After scoring the 21st and slowest century of his Test career the Australia captain, Steve Smith, highlighted the defensive tactics employed by England. The response from Gabba favourite Stuart Broad in the opposition camp? “Perfect.”
The meticulous planning of Joe Root during the home side’s first innings here in Brisbane had been widely praised during days two and three of the series opener, given five of the Australian top six fell head first into traps set by the England captain and his bowlers.
Smith was the one that got away, however, with his wonderfully patient 141 not out from 326 balls providing the first standing ovation of the match and setting up a 26-run first-innings lead for the hosts. Josh Hazlewood’s two late strikes then left England effectively seven for two.
The 261 balls it took the 28-year-old to reach three figures made it the slowest Ashes century by an Australian since David Boon at Lord’s in 1993 and Smith offered his thoughts on the suffocating fields that could become a feature of the series.
“They were pretty defensive from the outset,” he said. “It was almost as though they were waiting for our batters to make a mistake. Unfortunately, the top four made those mistakes. It might be a series where boundaries are hard to come by. But if you bat for long enough, rotate the strike, you’ll get bad balls as the bowlers get tired.”
Broad, who sent down 10 maidens in his 25 overs for figures of three for 49, said in response to Smith’s frustration: “Perfect. We know the Australians like to score quickly. If we can restrict them and stop them scoring a lot of boundaries then we’ll have periods of taking wickets.”
On Smith’s epic rearguard, Broad said: “He played brilliantly and it’s what you come to expect from him in Australia isn’t it? He played with patience, was disciplined around off stump. But also credit to our bowling attack, we didn’t let him get away.
“He doesn’t seem to get lbw or bowled too much. If you look at the past four years in Australia, he’s had one bowled on 170 when trying to hit it out the ground and a couple of lbws when it was reversing. The best batsmen don’t miss straight balls and the outside edge is his biggest threat. If we get a pitch with any sideways movement and more pace it brings the edge into play.”
The 31-year-old was left baffled by questions about the fitness of his strike partner, Jimmy Anderson, who had a spell off the field during the afternoon. While this was explained away as a case of having some strapping on his torso redone, England’s attack did report one minor injury from their nine hours spent out in the field.
Moeen Ali, who picked up two for 74 from his 30 overs, appeared to lack some snap in his delivery. While some of his rustiness could be attributed to his side strain that meant he missed all but one of England’s warm-up matches, the Observer understands the all-rounder is also suffering from a nasty cut on his spinning finger.
Though the pitch has turned less as the game has progressed, Moeen could well be required to put in a significant stint when Australia bat in their second innings.
