Punches now dealt by Clarke
MICHAEL Clarke started the Ashes campaign predicting headbutts. After a “first round” pummelling in Cardiff he spoke of copping “a few smacks in the mouth”. “Round two?” he said. “I’m not so sure.” He is now after the Aussies ended the first day at Lord’s with England on the ropes and looking decidedly wobbly.
Of course there is still a long way to go here before the final bell, and another three Rockystyle sequels yet to be fought out, but in terms of keeping the franchise alive in London the Aussies could not have done much better.
Clarke and coach Darren Lehmann asked the team to show some fight.
Forget the tentative jabs and mistimed haymakers of Cardiff, this was Mike Tyson in Las Vegas with the right hook to the body followed by the right uppercut to the head.
There was no ear-biting going on in the clinch, but it was close.
Even opener David Warner, on the receiving end of plenty of headbutts via social media after holing out to England spinner Moeen Ali, was following instructions from his corner to the letter to hit out.
Ali came into the Test under an injury cloud after his understudy Adil Rashid turned down a call-up for his Test debut because of an “abrasion” on his spinning finger.
Which is one way of putting it. Another, preferred by disgruntled England supporters as they spent a long day watching their bowlers get battered around the ring, is that he wimped out.
Warner got caught with an Ali sucker punch, but he went down swinging.
Enter Steve Smith, the side’s Muhammad Ali who, according to former England offspinner Graeme Swann, has a glass jaw.
After scoring 33 in each innings at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens, he headed to London with something to prove.
Up the other end all day, playing in a Test on his (Middlesex) home track for the last time was opener Chris Rogers.
A week ago Rogers got to 95 and froze – no such problems for him in the rematch.