Brisbane Revisited

Now that the dust has settled a little and England supporters have stopped wandering around with glazed expressions, constantly repeating the words ‘517-1’ in disbelieving wonder, we can look back at the Brisbane test with some objectivity, for it wasn’t necessarily the Australian disaster, nor the English triumph, that some have reported.

The positives for Australia were the way that Siddle bowled in the first innings and the way that Hussey and Haddin turned the game around on days two and three in the face of some pretty good bowling. Hussey in particular deserves a lot of credit for responding so positively to his place being on the line. Sure, he had some luck, not least with the LBW decision on the third morning, but his judgment of length was impeccable and he took full advantage of any poor deliveries that came his way. Haddin too showed strength of character. There were those, including me, who questioned his inclusion ahead of Tim Paine, but he batted superbly, although his keeping remains suspect. The real concern for Australia will not be so much the performances of individuals, although Mitchell Johnson must surely lose his place, but that, once again, they got themselves into a winning position and weren’t able to take advantage. This was down to a combination of factors – it’s certainly true that the pitch got flatter, that England batted exceptionally well and that they didn’t have a lot of luck, but they also ran out of ideas pretty quickly and heads dropped early on. Ricky Ponting’s captaincy didn’t come out of days four and five with any great credit, particularly in the 7-2 fields that he set for Hilfenhaus and his failure to attack more on the final morning, and his body language when things are going against his side, as they have tended to of late, is not helpful.

That said, though, it was only Australia who had any chance of winning the game. Taking a lead of over two hundred in any test is an impressive feat and if they can keep doing that then they will win at some point, but the concern for them will be that in a series that is likely to fluctuate it is crucial to take full advantage of such opportunities. The other concern will be that this wasn’t like Cardiff, where they remained dominant only to fall at the final hurdle. Days four and five weren’t simply a plucky rearguard action by England, they were a humiliation.

A lot was written before the series about the respective mental strength of the two sides. England showed plenty of it in Brisbane, both in the way that they kept going with the ball and in the way that they set about saving the game. The first day at Adelaide will be a test of how Australia’s minds are working. I can’t wait.