England ’s Ashes hopes are already dangling by a thread after a day of Aussie dominance on their green and pleasant land.
One by one, England’s four right arm medium-fast seam bowlers lined up to take advantage of the even covering of grass on the pitch, under cloudy, leaden skies. One by one they were driven, cut, pulled and flicked to every part of this famous old ground by an Australian top order who have learnt to cope with this English tactic time and again.
None more so than Steve Smith, who remains 85 not out and was locked into his bubble of fidgety concentration as he moved past 9,000 Test runs and took his side to 339-5 at the close. He has been battling with James Anderson and Stuart Broad for Ashes supremacy for what seems like an eternity and the war will soon be over.
How Ben Stokes and his Bazballers are going to conjure the victory they so desperately need from here is the greatest of mysteries, but there is nothing uncertain about Australia. They are simply an outstanding cricket team, playing excellent cricket.
Stokes could hardly suppress the smile at the toss. He fairly believed that he had the seam bowling quality to make early inroads and get his Ashes campaign back on track at the very first opportunity. But conditions themselves don’t take wickets. It still needs the best in the business to deliver.
So when Anderson found Usman Khawaja’s edge and the ball flew low to slip, Joe Root had to grab it. He didn’t. It was a tough chance, but in the fifth over of the day it set the tone. It reflected a lack of energy, both from the pitch and seemingly from the players too.
The next chance had to be taken, so when Ollie Pope parried one off his hands at fourth slip to give David Warner a life on 20 against Stuart Broad, it summed up an awful start to the Test that continued deep into the day until the Aussies gifted England a foot in the game. No wonder Kevin Pietersen let rip on Sky Sports decrying both the performance of England’s bowlers as well as the chumminess between the teams.
If it wasn’t for the big hooping inswinger from Tongue that cannoned into Khawaja’s off stump on the stroke of lunch, it would have been a first session nightmare. Tongue was the only bowler to find the extravagant sideways movement that visiting batters hate, and it proved to be too much for Warner, bowled for 66.
The 25-year-old Tongue operated with decent pace through his first spell, but thereafter there was little of the X-factor that England were hoping for. At 96-2 and with Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith the new batters, there was genuine hope that England could somehow repeat their Edgbaston charm and keep them quiet for the third innings in a row.
What folly. These two players don’t miss out very often and the only surprise was that Ollie Robinson managed to remove Labuschagne for 47 rather than 147.
But just like the great Aussie side of the early 2000s, when you get rid of one great batter, another just strolls out and makes batting look even easier. That was exactly what Travis Head did, depositing his first five scoring shots to the boundary.
The player of the series Down Under last time is simply picking up where he left off, not to mention his World Test Championship final hundred a couple of weeks ago. Australia were in total control, until Head lost his, charged at Joe Root and was stumped for 77. A second wicket in the over when Cam Green sliced an ugly shot to mid-off, put a gloss on the day that England barely earned.
