Adelaide Test Experience

The first morning of the Second Ashes Test in Adelaide dawned fair and sunny as expected and England stood tall in a day dominated by Michael Vaughan of Yorkshire, who credits much of his development as a batsman to his current County skipper, one Darren “Boof” Lehmann, of South Australia. Boof has encouraged him to back himself and go for his shots and that is precisely how he repaid that faith on Day One, a half a world away, at the world’s most beautiful cricket ground.
Your correspondent broke normal form and actually arrived an hour early at the Adelaide Oval - that priceless piece of real estate below the statue of Colonel William Light. The visionary Survey-General’s foresight in 1836 - mapping out the compact city of Adelaide well away from the mangroves of the Port - ensured that the flats immediately north of the River Torrens would be identified as an ideal location for the sporting endeavours of the free settlers. Even the good Colonel might have been bemused at the colour and spectacle that was the assembled faithful below Montefiore Hill, buzzing with expectation of that annual event, the Adelaide Test Match.
The nets behind the Mostyn Evan Stand crawled with activity. Crowds six deep observed with bated breath the steely concentration of Ricky Ponting as he worked the pull shot, that most productive of strokes, given Adelaide’s short square boundaries. He would profit greatly from in his masterly 154 on Days Two and Three but also get out to it in the end. Coach Buchanan jogged in and chucked short, as Punter rocked back again and again, pulling and hooking into the net next to him. On the far side, Justin Langer relentlessly feasted on the bowling of a half a dozen Academy bowlers, all of whom tore in and bowled flat out.
The Toss
A quick perusal of the giant marquee out the back, which occupies nearly half of Adelaide Number Two ground, showed that the same Asian and seafood lunches would be available this year, all at the predictable 20% price rises. When you have an oligopoly, why wouldn’t you? One café latte later, I made my way to my preferred location by the Players’ Gate, in time for the toss, which was won by Nasser Hussain. A huge cheer erupted from the assembled Barmy Army host, from their position under the heritage-listed scoreboard, when Nasser got it right for a change, and elected to bat. The national anthems followed, as two junior cricketers had their moment in the spotlight, holding the Union Jack and the Southern Cross high.
I was able to wish both local Adelaide heroes Dizzy and Boof good luck as they came off the ground after the pre-match warmup. Steve Waugh returned to the George Giffen stand, resplendent in his blazer and ‘rejuvenated’ Baggygreen’ cap, which was featured on the front page of today’s local Murdoch tabloid.
‘The cap looks good, Steve,’ I shouted in passing and the Australian captain favoured me with a slightly ironic grin.
Shortly after, the team returned to take the field, looking bouyant. As Warney stepped onto the manicured turf, he shouted: ‘Come on!’ in Lleyton Hewett style. The lads bounded out to the centre, body language somewhere between ‘business-like’ and ‘primed for destruction’. Messres Trescothick and Vaughan followed, to warm Adelaide applause, but with quacking noises from the ebullient young men on the fence in front of me, who were already into their fourth round of beers.
Barmy Army Strike First
McGrath bowled a tidy first over – a maiden - and Gillespie began beautifully, drawing an edge from Trescothick. The Barmy Army launched into a musical taunt that they get three dollars to the (English) pound as Pigeon had Vaughan playing and missing. Dizzy’s second over was all in the low to mid 140s and the Poms were struggling to lay bat on ball. For a couple of overs, Vaughan would not be drawn into a shot, as Pigeon’s off stump line was too good. The Yorkshireman passed the early test.
Gillespie was pitching up in the main, dropping short only occasionally, but Trescothick slashed at the man who is becoming his Tormentor-in-general, slicing him over the slips for four. McGrath drew another false stroke from Vaughan at 0-28, but the bat just caressed fresh air. After 35 minutes there were still four slips and two gullies with Darren Lehmann out in familiar territory at mid on and Bichel at mid off, the only men in front of the wicket.
The first bowling change occurred shortly after, when Bichel took over from McGrath at the Cathedral End, only to have Michael Vaughan pull his fourth ball into the garden seats just fifteen metres from where your correspondent had placed himself for the crowd catch. The idiot in the unbecoming South Sea island shirt spilled the straightforward chance at immortality and the England opener’s confidence swelled almost visibly.
Shortly afterwards, Vaughan got a thick outside edge on a ball from Bichel, which appeared to me to travel on the full to a diving Langer in cover. The boys engulfed him joyously, only to see the batsman stand his ground and Umpire Koertzen consult with Steve Davis upstairs, who took a couple of minutes to conclude that the ball may have brushed the turf as Langer was getting his hands around it. It appeared a little fortunate to me, but little strokes of luck like that can have enormous impacts on Test matches and the careers of individuals.
Gillespie was the next unlucky Australian, as Trescothick slashed him to the right of Hayden at third slip, who grassed the difficult chance. After Dizzy’s seventh over, McGrath replaced him at the River End, drawing an attacking slash from Vaughan. The England batsmen were seeking to attack, any early life from the wicket that hinted at a bit of green having melted into the benevolent South Australian sunshine. At the first drinks break of the Test, England sat on a promising 0-47.
What a Catch!
Just after the break Bichel had Trescothick with a ‘one hand one bounce’ return catch. Unfortunately, backyard cricket rules can’t apply in Tests, but the adjudication of Davis was nevertheless sought. Shortly after, Vaughan celebrated this by hooking Bichel into the members, near the tractor, with the man at deep (members’) backward square taking an excellent catch.
At 0-63, Vaughan went after Warne in his first over, smacking him for two fours, racing to his fifty shortly after, with a nice late cut to the boundary near your correspondent. Pigeon broke through not long after, inducing the cut shot from Trescothick, only for the Banger from Somerset to drag it onto his stumps. As he made his unhappy way through the Players’ Gate, one of the lads in front suggested very firmly to him that – in Adelaide – if you get to 35, you should be able to move on to a hundred. Tresco gave him a sideways glance of baleful intensity that was beautiful to see.
Surprisingly, Robert Key emerged at Number Three, although later we learnt that Butcher was struggling with a migraine headache. Key was immediately surrounded by Lehmann at short leg, Ponting at silly point, Martyn at slip and Hayden at a leg gully. Key turned one around the corner for one, but Warne had an LBW shout against him shortly after, Key playing back on his stumps, only the height of the ball saving him.
After 27 overs England had reached 1-94 with Vaughan on 56. Immediately after lunch, there was an LBW shout against Key from Warne and in the next over, Warne leapt into the air and almost pulled in a glorious slips catch from the bowling of the unlucky Gillespie. Vaughan slashed at him and it flicked frustratingly from Warne’s grasping right hand to the fence.
Goodbye Mr Key
Shortly afterwards, at 1-106, Key tried to force Warne through cover, but Ponting at silly point juggled a very sharp chance, but hooked it in as he crashed to the turf. Once again, Steve Davis had to look at the video, but this time it was ‘Goodbye, Robert Key’. Ironically, a single run was the end result of all the endless rhetoric during the buildup to the match, in which the comparative merits of Key and Crawley were agonised over, until Creepy’s hip injury rendered all further discourse irrelevant. Our friends in front felt strongly enough about it to point out to Key on his exit through the Players’ Gate that his one run represented something less than a successful visit to the middle of the Adelaide Oval. Key’s evil eye on them was chilling to behold.
Vaughan had a huge dash at Dizzy off the back foot shortly after, spooned it, and Steve Waugh, sprinting in from cover, couldn’t quite get there. Dizzy was bowling superbly, with no luck at all, showing all the form and substance that earnt him the Wisden nomination as one of the five most influential cricketers of the year.
Hussain chanced the luck of the English to get off the mark with a short single, with Bichel’s throw at the stumps narrowly missing. Hussain began essaying the sweep shot against the leg spinner, the intention clearly being not to be intimidated, during the terse examination to which the England captain was subjected by Warne from the Cathedral End and Gillespie from the River End. Hussain broke the shackles with an audacious boundary from Warne, but Vaughan could have been run out a few balls later, had Steve Waugh’s throw from cover not missed the stumps at the bowler’s end by a centimetre.
At 2-133 there was a palpable sense that England was gaining the upper hand at the halfway mark. The wicket had settled into one that would be ideal for batsmen and England had ridden her luck to very real scoreboard effect, with Vaughan – on 76 - making Australia pay for not grasping those half-chances. Warne continued to toss up to Hussain, in particular, the wicket only affording him limited, slow-ish turn.