COOK THROWS IT AWAY
Just when wobbly England needed Mr Reliable the most, he let us down
IT was some time after 4pm on Saturday and the Gabba was in tumult. Alastair Cook and Mark Stoneman walked the long, slow walk to the middle and the denizens of the top tier, the most raucous section of this bear- pit of a stadium, slammed their plastic seat bottoms against their metal supports and added their yells, screams, jeers and whistles to a cacophony of chaos.
It was bedlam. The sun beat down and Aussie fans swathed in green and gold and painted with sunscreen that looked like warpaint, came and went in the stands, carrying trays of four glasses of beer, responding to chants of ‘ Skull, skull, skull, skull’ by downing them in one and then placing them upside down on the tops of their heads.
Cook did not look up as he walked to the wicket for the start of England’s second innings but he could hear the fervour in the crowd and sense their lust for victims. He knew he was about to face cricket’s version of being thrown to the lions.
He knew what was required of him too. For most of the day, the former England captain had laboured in the field with the rest of Joe Root’s team as 33,000 spectators watched an unbeaten performance of quite stunning determination and discipline from Australia skipper Steve Smith that had carried his team beyond England’s total.
England set traps for Smith. Ball after ball, over after over, they dug the ball in short at him, inviting him to hook, crowding the leg side with a leg gully, a square leg, a mid- on, a deep backward square leg and a deep midwicket. Former England A captain Mark Nicholas observed it was like watching a modern version of Bodyline.
But Smith refused to take the bait. He watched the barrage of short balls fly past his head. He ducked under them. He did not take them on. England’s research had shown them that Smith is rarely clean bowled or out lbw, so they tried to tempt him into a loose shot outside off stump to find an edge. Once more, he declined the invitation.
He was patience personified. He spent 56 minutes in the 90s before a glorious cover drive brought hi m hi s 21st Test century. It had taken him 261 balls. He went on to make an unbeaten 141. From the Gabba press room, Michael Atherton, who had scored a similarly indomitable century in Johannesburg in 1995, watched on in admiration.
Cook knew he had to try to produce something similar. Smith had shown an iron will. Now it was Cook’s turn. England needed him to display all the stoicism and skill that has made him one of the country’s greatest batsmen. He might not be captain any more but how they needed his experience to lead them by example. Not so long ago you would not have picked any other man for the job.
He had, after all, faced a similar situation at this stadium seven years ago when England went into their second innings of the first Test trailing by 221 runs. Cook responded by scoring 235 not out, the highest Test score recorded at the Gabba, in a total of 517 for one. England saved the game and laid the foundations for their series victory.
Cook had fallen cheaply in England’s first i nni ngs o n Thursday, caught in the slips off the bowling of Mitchell Starc for two. He was in scratchy form in the warm-up games on this tour and, on the eve of this Test, he admitted that he would have liked to have spent more time in the middle in the build-up.
The din was deafening as Starc ran in at him this time. His first delivery hurtled down leg side and Cook flicked at it, surviving a loud appeal for caught behind. The crowd sensed the aggression in Starc straight away. They could see how fired up he was. They screamed like banshees. Cook survived the over.
Starc and Josh Hazlewood bowled like dervishes. It felt as if a force of nature had been unleashed and t he passion poured down from the stands. Cook moved on to seven but, when Hazlewood dug the third ball of the fourth over in short, Cook fell straight into the trap.
He did exactly what Smith had refused to do. He took it on. He swivelled and hooked it but it caught the bat’s top edge and looped high down to long leg where Starc ran around to take a fine, diving catch. Cook had only faced 13 balls. An Aussie fan standing near one of the exits with his beers exulted. ‘There’s blood in the water,’ he hollered.
The Australians celebrated wildly but a sense of disbelief spread around t he England supporters in the ground. It was so un-Cook. A man who is usually the epitome of patience had lost his head. A team player to the tips of his toes, he had just thrown his wicket away at a crucial moment. Only people who whistle in the dressing room are supposed to do that.
It was exactly what Australia needed. After Root, Cook is still the scalp they prize most of all. Their energy was redoubled. The crowd s creamed even louder.
Twelve balls later, James Vince was caught i n the slips off Hazlewood and England were 17 for two. Soon after that, Root was struck in the helmet by a vicious Starc bouncer.
Cook does not have much time to find his form. The second Test begins on Saturday and England know their chances of retaining the Ashes will fall if Cook cannot rebuild his confidence and get in the runs again. Root needs him, too. At the moment, there is way too much pressure on him to do it all himself.
Root may be England’s leader and best batsman now but they still look to Cook too. He is, after all, England’s record run scorer and the only Englishman to score more than 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He is only 32. It is not as if he is in his dotage.
Only eight players have scored more runs than him in the history of the world game and, before England arrived here, he would have been hoping to score enough runs to overtake Mahela Jayawardene, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Brian Lara on this tour.
It may still happen. Cook is nothing if not dogged. Stuart Broad, who bowled beautifully during the Australian i nnings, was unconcerned by Cook’s struggles. ‘He is so strong mentally,’ said Broad. ‘All the stress of the captaincy has gone and he is loving his cricket. His time in Australia will come.’
It was Cook’s misfortune that his dismissal provided s uch a contrast to t he discipline shown by Smith and he will be harder on himself than any critic. The irresponsibility of his hook shot yesterday feels like an aberration. In Adelaide and the Tests that follow, he will have to prove it.