Saturday 18 December 2010
Perth Day 3: Australia 268 & 309 all out, England 187 & 81 for 5 oh no not again It was fancy dress Saturday at the WACA and unsurprisingly the theme revolved around Christmas. Except for the guys who always come dressed as women of course. Some things never change, particularly the copious chest hair. On the pitch it was as if Christmas had come early for Australia as England gifted them five top order wickets in the last two hours of play to leave the tourists hopelessly adrift at today's close. Now only a miracle can stop Australia winning tomorrow and pegging the series back to 1-1 with two to play. England's hope of early wickets to atone for their poor performance on Day 2 failed to materialise under a perfect Perth sky. Both Shane Watson (95) and Michael Hussey (116) again made batting look ridiculously easy on a surface which has so far seen 35 wickets fall in only three days play. Hussey in particular continues to be a nasty thorn in England's side as he reached a sixth consecutive score of over 50 - the first man in Ashes history to achieve this. Despite finding his limpet-like presence at the crease incredibly irritating, the Barmy Army sportingly rose as one man to applaud another superb hundred. Quite amazing consistency from the Huss. I wrote yesterday that England would need to find a hero of their own to match Mitchell Johnson's feats with bat and ball. Finally, in the afternoon session, we found our man in the guise of the giant Chris Tremlett who took his first 5 wicket haul in Tests to reduce Australia from a commanding 252 for 4 to 309 all out. And nobody in our row believed me when I called 310 as the final Australian total once they lost their fifth wicket. Nor was my prediction yesterday too shabby that England would be set 380-400 to win - the target is smack in the middle at 391. History tells us of course that such high totals are rarely achieved in the 4th innings of a Test match. And certainly not by England. Yet England's recovery with the ball this afternoon, combined with their imperious batting performances in Brisbane and Adelaide, encouraged a romantic belief that this total may not be out of reach. After all, there were still two days and two hours to go in this game. And surely this England team could not bat quite so badly twice in one match. But naive hope soon turned to crushing disappointment as, one by one, the England batsmen gave away their wickets in the short time which remained today. This appeared not to be due to good bowling, as in the first innings, but simply poor application and shot selection. Put bluntly, England's batsmen have not turned up for this match, which has been hugely disappointing after their earlier domination in this series. How quickly things can turn around at this level if you take your eye off the ball for a minute or two. So, we will duly turn up tomorrow morning for a jolly good sing-song and to administer the last rites on this pitiful England performance (not forgetting a really good Australian one, of course). More importantly, I will be going to the airport in mid-afternoon to pick Jayne, Annabel and Simon up from their flight from Singapore. After three weeks away on my own, I can't wait to see them again.
