The Serve

Hit and giggle, but England pass the first test

Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie hadn’t even had a chance to get off the field before Ricky Ponting and Michael Vaughan hurriedly told everyone who’d listen that the Twenty20 match meant nothing.

 

Garbage.

 

It’s true that Kevin Pietersen’s quickfire 34 will not necessarily translate into a run feast in the Ashes. He might not even be there. It’s true that Darren Gough, the man who virtually ended this match in two deliveries, definitely won’t be playing the tests, and its true that when Australian sporting fans read the name ‘Jon Lewis’ in the paper, they’ll probably still think its a reference Carl’s less successful little brother rather than a guy who took 4 for 24 against the greatest team in the history of cricket. And yes, it’s true that losing a hit and giggle game by 100 runs will be forgotten as soon as the Australians bowl out Bangladesh for seven in the first one dayer.

 

But imagine this: Imagine Australia won the hit and giggle game by 100 runs. We’d be hearing about mental strangleholds and old wounds. England would be finished, the rest of the tour just an inevitability.

 

So why shouldn’t this mean something?

 

Most of you would’ve only seen highlights of this game via the television news or the paper. Plenty was made about the ’31 for 7’ scoreline. Plenty was made about this world class batting line up being skittled in 19 balls. All seven of them. Of course there were the pictures of a rampant Gough, eyes popping out like Rodney Dangerfield. And plenty should be made about it. This might be Twenty20, but these are proud athletes who will be embarrassed about that scoreline.

 

Here’s what you wouldn’t have seen: England were challenged several times during their innings, and they didn’t crumble. Not once. The spectators seemed happy when their opener Geraint Jones went, because that meant no more waiting for Andy Flintoff. Forget the next Botham, this guy has been pumped up so much, Ponting says he’d be good enough to make the Aussie XI. That’s hype. So Flintoff goes after 5 balls, yet things keep swimming along. Pietersen and Vaughan exit in quick succession, 4 for 102, but once again the home side pick up the pieces. The part time spin of Clarke and Symonds are causing problems. No panic, the batsmen grind it out and wait for the quicks before they cash their cheques. Even at the end, the English have a glut of workers rather than sloggers, but they find a way. They were presented with more than enough opportunities to cave, yet they didn’t. These are only minor victories, but importantly they’re not minor blips.

 

We might be reading waaay too much into these little mental battles. Perhaps we’re looking for an angle because we all know there’s still another month of fairy floss before the first test. The thing is, the Aussies keep talking about their mental strengths, while the English keep trying to convince everyone, maybe themselves most of all, that they will not be overawed. So the mental game becomes a factor.

 

Just look at the last two English Ashes series. In 97, the home side crushed the Aussies, led by a struggling Mark Taylor, 3-nil in the one dayers, then piled on a first innings lead of over 300 in the first test. What happened? England go on to win that test, but Taylor makes a century in the 2^nd innings, thus saving his position. It was the first thing to go wrong for the English that summer, and that was all it took. Normality resumes, with the Australian landslide pausing only for the dead rubber.

 

In 2001, the English get a rare chance to steal a one dayer against the red hot world champs. Their romp towards a mediocre victory target ends when they get rolled for 86. Mental battle over. Australia steams through the meaningless tournament undefeated, then wins the Ashes in eleven days.

 

Now, none of the Aussies batsmen are going to pour through the Twenty20 video looking for deficiencies in their technique, nor will Gillespie or Lee be laying on the couch spilling their guts after they were touched up. Why should they? It was just a hit and giggle match, but England looked the Aussies in the eye.

 

It’s a nice change.

 

Game on.