Their undefeated
Gabba sequence now extends back a remarkable 29 years to 1988 when Viv Richards’
all-conquering West Indies made mincemeat of Allan Border’s side. England’s
last win at Brisbane was two years previously, featuring a century by Ian
Botham, a name so redolent of a bygone age that he now resorts to advertising a
circulation-boosting device.
Much of the 2017
version was played in an Eighties vein, too; all short-ball strategies and
scoring rates below three runs an over. For the first three days, there wasn’t
a great deal between the sides. After England decided to bat, relative Test newcomers
Stoneman, Vince and Malan each passed fifty and at 246-4 seemed fairly
comfortable on day two. However, three wickets promptly fell in three overs and Joe Root’s team could
barely reach the 300 mark.
Australia
endured a worse start but the mighty Steve Smith held the innings together with
an excellent unbeaten 141, with vital support from the recalled Shaun Marsh and
Pat Cummins. The skipper’s Test average has crept to a stunning 61 and has
converted half his 50s into hundreds. For all Root’s undoubted world class, the
Yorkshireman’s stat is only just above one in four. When England batted again,
he succumbed in typical style, advancing to 51 before falling leg-before to Hazlewood.
Nevertheless, he was still the top scorer, and the four-man Aussie attack this
time restricted the batsmen to a mere 195.
When David
Warner and debutant Cameron Bancroft, sensibly wearing his helmet while
Bairstow kept wicket, safely saw their side to stumps on day four, any hope of
an England revival was dashed. To rub it in, the openers then took their
partnership to 173 and inflict a ten-wicket drubbing.
So can we
learn anything from this result? While Jake Ball is not certain of keeping his
place, basically it boils down to England dismissing Steve Smith early on and
relying on Anderson and Broad to bowl diligently and cannily. No shit,
Sherlock! Could be worse; they could be bowling to Virat Kohli’s Indian centurions. Seeing that Anya
Shrubsole is the only cricketer to make the BBC Sports Personality of the Year
shortlist, maybe we should give the Somerset medium-pacer a chance in the
Adelaide game instead of Ball and another Taunton favourite, Craig Overton?
Perhaps not, but great to see her World Cup-winning performance rewarded in
this way.
