We got away with it, just. But, amidst relief that the draw was secured, we shouldn't forget some significant England shortcomings in the first test. The first one: we gave away 19 wickets, and gave away really is the term, on a placid wicket. KP's gone down as the scapegoat, but can you remember more than three England wickets that were unavoidable, where the ball was 'just too good'? The facts: In 211.5 overs, across both innings, England lost 19 wickets. In 181 overs, Australia lost only 6.
The tail-enders may have stolen the headlines, but it was Paul Collingwood who saved the match for England. He batted for nearly six hours, scoring 74 off 245 balls. Perhaps a result of his limited-overs captaincy, he took responsibility for his wicket, and his side, with rare bravery. When he got out, he was visibly gutted, as he thought that one lapse had cost England the first test. Collingwood is not brilliant, but attritional, obdurate. He'd be a great Aussie.
One of the great things about Test cricket is the way that momentum can swing back and forth on numerous occasions. It can go one side’s way for two days, and then just one strike – bang – a wicket, even a boundary or two, and the game’s going the other way. Talk about an Ashes series. 5 Tests, and after securing that draw in the first, England are on the front foot. The back-to-back set-up of these first Two tests allows England to capitalise, starting tomorrow.
Australia's failure to finish off England in Cardiff on Monday is a damming reflection of the fallibilities in Ricky Ponting's captaincy. Ponting, as a captain, not a batsman, lacks the killer instinct. Michael Vaughan had that sniff of opportunity, of the movement to be aggressive with his bowlers and his field. It's too early to know if Andrew Strauss has it, but he'd do well not to copy his Australian counterpart. Ponting twice let England off the hook, at 70-5 and again when Panesar came to the wicket. Monty, possessing a Test batting average of 5.33, survived for 35 balls to bring England home. For some bizarre reason, Ponting partnered Nathan Hauritz with part-time off-spinner Marcus North. Monty understands spin. Why not send in Mitchell Johnson and Peter Siddle to use his ankles as target practice? It would have only taken one ball that came in a little bit too quick, one LBW, and Australia would have been one up.
The age of the all-rounder has begun. Between them, England and Australia only had the single real one - Andrew Flintoff - before the Ashes begun, but many more stood up over five days in Cardiff. Ponting trusted batsmen North's off-spin to take that final wicket, and Katich and Clarke had a go with the ball too. For England, Paul Collingwood - who excels in the third discipline, fielding - took Brad Haddin's wicket with his medium-pacers, whilst Freddie looks more comfortable with the bat than he has done in a while, on his way back to being a genuine all-rounder, rather than a bowler who bats. Graeme Swann scored 47 not out and 31, Stuart Broad was disappointed with 17 and 14 and James Anderson notched up 26 and 21. England's 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 can all bowl and bat then. Such multidisciplinary adeptness is becoming a feature of twenty-first century sport. Rugby league has been full of identikit 6'2", 14 stone plus clones for every position now, but union is following suit. Gethin Jenkins is the finest prop in the Northern Hemisphere because he rucks like a back row, and Mike Phillips the finest scrum half because he can tackle and break tackles well enough to be trusted at centre. Duncan Fletcher, in his time as England head coach, taught each bowler that he had a responsibility with the bat too. You have to take all 10 wickets to get England out nowadays, as Australia are all too aware.
Monty Panesar should be dropped. First up, he has failed to replicate his new-found maturity with the bat when doing his day job, bowling. Figures of 1-115 tell a story of a man who keeps on rolling out the same delivery, failing in the essential demand of making batsmen uncomfortable. But, just as important, dropping the Barmy Army's cult hero would send a powerful message in a series where the phoney war is nearly as important as the real thing. Taking heed of Michael Vaughan's admission that seeing Australia (that's Australia) celebrate a draw (yes, a draw) at Old Trafford in 2005 made his team realise how close they were to doing something special, England didn't over-celebrate their rescued test in Cardiff. It also can't be bad news that we're already under Ricky Ponting's skin. The Australian captain is a genius with the bat, but has pyschological weaknesses that can be exploited. Dropping Panesar for the second test would show that there's no room for sentiment in the England camp. We mean business.
Check this lot out for a 6-a-side cricket side: Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne. Not bad eh? Why do I group them together? Because they were wearing the baggy green in the 2005 Ashes series, and aren't here four years on. (I, like all other Englishmen, am still pretending 2006-07 didn't happen!) Australia arrived in 2005 as a side near the peak of their powers, comfortably the best test side in the world, and having won in India in 2004, with their main men enjoying continued success towards their twilight years. Somehow, England dragged themselves upto - and even beyond - the tourists' level. Four years on and I'm worried England - admittedly, a side who have endured considerable turmoil off the field in the last 12 months, but been reasonably settled on it - being pulled down to the Australians' - an inexperienced side who lost a home test series to South Africa over the winter - level.
Can a set of 22 (rising towards 26 by the end of the series) who don't come close to the 2005 bunch produce the same levels of sporting drama, if not excellence? Thankfully, it seems they can.
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