New England are undeniably worth watching. Whether they are winners remains to be seen. Their response to being 22 for two prompted the rubbing of eyes. Suddenly there was the danger of frittering away their hard-won advantage. What happened next?
Well, Australia bowled a few half-volleys but even so it was remarkable that Ian Bell and Adam Lyth should crack 49 runs in five overs. This has not always been the traditional response of English batsmen to a bit of a crisis.
Historically they have been more inclined to batten down all available hatches. They used to say of Trevor Bailey, who in the 1950s played in one of the most successful England sides, that he always batted not necessarily as if there was a crisis but as if there was certainly one around the corner.
In a curious way the situation might have helped Bell. This was his 10th innings since his 143 in Antigua and in that time he had not reached 30; he had rarely found double figures. So there was a personal crisis on the horizon, yet somehow England’s plight in what is fast becoming a riveting Test superseded that. The match had taken over and “cricket is a situation game” as Bailey always used to say. There was no time for Bell to fret about his own plight. This contest was hotting up.
So the cover drives flowed from Bell’s bat. He plays that shot exquisitely – except when it lands up at second slip – and Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood kept feeding it. Bell purred and briefly Lyth joined in. The crisis passed rather quickly.
Bell reached 30 at a run a ball with those cover drives and two aerial leg-side strokes against Nathan Lyon – a slog/sweep seems too coarse a description for any shot played by Bell.
Having asserted himself and restored the situation he then reined himself in a little but there were still breathtaking shots. A little push of a cover drive against Hazlewood startled everyone at Cardiff including Lyon diving forlornly at cover point. One aerial drive against Mitchell Johnson even hinted at violence. England – or should we say “New England” (even though Trevor Bayliss does not appear to have many points of comparison with Tony Blair) – were back on course. So, too, was the Test match career of Bell.
Actually in their 85 overs in the field when Australia were batting in their first innings Alastair Cook’s bowlers were very reminiscent of old England, in particular the teams of 2009 and 2010-11. The seamers bowled with fine discipline, in patches tying down batsmen who subsequently surrendered their wickets. They bided their time if necessary, nibbling away before Jimmy Anderson polished off the tail with his own special touch of artistry.
Anderson and Stuart Broad have done this before. Mark Wood, with unquenchable enthusiasm and considerable skill, looks a more than willing pupil. Even Ben Stokes was economical, apart from an over against Brad Haddin when the old Australian keeper struck three consecutive fours. Moeen Ali had been more expensive yet had managed to remove Australia’s two most vaunted batsmen. England seized their chances expertly.
Perhaps Australia have been duped. They were cunningly dispatched to Canterbury and Chelmsford before the series to play against second division sides, who were resting their senior bowlers, on pitches designed to ensure that the contest lasted four days and that the coffers were filled. The Australians piled up 507 for eight against Kent and 562 against Essex, up against the respective talents of Matt Hunn, 21, and Jamie Porter, 22.
At Cardiff there has been a reminder of the gulf between what happens at county level compared with the Test arena. Here the bowling was in a different league from anything previously encountered by the Australians on this tour. Anderson, in particular, offered nothing to hit when bowling with an old ball and as a consequence the batsmen did not look so battle-hardened. After a few maidens, an experience not encountered at Canterbury or Chelmsford, they grew fidgety and made mistakes.
The English bowlers were performing at a level seldom seen in county cricket. In part this is because the pitches in domestic cricket this season often do not require great bowling skills. As Sam Northeast, who has been captaining Kent, correctly pointed out after his side’s recent victory over Leicestershire at Grace Road, there are too many “result” pitches around at the moment.
This pitch in Cardiff has not pleased Australia’s coach, Darren Lehmann, greatly. Before the start of play he shared his thoughts. “Obviously they’ve tried to negate the pace with the way the wicket has been prepared. That’s the way it was in 2013. The only disappointing thing is that I think fast bowlers running in being able to bowl a bouncer is one of the parts of the game that is exciting.”
An Olympian purist with the broadest of perspectives might agree with Lehmann. The ideal cricket pitch should have more pace than this. But this is a typical Cardiff surface.
Conspiracy theories are in abeyance until Lord’s. If the pitch is sluggish there, they can be aired with greater justification. There is nothing wrong with this Test track. It offers more to the seamers than anticipated; there has been some turn for the spinners. Wickets have fallen. It has negated the bouncer. And it suits England more than Australia.
But shots can be played on this pitch and the runs can flow, as demonstrated by that dependable, old cavalier, Joe Root, and the resurgent Bell.
