At 10:30 a.m. a rain shower hit Lord’s. That rain shower still, may, possibly, have caused England’s downfall. Here’s one lesson I learned – and this England team goes on about learning lessons – from Adelaide. When you’ve got your foot on the Aussie windpipe, you don’t let it go. You never give this team the hint of a chance. When England saw the rain, read the forecast, and decided to declare thinking the day’s weather would be a continuation of the first shower at 10:30, they made, in my mind, a tactical mistake. England were not giving themselves six sessions to bowl out the Aussies. They were giving themselves five. Because if Australia were still batting at tea on day 5, and there had been no major interruptions, Australia would be around 520. It would take them, at the pace they score, 150 overs to get them – not 190 odd.
Of course, when Australia lost Marcus North with the score 128 for 5 and just under 400 to win for Clarke, Haddin and the tail to get, the declaration looked fine. But this lot are never beaten, and 185 runs further on with no loss, with Michael Clarke looking in superb nick and Brad Haddin giving him ample support, Australia are in with a sniff of a chance. If the situation were reversed, we’d believe we were out of the game, but it is a measure of Australia’s self belief that they think they can do it. When you also consider that three out of the five dismissals today were of the dodgy variety, you know (a) how absolutely mindless sticking them in again would have been, although I never expect the cognoscenti to agree and (b) why we should have batted another hour. This is a flat deck on which we’ve outbowled and thus far outbatted the Aussies. If they had this score following on, England would be 100 behind and five wickets left. Another 100 on for this mob and we’d be chasing 200 to win. That’s just what we would have wanted.
Much rests on the new ball tomorrow, which is currently just five overs old. An early breakthrough would soothe the nerves, but the game would not be won. We have to take our chances. 208 is still a fair amount to get on a pitch taking spin, with a little uneven bounce and a five man attack which will have rested overnight. Get through that first hour and it’ll start becoming squeaky bum time. Get to lunch and no wickets are down, and the button marked “panic” may be pressed.
Clarke has batted superbly, and he’s got to get a career best to win the game for the Aussies. Haddin will also look to tee off if he loses Clarke and that will be the test. The weather is supposedly set fair tomorrow. England need cool heads, and perhaps a touch of luck to get that breakthrough. It is going to be tense, I’m sure. If this game were lost, then it would put the debacle of Adelaide in the shade. Miracles do happen, though, and this England team can show a worrying propensity to look absolutely clueless at times, so I dread tomorrow, rather than look forward to it. Come on Freddie – for once bowl us to victory.
