Ashes 2013/14 – 1st Test, Day 2: The Empire Strikes Back

Anything Stu can do... © Rae Allen

Well… where to begin..?

I will start with the title, and my desperate attempt to continue the Star Wars theme.

It’s pretty tenuous at best, but I thought the links between Australia and the historic British Empire, and the magnitude of the turnaround just about justifies the decision.

Beginning at 273/8, a Haddin inspired tail managed to add 22 more runs before Broad’s sixth wicket of the innings and a Carberry run-out brought the Australian effort to a close.

At this stage of the game England would have been ecstatic; a flat batting pitch and the opponents all out without passing 300.

Unfortunately the cheer was to be short lived.

The two England wickets to fall before lunch were captain Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott.

With the score 55/2 at lunch there was no need to panic; but the manner of these dismissals will cause concern in the England camp.

Despite both players scoring centuries in the warm-up games, old problems resurfaced spectacularly.

Cook was caught behind playing a loose defensive shot at a ball he could have left alone, and Jonathan Trott once again fell to a short delivery.

His continued struggles against short-pitch bowling have highlighted a technical flaw so significant that it is truly surprising that other nations have failed to exploit it.

His trigger movement means that he walks towards the bowler, and this puts him in a great position to drive through the off-side, and work loose balls off his pads.

With a quick bowling unit looking to bowl short and aggressive though, Trott finds himself ill prepared to defend or attack on the back-foot, and he regularly fends the ball off towards waiting fielders.

The panic should have begun to set in when Kevin Pietersen fell softly in the 31^st over, but at 82/3, England had no real reason to worry.

I’d suggest the panic actually did set in as the next half an hour of cricket developed.

The fourth wicket fell five runs later as the impressive Carberry was undone with more aggressive bowling from Johnson, and the fifth and sixth followed without any more runs being added.

Ian Bell guided a Nathan Lyon delivery into the hands of short-leg and then Matt Prior guided the very next Nathan Lyon delivery into the hands of short-leg.

Joe Root and Graeme Swann also went quickly, to complete a session in which England lost six wickets for nine runs, and surely with it the first test.

There was a brief flourish from Stuart Broad who added 32 runs to his first-innings wickets before England were eventually bowled out for 136.

It really was a case of; anything that Stuart Broad achieved, Mitchell Johnson attempted to eclipse it.

He bowled fast, he bowled aggressively, and he threatened the stumps and the batsman’s safety.

This is top-notch fast bowling from a man who could barely land it on the cut-strip three years ago.

There have been technical changes, including an attempt to stay more upright at the crease to avoid spraying it around, but there has also been an improvement in attitude.

Johnson’s attitude was a fearsome opponent for the English batsmen today, and they’ll need to hope he can’t keep it up, or they’ll have to learn how to play him very quickly.

After England’s Jenga-style collapse, Australia set about rubbing salt into the open-wounds of a bowling attack that should have had its feet up all day.

David Warner blasted a quick 45 not out, and Chris Rogers stood firm as the hosts reached 65/0 at the close, a lead of 224 runs.

The one ray of hope for England was a weak rumour that a storm was on the way from the middle-east, but even the most positive England fan would struggle to expect rain to save the team on this occasion.

Session score: 3-0 to Australia – 4-2 overall

Verdict: Mitchell Johnson is about 30 times the bowler he was three years ago, and England’s batsmen have continued to struggle in the first test of a series.