Australia blow away tail-enders to leave England on brink
Tourists lose final four wickets for just 10 runs Australia cruise to 114 without loss chasing 170
From the beginning of this tour, England’s best chance of a victory in this Ashes series always seemed to be the second Test in Adelaide starting on Saturday. But that opportunity has been rapidly reduced because of the superiority Australia suddenly achieved in the first Test and the story that has emerged of an incident involving Jonny Bairstow in Perth at the start of this tour.
In the context of Ben Stokes and his arrest in late September, England could not afford to yield any more moral high ground. The report of an incident involving Bairstow and Cameron Bancroft – the Western Australia batsman and now Test opener – pushed England’s tour that much closer to a slippery slope which could end in the same kind of humiliation as two of their previous three Ashes series in Australia.
In the first half of the opening Test, England were neck and neck with Australia on a slow and damp pitch, but once it had dried and become the traditional Gabba, they were blown away. England could still bounce back in the day-night Test in Adelaide, on a pitch which has to be grassy to preserve the pink ball’s colour, but they will have to be at their best – and at full strength, not fielding their reserve wicketkeeper Ben Foakes, who has yet to bat for England, on this tour or anywhere else.
The best feature of this Test for England was that all of their top seven batsmen got a foothold in this series, except Alastair Cook. The worst feature was how their tailenders were blown away, and how innocuous their bowlers were apart from James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
Stokes’s absence was acutely felt in both respects. England’s strategy of grinding down Australia’s three fast bowlers is undermined when their last four wickets go down in a puff of smoke, rejuvenating Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Instead of being No9, as he was with Stokes in the side, Chris Woakes batted at eight, and he was bounced out, just as Broad was in one innings and Jake Ball in both. And Stokes is still the last England player to score a Test century in Australia – the only one since January 2011. In England’s second innings the nearest anyone came was Joe Root, who got halfway, having passed a test for concussion on Saturday night after being hit flush on the helmet visor by Starc.
On the fourth morning, Root began to score more quickly than anyone else in the match, trying to run when everybody else had walked –
Hazlewood reacted as if the match was already won after the wicket of Root
even counterpart Steve Smith, whose discipline in shot-selection was supreme. Root played fatally across the line, the ball after reaching 50, and Hazlewood celebrated as if the match was already won.
Since Mark Stoneman and Dawid Malan were so troubled by Nathan Lyon, both edging an off-break to slip, Moeen Ali was the next best bet to make a hundred after Root. He used the depth of his crease to Lyon, and tried leg-side shots – something the two other left-handers had not, forcing Smith to manoeuvre his field.
Moeen and Bairstow were, if not counter-attacking, then grinding down the Australian pace bowlers and scoring at a decent rate when the case of the curious stumping occurred. Good umpiring, it had to be admitted after the closest inspection of the photographic evidence, and bad groundsmanship.
Moeen did not have any part of his left foot behind the white line but only because the paint had been applied in rustic village fashion: where Moeen stood, the line was far wider than it should have been. If he had taken up his stance two feet wide of leg stump – where the crease was neatly demarcated – Moeen would have been fine.
Were there too many bouncers at England’s tail-enders? The umpires were as experienced and esteemed as any in the world – outside England at any rate. Aleem Dar and Marais Erasmus thought the bouncers were not excessive according to the law, which is: “The bowling of short-pitched deliveries is dangerous if the bowler’s end umpire considers that, taking into consideration the skill of the striker, by their speed, length, height and direction, they are likely to inflict physical injury on him/her. The fact the striker is wearing protective equipment shall be disregarded.”
That today is the third anniversary of the death of Phil Hughes, in the tragic accident when a bouncer hit his neck, cannot be taken into account by the umpires. Good to relate though, it is taken into account by the fielding side when a batsman is hit on the head, and the Australians have been suitably solicitous. England’s bowlers have not been quick enough to hit the Australians.
Ball was plied with several bouncers but instinctive use of the bat saved him from being hit: the convention, which seems fair enough, is that umpires invoke this law of unfair play only when a batsman is physically injured more than once. Broad feathered an edge before he could cop any more bouncers. Bairstow steered one to short third man, too cramped for room because Starc unleashed it from around the wicket. Whereas England’s last four wickets tumbled for 10 runs, Australia’s – shepherded by the infinitely patient Smith – resisted for 114.
Australia, needing 170 in 34 overs and a day, were untroubled. David Warner played some thunderous drives, Bancroft struck Moeen for six in his maiden Test 50.
England’s bowlers had none of the extreme pace, or fierce spin, of Australia’s.