The message mimed by a smiling Mitchell Johnson to the canary yellow-capped travelling support ensconced down at fine leg was crude in its simplicity: Stuart Broad, in his opinion, wasn’t enjoying himself out in the middle. In fact, a change of trousers might be in order.
By the end of the following over he was delivering another missive, this time kissing the badge on his baggy green cap in the direction of the home fans who were celebrating the fast bowler’s figures, freshly delivered on the electronic scoreboard to a cacophony of cheers.
Johnson, England’s tormentor 18 months ago to the tune of 37 wickets, had just brought up his gallon; 100 runs against his name with nothing to show for it. Broad, fittingly, had been the man to register this milestone, bunting a four down the ground on a morning of tail-end defiance that turned 343 for seven into 430 all out.
The pair’s duel was to one to savour. England’s No9 is international cricket’s most analysed tailender ever since a nose-shattering encounter with a Varun Aaron bouncer last summer. He can no longer play the protracted innings, it seems, since his confidence was damaged against India at Old Trafford. But what he can do is cause chaos down the order; he can be a pest.
In ice hockey, the term is given to a designated creator of mayhem, a player whose role is to get under the skin of the opponent. Broad, when playing Australia, tends to be England’s equivalent – even if you sense that trouble seems to seek him out, rather than the other way around. Certainly the ball does, with Johnson testing his bravery from around the wicket and so nearly profiting.
By the time their encounter had truly got under way, Broad had already got through an over against Josh Hazlewood that neatly sums up his predicament. Opening his account with a punchy four through mid-off, the left-hander followed it up by ducking into a bouncer, which pranged off the helmet. Next came a swish outside off stump before he pulled a six over mid-wicket.
Broad, who insisted before the series that his wickets, not runs, will play a greater role in determining the destiny of the Ashes, can still play the attacking shot; his eye remains good. But against the short stuff, the mind gets muddled. Johnson, a bowler with a preference for the head-seeking missile, was keen to explore that route. Switching to around the wicket, the left-armer speared one into the tailender, with the ball popping off glove and into the hands of the diving Adam Voges at short leg. The umpire, Marais Erasmus, was happy to give him out and Broad was probably not unhappy to be trudging back towards the pavilion. That appeared to be that.
But with Broad just a few yards from the gate, the third umpire, Chris Gaffaney, was asked to intervene, with the replays showing the ball had, in fact, been grassed. The Swalec Stadium cheered and the batsman returned. The four that took Johnson past 100 in the following over was simply the icing on the cake.
The pair would exchange glances for just three more balls after that, with Broad ducking one bouncer, wearing a second on the shoulder and then lofting a backfoot drive through the covers for three.
And then, with the spinner Nathan Lyon introduced at the other end, the No9 perished, caught behind on 18 attempting another great yahoo.
With Broad departed, Johnson did not return and thus finished the innings wicketless. Muzzled by the Cardiff pitch and denied by technology, the man who wreaked such havoc in Australia on the 2013-14 tour was back to being the bowler the England support remember from 2009 – numerically, at least.
His nought for 111 represents the first time in his 67 Tests he has passed three figures without taking a wicket and England have discovered, back on home soil, they can survive him. Johnson is mortal after all.
