It’s no walk in the park this time for Smith and Co as rivals stroll through

Three days after their hippy ramble around Edgbaston – ‘grounding’ they called it – a chastening afternoon for the Australian cricket team ended with England strolling positively into the World Cup Final.

‘Grounding’, in this sense, seemed to mean being dumped on your backside.

This was Australia, the land of the flint-edged cricketer, flattened in what was a surprisingly one-sided contest which England won with eight wickets and the best part of 18 overs to spare.

It was a beating of the sort they have dished out for decades.

And while there were flashes of class from Steve Smith, courage from Alex Carey after being bloodied by a Jofra Archer bouncer, and searing, angry pace from Mitchell Starc, the over-riding feeling was that we were witnessing the first significant blow of an Ashes summer.

Australia were frogmarched to the exit door by a muscular England with their legs dangling.

Australia had reached seven previous World Cup semi-finals and won six, with a tie in the other. Never had they not progressed to a final. England had not made it past this point in 27 years.

Smith, Starc, David Warner, Nathan Lyon, Peter Handscomb and Pat Cummins will expect to return under a baggy green for the Ashes this summer. Carey and Matthew Wade, who ran drinks and gloves on and off here yesterday, will most likely figure as understudy wicketkeeper and batsman.

Australia will hope there will be no lasting psychological damage.

Coach Justin Langer might rightly suggest everything will be different when the teams lock horns here at Edgbaston for the first Test on August 1, but the bruises from yesterday may not have disappeared.

Australia will revamp their coaching staff as well as playing staff with Graeme Hick and Troy Cooley as batting and bowling coach and Steve Waugh as a mentor for a couple of Tests.

But it is unlikely to add a significantly harder edge to a staff given that Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin have sat on the balcony throughout the World Cup campaign.

Both will have wondered quite how it came to the point where at 5.14pm the scoreboard showed the equation 2 runs to get, 110 balls to go as the Hollies Stand oohed and aahed, revelling in every shot which failed to pierce the field.

A moment later, Eoin Morgan hit the winning four over mid-on off Jason Behrendorff’s half tracker and the place erupted.

In 1992 England reached their last World Cup Final, only to be beaten by Pakistan at the MCG. Since then Australia have dominated this competition, reaching five of the six finals and winning four of them. England interrupted that yesterday by stealing their method: bowling with such venom up front that the Aussies were 14-3 and wobbling by the end of the sixth over.

Test skipper Joe Root will have noted the flashes of unorthodox brilliance from Smith remain undimmed by his ban for the balltampering scandal. His 85 matched Jason Roy’s later effort as the game’s biggest contributions with the bat.

After having his chin split and his helmet knocked off by an 86mph bouncer from Jofra Archer, classy defiance from Carey in a 103-run partnership with Smith threatened to drag them back into the game.

Around them there was only failure, with voluble reminders of it from the stands. Warner and Smith can expect plenty more this summer.

Smith sent down one over which Roy despatched for 21, including three sixes which, like the cheers, got progressively bigger.

England will hope that this is blow which resonates throughout.

BROOKS

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