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Was Steve Smith’s hundred the best of the Ashes so far? Will Shane Watson, George Bailey and Chris Rogers all survive this series? Will England learn not to bowl short at the WACA?
These were some of the questions posed by a fast-paced day of cricket at the WACA which saw Australia fight back from 5-143 to end the day ahead in the match at 6-326.
Was Steve Smith’s hundred the best knock of the series so far?
Smith’s maiden century of 138 not out in the final Test of the last Ashes was a marvellous knock.
But it pales in comparison to his innings today which was the supreme display by any batsman so far this series.
At 5-143, just 34 overs into the day’s play, Australia were on the brink of relinquishing the momentum they had built up over the first two Tests.
England were revitalised and brimming with confidence for the first time since day one of the Gabba Test.
Over the following four-and-a-half hours Smith showcased the calm and circumspection so patently missing from the efforts of his older team mates before him.
Opposed to Graeme Swann he utilised nimble footwork to manipulate the tweaker’s length.
Against the quicks he shouldered arms to those deliveries which posed the greatest threat and dispatched others which strayed into his hitting zones.
Smith’s position in the side was being questioned in some quarters after an underwhelming start to this series.
He will not receive similar scrutiny for some time.
His innings was of such significance that Australia not only avoided being skittled by England but finished the day well on top in the Test.
The average first innings score at the WACA in the past nine Tests has been 308.
Given England’s average score in their first four innings this series is 200, Australia will feel they are in the ascendancy.
Tomorrow morning, Smith and Mitchell Johnson have the opportunity to grind England into the flint-like WACA surface.
A total of 380-plus would ensure England would have to play sensational cricket to avoid defeat and the resultant handing over of the Ashes.
Will Shane Watson, Chris Rogers and George Bailey all survive this series?
At the start of this series, the makeup of Australia’s batting order was as certain as it had been since the retirements of Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting last summer.
Chris Rogers had averaged 56 in his previous three matches.
David Warner was being backed by the selectors due to his career average of 50 in home Tests.
Shane Watson had finished the Ashes series in England as comfortably Australia’s highest scorer, with 418 runs.
Michael Clarke was Michael Clarke.
Steven Smith had finally blossomed as a Test batsman, hitting his first century and ending the last Ashes with a respectable average of 38.
George Bailey was the only unknown, having been selected almost entirely off the back of his sumptuous ODI touch.
It was a comforting situation for the Aussies who had made an extraordinary volume of alterations to its batting order over the tours of India and England.
Phil Hughes, Matthew Wade, Ed Cowan, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell and Usman Khawaja were all tried and discarded.
Meanwhile, Clarke, Smith, Watson, Warner and Brad Haddin had all occupied at least two different positions in the order.
Now, Australia again have uncertainty surrounding their batting line-up thanks to the dismal form of Watson, Rogers and Bailey.
All three found varied, yet equally disappointing ways to dismiss themselves today.
Rogers started the rot by calling for a quick single before hesitating and being caught short of his crease by a brilliant turn-and-throw effort from James Anderson.
The veteran is averaging just 20 from five innings this series and has four scores of 16 or less.
History suggests that when you are 36, form slumps are not long tolerated by the selectors.
Soon after, Watson did as he always does, showing encouraging signs before frittering away a decent start.
Those signs today were not the typical flourishing drives or commanding pulls which have become Watson’s trademark.
Instead, he had gladdened Aussie hearts by displaying common sense in leaving a clutch of deliveries in good areas just outside off.
This patience dissipated in a moment of mediocrity as the all-rounder lurched onto the front foot and tried to flay a delivery on the up which he should have either left or defended from the crease.
Watson has had a charmed run in the Aussie side, retaining his place despite years of indifferent batting form thanks to both the lack of alternatives and the high regard the selectors have for his bowling.
But the manner in which he has donated his wicket to England often this series is of huge concern.
The 32-year-old has played some gruesome, unnecessary strokes to deliveries which would have best been left alone.
Fortuitously, the selectors clearly believe they require a strong fifth bowling option, in part to protect invaluable but physically-fragile quick Ryan Harris.
With all-rounder-in-waiting James Faulkner likely to be unavailable for the next two Tests with a broken thumb, Watson has been given some breathing space.
New number six George Bailey is perhaps the man under the most scrutiny.
The 31-year-old has been unconvincing in his first three Tests, with his only score of note – 53 at Adelaide – coming after he was put down by Monty Panesar early in his innings.
He was drafted into the side partly because of the maturity and composure it was hoped he would add to Australia’s faltering top six.
Yet the stroke which brought about his downfall today was callow and reckless.
England’s plan could scarcely have been more blatant.
Skipper Alastair Cook sent a man to deep backward square leg. Stuart Broad fired in successive bouncers.
Broad’s next delivery was again short and Bailey gleefully leapt into the English trap, skying a lame hook shot to Kevin Pietersen on the boundary.
Bailey cannot afford many more such missteps this series or he may find that the Test career for which he waited so long will be ruefully truncated.
Will England learn not to bowl short at the WACA?
It happens year after year. Touring quicks are seduced by the extravagant bounce of the WACA wicket and subsequently make the mistake of banging the ball into the deck far too often.
After 50 overs of today’s play, nearly half of the deliveries from England’s bowlers were bracketed as “short” on the Channel Nine pitch map.
Soon after, another television graphic showed that just 11 of the first 307 balls sent down by England would have struck the stumps.
Hence, the English bowlers had all but eliminated two key methods of dismissal – bowled and LBW.
To further illustrate England’s ill-advised length, Steven Smith’s wagon wheel shows he scored 81 of his 103 runs through the on side.
Six times Smith unfurled his favoured pull shot to lash long hops to the boundary.
The young Aussie’s most glaring weakness is his tendency to lunge forward to fish at balls just outside off.
Yet rarely did England target this flaw.
Former Western Australia captain Tom Moody, who played more matches at the WACA than almost any other cricketer in history, summed up the most frequent mode of dismissal at Perth.
“Most of the wickets at the WACA come from the batsman pushing forward and it hits the top outside edge of the bat,” Moody said during a commentary stint on Channel Nine.
Too rarely did England ask the Aussie batsmen to make such a movement.