FINAL REPORT: Johnson resurgence keeps Ashes alive

Australia vs England, 3nd Test - WACA Ground, Perth
Thursday December 16-Sunday December 19 2010.

Australia - 268 (Johnson 62, Hussey 61, Haddin 53, Anderson 3/61, Tremlett 3/63)
England - 187 (Bell 53, Strauss 52, Johnson 6/38, Harris 3/59)
Australia - 309 (Hussey 116, Watson 95, Tremlett 5/87)
England - 123 (Trott 31, Harris 6/47, Johnson 3/44)

Australia won by 267 runs


MotM - Mitchell Johnson (Aus)
5 Test series level 1-1 after 3 Tests



Full Scorecard here.

 

The personal plight of Mitchell Johnson, sinking deeper and deeper into a chasm empty of any confidence, form or attitude as the months of 2010 passed, now looks like a telling metaphor for the performance of the entire Australian unit. For when Johnson hit rock bottom after an atrocious Brisbane test, to find himself out of the side for the 2nd Test at Adelaide, his teammates followed him down to the depths of ignominy with their worst performance in recent memory. Little more than week after such disaster and both Johnson and the Australia team are riding one of the more unexpected heights of success they've ever managed to happen upon in recent memory.

At about 2:30pm (over hear in humble old New South Wales) on Friday December 17, Australia was making final preparations for another Ashes series defeat, our 3rd in six years, but one forfeited at a stage so early before Christmas as to be utterly humiliating. Barely an hour later suddenly there was some small semblance of resistance and dare anyone think it, maybe the urn was not quite yet locked away. A day and a half later England left the WACA having lost their 20th wicket for a pitiful 310 runs total, to a bowling attack which had given little indication of being able to take 20 for any amount. Not only did a characteristically petulant and undisciplined batting display from the Australians result in a sub par 268, a second consecutive capitulation for 200-odd inside Day 1 on good pitches, but England had ambled along with little worry to 0/78 in reply.

Enter Johnson. Two overs at the end of Day 1 had shown immediately that the remedial work put in with Australian bowling coach Troy Cooley were paying dividends. Johnson's action was notably straighter and his pace was up. But there was no reason to suggest this could convert into any sort of long-term consistency. But Mitch's biggest problem has always been confidence. He remains extremely high maintenance as a cricketer and if the results aren't coming he can very often crumble spectacularly. On Day 1 his carefree 62, reminiscent of innings' in South Africa in 2008, reminded everyone but most importantly Mitchell Johnson himself, that he was a cricketer of high class. His bowling started strong, riding on the back of this batting form. But the breakthrough did not come immediately. Sometimes it can only take one wicket, and in this case it was Alastair Cook driving to Michael Hussey in the gully off a thick edge for 32. England was now 1/78. A blink of time later it was 3/82, all to Johnson, including Adelaide double-century hero Kevin Pietersen LBW for a duck. Even at this early stage in the match, there was something in the air that suggested we were witnessing a profound major turnaround for Australia and its trump card bowler.

England never recovered, despite the efforts of Ian Bell who continues to look in ominous touch. Their 187 on such a fundamentally decent and consistent pitch was far lower than could have been predicted, even accounting for England's trademark uselessness against the bouncing ball. Johnson wrapped up the tail to finish with a devastating 6 for 38 while Ryan Harris was equally wonderful in his 3 for 59. The momentum had swung back to Australia but once again the top order stuttering to 3 for 64 with a substantial period of play still remaining on Day 2. Shane Watson and Michael Hussey's partnership was vital though, more for surviving to stumps and moving the lead to 200 than their continued efforts the following morning. Watson batted beautifully and with ease and he deserved a hundred. Naturally he therefore got out just short, inexplicably LBW to a dead straight ball for 95. Australia's 2nd innings faltered just as they were on the verge of pressing home to an unbeatable position. Chris Tremlett, around forever it seems but returning to the England side for just his 4th test replacing Stuart Broad, continued his solid first innings form by running through Australia's middle order, finishing with 5/87, and 8 wickets for the match. Australia's fast bowlers, including Johnson and the normally solid Ryan Harris who has for no apparent reason descended into total batting ineptitude, at least showed how they confident they were of bowling England out. The laziness with which they threw away their wickets suggested they felt enough was on the board, even if the clearly frustrated Michael Hussey didn't. Hussey's innings was majestic, and will come to be one of the defining knocks of his career, particularly if Australia ultimately regain the urn. Were it not for the last 6 wickets falling for 57 he could have amassed any sort of mammoth total. As it was he made a crucial 116.

quicks bowled brilliant disciplined spells perfectly attuned to the demands of Perth. When Ponting controversially left out hyped rookie spinner Michael Beer he would have intended to win the toss and bowl and so many feared the worst when we were sent in and made just 268. But the decision was more than justified. Behind Johnson and Harris, Ben Hilfenhaus again bowled with McGrathesque discipline and patience but without the figures to show for it. He was guilty if anything of being too prodigious with his swing, making the ball fly wildly past the outside edge. Peter Siddle was the least threatening of the four and must surely make way if Beer is chosen to play on Boxing Day, but still was extremely effective, for the first time since his spectacular opening day of the series.

If Australia win the Ashes, the biggest defining moment might just be the last ball of Day 3. With England in tatters at 4/81 night watchman James Anderson rejected a jumpy Paul Collingwood's push for a single off the penultimate ball of the day. Harris then charged in the final delivery and Collingwood edge meekly to slip. From there the result was concluded, but Harris dotted the I perfectly by finishing England in a mere 50 minutes on the 4th morning for just 123. Harris finished with 6 for 47 and equalled Johnson's effort of 9 wickets for the match. He was also every bit as brilliant as the superstar, and thought Johnson was man of the match, it was only his vital first innings 62 and the context of his initial spell that elevated him above Harris.


Continuing the metaphor, despite the new found success, the Australia team, like Johnson's forearm, still has unsightly blemishes. Ponting and Michael Clarke are not performing with the bat. Ponting to an extent has been unlucky and bowled well too. Clarke does now have the same luxury, almost always responsible for his own downfall with rash strokes not befitting a supposed captain-in-waiting. Philip Hughes also failed to perform. Scores of 268 and 309 are not something to write home about and if our bowlers falter, (as they have a tendency to do) the batting must perform far better in cover.

England in turn are not as cataclysmically destroyed as it may seem. Their bowlers performed well. Anderson fought through the fatigue of returning home for the birth of his daughter to always remain effective. Tremlett was the surprise packet and Steven Finn retains the uncanny knack of being able to constantly take wickets despite not being a particularly good bowler. Graeme Swann is the exception however. His second innings performance in Adelaide may have made up for his scratchiness in Brisbane, but in Perth this week Swann was not even of test standard, let alone the supposed best spinner in the world.

Frustratingly, the media has wasted a large opportunity to add to England's woes by instead concentrating their focus on Ricky Ponting's fight for fitness. Ponting broke his little finger attempted a catch on the 4th evening and apparently the finger in question is now twice its normal size, four days out from the toss.

So now Christmas approaches, followed by the inevitable super-fortnight of the summer's iconic Melbourne and Sydney tests. The besuited bureaucrats at Cricket Australia, after all their faults in handling the national team and cricket in general in this country, find themselves sitting on a windfall as fortuitous and surprising as any pioneering prospector's. With the Ashes series all square at 1-1, the complete upgraded MCG now awaits a hugely important anticipated Test instead of the dead rubber that was looking likely. A world record for a single day of Test Cricket is expected on Boxing Day. Such an atmosphere of vibrant tension is very likely to break one of the two teams decisively, who that is may ultimately decide the fate of the Ashes.

This Week in Sporting History: THE TIED TEST

Australia vs West Indies,1960/61 - 1st Test
Wooloongabba, Brisbane
December 9-14 1960

West Indies: 453 (Sobers 132, Worrell 65, Solomon 65, Davidson 5/135)
Australia: 505 (O'Neill 181, Simpson 92, Hall 4/140)
West Indies: 284 (Worrell 65, Kanhai 54, Davidson 6/87)
Australia: 232 (Davidson 80, Benaud 52, Hall 5/63)

MATCH TIED

The West Indies celebrate as Joe Solomon 

affects the most famous run-out in cricket history.

This week exactly fifty years ago saw the famous Tied Test, the first ever instance of a complete Test Match finished with both teams equal on the same total (constituting a TIE as opposed to the common DRAW occurring when the 5 days expire without a completed result) in the 498 match and 83 year history of Test Cricket up to that point. The story of this iconic match has gone down in legend, indisputably the greatest ever cricket match (not just for the final drama but on overall quality throughout the match) to anyone lucky enough to have witnessed it.

The wider context of this historic match has perpetuated its legend. As the 1950s wore down Test Cricket was becoming increasingly dull and was entering a period of extreme divisiveness, with the real danger of losing fans in their drones. Frank Worrell, now a West Indies legend perhaps more for his endearing personality than his cricket, led a star-studded West Indies team to Australia which for the first time ever, was rated a genuine chance of challenging and beating the hosts. Worrell had in recent times become the first ever black West Indian captain, a major milestone in the history of a predominantly anglo-centric sport (India were still young in their independence and retained white-anglo elements, and Pakistan had barely yet registered as an international force). Worrell's team and the Richie Benaud led Australians gathered in Brisbane in 50 years ago this week for the series opener, two of the game's greatest ever figures as captains going out for the opening toss. What ensued was not only five days of competitive Test Cricket and pure theatre of the highest order, but five whole Tests of similar quality, resplendent with vibrant aggressive play and in played in a spirit consigned forever to the realsm of fantasy in the modern age. Record crowd figured flocked to all five Tests, matches which in many views, single-handedly recharged Test Cricket into its popular heights of the next decade and beyond.

As for the actual match, The West Indies won the toss and batted. Some wonderful enterprising batting from the god-like genius Sir Garfield Sobers saw him make 132, an innings Benaud described as the greatest innings he ever witnessed. An astonishing 50 from fast bowling No.10 batsman Wes Hall then helped carry the total to beyond 400, the Windies making a strong 453, at a 3.37 run rate which would be impressive even by today's standards. But the Australians were equal to the task, making full use of the flat wicket to amass 505, spearheaded by a majestic 181 from Norman O'Neill, an innings criminally underrated in the annals of cricketing history. As the pitch began to show signs of wear, The West Indies fought hard to 284, on the back of another stodgy captain's 65 from Worrell. This left Australia little more than five hours on a patchy final day wicket to make 233. Hall was in his element and ripped through the Aussie top order, reducing an ominous top order to 5/57.

At 6/92 midway through the day captain Benaud joined Australia's bowling hero Alan Davidson and the rest is history. Eschewing conventional logic which suggested attempting to defend for the draw, Benaud made the decision to attack and the pair put together an epic partnership, which took Australia to within a whisker of victory. But with just seven runs remaining a suicidal call from Benaud ran Davidson out for a magnificent career best 80. Enter the final either ball over and Australia found themselves needing six runs to win, with three wickets left. After a single from wicket keeper Wally Grout, Benaud was caught behind of a wild barely controlled bouncer from the bounding Hall from 52. A thigh-smashing scrambled leg-bye and a woefully grassed catch by Hall later and 3 runs were needed from 3 balls. No.10 batsman proceeded to slog Hall beyond where any modern rope would stand, but a spectacular chase and direct hit throw (from upwards of 75 metres) from Conrad Hunte caught Grout short going for the 3rd and winning run. This brought in Australia's final man Lindsay Kline with the scores tied. Kline tapped the penultimate ball square and called Meckiff through for a scrambling single. From almost exactly side-on, with one stump visible, Joe Solomon's aim was true and Meckiff was run out. The West Indians jumped for joy, most presuming they'd won. Australian players and fans were unsure which team had won, if either, so implausibly unlikely was the concept of such a long form contest finishing tied. Finally once the confusion settled the astonishing reality became clear. Cricket's first tied Test. Half a century later the result has only been repeated once, between India and Australia in similarly dramatic circumstances in 1986.

For the record Australia won the 5 Test series 2-1, after 25 days of supreme Test cricket and thanks largely to a miraculous draw in the 4th Test where Ken Mackay and that poor No.11 Kline again, batted for nearly two hours at 9 wickets down, preventing the West Indies from taking the final wicket to win the match.

*Insert beer drinking pun here*

Australia's unlikely new recruit Michael Beer,

still looking thoroughly shell shocked.

The Australian selectors look like they have come full circle in their horrendous desperation, and have now become a distinctly unamusing parody of 90s England revolving door policies. The squad for Thursday's 3rd Ashes Test in Perth includes unknown Western Australian left-arm spinner Michael Beer, who only made his first class debut in October and has been picked supposedly for a knowledge of the Perth pitch despite only moving there from Victoria in this past year. Clearly the move smacks of desperation and has been panned from all corners. However it distracts (perhaps not without intent) from what is for once a well chosen squad. Although Beer being selected in the 11 would be an eyebrow-raising move, logical evidence (which unfortunately can't be relied upon when it comes to our selection panel) would suggest that Beer surely will not play, and that consequently the squad is a clever one.

The hype over Beer has overshadowed some astute selection calls. Conventional wisdom said Marcus North, Xavier Doherty and Doug Bollinger must go, and they have. Steven Smith, Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus have returned and although it would be nice to see a new fresh batsman like Usman Khawaja, the focus has to be on fixing the bowling horrors of the first two Tests. Australia have picked a perfectly balanced squad for this vital Perth Test. However this is all conditional (and its a big if) on Beer not playing. Make no mistake I rate young Beer, in fact as astonishing as it may seem I had heard of him properly before this week. But the other eleven in this squad of twelve must surely be the correct team for Perth, out of anyone not just this set of twelve.

Obviously, with reason, people must ask why Beer would be selected over the experienced and in form Nathan Hauritz. Or if the selectors insist on troubling England with left arm orthodox spin why not opt for New South Welshman Steve O'Keefe who impressed against the Poms playing for Australia A. But the selectors from what I can tell have their eleven decided already, and if the fight is for a position as token twelfth man Beer does no harm. The reason the eleven seems set is because the needs of a notoriously spin-unfriendly Perth pitch, and the rigidity of the squad means there can only be one plausible team. Watson, Hughes (replacing the injured Simon Katich), Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Haddin, Smith, Johnson, Harris, Siddle, Hilfenhaus. Hauritz or O'Keefe may be obviously more qualified to play than Beer, but truthfully neither would fit into the team based on the squad picked. Furthermore having bowlers of that calibre could result in Ponting and the selectors failing to resist temptation and playing the specialist spinner, which would be a mistake. Playing a Hauritz or an O'Keefe with Smith would mean two spinners, something irrational for the demands of the Perth wicket. The only other option would be playing Hauritz/O'Keefe ahead of Smith, which would dramatically affect the balance of the side. Even with both Hauritz and O'Keefe being useful lower order batsmen, it would be very poor judgement to rely on a batting lineup with an out of form and short on confidence Mitchell Johnson at 7. Five bowlers only works when one of them is the all-rounder Smith.

On the surface it would seem that if a batsman like Khawaja or Callum Ferguson was picked instead of Beer, that would give the squad a better overall balance and offer more flexible options. Digging deeper even this proves untrue through. Playing an extra batsman at No.6 would mean one of two things. Either there would be four fast bowlers and no spinner, not the smartest option. Or Smith would play at No.8 which again is clearly a badly balanced side with one too many batsmen, and only three front line bowlers. With Beer in the squad he operates as a safe 'designated twelfth man' while the prescribed eleven can focus on preparation for the match.

It may seem rather cruel to hand the young man what looks like a miracle debut on his home track only to relegate him to 12th man, but I don't doubt Beer is aware of the plan. If the eleven is indeed set then there's no reason not to give a promising young player a week in the Aussie squad to really learn and help him develop as a player. I don't know if I'm being too lenient on the selectors but I just like the idea of bringing in an exuberant fresh face to remind the boys of the passion and excitement playing for Australia should bring, as opposed to bringing in an old hand like Hauritz to create needless selection dilemmas and dissatisfaction on the part of whoever is chosen not to play.

Maybe Hilditch and co are just panicking and we'll see our twelfth spinner in five years.

Australian Squad - 3rd Test vs England @ Perth, December 16-20
Ricky Ponting - Captain
Michael Clarke - Vice Captain
Shane Watson
Philip Hughes
Michael Hussey
Brad Haddin
Steven Smith
Mitchell Johnson
Ryan Harris
Peter Siddle
Ben Hilfenhaus
Michael Beer

Local News Wrap - December 6-12 2010

Cricket: By far the most interesting, newsworthy and least painful (although not by much) set of breaking stories this week has involved off-field dramas of selection and injury, not the cataclysmic mess that was the cricket. The latest bizarre selection move on Australia's part is Western Australian off-spinner and general punny name cannon fodder Michael Beer being plucked from the deepest depths of obscurity for the 3rd test in Perth this week.

Rugby League: My beloved Parramatta Eels seem to be doing an unusual amount of publicity events recently, culminating in a Christmas visit to a local shopping centre. One doubts if more publicity is the best way to diffuse the speculation over Timana Tahu's future. But then it could be worse, they could have Timana's PR agents.

AFL: The amusing saga of all-round nice guy Gary Ablett and all-round vaguely suspicious character Mark Thompson continues unchecked. Recent revelations to fuel the fire were that former Geelong premiership coach Thompson was secretly in talks with Essendon well into the previous season, while simultaneously berating Ablett for considering his eventual defection to the Gold Coast Suns. Now it seems that Thompson also had the indignant hypocrisy to fall out with Ablett over his contemplation. Ablett revealed this week that the pair have barely spoken since April, angering club legend John "Sam" Newman.
"That is the most pathetic thing I have ever heard" Newman was quoted as saying. When Sam Newman is disgusted by something you know you have a problem.

Football: The A-League continues to take advantage of being the only substantial sporting league in the country over summer, with some compelling games this week. The Brisbane Roar have continued to show themselves as the real deal, scoring their first ever win in Sydney, 1-0 over Sydney FC. The result, a record-extending 16th straight game without defeat, leaves them an ominous seven points clear of Adelaide United, despite their comfortable 2-0 win over the North Queensland Fury. Gold Coast and Central Coast look solid in 3rd and 4th after a 2-0 win over the hapless travellers Wellington, and a 1-1 draw at Perth respectively. Meanwhile the Melbourne Victory pulled out one of their best performances of the year to win the local derby against the Heart 3-1.

Formula 1: Logic and reason has finally returned to the FIA's lawmakers, with the controversial team orders rule being repealed for 2011, an absurd 9 years after it came in. The rule was implemented in response to a pair of farcical staged finishes by Ferrari drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello during their dominant 2002 season. Regardless of opinions on whether the fans deserve better, or should hack the fact that F1 is a steam sport fundamentally, what was always unanimous was dislike of the rule because of its arbitrariness. Teams have taken to merely using predefined codes or careful wording to disseminate the same message, resulting in a product equally as 'staged', but less honest. For 2011 team orders will return, distasteful maybe, but transparent definitely. Meanwhile Mark Webber has admitted to sustaining a broken shoulder in a mountain-bike accident before the championship-deciding last four races of 2010 (before which he led the title chase). I believe Webber if he claims that the injury did not play a role in denying him the championship, but can't help but think that after two major incidents in a row, Webber should not go near a bicycle of any form ever again.

V8 Supercars: James Courtney has wrapped up the 2010 V8 Supercar title as expected, but he tried his hardest to throw it away, with a 15th and a 14th place finish in the spectacular final weekend on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park. A violent rainstorm in Race 1 resulted in the astonishing happening of all three title contenders hitting the barriers at the same time in the same corner (Whincup and Winterbottom joining Courtney in the wall). Courtney alone of the three was able to salvage some points, scraping home 15th as Dale Wood took a hugely unexpected maiden win. Shane Van Gisbergen looked on track to make it two debut winners from two on Sunday but had the heartbreaking misfortune of running out of fuel on the final lap, handing victory to Holdsworth. Courtney recovered from a comically inexact pit stop to finish 14th and deny Jamie Whincup a hat-trick of titles.

Boxing: Wednesday December 8 saw a thoroughly arbitrary yet strangely interesting exhibition bout between two-time world champion Anthony Mundine and Foxtel reality show "The Contender" winner Garth Wood. Interesting is meant quite liberally however as the fight was of consistently atrocious quality. But it instantly took on a special meaning when Wood landed a flush blow to Mundine's chin in the 5th and left him on the canvas. Wood's KO win was one of the biggest upsets in Australian boxing history. Moreover it was a pleasant surprise and general inspirational source of hope to any decent person to see Mundine dealt the kind of come-uppance any passively interested Aussie boxing fan (any greater interest results in far too much exposure to Mundine's intolerable character) has been desperately waiting for.

FINAL REPORT: Pietersen stars in unprecedented thrashing

Australia vs England, 2nd Test - Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Thursday December 2-Monday December 6 2010.

Australia - 245 (Hussey 93, Haddin 56, Watson 51, Anderson 4/51)
England - 5 dec 620 (Pietersen 227, Cook 148, Trott 78, Bell 68 n.o)
Australia - 304 (Clarke 80, Watson 57, Hussey 52, Swann 5/91)

England won by An Innings and 71 runs


MotM - Kevin Pietersen (Eng)
England lead 5 Test series 1-0 after 2 Tests


Full Scorecard here.

 A pained and perturbed Ricky Ponting forced 

to face the media music again.

What to say and where to turn as an Australian cricket fan? The four and a bit days of horror which transmitted out of Adelaide this week felt as close to watching a friend die as any arbitrary frivolous sports game could ever possibly feel. I personally, with the typical sleeping pattern of my age (and it must be said of a lover of worldwide sport) found myself accidentally slumped in a post-late night stupor on my couch at 11am EST this past Thursday. After my fleeting nap I jerked awake to see AUS 3/2 on the screen in front of me. Never has missing the start of an important cricket match felt so good. All in all, for all the consistently good bowling of England on Day 1, for all the heroics of Cook and Pietersen with the bat, and for all the final morning wiles of Graeme Swann, in reality I missed the decisive point of the Test match. The stunned silence and general sense of amazement that filtered through from the generous Adelaide crowd (a post Bodyline-record) and the commentary box gave off an air of exasperated desperation, as if the death of the modern golden age of Australian cricket was playing out in front of our eyes. It was the way it happened too. Simon Katich run out for an astonishing diamond duck after yet another woeful misunderstanding with Shane Watson in the first over of the match. Next ball the trump card Ponting gone and Australia 2/0. Then at 2/2 Michael Clarke gave yet another sign of his immature impetuosity, and general inability to make vital runs in pressure situations. The airiness with Clarke swatted a James Anderson full ball, inevitably edging to slip, was enough to fry the blood.

From 3/2 Australia started to dig itself out of the hole, but any time it got close to some sort of comfort another wicket fell. Watson and North both threw away solid starts at crucial times. Michael Hussey led the Australian recovery again with another beautiful innings. But he was snuffed out on 93 by a gem from Graeme Swann. This was the end of any meaningful resistance. Brad Haddin was last man out for a well made 56, but the damage was done, Australia out inside a day for a paltry 245, paltry on such a flat batting beauty of an Adelaide wicket. After Day 1 the dialogue from the Australians to the press was that batting was not as easy as it was made out and a similar tight bowling display to the English could keep the match competitive. When Andrew Strauss left the third ball of Day 2 to go through to the keeper and was bowled by Doug Bollinger for 1 there were fleeting hopes of fight. But Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, extending their Brisbane vigil, showed the true virtue of the pitch, adding another 173 to their unbeaten 329 from the week before. Trott fell for 78 to Ryan Harris, the only Australian bowler to maintain any sustained pressure, but that only brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease.

It seems astonishing to think that Pietersen's fear factor was paramount in 2005 and 2006, and that the last 18 months of scratchy form had consigned this supposedly to the history books. After all his iconic efforts in helping England win that special series in 2005 however, nothing came close to his achievements in Adelaide. His second career double century, a career best 227, batting from late on Day 2 until the 4th morning. KP's effort even put Alastair Cook in the shade, despite the fact that he made another 148 following on from Brisbane's unbeaten 235. Cook now has a ridiculous aggregate of 350 runs in 3 innings at an average of 175. One stat I know doesn't exist is the scoring of a double century in every match of a 5 test series. Would you rule it out on the Australian bowling evidence presented thus far?

So after compiling all of 620 runs for just 5 wickets lost, England saw fit to declare on the 4th morning and set about their first innings win over Australia in 24 years. Shane Watson looked good for 57 (his dismissal on such scores is fast becoming tiresome) and Simon Katich fought hard for 43 through an Achilles injury that has proved fatal to his series. But all in all Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey (with a little help from some ominous grey skies) looked like they might just give us a chance of getting away with the impossible, and heading to Perth still locked at zero in the series. Then Michael Clarke padded an amicable little dolly from Kevin Pietersen straight to the short leg fieldsman, Cook no less, in the last over of the day. Going to sleep on the final evening all looked lost after that final blow but you never know, there's fight to come in the batting order and rain to be showered. But the feeble resistance showed by as stoic fighters as Hussey, North and Haddin

The post-mortem was as swift and decisive as it was predictable. Former English captain Duncan Fletcher stated that Australia's worst case scenario was a 3-0 series defeat.

"The only ground I can see Australia getting a draw at is Melbourne. If the wicket there is as flat as it has been in previous years then Australia should be able to bat out the match." Fletcher said writing for The Guardian.

Comparisons to the lowest depths of Australian cricket in living memory, namely the early to mid 80s period of Allan Border led struggle and revival, are coming thick and fast. Perhaps inevitably, but still somewhat astonishingly, the calls for Shane Warne's return are louder than ever. Respected Australian journalist and noted Warne-basher Peter Fitzsimons leads the crusade, saying that the emergency need to save and win the Ashes is more important right now than any longer term considerations. Always looking on the bright side, The Courier Mail's Robert Craddock expressed a view that such a hiding may be what is needed to push Australian cricket in a positive direction.

"Sometimes a serious kick up the backside can do far more good than harm. Losing the Ashes in 2005 was one of the best things that happened to Australia in recent times."

I can't help but feeling however that is clutching at straws to an extent, the long term prognosis is far more dire than it was in 2005 and it seems unlikely that any real substantive rebirth in Australian prospects is less than a few years away at best. Malcolm Conn's ironic comparison to Australia's last innings defeat at the hands of England, in 1986-87, also presents as a veneer of false hope. But perhaps it is too presumptuous to say a 4-0 Australian victory in England in 2013 isn't out of the question. Or perhaps it isn't.

For all the much deserved Australia bashing however, credit must go to England. They played perhaps their most complete near-perfect Ashes Test in decades. Brisbane showed the potential for batting dominance but in Adelaide in some ways, considering how many more questions were raised about the attack, it was the fantastic bowling performance, particularly of James Anderson and Graeme Swann that really stole the show.

The question for Australia now is what to do with their team for Perth. Panicky wholesale switching would do little to anybody's confidence and have no greater effect than sticking with the same 11. However in all likelihood Marcus North and Xavier Doherty at least must go, joining Simon Katich on the sidelines. Katich's replacement is the easy part. Selectors are likely to go straight for their default of Philip Hughes, despite the fact that older, more experienced both domestically and internationally and more technically sound Western Australian opener Shaun Marsh has been in epic Sheffield Shield form, with statistics dwarfing those of Hughes.

Usman Khawaja coming in for Marcus North is not as simple as it sounds, especially as Khawaja has very little experience batting so low down the order. Nathan Hauritz chose this week's vital match for NSW against WA to score a rather unexpected maiden first class hundred rather than taking any wickets. However he took an impressive five wickets on a test-reminiscent Perth pitch very recently and must be a safer option than Steven Smith (although he at least would bolster our fledgling tail). The questions are endless? Do we bring Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus back? Should the selectors bite the bullet and breed Khawaja, Ferguson, McKay, George, Copland, or countless other youngsters. Maybe Warne should come back. It would at least be less complicated and although I am not convinced that he could truly weave his old magic, his mere presence might be enough and certainly his tactical nous would improve the situation. It has been quite astonishing to see how freely and easily Warne has been able to pick holes in Ponting's tactics live in commentary and suggest more interesting options, and how often his suspicions tend to turn out right.

Maybe you'll consider it Shane? It would be spectacularly newsworthy if nothing else.

Highlights
*** - It's hard to think of any out of such a disaster. Michael Hussey must come instantly to the surface though. His form and timing still look impeccable and if we are to somehow stay in the series more big hundreds will help the cause, if we can't then at least Aussies have one shining light. His rash shot to start the rout early on the final day has left quite a big scar on the match for him though.

** - Ryan Harris. He may only have 2 for 84 to show for his work at the Adelaide Oval, but this is substantially better than any of his front line counterparts, all of whom conceded more than 100 runs. Aside from Siddle's first innings heroics in Brisbane a decade ago it now feels like, Harris is the only bowler available who really deserves to play in Perth at all. Ben Hilfenhaus surely must also return as he I felt did very little to deserve being dropped in the first place and certainly couldn't perform any worse than Doug Bollinger did in Adelaide.

* - As unusual as it may be to see me giving praise to Michael Clarke, his second innings 80 was a tough fighting knock at a time when Clarke didn't look to be any right state form wise to provide such an innings. It also could have gone partially the way in silencing those who say he doesn't make scores in pressure situations, if he hadn't of thrown it away on the last ball of the day. Nevertheless it gives hope that he might be able to put some sort of runs together in coming Tests.

Lowlights
*** - It's difficult to know where to begin. Yet when you consider that the last two English innings have cost 1037 runs for just 6 wickets, it isn't really. Five fast men, and a woefully underused Shane Watson, have tried and none have effectively succeeded in stopping the terrifying flow of runs from English bats. With every pitch in Australia usually playing decidedly flat, and with every logical fast-bowling option tried already, its impossible to think how we're going to stop them and frighteningly rational to wonder if England will just keep racking up 500,600,700 in every first innings.

** - Ricky Ponting. Today I will not speak of his captaincy, primarily because his shortcomings are now so visibly self-evident that I have little need to say anything. It is his batting which is really letting us down. For all the talk of being past his best (which he may be in terms of consistency at least), Ponting showed in India that his actual skills and talents have not diminished one bit. Watson is batting solidly enough, and Hussey so beautifully, that if Ponting could put some big innings together under pressure (as opposed to superfluous knocks like Day 5 at the Gabba) it would make a huge difference, not just in the obvious way but mentally for the whole team. Ponting is the talisman. Advancing he may be in age but he remains that golden prized wicket everyone wants. Like Pietersen, it doesn't really matter what form Ponting is in, you know he can take the game away from you and lift the whole team with him. If he can score a few hundreds now he might just save his place in the team post-Ashes even if his captaincy is beyond salvation.

* - Xavier Doherty. It may be harsh to give him his own star, particularly after all my praise for him as recently as Brisbane. But this star is more earned by the selectors and whoever is running the spin bowling program in Australia in general than for Doherty himself. For all his admirable effort and through my general enthusiastic support of him, must however go, he has shown with figures of 1 for 158 in 27 overs that he really isn't up to Test standard. Some may say that Shane Warne started similarly and faith should be shown? Yes it should be but only when all prevailing evidence says so. The faith should have been in Nathan Hauritz in the first place. Even if he comes back for Perth it's impossible to know how his sacking has affected his confidence.

Qatar Hero

Qatar Emir, Sheikh Hamid bin Khalifa

al-Thani and his wife fake the reaction they

actually had an hour earlier.

The bidding process for the 2022 world Cup was finally completed on Thursday night, or maybe earlier on Thursday, or come to think of it many months ago.

It is not the job of the sports reporter to be an angry ranting ideologue. Therefore it is with great joy that I parade my current unemployed status. FIFA is an organisation which has rewritten the book on bad jokes. This includes the addition of chapters dedicated to "The Aristocrats" (those aware of the reference and of FIFA practices will agree, the absurdity and sordidness is comparable) and "The Seven Dirty Delegates."

However this week's events have taken the cake, most likely a giant expensive beautiful looking cake which happens to be made of foam.

And is boiling hot in the middle.

I should however stop these elaborately obscure analogies. That cake is nothing like Qatar anyway. The cake is giant, not exceedingly small and insubstantial.

Australia's bid, which as a set of insincere hypocritical former-bid supporters who now outrage about the exorbitant taxpayer expense keep reminding us, cost $45 million dollars. Such a mediocre blip of a financial offering could not be expected to sway FIFA from its pre-ordained Qatari path, strength of bid for such frivolous factors as tournament strength and fan support notwithstanding.

Our final push in Zurich on Wednesday would have made every other cliche in the world cry in shame at their sheer individualistic creative nuance. That supermodel everyone has heard of but forgets is Australian because she's never here anymore, our most annoying celebrity ambassador Hugh Jackman, the stereotyped-bogan-accent- reinforcing Julia Gillard and the once career-possessing force of Paul Hogan were the centrepieces. The final video presentation involved an animated kangaroo, (just like the ones that roam our streets right?) stealing the World Cup trophy.

By virtue of FIFA's inexplicably small executive committee being made up primarily of conservative middle-aged Europeans, naturally such a cliche, (not to mention the eyelid-batting presence of Miss MacPherson) was absolutely perfect. Whoever came up with the stroke of genius to remind everyone of the shallow stereotypes that make them presume Australia is an amazing tropical dreamland should be congratulated. I would like to think it was bid chairman and all-round very very rich man Frank Lowy. The work Lowy has done in somehow making Football such a force in this country, against the will of the majority of its citizens ostensibly, is heroic. Mr Lowy deserves all the applause he gets and thoroughly did not deserve the treatment dealt our way by the voting committee.

To summarise, the oil, money and little else-rich nation of Qatar, (perhaps more accurately to be referred to as a nation-state around one single city) was awarded the 2022 FIFA World Cup, in a move so absurd and mystifying as to be completely predictable on the part of FIFA. Australia, contrary to supposed assurances from at least 5 or 6 committee members that we would have their support, in fact received just a single vote and went out in the first round. Rumours abound that deals made between the bid teams of Qatar and those of Japan and South Korea to get rid of Australia early prevented the threat we may have caused in the later rounds.

The former kings of ill-begotten money grub, The United States, came in a disappointed and confused 2nd, with 8 votes to Qatar's 14 in the final round. One wonders how many people are aware of the irony of America losing this tournament to a nation which would barely register in the grand scheme of things were it not for the oil-backed riches the region now has largely thanks to American dirty work. Probably very few considering nobody cares about Football in the US.

Get away from politics you may exclaim, this is a sports blog and such matters are unimportant. Unfortunately that is not the case in this instance. Politics, particularly the politics of the pocket, are everything. Slightly earlier in the night (according to the FIFA pretense of a secret ballot at any rate), Russia were revealed as the winners of the 2018 tournament. Although unlike Qatar this is rooted in basic human logic, it is nevertheless also a case of the deepest pockets triumphing. The fact that England, the home of Football, can also go out in the first round with only 2 votes in their bid to host a World Cup for the first time in 52 years is also telling.

The crux of the issue which created the truly fishy smell was that the Arab television network Al-Jazeera had received word of Qatar being  awarded the cup well more than an hour before the event. FIFA officials and Qatari bid members were seen embracing in hotel lobbies around this point. Furthermore, elite and generally accurate international bookmaking agency William Hill, showed a sudden spike in betting for both Russia and Qatar at precisely the same time.

This post is nearing its end and granted it may be completely without substance or a point but that is because ultimately it is difficult to make head or tail of anything and we will have to watch this space, probably for 12 years, to get the full story. Far be it for me to be a sore loser, I congratulate both the Russian and Qatari teams on their strong bids, political cleverness and deep pockets. Qatar is an exciting and vibrant place in the world right now. But it is not inappropriate to ask questions because something is definitely dodgy. You know political correctness and diplomacy has gone out the window when the (nation-ruining) king of pointless diplomacy, inoffensiveness and compromise, Barack Obama, was quoted as calling FIFA's decision plain 'wrong'. This marks the first time Obama has not minced his words since about October 2008. In the spirit of general outrage I am obliged to throw my hat into the ring. A nation of 1.6 million people, ranked 113 in the world, with a questionable security status and inhumanely sweltering summer heat does not seem a rational choice to host the Football World Cup. We cannot forget the sheer scope of the World Cup. It is by a country mile the world's biggest single-sport event. How can that billing be lived up to when teams and fans, rather than traveling and experiencing a vast country, can find all the stadiums (usually around 12 for a World Cup) squashed together within an hour of each other in the one and only Qatari city, Doha.

The big selling point in Qatar's bid, outside the inescapable factors of money and the Arab frontier they provide to pioneering obsessed FIFA, was a supposed set of revolutionary technologically advanced stadiums. These stadiums, none of which have been build, tested or proven to work at all yet, are air-conditioned demountables. The benefit of demountable stadiums apparently is a cheapness and ability to 'recycle' past and future stadium usage. Whether such a novelty is fitting of the grand stage of a World Cup remains to be seen. The reason for these stadiums is to appease the biggest glaring problem with the bid, the oppressive heat. In the summer months which the World Cup must take place over, Qatar can regularly reach well into the 40s in temperature. The state of the art stadiums and training facilities will provide a safe haven for players, confined inevitably to pitch, training or Five-star hotel. But what about the fan. Granted he/she can spend his/her two hours watching Football in comfort but what is he/she to do with every other hour of a potential four week stay. The World Cup is supposed to be a cultural extravaganza beyond just the Football. But how this will go for fans in ridiculous heat and operating within a culture which is vibrant and worthy of great respect, but particularly difficult to adjust to for Western visitors. How female Football fans will go comes to mind in particular.

Final Bid Results 

Procedure: A majority of 12 votes must be obtained from the FIFA executive committee to win. If this is not achieved the bid with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and another vote takes place. This process continues until a majority is reached.

2018

Round 1: Russia 9, Spain/Portugal 7, Netherlands/Belgium 4, England 2

Round 2: Russia 13, Spain/Portugal 7, Netherlands/Belgium 2

2022

Round 1: Qatar 11, Korea 4, USA 3, Japan 3, Australia 1

Round 2: Qatar 10, Korea 5, USA 5, Japan 2

Round 3: Qatar 11, USA 6, Korea 5

Round 4: Qatar 14, USA 8

 

FINAL REPORT: Cook and Trott ensure remarkable draw

Australia vs England, 1st Test - Day 5
Monday November 29 2010.

England - 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Siddle 6/54)
Australia - 481 (Hussey 195, Haddin 136, Finn 6/125)
England - 1 dec 519 (Cook 235 n.o, Trott 135 n.o, Strauss 110, North 1/47)
Australia - 1/101 (Ponting 51 n.o, Watson 41 n.o, Broad 1/18)


MATCH DRAWN

MotM - Alastair Cook (Eng)
5 Test series level 0-0 after 1 Test

Full scorecard here.

So the 1st Test of this summer's much anticipated Ashes series is complete, and the status quo is maintained. There was something distinctly anticlimactic about the last session on Monday as the match petered to an obvious draw, after weeks of hype and four days of high quality Test cricket. But nevertheless the status quo that the 0-0 scoreline claims to portray is far from how it feels, particularly as an Australian. The distressing manner of Australia's bowling meltdown resulting in the draw means the teams move to Adelaide for the 2nd test on Friday with a clear psychological field of play, England with the upper hand. The amazing feats throughout the first Test, combined with its eventual result after it all, mean this week feels almost like an extended hype and build up. Rather than a more down to earth feeling of 'OK the series has begun' leading to a 2nd Test, instead we remain in a pre-1st Test kind of agonizing limbo, but magnified a hundred times. It is still impossible to pick the outcome of this series. Spectacular highlights and glaring problems remain in both camps.

The 1st Test felt like a strange bastard child of the past three Ashes series, from the 2005esque spectacular drama and compellingness of contest, to Australia slowly but surely developing a 2006-07esque upper advantage at home. In the end, looking back at a Test littered with spectacular moments and feats from individuals, I am left with a 2009 reminiscent feeling that both these sides are far below the quality they should be and that The Ashes could be a case of who screws up the least over five tests.

Monday’s final day provided, as was feared, with more of the same following on from Day 4. Alastair Cook and Jonathon Trott, resuming at 1/309, continued to put Australia’s faltering bowlers to the sword as they quickly snuffed out any remote hopes of an Australia victory. Michael Clarke summed up Australia’s day with a truly atrocious dropped catch at first slip. That chance, as well as a late difficult grass from Ponting both came from the bowling of Shane Watson who looked easily the most threatening yet was barely used. Many arguments are made that Watson needs to be moved down the batting order so as to free up more bowling duties, but I wonder if such a move is necessary and if we, or more importantly Ponting, underestimate his fitness and ability to back up. Although the game was never realistically winnable, England nevertheless were always going to declare at some point, in order to get a thoroughly demoralised Australia back in grudgingly and cause more damage. By the time this call came from Strauss England was an astonishing and rather nightmarish 1 wicket for 519.

Alastair Cook finished with an epic unbeaten 235. Cook is a batsman free of large flourish who seems to be nothing but walking technique, and whose technique considering that is rather flawed, yet somehow he now has 14 test hundreds before the age of 26. England’s top 6 consists of Strauss, Pietersen, Collingwood and Bell, all vastly experienced and proven class acts (albeit less so against Australia for Bell). Before the series Australia surely spoke of two batsmen as potential strike zones. Firstly: Cook, the weak link with questionable technique and questionable precedent in Australian conditions. Secondly: Trott, the debut tourist with little Test experience. Yet it was these two who put on a mammoth and unbeaten partnership of 321, duly passing Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin’s two day old record for the biggest Test partnership at Brisbane. TrottAustralia with 135 not out. Thankfully Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting prevented further psychological haemorrhaging by overcoming the early loss of Simon Katich for 4 and batting solidly until stumps. Ponting looked fantastic in an unbeaten 51 at faster than a run a ball and fairly quickly broke apart the plans of the English quicks. But their late efforts couldn’t mask the disappointment and overall trepidation looking at the rest of the series. One for 517, as much as it may prove to be a freak one-off, nevertheless is not acceptable by any standard. For their part the selectors have taken the positive step of adding fast bowlers Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris to the 2^nd test squad.

I only hope we don’t end up with a 0-0 series draw because neither team can take 20 wickets. This is an exaggeration but not by much, both bowling units look thoroughly unconvincing (thanks to Graeme Swann’s lack of substance in Brisbane). The Ashes may very easily be won and lost, just like in 2009, by the odd individual bowling brilliance. Andrew Flintoff at Lords and Stuart Broad at The Oval provided these in 2009 and coincidentally there were England’s only two wins of the series. Peter Siddle provided this time around and Australia weren’t able to capitalise. More to the point, in this landscape the Ashes may come down to which batting line-up avoids inexplicable collapses. It is through this criteria that I express frustration at Marcus North being retained in the squad, and continued annoyance at Michael Clarke’s soap opera. Australia only needs to bat solidly throughout the series and it could easily be winnable, especially as England showed a penchant for collapse in the first innings. There won’t always be a Hussey/Haddin partnership to save the day.



Highlights
*** - Ricky Ponting. Although it was to be fair, a completely inconsequential innings, Ponting's quick fire 51 not out to end the match did look suspiciously like his best form so hopefully, while I think he will still continue to fail on occasions, on those times he doesn't we might still get 2 or 3 vintage Ponting classics this summer.

** - Shane Watson. Although 41 runs and no wickets is hardly a memorable day. Watson again showed today that he is vastly underrated with the ball then backed it up with another solid looking stint with the bat. Ponting really must have faith in the man and bowl him a great deal more.

* - Alastair Cook. Shocking though it may seem I am in fact paying tribute to an Englishmen. As painful as it was to watch him bat for the best part of 11 hours, it was a wonderfully grandiose innings, one of those rare gems. Cook also unknowingly broke another of Bradman's precious records, namely taking the highest Test score at the Gabba from the Don.


Lowlights
*** - 1/517. I don't really know who I'm conclusively blaming but that score is quite absurd. Even in this new age of rebuilding and being No.5 in the world rankings, Australia have no right allowing oppositions to so thoroughly destroy us like that.


** - Surprise surprise it's Mitchell Johnson. He completed his wonderfully inadequate match by finishing with the inauspicious figures of 0/108. Rumours are that the selectors have bitten the bullet and sacked him for Adelaide. Although I wish him well and desperately hope for classic Johnson to win Test matches for Australia in the future, this man currently in the team is not the same man. Johnson must not play in Adelaide, I may not watch if he does. 


* - The Brisbane people. To be fair it was Day 5 of a Test match almost foregone to be a draw, on a working Monday. But I'm from Sydney and tend to enjoy slandering Queenslanders so I'll take this time to admonish the crowd on Monday, or lack thereof. While I too appreciate the general unimportance of a draw-headed last day, this is the Ashes and with the Barmy Army always out in force, if Aussie supporter numbers slip too low they can be usurped by English numbers. This got very close to being the case on Monday and there is a psychological principle of basic home country ethics to deal with. This is Australia, the dreaded doom land English cricket comes to die. It is insultingly unspeakable that they can play a single day of cricket in Australia in a partisan pro-English atmosphere.

Weekend Headlines

Cricket: 1/517. That's all I'm going to say. Details here.

Rugby: How many times in Rugby history can a front rower be lauded the hero of a 40 point drubbing? At least one now thanks to Wallaby bench prop Ben Robinson. He came on with Australia locked in a 13-13 struggle with France in Paris, having just conceded a penalty try because of typically atrocious collapsible scrum work. Robinson proved the missing link and was able to keep the pack standing, then promptly scored the first try of the second half after diving across the line from a metre out. That took Australia to a 20-16 lead and with newfound confidence they went on to a rather surprising but thoroughly impressive record demolition, the final score 59-16.

Football: David Beckham showed his usual sense of generally being kind of average on a football field in Saturday's showcase against the Newcastle Jets. In all fairness however he was carrying at least one, perhaps several niggling injuries throughout the game and showed glimpses of his best, a best that remains comfortably beyond A-League class. However for the second visit from two the Galaxy strangely found themselves on the losing end against a team with an incomparably smaller and capped salary pool. The Jets coming from 1 goal down to win 2-1.

Tennis: At the end of one of the worst years of his illustrious career, former world No.1 Roger Federer has finally won only his 5th title of 2010. However this happened to be the most important-non grand slam tournament in the world, the ATP tour finals in London. What's more, Federer achieved the success, his 5th at the year end championships, with a mighty display over an equally in form world No.1 Rafael Nadal. The result reminds us that when both on their game, Federer remains comfortably the better hard court player and consequently should be favoured for January's Australian Open.

Cricket: In light of the flat beast the Gabba wicket became this week, Hobart has reminded everyone why it is so underrated as a test venue with a juicy pitch allowing South Australia to beat Tasmania by 43 runs in the Sheffield Shield despite only making 55 in their first dig. Can you imagine this at Adelaide?

Football: The A-League is beginning to have a distinctly 2 horse race feel about it, with Adelaide United's 2-1 win over the Gold Coast being backed up by a 5-1 thumping of the Central Coast Mariners dealt by the top of the table Brisbane Roar. The losing teams are 3rd and 4th on the ladder, now more than 7 points behind Adelaide on 34 points, while Brisbane dominate on a mammoth 40. Is it worth noting however that Adelaide are notorious grand final chokers and Brisbane are as yet unproven on the big stage. This is still any one's league.

Rugby League: Timana Tahu. What the hell? One has to wonder where his mind is at around this time. After a controversial year involving Andrew Johns' and then his own dunderheaded racial slurs, he had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. Tahu had yet to show to practice sessions for the Parramatta Eels and coach Steven Kearney admitted he couldn't guarantee his playing future. Yet it turns out he spent last weekend playing in a charity touch competition apparently without any visible signs of physical injury or emotional distress.

Strauss and Cook turn the tide

Australia vs England, 1st Test - Day 4
Sunday November 28 2010.


England - 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Siddle 6/54)
Australia - 481 (Hussey 195, Haddin 136, Finn 6/125)
England - 1/309 (Cook 132 n.o, Strauss 110, Trott 52 n.o, North 1/22)

Full scorecard here.




The first two days of this opening Ashes test at the Gabba featured captivating to and fro Test cricket. The unfailing curatorial genius of Kevin Mitchell Jr has produced another sensational pitch in keeping with Brisbane's reputation as having the best pitches in the country. The balance between bat and ball had set up a fairly even contest before yesterday, Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin blasted away any lingering thought that the pitch was anything other than flat and true for a well set batsman.

To the despairing chagrin of Australia, England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook vehemently reinforced this fact today. Cook is a strange case, going about his business quietly and usually at a slow pace and rarely being talked of with the sort of respect afforded to many players far less deserving. Here is a 25 year old man who has just achieved his 14th Test hundred. Few of even the greatest all time players can lay claim to such a tally at that early age. Today saw if not his greatest innings, certainly his most important. Cook batted through the entire day, starting slowly but ending unbeaten on a near chanceless 132.

Captain Andrew Strauss played the more exciting but also more danger-fraught innings. While Cook battled along, Strauss, after a slow start, surged past 50 and onwards on the back of devastating cuts and drives through the off side field. Ricky Ponting did his best to help the English cause, with some astonishingly petulant captaincy, at times changing his field after every ball to combat the latest inevitable English boundary. Australia's bowling was too short at times and inconsistency but, similar to England yesterday, not all that bad. Even Johnson looked better although he remains frustratingly short of spectacular best. Strauss and Cook were merely too good. Strauss brought up his hundred with a sublime cut for 4 off Xavier Doherty, who again bowled tidily and consistently but was slightly too full and fast to be truly effective on the unique Gabba surface. Marcus North, who bowled impressively for 12 overs, showed the more appropriate line and length with good flighted off spin. It was North who got the eventual breakthrough, ending the opening partnership on 188 when Strauss skipped down the wicket in a rather ungainly fashion, missed the ball as it spun away, and was calmly stumped by Haddin for 110.

This was only the beginnings of Australia's woes however, with new batsman Jonathan Trott immediately on the attack, just as Cook upped the ante and increased his scoring rate. 121 more runs came by the end of what was all in all a thoroughly depressing day to be an Australian. England go into the final day leading by 88 runs with 9 wickets in hand, with a draw now looking the most likely result.

Highlights
*** - The wicket. It is a testament to what a terrible day for Australia this was that this is the best I can do for a three star highlight. It was a sublime piece of bowling from a supposed part timer though.

** - For all my unabashed patriotism, kudos must go to England's 3 batsmen who played with great patience and judgement on a pitch that still has a bit in it, and whose cracks are really starting to show.

* - Ben Hilfenhaus. Hilfenhaus for mine was the best of the Australia bowlers, and the only one to consistently get his length right. Like James Anderson yesterday he toiled all day without luck.

Lowlights
*** - Where to begin. Although it is acutely mainstream and boring to always berate poor Ponting for his captaincy, it is with reason today, not so much for specific tactics as for his general lack of self assurance.

** - Mitchell Johnson. Poor Mitch. It's just not his Test match. First an average first innings bowling effort than making a duck. He bowled a lot better today but had the misfortune of dropping a catch off Strauss when he had 69. It wasn't an easy chance, above the head at mid-off, but it was one that should have been held.

* - This may be a bizarre point to make, and of course remaining positive is the most obvious way to keep yourself from feeling stressed and under pressure and therefore playing worse, but I was frustrated today by the happiness of the Australians, as strange as that sounds. While England smashed them to all parts of the ground, many of the Australian players, particularly Ponting, Clarke, North and Siddle seemed to be having a great laugh a great deal of the time. I admire that the Australians, for all their history of being over-intense sledgers, are showing that they can enjoy their cricket and have fun regardless of the situation. It is good to play in the spirit of the game like this but Jesus, when the opposition is 1/300 there needs to be more anger, the kind of anger that leads to a steely Aussie determination to win games of Cricket.

Heroic partnership gives Australia command

Australia vs England, 1st Test - Day 3
Saturday November 27 2010.


England - 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Siddle 6/54)
Australia - 481 (Hussey 195, Haddin 136, Finn 6/125)
England - 0/19 (Strauss 11 n.o, Cook 6 n.o)

Full scorecard here.

Australia resumed on Day 3 of the 1st Ashes test at 5/220, 40 runs in arrears of England's first innings effort. With exactly 80s overs bowled Jimmy Anderson would start the day with a brand new ball in hand. There was a sense of tension, that the game was at a vital crossroads. If England bowled sufficiently well they could take early wickets and restrict Australia to a score close to, may be even below 260. As it proved they bowled extremely well, and did take an early wicket, and yet the day was so utterly and convincingly Australia's. Only one run into the day Michael Hussey was plum LBW to Anderson for 82. Hussey logically reviewed the decision, his wicket at this time was too vital not too. The ball was straight, low, hit him line and clearly careening into the stumps. But it also had pitched marginally outside leg stump, and so Hussey was saved. 82 had become 83 when Hussey was struck on the pad again. This one was completely out in every way but in his first blemish of the game, umpire Aleem Dar did not raise his finger and with Andrew Strauss' having wasted England's two reviews wastefully on 50/50 calls, nothing could be done. So it was that the newest tactical consideration in international cricket, a captain's Decision Review strategy, defined a day's play.

None of this early fortune can detract from the partnership of Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin however. They came together at a precarious 5/143 on the 2nd afternoon, pushed through to stumps adding 77 runs came out this morning with the game potentially in the balance. England's quicks, particularly the luckless Anderson bowled fabulously in the early overs, according to Haddin it was "the hardest bowling of [my] career." But they saw this period through and remained together. Lunch and Tea would come and go before they would be parted with the score at 450. The pair added 307 runs, the first ever triple century Test stand in Brisbane and the 2nd highest Australia 6th wicket stand of all time behind the legendary 346 of Jack Fingleton and Sir Donald Bradman in 1937.

Hussey's innings was a masterpiece, potentially the greatest of his career even with lady luck's early help. The emotion he poured out upon reaching his 12th century spoke of the stress and frustration of his extended lean patch and the questions over his place in the team. But he wasn't finished, moving effortlessly for 195 before falling sadly short of a maiden double hundred when a rash pull shot from Steven Finn was caught by Cook in the outfield. Haddin's contribution hopefully will not be forgotten amidst the magic of Hussey. After an excruciatingly lethargic start, Haddin took off once he reached 25 and easily outscored Hussey. As he sat on 94 with Graeme Swann tossing the ball up enticingly, no-one was surprised when he brought up his hundred with a devastating straight six. Haddin went on to 436 before finally becoming the first wicket of the day when he edged Swann to Paul Collingwood who took a pearler in the slips.

Australia's tail showed a slightly worrying lack of resistance. When 307 of 481 runs comes from one partnership the nation can't rest easily. Mitchell Johnson lumbered for half an hour without a run then was promptly bowled. Peter Siddle made 6 before a Finn bouncer fired off the back of his bat to Swann at slip. Xavier Doherty on the other hand looked very solid and continued a good trot with the bat for Tasmania by moving quite gracefully to 16 before hitting out and being caught. All these wickets fell to Ashes debutant Finn, the 21 year old taking a rather unexpected but still deserved six wicket haul.

England, with a demoralising 221 run deficit, at least managed to survive scratchily to stumps at 0/19 from 15 overs, although Strauss tried his best not to, leaving the first ball of the innings only to see it straighten into his pads. Had it been a few centimetres fuller Strauss would be going to Adelaide next week on the back of two ducks.

Highlights
*** - Michael Hussey. If Australia win this Test match, and go on to win the Ashes on the back of it, Hussey's 195 may go down in Australian cricketing folklore. As such it is already probably the best innings of his career. Hussey has been fundamentally struggling in his mind, irrespective of fluctuating performances, for the best part of two years. He has made hundreds in that time but few in the first innings and none with the kind of vibrant panache showed today. His potentially career-saving Sheffield Shield hundred for Western Australia last week looks to have profoundly shaken him out of what was starting to look worryingly like a permanent psychological rut.  

*** - Brad Haddin. It is amazing to think that today was only Haddin's 3rd test century. The years he spent waiting in the wilderness for Adam Gilchrist to retire have been followed by inconsistent performances by team overall, denying Haddin the potential conditions to make more runs. Then his 2010 was ruined by chronic tendinitis of the elbow. Today's 136 for Haddin was every bit the all time defining career milestone as Hussey's innings, the question is whether it will forever be his greatest innings, or if it will open the floodgates to more hundreds.

* - Mr Doherty. The mannerisms and general excitement of Xavier Doherty's father as he watches every ball of his son's overall rather impressive test debut have been a heartwarming quirk amidst the drama of the match. Today he showed extremely good humour and grace in dealing the thorough embarrassment of the Channel 9 cameras and commentators (whom he was listening to via the ground's cheap radio devices) when they saw fit to watch him in the stands with his wife more than actually follow the action on the ground.


Lowlights
*** - Although not a specific namedrop so much as a castigation of pretty much the entire batting order, people must remember to consider through all the hype surrounding Hussey and Haddin's mighty partnership that the entire team only scored 172 runs outside that partnership. Australia got away with bowling England out for a total lower than they are usually likely to make in the 1st innings. Our batting must be far improved to have any chance of regaining the Ashes.

** - Mitchell Johnson backed up his uninspiring bowling effort by steeling his resolve with the bat in hand. Boosted by a recent shield century Johnson is determined to show his worth as a genuine all-rounder, he needs to considering he could very soon be out of the team if his bowling is the only selection criteria. In this conscious attempt to be a serious batsmen Johnson showed a mature watchfulness in his innings which quickly descended into gratuitous pretentiousness. 33 minutes passed without a run before he was comprehensively bowled, his technique looking pretty much flawed throughout the innings in a fundamental way. Johnson needs to revert to the old idea of his carefree batting being a happy bonus for the team if he wants to score the kind of runs he did in 2008 and 2009.

* - Kevin Pietersen's moustache. Somehow in three days its awfulness has escaped by mention. But no more.

Weekly news wrap: November 21-27 2010

Cricket

Michael Hussey and Brad Haddin are Australia’s latest sporting heroes after an inspired triple century to put Australia into a commanding position of the first Ashes test at the Gabba. For more on the Ashes see my series preview and daily reports.

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

After fighting admirably for ten days to hold Test No.1s India to two solid draws, New Zealand’s cricketers succeeded in thoroughly ruining yet another series for their poor superstar captain Daniel Vettori. A distinctly typical middle order batting farce saw the Black Caps bowled out for 193 and 175, allowing India to amble comfortably to 8 declared for 566 in the interim.


A few thousand Pakistani expatriates, the families of the players and half a dozen local fans gathered in Abu Dhabi’s ridiculous looking cricket stadium last week to watch South Africa’s bowlers thoroughly fail to bowl out Pakistan in the 4th innings for a second consecutive test match. Credit this time must also go to their batsmen however, for their uninspiring one paced effort at a crucial time when aggressiveness was needed.

Chris Gayle once again showed evidence of his completely lack of maturity and responsibility, by immediately celebrating his removal as West Indian captain with a mighty triple century, of rather strong maturity and responsibility. Gayle’s 333 led an admirable Windies team as they had the running of the 1st Test against Sri Lanka at Galle. The substantially higher ranked home team were strangely lethargic and had to fight just to escape with a draw. This week’s 2nd test also finished in a draw, with rain ruining the match but leaving just enough time for Sri Lanka to regain the psychological edge over a less impressive Windies side before next week’s series decider.

Rugby League

The preposterous debacle of Greg Inglis shows no sign of ending any time soon. First South Sydney Rabbitohs owner and general super-spruiker had the intelligence and foresight to reveal the financial terms of Inglis’ arrangement to American late night talk show host and all-round non-Conan O’Brienish Jay Leno. Perhaps Crowe relied on the cluelessness of Australian TV and the inexplicable lack of American variety programming in this country to not disseminate such a howling admission. Unfortunately it seems that David Gallop and/or other league officials once again have shown themselves to possess magical powers beyond any mere mortal, or at least a basic understanding of Internet browsing, and came across the program.

The latest development has seen the Rabbitohs finally submit Inglis’ contract to NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert, who has given no indication of being a sure bet to pass the contract at all. To cap it off the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos have confirmed that should Inglis’ deal fall through, which remains a very real possibility, he will not be welcome back at either club.

Rugby Union

Despite kicking 8 from 9 in the win over Italy last week, Wallabies inside centre Berrick Barnes has been relieved of the goal-kicking duties for this week’s spring tour finale against France. Australian coach Robbie ‘New Zealand’ Deans has handed the duties back to the last gasp hero of our irrelevant Hong Kong Bledisloe win over the All Blacks, 12 year old James O’Connor. Mr ‘Kiwi’ Deans was quoted today as saying Australia’s success on the tour will be judged by this weekend’s result in Paris. I would say unless the Wallabies win 145-0 the tour has already well and truly been judged.

Football

This humble reporter (googling random news articles at 2am on a Saturday night is journalism now right) lives in the (very) humble Hunter Valley location of Toronto, NSW. Therefore the hype surrounding the unprecedented local visit of renowned underwear model and one time decent footballer David Beckham has reached fever pitch. Beckham’s LA Galaxy (or Donovan’s LA Galaxy as known by Landon Donovan) face the bizarrely not bankrupt Newcastle Jets at Energy Australia construction site tonight.

While the Newcastle Jets are busy making a publicity buck, Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United have a golden chance to pull even further away in their two-horse race at the top of the A-League ladder when United face the third placed Gold Coast while the Roar face fourth placed Central Coast Mariners.

The decision as to who will host the 2018 and 2022 world cups is now just a week away. Australia’s bid for the 2022 tournament suffered a blow when Oceania representative and sure fire Aussie vote Reynald Temarii was suspended by FIFA for alleged involvement in yet another now customary bribe-taking and vote-rigging scandal. Our bid still looks to be on good track however, with a detailed analysis of the potential voting patterns of FIFA member showing Australia as unlikely favourites to win the rights to the world’s greatest single sport showcase. A recently leaked FIFA report showed that many on the voting panel are inclined to vote against our principle rivals Qatar and the United States for reasons of extreme heat and unfriendly time zone respectively.

Motorsport

Australia’s much loved and internationally renowned V8 Supercar series has once again lived up to its selling point by providing a series of spectacular accidents over the weekend. Holden Racing Team drivers Garth Tander and Will Davison both had high speed shunts at an absurdly unsafe kink on the Sandown circuit. Paul Dumbrell was the feel good story of the weekend by finally taking his first race win after 11 years in the sport. Dick Johnson Racing’s James Courtney increased his championship lead over reigning champion Jamie Whincup

Young Australian superstar Daniel Ricciardo has ascended to the final step on the ladder below a Formula One race drive, with the Toro Rosso team (sister team to 2010 championship winners Red Bull) announcing Ricciardo will be their third driver in 2011. With the bordering on dangerous testing ban still in place for next season, Ricciardo’s test and reserve role in reality involves very little time in the car and he will remain in the Formula Renault 3.5 series full time. But Ricciardo will gain vital experience when he alternately replaces Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari in one of the two race cars for every Friday morning free practice session. Ricciardo recently dominated a young driver test in Abu Dhabi in the championship winning RB6.

Tennis

After an exciting and unpredictable year of men’s tennis, a disappointingly predictable semi line-up of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray has been set up in the ATP world tour finals. However the juicy matchups, Nadal vs Murray and Federer vs Djokovic promise a grand spectacle for the fans London’s mystifyingly named O2 arena.



Athlete of the week

The ageless and luckless Jacqui Cooper has announced her retirement from Aerial Skiing during the week. The 1999 World Champion was considered a great chance at our first Winter Olympics gold medal in Nagano in 1998 before crashing out in qualifying. Her most infamous heart-break came when she went to Salt Lake City in 2002 as outright favourite but had a violent crash landing in practice a week out from the games, pulverising her knee. A similar fate befell has in Turin 2006 when she entered the final as favourite but crashed twice. She was selected for an unprecedented fifth Olympic campaign in 2010, the first Australian women to attend five summer or winter games. Although past her best at age 37 and unable to challenge for medals, she finally put the Olympic demons to rest with a clean trouble free run to 5th. Cooper’s importance lays in her pre-eminent as Australia first true winter sports star (along with perhaps Stephen Bradbury). Her pioneering status paved the way for the future gold medal success of Aerialists Alisa Camplin and Lydia Lassila. We wish her luck in her retirement. Why I am referring to myself in the plural sense I don’t know.

Brave Hussey leads tough fight

Australia vs England, 1st Test - Day 2
Friday November 26 2010.


England - 260 (Bell 76, Cook 67, Siddle 6/54)
Australia - 5/220 (Hussey 81 n.o, Katich 50, Anderson 2/40, Finn 2/61)

Full scorecard here.

Since day one (whenever that was, the end of last year's Ashes I guess), I have remained fervently in support of Michael Hussey's place in the team far more than that of Marcus North, despite no real ostensible difference in their performances. Hussey is Mr Cricket. He gives off a vibe of someone who when it really matters, at a defining crossroads in his career in the most important of cricketing contests, would rise to the occasion. Today he showed his true colours with a fine unbeaten 81 which has in all likelihood saved Australia's blushes.

Hussey's aggressive intent from ball 1, particularly on the back foot and against an oddly reticent Graeme Swann was a joy to watch. He came to the crease at the most highly charged and challenging of moments, with a fired up English attack having taken the double break through of Simon Katich and Ricky Ponting to bring the game back to an even keel. Aside from an edge just shot of first slip on the first ball he faced, Hussey looked totally in control. His crucially timed partnership of 77 with Brad Haddin, which will resume tomorrow, took Australia from the precarious position of 5 for 143 to a strong position at stumps.

The day started positively for Australia with Shane Watson and Simon Katich surviving a good spell of pressure bowling from England’s pace triumvirate. All the luck was on the openers’ side, including a reverse LBW decision when Katich was initially given out for 27. Watson soon took control, confusing the lengths of the English bowlers when he became the first person in the game to pick apart the full length he ironically had pioneered a day earlier. His ferocious drives down the wicket took him past Katich to 36 before Anderson had him caught at slip by the captain Strauss, the very next ball after an unsuccessful review of a not-out LBW decision.

Watson’s dismissal left Australia at 1 for 78 but Katich and Ponting were able to survive to lunch and ensure their front running position at 1 for 96. After lunch all hell broke loose. With the 2^nd ball of the afternoon session James Anderson, who bowled with great probing discipline all day, had Ponting out for 10 caught behind flicking off his legs. Four runs later, after reaching a well compiled 50, Katich offered Steven Finn a return catch and his first Ashes wicket. With this two-pronged blow, Australia had Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey new to the crease. Clarke had yet to answer questions about his bad back while Hussey as ever was fighting for his place in the team. But you wouldn’t have thought so by the way he played, quickly going on the attack against Swann and moving to 20 in no time. Clarke did not have the same luxury of supreme confidence, to say the least. He looked jumpy, rhythmless and overall rather third rate in his 50 balls of struggle before inevitably getting out for 9. Speaking of inevitability, Marcus North then failed. North had just 1 when he made an amateurish lunge at a fairly innocuous traditional off spinner from Swann and edged straight to Paul ‘Eddie McGuire’ Collingwood at slip. At 5 for 143, England’s score of 260 was suddenly looking decidedly competitive. But Brad Haddin, playing with admirable restraint, supported Hussey through to tea and then onwards. Australia would probably have reached a lead by stumps had the umpires not gone off 18 overs early on a completely arbitrary bad light basis. In a frustrating quirk of irony, the heavens then opened and ensured the day’s play was complete.

The match remains very alive, but save for a big collapse tomorrow morning, Australia should be well on the way to a healthy first innings lead, including a vintage Hussey hundred with luck. Bear in mind that Australia must bat last on a pitch of questionable durability, so they optimally need to reach as close to 400 as possible tomorrow and then bowl very well in the 2^nd innings. Any 4^th innings target beyond about 150 will not be easy.

Highlights

*** -  Mike Hussey without a doubt. A quality score is never out of the question but the intent and style of his innings was tremendous, possibly his best knock since the vintage of 2005-07.

** - Shane Watson and Simon Katich. Australia's unlikeliest all time great opening pair continue to impress with another solid 78 runs today. Their foundation could prove key to an Ashes winning summer.

* - Movember. I should really have mentioned them yesterday seeing as Australia were bowling, but in all the excitement I scarcely had time to even think about them. But Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle and Ben Hilfenhaus' moustaches are truly fantastic. There is a very pleasing three musketeer quality about Johnson's pornstar look, Hilfenhaus' cut short handle bar hash job (thanks to Mr Hilfenhaus who vetoed the full handle bar) and Siddle's grub which inexplicably somehow completely suits his face. All for a worthy cause too.

Lowlights

*** - Michael Clarke. Yes above Marcus North. I know everyone's allowed a bad day but Clarke's was a particularly awful day today. The demons that kind of an innings can cause don't usually heal fast. A first ball duck would probably have been far less damaging to his confidence and Australia's overall Ashes chances. 

 
** - Marcus North. I feel quite sorry for North because he's an honest hard-working cricketer and I have a lot of respect for what he does. Once he gets in he can reach Rahul Dravid-like levels of concentration and immovability, usually without the pervasive boredom as well. But he hardly ever reaches double figures nowadays. If he doesn't do something big in the 2nd innings this could be his last test, but I would hope Australia don't find themselves in a last innings position sufficiently desperate to need such heroism.

* - Bad light delays. As the Channel Nine commentators alluded to, a review is badly needed of the archaic rules relating to bad light. Leaving the field if ambient light becomes insufficient was implemented before the time of helmets and door-sized under-clothes padding specifically as an option if the umpires deemed it a hazard to the physical health of the players to continue. This is hardly a problem nowadays and Bad Light calls have become inherently tactical, especially as traditionally an umpire will 'offer' the opportunity to leave the ground to the batsmen. Late afternoon periods of fading light will always be supremely tough to bat during and no mentally sane batsmen is going to decline a bad light offer. Think of the drama we'd get in Test matches with some nice juicy periods of play in the dusk.