Thursday November 25 2010.
England - 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Siddle 6/54)
Australia - 0/25 (Katich 15 n.o, Watson 9 n.o)
Full scorecard here.
The halcyon days of McGrath, Lee and Gillespie and Warne may seem like a distant memory for the Australian bowling unit, but there is life in the old dog yet. What’s more, the sources of this revival in hope and enthusiasm are far from what you’d expect.
For all the talk of an inconsistent, inexperienced attack and their presumed struggle at taking 20 English wickets, Australia has surprisingly healthy pace stocks. The core of Mitchell Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Peter Siddle and Ryan Harris are backed up by the promising young talent of Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Peter George, Josh Hazlewood, Trent Copland and Mark Cameron, just to name a few. Meanwhile on the spinning side of things, the plethora of been and gone candidates since the great one’s retirement, while hardly ideal, at least speaks to the depth of near-international quality spin bowling in a country not evolutionarily designed to support the art. But with the developments of the past 12 months, Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Bollinger and Hauritz locked in as incumbents and the vibrant young brigade being given their due, few would have picked Peter Siddle as Australia’s next great bowling hero, and surely none would have thought of Xavier Doherty as the man most likely to take the spin bowling chance and grasp it with both hands.
It is the variety of our quick men which makes them at once threatening and frustrating. The wild, unreliable and dangerous slinger Johnson. The McGrathesque (or maybe DamienFlemingesque would be more appropriate for his prodigious ability to swing the ball and his consistent if always varying spot of minimal facial hair) Ben Hilfenhaus. The left arm new ball specialist Doug Bollinger, with all the cult excitement he stirs up. Peter Siddle somehow appears to be the misnomer, the eggshell amongst broken glass. He is straight up and down, a hard-working, toiling, honest bowler with a mean 140something speed on his day. He’s not quite the gun slinging wild child that is Johnson or the ever-reliable Hilfenhaus. He inexplicably doesn’t even feel remotely like Bollinger, even though they both essentially fill that same intermediary role between Mitch and Hilfy. Siddle, and I mean no disrespect because he is a match for anybody in the world at being so, is one of those bowlers who seems to possess little variety in his arsenal. Invariably he bowls them straight, without prominent swing, at a consistently fast but not spectacular pace, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. While some may have doubted his natural ability, no-one I know has ever disliked Siddle. He is a man whose work ethic would be unmatched even in the most heinous Nazi concentration camp, and if that isn’t enough to miff any survivors of Auschwitz, the indecent joy and happiness with which he seems to do his work every day surely would. Now on perhaps the most important day of his short test career, he’s gotten all rewards he’s deserved for his years of passion, and then some.
A full decade has passed since an Australian last took a test hat-trick (Glenn McGrath against the West Indies in 2000). It is two years longer since the feat was achieved in an Ashes test, by Darren Gough in Sydney in January 1999, a match I was privileged enough to attend, my first as a spectator. Siddle’s hat-trick is reminiscent of Gough’s in that it was the most spectacularly pure and aesthetically pleasing that a hat-trick can get, with two shoe-splitting yorkers firing under Matthew Prior and Stuart Broad’s bats. The ball that got rid of the stubborn Alastair Cook to start the rout was a gem in itself, finally enticing the cautious opener to push ever so slightly outside off stump and edging to the slips.
Siddle’s 6/54 was the hallmark of engrossing day of test cricket at its absolute finest on a beautiful if somewhat sluggish pitch offering a little something to everybody, including the makers and sellers of sawdust. Australia fought hard to dismiss England for 260 by stumps. Simon and Shane Watson ensured Australia’s upper hand by lasting until stumps with the score on 25, Katich looking particularly confident in his aggressive welcoming of Graeme Swann to Ashes cricket at the Gabbatoir.
If the recent tradition of the nerve-jangling opening over providing a glimpse into coming fortunes is anything to go by, Australia are in very good shape. After the interminable pre-series hype and as the climax of the much anticipated first ball began to subside, England’s captain and most important batting stabilizer hit the third ball of the series straight to Michael Hussey. Short outside off stump is not what Ben Hilfenhaus had in mind for his first wicket of the series, but it was nevertheless an extremely clever delivery, deviating back at the left-handed Strauss just enough to cramp his cut shot, a sure fire way of getting yourself caught in the cordon. England 1 for 0. It was the kind of spectacular start that always seemed likely, and for a fleeting moment thoughts of England all out for 30 by lunch flashed through the mind. But a positive start from No.3 Jonathan Trott, and the typical uninspiring stoicism of Alastair Cook began what was a gripping contest all day.
Trott looked in fine touch and it needed a jaffa to remove him, Shane Watson seaming a full ball back in through the gap and disturbing his stumps. As ever Watson was penetrating and difficult to play, and it was Watson who recognised the need to be full and straight. With the slow pace and tinge of green in the wicket, a length bordering on the half volley becomes the new good length ball. So it proved as Watson removed Trott with the perfect ball for such conditions, and inspired Siddle when he returned to the attack after what had truthfully been a scratchy opening spell.
Siddle’s full deliveries outside off accounted for Kevin Pietersen on 43, just when he looked ready to take the match from Australia after showing a headache inducing streak of vintage form, and Paul Collingwood for just 4. At 4 for 125, the in form Ian Bell and the defiant Cook fought back, with a partnership of 72 before all hell broke loose. After Cook’s vigil ended on 67 in the waiting hands of Shane Watson, and Matt Prior was comprehensively bowled, Siddle had to wait an extra minute or two for confirmation of his hat-trick as Stuart Broad played the controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) card to challenge his palpably plum LBW decision. Broad was struck on the toe on the full, not going close to digging out the searing if rather fortuitous yorker Siddle ended up delivering.
Siddle’s 6th wicket was Graeme Swann for 10, another plum LBW and another pointlessly wasted decision review. Pietersen and Ian Bell were the only batsman who looked to have mastered the conditions, and the overall consistent (apart from Johnson arguably) Australia bowling. Bell played perhaps his best innings against Australia, attacking test debutant Xavier Doherty with particular gusto on his way to 76 before rather inevitably become Doherty’s first test wicket.
My judging standard may be particularly low after all the spin troubles we have had, but Xavier Doherty had to me an absolutely sensational debut innings with the ball. His surprise inclusion over Nathan Hauritz and Steve Smith, despite a frankly woeful first class bowling average of 48 over nearly a decade, was said to be the result of a certain big game quality the selectors saw in him. His four wickets on One Day International debut recently against Sri Lanka gave the earliest glimpses of this and rose to the occasion today. Doherty, a containing one-day bowler by trade really, bowled typically tightly and with great discipline, every bit the match of Hauritz’s cool temperament. More than this, for a supposedly straight up and down containing limited overs bowler he seemed to get a notable amount of purchase out of the wicket, turning the ball far more consistently and often considerably further than Hauritz usually managed. He remains unlikely to ever really run through a team and no doubt the pitch offered him an unusual amount of assistance for a Day 1 Aussie test pitch, but given the context of his meteoric rise and distinctly unimpressive average, his performance was nothing short of sensational. The only blemish on Doherty’s day was a tough but catchable chance he dropped from Cook at cover point earlier in the day.
It is easy to get caught up in the hype of what was really a magnificent day of test cricket, silencing the long form’s doubters. But the truth of the matter is that England’s 260, if their bowlers can do the job tomorrow, may not be that far off the mark. Australia has the disadvantage of batting last on a pitch that has shown signs of likely wear and tear as the game progresses. Australia’s performance was far from flawless either. Ponting’s tactics remain decidedly questionable and Mitchell Johnson showed little to suggest he won’t be carted around the country for the next six weeks, although he will surely have one of those inevitable destructive spells in there somewhere. England were in a fighting if not dominant position of 4/197 before Siddle’s hat-trick, and without the collapse could very easily have gone close to 400, an ominous score on such a economical pitch.
These are all petty details though on a day that was first and foremost, enthralling top level sporting competition, and most importantly for the partisan Aussie, overall a very successful and promising day. These Ashes aren’t a foregone conclusion yet for the Poms.
Highlights
*** Siddle’s enterprising fast bowling and sensational hat-trick. Fast bowling of the like has rarely been seen in Australia or the world for the matter for some years. The last comparable spell I remember is Mitchell Johnson’s destruction of South Africa in Perth two years ago.
** Doherty’s mighty mature performance, the perfect foil for Siddle’s heroics.
* Channel Nine reigning themselves back from the uncontained idiocy of the early summer games to present a focused and, unprecedented within the past few years, almost passing for acceptable commentary. Michael Slater is still annoying as a commentator though. And Mark Nicholas is still a pompous idiot.
Lowlights
*** Kevin Pietersen. While his batting at full flight is always a highlight visually, his form today was worrying. It is too early to make elaborate judgements from one innings of 43, but he’s showing every sign of another return to form just in time for the Australians.
** Mitchell Johnson. My constant criticism may seem overly harsh and he didn’t bowl particularly atrociously today, certainly not compared to the trash he can throw down. My concerns remain however. If we get to about the 3rd or 4th test and his consistency hasn’t improved and his devastating spell hasn’t come yet, it might be time to bring Dougie back for Mitch. Hilfenhaus/Siddle/Bollinger is as formidable a pace attack as any. I think I’m just biased against Mitch because a tattoo artist has made his arm look like a charcoaled log after a bushfire. He was so attractive too.
* Mitchell Johnson’s tattoo. There are other Australian problems to bring up but they are not yet sufficient as to cause grave concern. After such a good day of cricket it’s a fitting tribute to only have two genuine lowlights. Besides that tattoo really is bad.
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