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Over the first three Ashes Tests, Australia regularly made good use of the short ball, pushing back the England batsmen to set them up for fuller deliveries.
When they used the bouncer as a shock tactic, rather than a stock ball, it proved effective. The opposite was true on the rare occasions they deployed bouncers with monotony.
Which is why it made little sense last night as Australia’s quicks used the short ball as their first line of attack. From the moment Australia overlooked more reliable and accurate seamers Peter Siddle and James Pattinson in favour of strike weapon Mitchell Starc, it appeared clear the tourists were going to change tack.
Their success with the ball in the first three Tests, during which England exceeded 260 only twice in six innings, was built on precision over pace. Australia’s quicks did not try to bulldoze the opposition. Rather they sought to asphyxiate them. Dot, dot, dot, dot, dot, loose shot. It was a wise approach against an England line-up brimming with batsmen who enjoy playing in one day mode. It was also the result of belatedly paying heed to how the England seamers had flourished in previous Ashes in the UK.
The pursuit of this strategy saw Starc left on the sidelines as Australia favoured quicks who could build sustained pressure. Pattinson (2.56 runs per over) and Siddle (2.71) both managed to do just that. While neither of them had a major impact in terms of wickets Australia was more concerned with bowling as a unit.
With Cummins and Hazlewood proving so potent, Australia seemed content for their third seamer to choke the run rate and, in doing so, make their bowling partners more dangerous.
The downside of Starc as a Test bowler is how often he releases pressure with wayward overs, spells, innings or even Tests. A dozen overs of tight bowling, slowly building towards a wicket, can be undone in the space of a loose burst from Starc. It was the same story for many years with fellow left arm strike bowler Mitchell Johnson.
When that pair played together in the last Ashes, England never needed to worry about the run rate, it would look after itself. That’s not to suggest Starc is not a valuable Test cricketer, nor that he was an awful selection in this Test. While, as I argued last week, I would have left him out in favour of Siddle or Pattinson here at Manchester, he may have a major impact on this match.
This pitch is flat and Starc has always been at his most valuable on such surfaces. It is on more helpful decks that he has tended to labour because of his inability to make the most of those friendly conditions. Last night we saw the typical mixed bag from the beanpole quick. Wonderful deliveries were interspersed with dross. His pitch map looked like scattered sesame seeds.
Starc also bowled too short, but was not alone in that regard. Particularly in the session before tea, when Joe Denly and Joe Root batted with admirable patience, Australia’s quicks greatly overdid the short stuff. Very, very few of their deliveries in that session would have struck the stumps.
By comparison, England’s Stuart Broad has bowled extremely full throughout this series and has reaped the rewards, with 17 wickets. While Australia’s pacemen did not adopt quite the same lengths as Broad in the first three Tests, they threatened the top of off stump far more regularly than they did last night.
Just what prompted this change of course by Australia is difficult to say. Perhaps they were rattled by England chasing down a big total at Leeds. Perhaps they were conned by reports Old Trafford would be the quickest pitch of the series, perfect for pace and intimidation. Perhaps they fell back into old habits.
Whatever the case, Australia’s lengths were patently wrong last night. It’s time to revert back to the steadier approach which served them so well in the first three Tests.