Brisbane: Day 3: No surprises
The thing that defines all English fans of any sport - rugby, football, cricket - is that we’re hopelessly optimistic. We always believe we can do it. Sneak a cheeky one without anyone noticing. As Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell took to the field on the morning of Day 3, still requiring some 350 runs just to avoid the follow-on, the overriding sense of “never gonna happen, never gonna happen” was opposed by a faint echo of “But what if…?”. I mean, all they had to do was bat for 3 days. It’s a situation in which all England batsmen should unfortunately be familiar with by now - they spend the first 2 days of a Test match getting themselves in to a shocking position, then have to bat themselves out of trouble. More often that not, though, they fail to achieve this, hence the singing in my head.
But this morning was different - Kevin Pietersen, well, we all know he can bat against the Australians, and Ian Bell, was a man on a mission with something to prove. The first hour went well. Ian Bell played solidly, KP looked quite mellow. Apart from when he lost his head, went for a hook and ended up 7-ironing it to mid on. Fortunately for him, Stuart Clark dropped it, but that single shot was enough to wipe out any sort of lingering hope. England eventually capitulated for 157, that’s right, a score 40 runs short of what Ricky Ponting racked up on his own. But Ponting seemed intent on rubbing it in - rather than enforcing the follow on they decided to bat again, and between Langer, Hayden and himself, managed 180-1 at close. 626 runs ahead. England’s task for the last 2 days? Bat. That’s all they can do. Bat and bat and bat. But on a wicket that increasingly looks like a set of rift valleys and canyons that would be more at home in Nevada than in the middle of the Gabba, with the likes of Lee, McGrath… and Warne bowling at you, what are the chances? “Well it’s not an impossible task, but pretty f*cking close to it”.
Australia will be taking a 1-0 advantage to Adelaide. We wait and see if this is simply England’s slow start, or something much much worse.
Sidenotes:
Did anyone else find Micheal Atherton inserting 4 fingers in to the pitch disturbing in a sado-erotic sort of a way?
Giles and Jones both scored 20 odd runs each. Does that warrant their selection? No. What’s the point of these runs when the recognised batsmen haven’t done their jobs in the first place and Steve Harmison sprayed about 40 runs away in wides.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Cricket
2 opinions for Brisbane: Day 3: No surprises
Cricket Maniac
Nov 25, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Optimism is not that bad actually. The players will need to inculcate some of that though. I am sure there would hav been talks of playing for a draw after that mammoth 602 by Aus.
It is another fact though that even talking about a draw amounts to being optimistic at this point.
Matt Thornton
Nov 27, 2006 at 11:06 am
Agreed.
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: