe gamble falls short Australia v England... First day of the
JOE ROOT is battling the weight of history after he inserted Australia on a ‘belter’ and his bowlers let him down.
The skies were grey and there was rain in the air when Root decided to bowl first and it seemed like it might be a good idea. But if you don’t fire out at least seven batsmen on day one, then your decision is branded a failure.
Former England skipper Michael Vaughan said: “When you win the toss and bowl, you want more than four.
“England didn’t start well enough. It shows you that the first hour sets the tone, and they set the tone so badly in terms of the areas that they bowled.”
Vaughan is referring to the nature of James Anderson and Stuart Broad’s first spells, in which they bowled too short and wasted the first use of their brand new pink ball.
They got better and better as the day wore on, but Australia’s batsmen stood up to the test in a ding-dong battle.
Root was probably mindful of the fact that both previous day/night Tests in Adelaide were won by the team batting second, but that didn’t cut the ice with some pundits.
“Sometimes you have to use your eyes,” said legendary Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne.
“And that pitch is an absolute belter. It is dry and pale in colour, it is rock hard, it is cold, you have to bat first.
“I wonder why he made that call? You’re the captain and you have to make a decision.
“Don’t ask the batsmen, they always want to bowl first, don’t ask the bowlers they always want to put their feet up and bat first. You should make the decision as captain.”
But former England bowler Phil Tufnell saw it differently when he said: “Root’s decision was a positive, proactive thing. I’m backing him. The bowlers let him down.” CRAIG OVERTON was the one to wipe the smile off Steve Smith’s face after the newest man to play for England took the wicket of the best batsman in the world.
And the 23-year-old could afford to be the one with the grin after Smith tried to sledge him, like he did almost every player he came into contact with, only to see it backfire spectacularly.
“He was saying I was slow, so it was nice that I beat him for pace,” said Overton. “It was a pretty nice one. There was a plan to go straight at him. We thought we could keep him quiet doing that, and then one went through him a little bit quicker.”
England skipper Joe Root was less than impressed at Smith’s guffawing throughout his press conference following the Brisbane Test and used it as motivation for his team in Adelaide.
And although England didn’t quite fly out of the traps in the same way they did in 2010 here, they enjoyed enough success on a rain-interrupted day to keep their hopes and spirits up.
For Overton it was the realisation of a childhood dream to be presented with his England Test cap in an Ashes series Down Under and by getting rid of Smith for 40, he repaid his selection in an instant.
He said: “To make my debut is massive. My dream was always to play for England, and to play for the Test team against Australia in Australia is even more special.
Proud
“Rooty came up to me about an hour before warm-up, just a brief chat and told me I was in.
“You can’t really put it into words what it means. And it was nice that my folks were here to see it. I hope I’ve made them proud.” They most certainly