Let’s wait for a couple of days until we gloat properly at the meltdown of the Australian cricket team. There is a match to be won first.
It strikes us, watching from afar, that when Trott and Prior resume tomorrow morning, they need to be ruthless, and also to remember that there are three full days left in this test match. It’s not a case of gaily scampering a few more runs before a declaration.
Our objective should be to bat Australia into oblivion. With five wickets still in hand, we can score at least another hundred, and rule out as far as possible the need to bat again. If the pitch is now friendly enough for us to score 444-5, it’s unlikely Australia will fold very cheaply. Plus, we can do without gifting Ponting’s side the morale-boost of a late-order collapse.
When we bowl, we must avoid the temptation to exult in our domination, and get carried away. No showboating. Simple line and length, just like in the first innings, will do just fine.
Well played, Jonathan Trott – who again proved the value of his patience, nuggety attrition, and greed for runs. All credit to KP too, for playing the kind of steady, watchful innings the situation deserved. Just a shame Ian Bell squandered his chance of making his definitive contribution to the series.
Australia’s bowlers must cause their supporters so much frustration. Siddle was their clear pick today, but you wonder why on some days he bristles with hostility and penetration, and on other days looks innocuous. And as for Super Mitch…
When you have the cricketing wind in your sails, luck goes your way. At Perth, nothing did – as exemplified by Prior’s unfortunate first innings dismissal – a triple ricochet of the ball from bat to arm, ground to stumps. Today, karma decreed a payback, in the form of his extremely fortunate reprieve. How exquisite to witness that agonising moment for the Australians.
But the big talking point is of course Punter’s tantrum. It’s hardly the first time we’ve seen him chuck his toys out of the pram, like a spoiled seven year old who wants another go on the bouncy castle. We’d really like your views on this. Our instinctive response is to ask the question – what would be the reaction and punishment if an England captain had done this?
Thoughts?
Maxie Allen
My view on the Punter’s tantrum….? When he throws his toys out of the pram we know that the number is up for the Aussies. Yes – of course the team must not get ahead of themselves, and must do the basics as Maxie prescribes – but we have seen this before, and we remember what it presaged then….
Hi Maxie,
I thought Ponting was a disgrace. I do wonder if it wasn’t for the fact he will be losing the cataincy before or after Sydney, then maybe they might have suspended him.
To end his career as skipper while suspended would be a sad way to bow out, but thats not ICC’s problem.
For me, Prior’s innings following his reprieve from the excellent Aleem Dar was Karma for Ponting’s behaviour towards the umpire.
It’s hard to know what the reaction would be towards Strauss, if he where to behave like that, because it would be so out of character for him. Whereas, Ponting has plenty of previous.
How good was Trott. He paced his innings to the match situation brilliantly. As did KP, which was good to see. When they both came together, England could have collapsed if another wicket fell quickly. But they steadied the ship.
I think the emergence of Trott will make the transition from Collingwood to Morgan (or another younger man) a lot easier as well. Trott plays the sort of innings we would more expect from Collingwood, do we really need them both now? Especially given the form of Colly, he strugggled in the 2009 Ashes, against Pakistan last summer and has been awful again here.
Colly is a difficult one. The problem is that he’s such an amiable and admired figure in all quarters – fans, team-mates, and press. That’s why he’s held his place so long when, if we’re honest, he has not always contributed as many runs as a top six test match batsman should. England always rebuild after an Ashes series. Maybe, after Sydney, it will finally be time to reflect on whether his test career has reached its natural end.