Tuesday, 3 December 2013

The Ball that Changed a Test

So that was a bit of a shocker then, the first Test.

Not only was Wickman confident that England would rediscover form with the bat, Wickman also believed that our bowlers would have too much for a fragile Australian batting line up.

There’s absolutely no doubt in Wickman’s mind that Ryan Harris is an excellent Test bowler in the mould of Terry Alderman and in more recent times Stuart Clarke. Nathan Lyon is a decent offie. But Johnson, despite showing some one day form was hardly the threat he once was... he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right, that Mithchell Johnson, he bowls a load of shite.

The first day and most of the second morning were to plan. The Aussies were dismissed without much fight except from the redoubtable Brad Haddin. Johnson looked agricultural but more than justified his selection as a bowling all rounder. But we blew away the tail and then Carbs and Cheffy settled down to bat through to lunch.

On Twitter there was a carnival atmosphere. Scribes, bloggers, fans and Wickman’s milieu were all pronouncing that the pitch was a road. All the indications pointed towards parity for England by the end of the day with perhaps five wickets down. Johnson came on and hurled the ball down but was about as likely to take a wicket as Wickman’s dobbers. To say that Brad Haddin did well to get a glove on some of it was an understatement.

As with so many things in cricket it was something innocuous that kicked things off. Harris bowled one across a static Cook who slightly hung his bat out. Australia were in business when only a moment earlier they were beginning to look desperate.

A with hindsight scrambled Trotty came to the wicket. None of those watching could have seen any indication that the man was in turmoil… although the fact he was almost slogging in a warm-up game might have indicated… no. We didn’t know. Johnson then bowled the ball that set Trott up, set Johnson up and set the game up.

Who knows if he meant it? He was spraying it like a club bowler trying too hard up until that point but right on cue he lasered one in at Trotty’s heart. It was close to unplayable. Brutish. Lifting. A heavy ball amongst heavy balls. Trotty couldn’t get out of the way and at the same time wasn’t in line. It looked ugly. It was destabilising. It was pure Bodyline. There. Wickman's said it. Invoked the worst of all Ashes words.

From that moment on there was only one strategy. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Eventually Trotty succumbed and feathered a ball that was a foot outside the leg stump to a jubilant Haddin. Johnson had taken a wicket with a superb ball. That that ball had come perhaps two or three overs earlier than the rank half tracker that actually claimed the wicket did not matter.


The rest was misery.

No comments: