I would have made Paul Collingwood Man of the Match. His was the innings which decided the Test or, perhaps more correctly, undecided it. When people talk about this game in years to come, as they may, it will be his dogged resistance they recall rather than Ricky Ponting's characteristically crushing 150 – just as it was Ponting's innings which is remembered from Old Trafford 2005 rather than Michael Vaughan's or Andrew Strauss's.
At the end of that Old Trafford Test, Vaughan was able to hearten his deflated and frustrated side by pointing out that the team whooping with delight across the field was Australia, and they were celebrating a draw. It seems unlikely that Ponting would have been offering much comfort to his men if he tried something similar this evening. Rather, he has been reduced to the inevitable taking of positives, as Strauss had to do after the Tests at the ARG and Queen's Park Oval in the spring.
The problem England had then, as Australia did these last five days, was a pitch unfit for Test cricket because it provided a wholly unequal contest between bat and ball. It kept the ground packed for five full days, which was of course the commercial objective, but for cricket the last five days have been yet another travesty. ICC are making noises about making radical changes to Test cricket, but none of them will make any long-term difference to the popularity of the format while “chief executives' pitches” such as these remain as depressingly common as they are. Pitches like these are only really usable by great bowlers, and there were none playing in Cardiff this week.
That James Anderson and Monty Panesar were able to hold out for 12 overs is eloquent testimony to the blandness of the surface. Although there was little about their efforts with the ball for any of the bowlers to be pleased with, with the bat they did at least manage to compensate for the inadequacies of the alleged specialists. The slipshod efforts of Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Kevin Pietersen on day one led eventually to a compelling final couple of hours, but this match should have died halfway through day four when Australia passed England's first innings total of 516.
And no, KP, “That's just the way I play” won't wash this time. Nine times out of ten, it's a reasonable defense because the ball he was caught off was certainly there to be hit, but on Wednesday Hauritz threw it too wide for the sweep to be on – a reverse sweep, sure, but not the shot he chose. Let us hope that despite the wish to laugh it off in public, Pietersen has done some serious contemplation while lying awake.
In these days when players eagerly jump into baths of ice at the end of a day's play, a bucket of cold water is probably no longer some kind of shock for them, but less personally masochistic England fans who had believed these two sides were evenly matched have received the equivalent of a serious dowsing. But it means that England have made their best start to an Ashes series this century. They have comprehensively lost on all four previous occasions, with the result looking pretty much certain by the end of day one. So to have hung in at reasonable parity until lunch on day three and then to eke out a draw when all seemed hopeless is a distinct advance. Starving for good news as we are, this crumb of comfort seems like an entire cake right now.
Cardiff certainly seems to have be fortunate in getting the tight ending, as opposed to a tedious stalemate which the pitch deserved. Perhaps that is the one upside to England's woeful top order batting.
Agreed these types of wickets are a total joke and all too common. As a Aussie I'm peeved we didn't win but can't really blame the pitch, we need 1 more wicket against 2 bunnies which we should have got but not to be.
Even here in Australia all our pitches are now mundane replica's of each other, with the exception of Brisbane which is subject to tropical conditions and in my mind is now our best pitch. It give bowlers a chance, the rest are just roads with nothing but runs in them.
10 years ago our wickets all had their own identity and made it hard for touring teams to adjust. Those days will sadly never return.
As a lover of tests, the recent Aus V's SA series was the best I've seen in a decade. Lively bouncing pitches, where a hundred really meant a hundred if you made it. Seeing SA 3 down for 5 runs with two heading to hospital was amazing following Johnson's assault. It was bat v's ball and compelling viewing. We need more of this, lets hope lords has a little more life in it
Posted by: jay at July 13, 2009 3:19 AM
Will the ECB never learn ? First, they got taken in hook,line and sinker by Stanford, then they literally sold an Ashes Test to Cardiff.
Posted by: ken at July 13, 2009 7:00 AM
Two bunnies should not have been able to hold out Australia's attack for 12 overs. Ever heard of a good fast yorker? A good sharp bouncer with a leg gully and short leg? Bland surface or not, I just don't accept it.
Posted by: Eric at July 13, 2009 7:32 AM
Results like this is why I would like to see a change in the awarding of match points! What I would like to see is this:
The team that wins the "first innings" receives +1 point. If the match is drawn both teams receive a +1 point. If one team wins the match, that team recieves +3 points.
So, from the match just played, Aus would have +2 and Eng would have +1. If Aus had won that match they would have had +4 points and Eng 0.
It's a simple idea, but one that would place an emphasis on playing well for FIVE days ... not just the last to try and get a "result"!
Posted by: ramanujam sridhar at July 13, 2009 8:11 AM
I agree with Ben about the declining quality of pitches world wide and living in India I can see why test cricket is declining in importance. It is pitches that are deader than door nails that will drive the last nail into test cricket"s coffin not T20. Of course the recent South Africa Australia series was wonderful primarily because the matches were played by two competitive teams on sportive wickets.
Yet England needs to do some soul searching. They were playing at home and Ausralia were without their six greats. But Australia scored 674 runs for the loss of 6 wickets, with four Australians scoring centuries. England scored a few more runs but played two innings, lost 19 wickets and nearly lost the game.Their much vaunted spinners bowled poorly at best while Hauritz whom everyone scoffed actually turned the ball and picked up key wickets.
One hopes the Lords wicket is better. But what a game we had and the curator just seems to have got it right as we were watching every ball !
Posted by: Peter at July 13, 2009 8:23 AM
Why are people complaining about the pitch? What do you want another 3.5 or 4 day game?
12 overs at the last pair on the last day - sounds like the perfect pitch to me. Yes it might have been easy for batsmen on the first few days but test cricket is as much about mental strength as the quality of the pitch and England very nearly blew it for that reason. When Australia bowled well they got wickets, when they stopped bowling so well (or when England bowled, period) the wickets dried up.
The pitch was fine.
Posted by: Henry at July 13, 2009 11:20 AM
It's Funny to hear Pointing talking about the Spirit of game. Why dont the media didn't ask what happen to his and his team spirit when Playing against India in Australia in year 2007-2008.
Posted by: Jay at July 13, 2009 11:39 AM
I can't go along with Eric's suggestion about awarding points for first innings leads in Tests. This could lead to teams stretching out their first innings without the challenge of making well-judged declarations. This kind of system has been the bane of domestic cricket in India.
Posted by: Rabindra Jaggernath at July 13, 2009 12:56 PM
So Ponting is annoyed with England's time wasting. What about his persistence in holding a discussion with Umpire Doctrove during England;s first innings when the decison went against Australia. He was civil about it but it is still dissent, enough that I feel he should have been reprimanded. Even the television commentators had to say get o withthe game.
Posted by: Mike at July 13, 2009 1:34 PM
What really "decided" this game was the session lost to rain on day 4, with England at a dodgy 20 for 2.
Posted by: Craig at July 13, 2009 2:12 PM
I totally agree with Ben, 6 games between SA and Aus, with 6 results, squared at three a piece, thanks to the pitches provided in Aus and in SA, made for riveting viewing, it was always any teams game throughout the 5 days, and contests like those will keep interest in the game, no need to change to 4 days, need to change the "unfit pitch" that is popping up all over!
Posted by: Eric at July 13, 2009 2:32 PM
@Peter, I wouldn't call it "perfect" - you shouldn't forget that Australia only batted ONCE... A test match is commonly decided over two innings, not one!
@Jay, I didn't know that India was using such a system, either way I would still like to see it at least tested a few times. I really doubt that it will lead to teams stretching out their innings any more than a team that knows that a "dull" draw will give them a series win!
If going into the fifth match and the points were even, then the first innings would be very important, as well the final result of the match!
Posted by: Arvind at July 13, 2009 2:58 PM
England's first innings total of 516.
??? 8(
Posted by: Arvind at July 13, 2009 3:01 PM
Oh, Ponting talking about the spirit of the game, eh? Remember his "I said OUT" gesture during the Sydney Test?
Posted by: sam at July 13, 2009 3:44 PM
one of d best test matches i have ever seen........ricky it would be better if u dnt talk about spirit of game as u have never played in d spirit of game......atleast appreciate d heroic effort of england as u were outplayed in d last session..........i agree with BEN as aus vs sa series 2008-09 was d best in decade.......jeff thomson u are write as ricky is one of d worst captains.........
Posted by: Simon at July 13, 2009 4:03 PM
Peter,
There we 11 wickets left in the match, discounting the 4 left after the first innings declaration. Hardly an indicator of a good pitch, some pretty poor batting by one side maybe, but not a good pitch.
Posted by: Nick Hughes at July 13, 2009 9:44 PM
Well, when Australia stop sledging and walk when they've nicked the ball, then their comments about time wasting will be taken more seriously.
I don't begrudge Anderson or Panesar their 12 overs of glory and it did reveal something most telling which we saw in 2005 and saw here: When the pressure's on, Ponting runs out of ideas and inspiration. He's a fair weather captain.
Posted by: Darren at July 14, 2009 12:08 AM
You're kidding right?! A test that was on a razor's edge after 5 days of struggle. It doesn't get any better.
Australia took 19 wickets with an inexperienced pace attack and a spinner the world said couldn't bowl to save his life!!! The pitch couldn't have been that bad! Rain intervened for one session. 4 centuries were scored. It was one of the best games in years!
The joy of cricket is that the "playing field" for every game is different ... pitches are different, the weather is different. The REAL skill is in playing to best suit the conditions. The nuances are why test cricket is the king of ALL games.
Looks like the old adage of "one million monkeys on one million typewriters" got together to produce this pearl of a blog. What nonsense!
Posted by: dr mony at July 17, 2009 12:50 PM
i always beleieve,,Australians are great cricketer no doubt but hardly and better sportsman in one of them ,,,,They can do anything for win ,, and can blame easily for the sake of so called spirit of game
Samir Chopra lives in Brooklyn and teaches Computer Science and Philosophy at the City University of New York; his academic interests include the philosophical foundations of artificial intelligence and the politics of technology. In his third undergraduate year, he captained Mathematics in the departmental cricket competition (and lost to Chemistry in the first round). Samir played C-grade cricket in Sydney and makes guest appearances for his old club when possible (and desirable). Samir runs the blog Eye on Cricket and the cricket page at The Faster Times.
Paul Ford is a co-founder of the New Zealand cricket supporters' cult, the Beige Brigade. He was once described by a current New Zealand cricketer as "looking spastic" even mucking about with an Excalibur and a tennis ball in the backyard. Paul bowls right-armed Nathan Astlesque "nudes", his batting would make Ewen Chatfield look elegant, and he is a committed fielder. He sometimes grows a beard to hide his double chin and inhabits a periphery of cricket that Cricinfo is proud to be glimpsing through this blog.
Stephen Gelb grew up in Cape Town, a short walk from the beautiful Newlands ground. Always a better student of the game than player, his passion for cricket survived eight years as a student in Canada, where he learned to love baseball too. He lives in Johannesburg doing economic research at The EDGE Institute and teaching at Wits University.
Mike Holmans, a database consultant by profession, has spent thirty summers (and a few winters) going to the cricket. Brought up in one and working in the other, his dearest wish is for a season to end with Yorkshire winning the county championship by beating runners-up Middlesex by one wicket with five minutes to go. If it’s also a summer when England win the Ashes, so much the better.
Born in Colombo, educated at Oxford and now living in Brisbane - Michael Jeh (Fox) is a cricket lover with a global perspective on the game. An Oxford Blue who played first-class cricket, he is a Playing Member of the MCC and still plays grade cricket. His views on cricket might best be described as those of a "modern traditionalist". Michael now works closely with elite athletes in his job as a manager at Griffith University in Queensland.
Saad Shafqat takes special pride that his cricket-watching life began during the three-month interval between Javed Miandad's debut Test in Lahore and Imran Khan's 12-wicket haul at Sydney. Although a practicing neurologist based in Karachi, cricket has never been far from his activities. He has co-authored Javed Miandad’s autobiography Cutting Edge and has been a contributor to Cricinfo since 2005. His regular column Reverse Swing appears fortnightly in Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English daily.
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