By Freddie Nathan
When the England cricket team trudged off the pitch after drawing the opening test of the Ashes in
Brisbane last week, it must have felt akin to a morale boosting victory for Andrew Strauss’s men. A
dreadful start on a docile, green pitch with little movement for the bowlers, the partisan Australian
crowd baying for English blood at a ground where they have not lost a test match for years, coupled
with their coach Andy Flower having a cancer scare midway through the test match were early
signs that all pointed to an English loss at the Gabba. Yet England produced a heroic second
innings batting performance, while Australia dropped vital catches and struggled to penetrate their
opponents, to claim a draw and potentially signal a sign of things to come for the series ahead.
It is extremely rare, nigh on unheard of, for England to go down under and be favourites for an
Ashes series. Yet that was the label they have been burdened with this time around, Australia
dropping to 5th in the test rankings as their invincible old guard one by one retire while the majority
of England’s players are at their peak. The quality of the new players being brought through in
the last couple of years appears to be markedly different, for example comparing the graceful yet
devastating line and length of Steven Finn with the bluster and bile of Doug Bollinger. Yet at the end
of day three in Brisbane, the same old story of Australia’s dominance on their own turf seemed to be
reliving itself, as England were under the cosh, posting a measly 260 before watching Australia get
up towards the 500 mark in their first innings.
However, the grit and raw determination shown by England in their fight back underlines the
credentials of this current crop of players, namely that they are a totally different type of outfit to
the ones who have travelled down under in the last two decades. Jonathan Trott and Alistair Cook
batted wonderfully, the latter revelling in being away from home where he has been vilified for his
lack of form and technique in the last few months, scoring an unbeaten 235 and overtaking Donald
Bradman for the highest individual score at the Gabba in a test match. Indeed, the records tumbled
in the first test, this being the first time England’s top three have all made a century since 1924;
Cook’s stand with Jonathan Trott was a record one and the longest an Englishman has spent at the
crease and also this was the first time England have passed 500 for the loss of only one wicket. These
are not coincidences. It transpired that England are here as favourites for a justifiable reason, and
came out of the first test clearly happier than the Australians.
The Aussies have not reached crisis point just yet, but drawing a game from the position they were
in at the end of day three gave England the psychological victory and underlined the frailties that
they have, namely their bowlers looking unable to take twenty wickets in a test, Marcus North,
a part-timer, claiming the only scalp of Strauss, in five sessions. While Michael Hussey is playing
superbly, Michael Clarke cannot seem to buy a run and the other members of top order cannot
continue promising starts to their innings. Ricky Ponting did not seem a captain under pressure at
the end of the first test, yet an on the field argument with Andrew Strauss on the first day of the
second test just played in Adelaide, the like of which has not been seen from him since Gary Pratt’s
famous run-out in 2005 showed signs of a man with the weight of his nation on shoulders.
Purely and simply, England seem to have players with better ability and mental toughness, who can
fight back in such a way from a likely defeat, and given their strong start to the second test at the
time of writing this article, I cannot see past Strauss’s men retaining the Ashes for a second time
come early January. We haven’t even seen the best of Graeme Swann yet.