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.
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