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The Roar

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It does matter, to say otherwise is wrong

England wasn't good enough – but Australia was a cut above. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Expert
28th December, 2017
17

While sat in a deserted office, the consequence of using all your holiday allocation before the Christmas period, and having an idle perusal of the reaction to day three at the MCG in the hope of dreaming up some inspiration for a column, these three sentences stood out.

‘You will hear certain people grousing, from certain sheltered quarters, that none of this really mattered, because the series is already over. This is a bit like saying there is no point reading Twelfth Night because Shakespeare is dead. Under no circumstances listen to them.’

The Independent’s excellent sportswriter Jonathan Liew was the author, the comment forming part of his match report which naturally revolved around Alastair Cook’s outstanding double century.

Forget, just for a second, about Cook’s effort and pay attention to the first line of the paragraph about the attitude of some who fail to see any relevance to a contest that occurs once the spoils have been taken.

It’s an interesting conundrum because, if you want to look at everything in a literal manner and through a very narrow lens of the series score being the only barometer then no, it doesn’t mean anything.

But there is always a bigger picture to view and to take such an opinion is churlish at best and downright ignorant at worst.

I’m pretty sure David Warner was bothered when he reached three figures on the opening day; Tom Curran won’t forget his Test debut in a hurry; Jackson Bird might beg to differ on any perceived lack of importance if his comeback proves to be short-lived; today it’ll mean something to Cameron Bancroft who could do with some second innings runs if he’s to avoid emulating George Bailey’s one Ashes series and out.

I could go on.

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In a nutshell, it does matter, as Liew pointed out, and from an English perspective you only have to think back four years to see why. The 5-0 hiding incorporated the end of careers both in an immediate sense and in the aftermath and if nothing else that gives relevance.

Which, rather aptly, brings us to back to Cook. Many a judge before Melbourne had, if not already written, had been loading up the ink well in order to pen his international cricketing obituary.

Alastair Cook

A lack of desire, an end to his hunger, a technique shot to pieces, a series too far; it was all there and while some of it was justified – any sportsman at that level is prone to criticism especially when they aren’t producing – plenty of it was badly misguided.

In excess of 11,000 Test runs, more than 30 centuries and, as seems to have been forgotten, just a few innings since a double hundred, should have provided a bit of insurance against the doubters but that isn’t the way it works.

If you’re out there you’re a target and heading into England’s reply Cook was very much in the proverbial sights. Another low score and the clamour for the end would’ve gone up a significant notch and the pressure increased the next time it was his turn to bat. There is the relevance.

And please don’t come with the argument of ‘he didn’t do it when it mattered’ as this offers scant credit to the Australians whose job, as is always the case in a sporting match-up, is to prevent the opposition from performing – a job which they have done very effectively.

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How long Cook intends to keep playing is a matter for another time because, on this evidence, he still has plenty to offer and England, lost series or not, are hardly in a position to jettison one of the few world-class players they possess.

To conclude, one of the best passages of cricket I’ve watched down the years was Steve Waugh reaching a century from the final ball of the day in the fifth Ashes Test at the SCG in January 2003.

A man under intense pressure, despite all he had achieved, showing that there was still fire in the belly and a desire to keep doing what he did best. It was easy to forget that Australia were 4-0 up at the time

So it didn’t really count, did it?

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