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| Shane Watson looked comfortable through most of his innings - © Nic Redhead |
After England’s humiliating 381-run defeat at the Gabba, lessons had to be learned quickly, changes had to be made, and a reaction had to come from key players.
One variable that may not have been expected was the pitch.
Australia wanted pitches with pace and bounce for this series, and looking at
their success in Brisbane, you can see why.
This is not a pacey track. This is so much in the mould of
the pitches used by Swann to spin England to victory this summer, England have
called upon his spin-twin Monty Panesar to try and help spearhead the comeback
down under.
The day didn’t start well for England as Michael Clarke won
the toss and elected to bat at a ground in which he averages over one hundred in
Tests.
David Warner set off like a train as he tends to, completely
disregarding the notion of playing yourself in, or traditional Test Match
strike rates. As is his want, he looked good briefly, scored some nice
boundaries all around the wicket, but chipped a wide ball from Broad to
Carberry at backward point on 29.
Showers and rain-delays punctuated the morning session, so
with the score at 46-1 on a batting paradise of a pitch, the first session was
England’s for my money.
In the extended afternoon session, runs began to flow.
Whilst the run rate never threatened to reach pre-Warner-wicket levels, it was
steady, and first Chris Rogers, and then Shane Watson reached half centuries
during their three-figure partnership.
As tea approached, and with it the prospect of a wicket-less
session, James Anderson struck. The ball was just beginning to show signs of
reverse swing, but it was Watson driving at a good length ball that brought the
wicket.
He chipped back to the grateful Lancastrian who made the return
catch look frighteningly simple, and Watson was gone for 51.
One wicket often brings two, as the old saying goes, and on
this occasion it actually brought three.
Rogers fell next over to Graeme Swann, as the off-spinner
found some turn and bounce, and Roger’s nick found Prior’s gloves.
Two overs later and Monty Panesar was in on the act too.
Steve Smith can look hapless at times, despite his staggering improvements, and
he was neither forward nor back to a ball that spun, and his stumps bore the
brunt of that.
A session that could have been calamitous for England, was
hailed by many commentators and pundits as a roaring victory, it certainly
wasn’t an unqualified success though.
Despite the century partnership, I’ll tentatively award this
session to England too, noting that they certainly never gave up, and produced
and impressive spell of seam and spin bowling.
The evening session though belonged to Australia. Michael
Clarke serenely went about his business, playing the spinners effortlessly, and
George Bailey made a maiden Test fifty to take the game out of England’s
clutches.
Bailey fell before the close to a spectacular catch by
Swann, but Clarke will begin the second day two shy of another Adelaide half
century, and is partnered by Brad Haddin, who having survived a horrendous drop
by Michael Carberry in the last few overs, will look to add to his own
impressive record at the ground.
On an undoubtedly flat pitch, 273-5 is no disaster for
England, and I would say they edged two of the three sessions, but early wickets
are a must, and even then, if the Ashes are to be kept alive, one of the top six
batsmen will have to go big, and pull the side through to a reasonable total.
Session score: 2-1 to England
Verdict: Several Australian batsmen got in, but the failure
to convert anything into a big hundred gives England a slight advantage. This
will disappear if Clarke bats until lunchtime on day two though.
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