So here it is Merry Christmas … Australia

Saturday 18 December 2010

Christmas time at the WACA

Perth Day 3: Australia 268 & 309 all out, England 187 & 81 for 5 oh no not again It was fancy dress Saturday at the WACA and unsurprisingly the theme revolved around Christmas. Except for the guys who always come dressed as women of course. Some things never change, particularly the copious chest hair. On the pitch it was as if Christmas had come early for Australia as England gifted them five top order wickets in the last two hours of play to leave the tourists hopelessly adrift at today's close. Now only a miracle can stop Australia winning tomorrow and pegging the series back to 1-1 with two to play. England's hope of early wickets to atone for their poor performance on Day 2 failed to materialise under a perfect Perth sky. Both Shane Watson (95) and Michael Hussey (116) again made batting look ridiculously easy on a surface which has so far seen 35 wickets fall in only three days play. Hussey in particular continues to be a nasty thorn in England's side as he reached a sixth consecutive score of over 50 - the first man in Ashes history to achieve this. Despite finding his limpet-like presence at the crease incredibly irritating, the Barmy Army sportingly rose as one man to applaud another superb hundred. Quite amazing consistency from the Huss. I wrote yesterday that England would need to find a hero of their own to match Mitchell Johnson's feats with bat and ball. Finally, in the afternoon session, we found our man in the guise of the giant Chris Tremlett who took his first 5 wicket haul in Tests to reduce Australia from a commanding 252 for 4 to 309 all out. And nobody in our row believed me when I called 310 as the final Australian total once they lost their fifth wicket. Nor was my prediction yesterday too shabby that England would be set 380-400 to win - the target is smack in the middle at 391. History tells us of course that such high totals are rarely achieved in the 4th innings of a Test match. And certainly not by England. Yet England's recovery with the ball this afternoon, combined with their imperious batting performances in Brisbane and Adelaide, encouraged a romantic belief that this total may not be out of reach. After all, there were still two days and two hours to go in this game. And surely this England team could not bat quite so badly twice in one match. But naive hope soon turned to crushing disappointment as, one by one, the England batsmen gave away their wickets in the short time which remained today. This appeared not to be due to good bowling, as in the first innings, but simply poor application and shot selection. Put bluntly, England's batsmen have not turned up for this match, which has been hugely disappointing after their earlier domination in this series. How quickly things can turn around at this level if you take your eye off the ball for a minute or two. So, we will duly turn up tomorrow morning for a jolly good sing-song and to administer the last rites on this pitiful England performance (not forgetting a really good Australian one, of course). More importantly, I will be going to the airport in mid-afternoon to pick Jayne, Annabel and Simon up from their flight from Singapore. After three weeks away on my own, I can't wait to see them again.

Too hot to handle global warming

Friday 17 December 2010

As we arrived at the WACA ground today, an enthusiastic group of people were demonstrating vehemently against global warming. This provoked some discussion during the opening session. Conscientious guy next to me: "I really agree with what they stand for. I'd like to take a photo of those guys. Do you think they'll still be there this afternoon?" Sceptic in row behind: "Naah, it'll be far too hot for them by then".

[2019 update: Sorry Greta, but this still makes me giggle]

Pride before a fall

Friday 17 December 2010

Perth Day 2: Australia 268 & 119 for 3, England 187 all out omigod, Australia lead by 200 runs wheredidthatcomefrom Somewhat delayed blog today as sorrows were abundant and needed to be drowned. And they were. Well, they say pride comes before a fall and we were jolly proud to be 78 for no wicket less than an hour after the start of today's play in Perth. Strauss and Cook were batting like a million Aussie dollars (which these days will buy you at least an evening of drinks for a few mates, maybe even a curry). It looked like they would never get out. It looked like we were going to win the Ashes before Christmas. Which has never ever happened in the history of the world.

Will Bill play? Yes, right in front of me

We even stood up to applaud England's 1,200th run for the last 6 wickets which had fallen to Australian bowlers since the first day of the series. This was surely the new reality. The new order. Perhaps the start of a decade of English domination over the old enemy. Then suddenly it all went completely pear-shaped. 78-0 to 98-5 in a horrific half hour for England, then a painful, somehow inevitable descent to 187 all out. The destroyer - Mitchell Johnson, a man who was so embarrassingly bad at Brisbane that England fans rejoiced at his recall for this match. Here in Perth he has so far hit 62 (still the highest score by any batsman) and taken 6 for 38. If his batting yesterday was astonishingly good, then his bowling today was simply outstanding. By common consensus within the Barmy Army, it was a privilege to witness bowling of such sustained pace and accuracy - even if it was unleashed against our own side. One of the truly great spells of fast bowling you could ever hope to see. So I will lament no more the predictable nature of this series. Today cricket became gloriously unpredictable again - even if it was at England's expense. Going into Day 3, Australia resume effectively on 200 for 3 wickets - not a bad position having been 69 for 5 shortly after lunch on Day 1. My prediction for Day 3, hopefully not quite such a lazy one, is that Australia will lose wickets regularly to a wounded, fighting English team but still set England a fourth innings target of around 380-400. To be honest, after being so comprehensively outplayed on Day 2, it will now be really tough for England to avoid defeat here - but that's what we thought in Brisbane. What is clear is that someone on the English side will have to match Johnson's feats with ball and bat - so far this has not been in evidence, but there's still a lot of cricket left in this game.