Milestones turn to millstones as England fall off the pace

ENGLAND have all but admitted what the world already knew – they don’t have the cattle to threaten Australia.

Assistant coach Paul Farbrace effectively made this candid confession after his team’s back-breaking day of hard labour at the WACA.

“I don’t think we have learnt anything from today we did not already know – we don’t have that extra pace,’’ Farbrace said.

“We have not got the highest quality of magic spin. We have got what we have got and we have had to work exceptionally hard today.

“What can we do? We have tried various plans. The majority of our way to take wickets with the attack we have is to be monotonous with line and length and we tried exceptionally hard.”

Test cricket is a brutal game – it does not take much to turn a milestone into a millstone.

Ask Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson. This match is their 100th Test together, a rare and precious achievement for any cricketers never mind fast bowlers.

It should be a celebration of two exceptional bowlers who started the game with 761 wickets in Tests they have played together, just one shy of the greatest union of all time, West Indians Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

Yet the only ovation they received was the raucous cheer for Broad when a Mitchell Marsh boundary extended Broad’s figures to 0-103 – a millstone century in his milestone game.

It was a cruel moment and by the end of Australia’s day of utter domination Broad was bowling in the late 120km/h and retired with figures of 0/112 off 28 overs with Anderson 0/85 off 29.

Walsh and Ambrose used to love bowling on admittedly livelier Perth decks but “Broaderson’’ by contrast, have found it a gruelling, fruitless slog.

Ricky Ponting was one judge who saw this coming.

He has watched the duo in action for several years and said that this tour would prove, as competitive as they still are in English conditions, they were ageing and vulnerable.

In this Test the average speed of the England bowlers (136km/h) has been 5km/h below Australia’s. It seems more.

Australia has their flat moments with the ball but their best work looked as if it was shot out of the cannon while England were blowing paper balls out of a ball point pen.

“They are down to plan zed,’’ former England captain Michael Vaughan said of England’s attack in the middle session.

“No-one with any pace to go to bowl bouncers or yorkers. No shape through the air, no drift. They are just hoping Mitchell Marsh gets bored.’’