Smith is our target
Richard Edwards recalls an incredible Test in Adelaide more than 20 years ago when the Barmy Army was rocking and the Aussies reeling
FORMER England captain Michael Vaughan has claimed Australian skipper Steve Smith (left) may be susceptible to the expectation of leading the clear favourites in the upcoming Ashes, and has urged England to try to “get him flapping”.
Vaughan, who captained England to possibly their greatest Ashes win, against Ricky Ponting’s Aussies in 2005, believes he has spotted a potential weakness in Smith’s make-up, which he wants Joe Root’s players to exploit in the five-Test series.
Vaughan said: “I like the way Steve Smith captains, but I do think you can get him flapping. I’m a big believer in the importance of body language. At times you feel inside you want to let loose, let some emotions out… the
Any English cricket supporter who followed their team in Australia throughout the Nineties won’t need reminding how rare moments of joy were Down Under.
After losing the final Test of a victorious series in January 1987, England’s record in enemy territory was abject. In the 15 Tests played between 1990 and 1999, England won just won two out of 15. The cocksure Aussies won nine in three successive Ashes hidings.
In Adelaide in January, 1995, though, it truly appeared that England were on to something and that the litany of failure against Australia, which had begun in the home series six years previously, was in genuine danger of being replaced by something far more palatable.
England were, of course, 2-0 down by the time they arrived at the Adelaide Oval, but given the series was three Tests old at the time, that was seen as something of a triumph – and by the time Mike Atherton’s side left South Australia morale was at a near eight-year Ashes high.
“Throughout that series I think there was a feeling that we were close to doing something,” says Devon Malcolm. “We just needed someone to stand up and take it to the Aussies, which we did in that Test match.”
England made a bold statement at the outset, picking Steve Rhodes, who had struggled with the bat throughout the tour, at No.6 so that England could play five bowlers. With Malcolm coming in at ten and Tufnell following him, it was hardly a batting order to engender huge confidence but as Atherton and Graham Gooch pummelled the Aussie attack in the opening session, it looked like a punt worth taking.
Gooch and Mike Gatting were controversial selections for the tour and gave the England batting an undeniable Dad’s Army feel – but both silenced the shouts of “don’t panic”’ as the opening day’s play unfolded.
The Essex opener, in particular, looked in imperious form before being controversially caught by Mark Waugh off his shoulder for 47. Gatting then dropped anchor to score what would ultimately be his final Test century in an England total of 352.
Not that his innings was without a touch of farce. Bowled by Craig McDermott off a no-ball, Gatting then reached his hundred after Australia botched a run-out attempt with Phil DeFreitas not even within Channel Nine’s camera shot.
“He’s got it but I’m here to tell you not without a few heart tremors from everyone around the ground,” said Richie Benaud, in a memorable piece of commentary. Gooch, Gatting’s partner in crime down the ages, would announce his retirement during the Test and would make his final appearance at the WACA in the fifth match of the series. Gatting, meanwhile, had given England hope. A hope that the Aussie batsmen soon set about dismantling.
An opening stand of 128 by Michael Slater and Mark Taylor took a considerable chunk out of England’s effort and by the time debutant Greg Blewett had brought up a hundred in his first Test innings, the Aussies were well on their way to building a healthy advantage. An England bowling rally early on day four eventually kept them within reach, but their total of 419 gave most Aussies optimism that another routine Test win against the Poms was within reach.
With just under two days remaining, England had their work cut out to even salvage a draw. What followed would become the stuff of Ashes legend.
“I just remember being in the ground and not hearing a single Australian,”
England had their work cut out to salvage a draw. What followed would become the stuff of Ashes legend
says Malcolm. “All I could hear was the Barmy Army – they were going absolutely nuts. They played a massive role in what happened next.”
With England already three wickets down before Australia’s total had been passed, there appeared little chance of a first England win Down Under since December 1986. That feeling was reinforced once England had stumbled to 181-6. Enter DeFreitas to play an innings that is still talked about by the Barmies today. “Daffy just smacked it,” says Malcolm. And that pretty much summed it up. On the final morning, despite a result appearing desperately unlikely, DeFreitas climbed into the Aussie bowling in a manner not seen since that tour eight years before. He took 22 off one McDermott over as Taylor desperately manoeuvred Slater to various points of the mid-wicket boundary. Smashing the ball over and in front of him, Slater resembled a greyhound chasing a hare at a dog track as steam emanated from McDermott’s increasingly inflamed nostrils.
Even Malcolm got in on the act, carting one Shane Warne leg-break out of the ground for a towering six. England secured a lead of 262 and time dictated that it was a total that even this Australian side would struggle to overhaul. Still, a draw for the tourists wouldn’t be a bad return, would it?
“I was just out there trying to bowl as quick as I could,” says Malcolm. “There wasn’t a huge amount of time left and we all thought that a draw was probably the best outcome to expect. But we went at them. We were really, really aggressive and the Aussies just crumbled.”
With England’s bowlers getting well and truly in their faces, Taylor’s side were made to look positively second rate as Malcolm, Angus Fraser and Chris Lewis completely dominated the home side. In the blink of an eye, the Aussies were 64-5, as England ran riot. Hell, even Tufnell took a brilliant catch, running in 20 yards from fine leg to dismiss Slater off Malcolm’s bowling.
It was enough to send Channel Nine’s Bill Lawry into raptures, the Victorian’s voice shrill with excitement as he told viewers that the work Tufnell had been doing on his fielding was clearly working. It was as if all the ills and disappointments of the past were distilled into a single afternoon of pulsating cricket as England scented victory and the Aussies attempted to avoid humiliation.
The boot was well and truly on the other foot and the Barmy Army were loving it, despite most risking third degree burns as they exposed their sunblock-free torsos to celebrate the England performance of their dreams.
Lewis felt so cock-a-hoop that he even showed McDermott the way to the changing rooms after he dismissed him for a second ball duck as England closed in on a famous win. Only the typically dogged Ian Healy defied England for any length of time and by the time Peter McIntyre made his way to the wicket for his second Test innings, the writing was on the wall.
“I just tried to bowl as fast and as straight as I could and it worked,” says Malcolm. “I got him LBW and when the umpire’s finger went up the whole place just erupted. The feeling in the dressing room after was as good as any I can remember as an England player.”
A win by 106 runs meant England were just a single win away from drawing a Test series in Australia as the teams headed to Perth.
What happened next – a 329-run thumping – can be glossed over and forgotten. The glory of Adelaide 1995 would live far longer in the memory.