There are days when all those years of gazing at ruinous collapses through your fingers or muttering ‘Oh for god’s sake’ over and over again all seem worth it. The last three days at Melbourne have been some of those days, as England have produced a clinical exhibition of high class cricket that has been too much for a shell shocked Australian side.
Australia started the day pretty well, but were in such a horrible position by then that it was largely academic. Siddle bowled magnificently for his six wickets and England, once Matt Prior had got himself into a tangle and lobbed the ball to mid-on, it was only a breezy knock from Graeme Swann, along with the continued excellence of Jonathan Trott, that saw England past five hundred.
Trott continued as he does, relentlessly and with no outward sign of emotion except for when he reached his various landmarks. A friend treated me like a madman when I suggested to him before the series that I would rather have Trott batting at three than Ponting, but his superb performances in the series have rather vindicated that point of view. After seventeen tests he now averages sixty-four but, more importantly, he makes his hundreds count. He has made five test hundreds but has only been dismissed for under one hundred and fifty once, in his first test. Once he gets past a hundred his average is a staggering two hundred and seventy four; against Australia that rises to a scarcely believable four hundred and twenty two. In five tests against Australia he averages over a hundred: this is Bradman-esque batting.
He wasn’t finished either. Australia, for once, made a decent start but were undone by a hesitant bit of running and a swoop and throw from Trott that left Hughes, who had ridden his luck a little, short of his ground. England now scented blood, but the final nails in Australia’s coffin came from a slightly unlikely source as Tim Bresnan, bowling at a decent pace, removed Watson, Ponting and Hussey in quick succession to leave them reeling. Hussey has had a wonderful series, but the rescue job was beyond him as Bell pouched an uppish drive at cover.
With England bowling beautifully it was surely now simply a matter of time. Tremlett had deeply unflattering figures that didn’t come close to reflecting the quality of his performance and Swann and Bresnan were parsimonious to a degree that has almost been forgotten in test cricket. The pressure eventually told on Michael Clarke, who edged to a well placed second slip, and Steve Smith who, having batted reasonably well, dragged Jimmy Anderson on.
With Ryan Harris pretty much certain not to bat following his very unfortunate injury, England need just three wickets to wrap up the win and retain the Ashes. They can reasonably expect to be celebrating by lunchtime tomorrow.
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