Overton keeps Root gamble alive

IT was, depending on your view, either bold or stupid but Craig Overton at least made sure that Joe Root’s gamble in becoming the first captain to bowl first at the Adelaide Oval in 25 years did not backfire on the opening day of the second Test.

There were two big surprises at the start of a Test that England simply cannot afford to lose if these Ashes are not going to become another tale of a thumping series defeat followed by rancorous recriminations.

The first came when Jake Ball was jettisoned by England after just one admittedly disappointing performance and replaced by Somerset bowler Overton, asked to make his Test debut in the harshest of environments. But that was nothing compared to the shock when Root called correctly for the second successive Test and said he would give first use of what is renowned as one of the best batting surfaces in the world to Australia.

It is not yet clear whether Root’s ‘attacking move’ will go down in Ashes history as inspired or remembered as the day England’s inexperienced captain ‘did a Nasser’ and handed the initiative to the old enemy.

But, by the close of the type of cool, often damp day that blighted England’s first day-night Test at Edgbaston last summer, Australia had battled their way to 209 for four and had their noses in front in this pivotal contest.

There was no doubt that Root was taking a risk in handing the pink ball to his big two beasts in Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad and asking them to bowl England back into a tour that has been showing signs of falling apart.

England had only decided to bowl first at Adelaide three previous times and each time they lost. And Nasser Hussain’s decision to insert Australia in Brisbane in 2002 was one of England’s 13 defeats out of the 16 Tests in Australia where they have bucked conventional wisdom in not batting first.

But perhaps the statistic the England captain had taken most note of was that the team bowling first in the only two previous day-night Tests at this magnificent stadium had both gone on to win. It certainly looked as though Root had made a huge mistake when Anderson and Broad simply failed to locate the right line in the 14 overs that were possible before ‘tea’, pitching too short and failing to take a wicket.

The stroke of luck England desperately needed came when Cameron Bancroft, who had conducted one of the all-time most surreal Ashes media conferences in Brisbane, was run out by a direct hit from Chris Woakes.

It was somehow appropriate Bancroft ended up on the floor appearing to head-butt the ground when David Warner left him high and dry, after accusing Jonny Bairstow of a similar assault on him in a bar. The good fortune seemed to galvanise England in this first Ashes pink ball Test and, after Woakes had Warner playing a loose shot and edging to Bairstow, came the most compelling and hardfought passage of cricket.

There is no doubt England are aggrieved at what they consider to be the unacceptable sledging of Bairstow on the fourth day of the first Test and their mocking of the England keeper over the head-butt that never really was. Now they threw everything at Australia captain Steve Smith, who England blame for leading what is alleged to have become personal abuse, with Broad and Anderson both told to cool their verbals by umpire Aleem Dar. It really has got to the point now where both captains should call a truce and rein their players in because there is clearly bad feeling between the teams and the tit-for-tat on the field is becoming tiresome. Andrew Strauss, who has had possibly his worst week as England’s director of cricket, is said to have spoken to his Australian counterpart Pat Howard several times over the last few days and it is hard to believe they did not at least discuss where the sledging line must be drawn in the rest of this series.

As it was, the best batsman in the world was clearly rattled and never looked at his best in battling his way to an attritional 40 off 90 balls as England gained more out of the pitch as the lights took hold.

Yet it was still a huge surprise when Smith, who could not be breached in Brisbane in reaching an unbeaten 141, was beaten by Overton via his pad and the zing bails sparkled in the Adelaide gloom. It was quite a first scalp for Overton, who had showed glimpses of the aggression he is known for in county cricket before he learned to channel the anger that has landed him in hot disciplinary water.

Overton later explained with a grin that, as Smith had called him slow, it was particularly sweet to beat the Australia captain for pace and the Somerset man’s inclusion was certainly a decision England had got right. The dismissal of Smith came after Usman Khawaja had reached a half-century after being dropped by Mark Stoneman on 44 but had fallen to Anderson after ‘dinner’ when conditions were at their most testing.

Peter Handscomb, whose quirky technique makes Gary Ballance seem orthodox, never looked secure but somehow made it through to the close in company with Shaun Marsh as England struggled to take the wickets that Root’s decision at the toss had demanded.

So not the most exciting of days for a crowd which peaked in excess of 55,000 — the biggest in Adelaide — but was down to nearer 15 or 20,000 by a delayed close in conditions more akin to an English summer than a balmy South Australian night.

England were still in this at the close of the first day but could and should have had more wickets than just the four and needed to strike quickly on Sunday if another Test and another series in Australia was not to slip away from them.