One day down, and as many as four to go. Here are some of my thoughts on the first day at Adelaide Oval.
Australia are well on top
Australia will be happy to have ended Day 1 of the second Ashes Test in Adelaide at 4/209 having been sent in by England yesterday.
The only disappointment for the hosts would have been their best three batsmen, David Warner (47), Usman Khawaja (53), and Steve Smith (40), not capitalising on good starts.
Usually 4/209 from 81 overs would suggest a pretty even day’s play; however, Australia are clearly on top.
For England to only manage four wickets in 81 overs, after inserting their opposition, was disappointing for me.
Australian will know if they can bat for three hours tomorrow then they will have passed 300 and England will face the dreaded scenario of starting their innings under the floodlights when conditions are clearly tougher for batsmen.
It sounds dramatic, but a poor day for England here on Day 2 could well see their chances of retaining the Ashes skip away for good.
The perils of bowling first
England captain Joe Root would have had a restless night’s sleep after inserting Australia and managing to only capture 4 wickets in 81 overs.
What’s the old saying – you bat first nine times out of ten, and think about bowling the tenth time, but bat.
I’m pretty much a subscriber to that theory, as old school and as silly as it sounds. It didn’t matter if it was Junior cricket, or Grade cricket, I used to hate bowling first even if the pitch was green as grass.
Sometimes there are legitimate reasons to bowl first however I couldn’t see them here. England now face the very real possibility of starting their innings under the floodlights late on Day 2, which makes the decision even worse for me.
While there was some weather around yesterday, the pitch played well, and I feel it showed a negative mindset from England to insert Australia.
While it’s not quite a Nasser Hussain moment, when he bowled first in 2002/03 only to see Australia finish the day on 2/364, Root will have questions to answer should England go down here.
England were flat
Trying to get a gauge of England’s body language in that first hour told me not everyone was on board with the decision to bowl first.
You would think having inserted the opposition, and with the brand new pink cherry in their hands, veteran quicks James Anderson and Stuart Broad would come out breathing fire.
However they were pretty flat in my opinion. Even the whole mindset of England looked defensive with a deep point being used for David Warner within the first hour of play.
Anderson looked bothered throughout his first spell, not getting the line right and gaining little swing. Broad was a little better, however it took a run out to really spark England into any sort of life.
On a pitch offering enough assistance their two spearheads were not at their best, while Chris Woakes was disappointing again.
England desperately need to bowl Australia out for less then 300 otherwise they’re a long way towards going 2-0 down.
Sledging sideshow adds to contest
I was never a huge fan of sledging on the cricket field. Some of the stuff people say you would be lucky not to get knocked out if you said it in a bar.
I feel sometimes it’s actually too easy to sledge in cricket because you know there are no physical ramifications. At least in Rugby League or AFL, if you want to abuse someone, you know the person can turn around and drill you into the ground.
Having said that, it does add to the edge and intensity of a contest as a viewer. England went out with a fairly clear plan yesterday, to engage Steve Smith from the get-go, and Smith unlike most batsmen was happy to give both barrels back.
Whether it worked or not is often classified by the end result. After all the talk in Brisbane from England players that they don’t like to bully and engage in verbal battles, this was a pretty clear reversal on that. They can expect both barrels from Australia when it’s their turn to bat.
It might be ugly and somewhat boorish, but as a viewer it has a certain appeal.
Khawaja the pink ball wizard
I wouldn’t mind “Pink Ball” Tests given their own separate set of statistics, given the clear differences in how the ball behaves and match conditions.
Batsmen will generally be more in favour of that than bowlers, given day-night Tests are more likely to be dominated by the ball, and see batsmen’s averages plummet.
That is, unless you are Usman Khawaja who has been somewhat of a pink ball wizard over the past couple of years. No Australian batsman has dominated the pink ball like Khawaja, with the silky left-hander having managed 802 runs at 62 from seven matches, including two Test matches before yesterday. Khawaja looked in fine touch before falling to a somewhat lazy drive when seemingly well set on 53.
Coming off his 74 against Pakistan, and glorious 145 against South Africa last year, it was another important innings in Test Cricket’s newest format.
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