The Ashes Diary (12 page)

Off to bed now, and hoping for some sunshine tomorrow.

Thursday 1 August.
Manchester.

Well, that’s better! It’s too early to say whether today is a turning point in the series. I’m still keeping an eye on the horizon, and the way I think of it is, we’re wanting to improve our performance as a batting group and today was a step in that direction.

The players in the team who knew cricket administrator Graham Dixon wore black armbands for him. Graham passed away this week. He was a very popular chief executive of Queensland Cricket, and we feel it’s important to recognise and respect people like Graham who have contributed so much to our game.

For me it was a satisfying day, first of all because I won the toss. Losing the toss at Trent Bridge and Lord’s hasn’t been critical, I didn’t think – there were enough in the conditions in both matches to make batting first difficult. We proved that by dismissing England relatively cheaply both times. But here, it was a big toss to win. The pitch is very flat, and it looks like the type of game where runs will be easier to make in the first innings.

‘Easier’ never means ‘easy’ in Test cricket, though. Chris Rogers and Shane Watson got us off to a very pleasing start, as they have done throughout the series. Shane has been working on a few elements of his technique, and he wasn’t as aggressive as usual. Chris was the one who took the lead, driving beautifully through the off side. He dominated the partnership before Watto was out nicking Bresnan to slip.

Then we had another DRS drama. Uzzy Khawaja had only just started, when he played and missed at a Swann ball turning away from him. The English appealed, and Tony Hill gave him out, but Usman asked for a review. I was getting myself ready to go out and bat, but it was pretty clear from the replays that he hadn’t hit it. The job of the third umpire in this situation is to uphold the onfield umpire’s decision unless there is clear evidence to overturn it. The replay showed daylight between the bat and the ball, Hot Spot showed no mark on Usman’s edge, and the sound that had prompted the appeal was caused by Usman’s bat brushing his own leg. So I was extremely frustrated when Kumar Dharmasena gave him out. It came at a bad time for us, just before lunch, and was particularly hard for Usman, a young batsman who had a chance to place his stamp on the game. And it left us down to our last unsuccessful DRS review.

I’ve been a big supporter of the DRS since it was introduced. I want it to help the umpires to get the big decisions – the ones that are clearly out or not out – correct. But when you get decisions like this one so wrong, that are so blatant, the video review system hasn’t made any improvement at all. The onfield umpire made a mistake, and the third umpire repeated it. How has that improved the game? So furious were Cricket Australia that they took the unusual step of calling on the ICC for an explanation.

From a player’s perspective, seeing this dismissal makes me realise why India don’t want to use the DRS system.

But I had to push all of that out of my head. I was walking out to the centre. Chris Rogers and I had a quick word about it, but agreed that we had to put it behind us. We were two wickets down and in danger of wasting a great opportunity on a belter of a wicket.

As soon as I was in the middle, England brought on Broad and Anderson. The tactic to challenge me with short balls from their two main seam bowlers is par for the course now.

I defended Anderson, and then they gave Chris a single through cover off Broad to get me back on strike. Broad bowled a couple of bouncers to push me back, then some full outswingers. I got through that okay, and was pleased to be going to lunch to reset myself. I gave Chris a pat on the back for the way he’d played through that first session. He wanted to score more runs than he did in the first two Test matches, and today he backed himself and played with great intent. His 58th run today was his 20,000th in first-class cricket: a reminder of how much cricket experience he brings to the side.

Broad and Anderson continued after lunch, and I wasn’t feeling all that fluent. Between balls, I practised hard on grooving my defensive shots and maintaining my balance. This was my first time in the middle since Lord’s, and I needed to get my body moving in the direction I was hitting the ball.

The game went into a bit of a stop–start phase. Broad wouldn’t complete an over until he had brought out the ground staff to work on the footholes he was making on and off the pitch. Then Chris, facing Swann, was distracted by someone in the pavilion behind the bowler’s arm. It turned out to be Daniel Salpietro, who Chris knew. Once that had settled down, Chris came down the wicket to Swann and was hit on the pad. The umpire gave him out, and he asked me if I thought it was worth reviewing. Unfortunately, I agreed with the umpire this time. It might have been worth taking a chance on the review if we’d had two up our sleeve, but with only one, it looked too close to being out. The replays showed the ball going on to hit the stumps. I felt really bad for Chris, being only 16 runs from a Test century, but he’d done a great job for the team.

We had to survive another tense period after Steve Smith came in. He took a lot of balls to get off the mark, and while still on zero he played back to Swann and was hit on the pad. England appealed, Tony Hill gave him not out, and they called for a DRS review. It was extremely close yet again, but this time the decision went our way.

Swann was now coming around the wicket to me, with a leg slip in place, trying to get me the same way as Root had at Lord’s. I went down the wicket to him when I felt I could drive straight or on the off side, but not when it was spinning past my pads. England left a big gap on the off side, with no fielders between slip and extra cover, to tempt me to cut against the spin. It was all about temptation, and me having the patience to resist it until I chose the right ball. From my end, that meant playing off the back foot to the ball on my leg stump, and either kicking it away or turning it around the corner for a single. When he gave it more air and it was on or around the off stump, I could come down the wicket and hit him over his head, pushing back the mid-off and mid-on, which Cook soon obliged by doing. That gave me the option of no-risk singles down the ground.

It was all very tactical. Smithy began to settle in and play some nice shots. Just before tea, Anderson hit him on the pads and England again reviewed the not-out decision. Again they were off the mark, and so they’d lost their second review. This came back to bite them a little later, when Smithy was absolutely plumb to Broad, the umpire gave him not out, and they had no comeback. There are so many ways the DRS can affect the game – Cook was now going through what I’d gone through in the first two Test matches, when you can lose your reviews very easily and then find yourself with no recourse when you get a shocker. The cricket community needs to think very hard about how to improve the system.

Root came on for a couple of overs after tea, but lightning didn’t strike twice. Smithy and I battled on, urging each other to play straight and keep concentrating. Steve began to relax and play more of his natural game, while I struggled along, still feeling that I was short of my best rhythm. But the England bowlers, we could see, were growing tired and frustrated. Anderson’s body language was looking a bit as if he thought this wasn’t his day, and Broad kept stopping the game to repair the ground. The wicket was much harder than at Lord’s, and Swann wasn’t getting as much bite.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the partnership was that we didn’t panic when they dried us up. When I got to 90, I spent about four or five overs when I didn’t score a run. Smithy also went through lean patches. But the runs came again, and England misfielded, giving us more, as they grew tired. I drove Bresnan down the ground for four, but got through the rest of the 90s in singles. In these conditions, your potential worst enemy is yourself. The bowlers want you to get yourself out through impatience. It was hot and humid, as much a test for us as for them. I got to my hundred, but didn’t celebrate with any huge theatrics. It felt almost like a 50 – the job was half done.

You can never relax for a moment. There’s always a new threat. I played some streaky shots off Bresnan, who kept persisting, and then England took the second new ball. Anderson and Broad came back on for a last fling, but they bowled some loose ones, and Smithy and I found that the new ball was coming off the bat a heck of a lot faster. Broad soon seemed more interested in pitch repairs, again, and Anderson fell over after bowling a short one at me. He then bowled round the wicket, as if he couldn’t handle the footholes at all, and was taken off. For us, that brief new-ball spell was a small victory. Seven overs into the second new ball, Swann was back on.

Importantly, we finished the day off. It’s all very well to make some runs, but you can undo your good work if you lose wickets late in the afternoon. Smithy and I drove each other on to maintain concentration, and we completed the session together.

Once I got back to the hotel, I went straight to Alex for some physio. My back isn’t 100 per cent, but if it’s going to hurt, I’d rather it hurt after several hours of batting. It’s no secret that I’m under pressure to lead from the front and make sure I’m scoring runs as a batsman. It’s nice to get a few at last. I’ve been working so hard, and am happy to see it pay off.

But tomorrow’s another day, and we need to be vigilant, or else what could be a commanding score will be just another mediocre one.

Friday 2 August.
Manchester.

We’re in a fantastic position after another good day, probably our best in the series. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, but finally we’re in the dominant role and have England on the defensive.

It was another warm day, and Smithy and I set out with great determination to keep the initiative and not give away our wickets. I had a slow start, playing out some maiden overs and not having much strike otherwise. Smithy was into his stride early, and I was very excited at the prospect of his First Test century. He’s a much-improved batsman and he really deserved the three figures today, with a mix of stolid concentration and some beautiful shots, particularly through the off side.

Anderson and Broad came quite hard at us with the ball still new, but Broad was replaced by Bresnan after three overs. Anderson had a big appeal for LBW against Smithy turned down when his bowling hand brushed the bails on the way through and it was called a no-ball, a new law in operation for a few months. At any rate, it wasn’t going to be out.

I was moving a bit more freely than yesterday, and took on Bresnan when he bowled some wide ones outside off. There was a short cover and a deepish cover. I drove him in the air between the two, and then straight above Swann’s head at short cover. He got his hands to it and knocked it up, but it fell behind him and in front of the cover fielder further back. I was lucky, and knuckled down again to turn my hundred into a big one. Runs are always going to be easier now than later on, so I mustn’t give it away when I’m settled in.

Smithy, meanwhile, was working his way towards his hundred. Swann came on from the Pavilion end, and tied him down with a few good balls. I’m sure Steve was starting to get nervous, because there’s no other explanation for what he did next, losing concentration and trying to hoist Swann into the new big red conference centre overlooking the ground from wide mid-on. The ball went straight up, and Smithy went off cursing himself. It’s the third time he’s been out close to a Test century. But I’m sure the youngster will get plenty more chances, the way he’s going now.

An interesting moment ensued, when the crowd gave a prolonged boo for Davey Warner’s entry. I had a good chat with him about the situation, and while he was nervous I’m sure he’s the type of character who enjoys the confrontation. It’s all part of the show. Joe Root wandered over and said, ‘It’s been a long two months, hasn’t it?’ which Davey found pretty funny.

I was getting some width from Bresnan. Three fours off three balls felt like a nice change, as it hadn’t been an innings in which I’d ever scored freely for long.

Davey looked like he was getting into the mood too, coming down the wicket and cover-driving Swann nicely for four. But three balls later, the ball turned away from his forward defense and he nicked it. It bounced off Prior’s thigh and popped gently to Trott at slip. At least, that’s what everyone thought. But when Davey was given out, he came down the wicket to me and said, ‘I don’t think I hit it.’

I didn’t say much. I thought he’d hit it, but he said he’d hit his pad. He was extremely confident he didn’t hit it and wanted a review so I decided to back him, but sure enough the replay confirmed the big edge we’d all seen. Davey was booed off, but I doubt he would even have heard it. Having been booed myself, not only in a foreign country but by home crowds, I accept it as part of the game, and Davey is also one of those guys who is less likely to be bothered by it than stimulated by the challenge.

We had to push on, though, and Brad Haddin came out and played with fantastic intent from ball one. He lofted Swann over mid-wicket, then deposited Anderson over mid-on. When Hadds is playing his best cricket, this is the way he bats, and it’s beautiful to watch.

The game moved into another of those phases where we were trying to press forward and England wanted to slow us down, which they attempted through tighter bowling and stopping the game for sawdust, pitch repairs, and so on. We expected a bit of gamesmanship, and generally laughed it off. Prior dropped Hadds off an inside edge, which helped our cause, and we were enjoying batting together.

There hadn’t been too many demons in the pitch. It’s very hard underneath. But now and then something is happening, some up-and-down bounce. Broad, to try a different tactic, came back on from the Statham end and bowled a lot of bouncers at me. Eventually one of them jagged back a mile, and I tried to weave out of the way. It followed me, got tangled up in my gloves and midriff, then dropped down onto the stumps.