Published: Jul 30, 2015, 07:49 AM (IST)
Edited: Jul 30, 2015, 07:49 AM (IST)
After Australia were shot out for a paltry 136, they required something special in the bowling department to bring back the balance of the the third Ashes 2015 Test in their favour. However, Australia were unable to do so. Rishad D’Souza delves in first day’s play at Edgbaston to emphasise on Michale Clarke‘s inability to think on his feet.
Before the points are put on the table, the author would like to clarify that his general opinion of Captain Clarke is favourable. Along with coach Darren Lehmann he hatches brilliant ploys, taking into consideration not only his bowler’s strengths, but also the oppositions’ weaknesses. Moreover, he has utmost confidence in his plans and backs them to work even when chips are down. He puts heavy weightage on the virtue of persistence. But there’s a thin line between persistence and stubbornness which Clarke tends to overlook quite often. After the early wicket of an out of form Adam Lyth a misfiring Ian Bell walked out to the middle. The plan to him was quite obvious, bowl full outside off and lure him into the drive. Along with the generous movement the conditions had to offer, the ploy should have worked perfect. READ: England trail Australia by 3 runs at stumps on Day 1 of 3rd Ashes 2015 Test at Edgbaston
Only it didn’t. Bell found his timing right and each time he went for the drive, the Australian eyes lit up only to go back into dejection because Bell nailed everything beautifully. Each cover drive he played was a work of art. But Clarke was persistent, he was confident that Bell would nick one anytime. READ: James Anderson shows pace and bounce is not the only way to take wickets
That nick never came and with every boundary Bell creamed through the off side England got 3% closer to closing in on Australia’s first innings total. Clarke’s persistence soon looked rather futile. Whether this spoke of Clarke’s stubbornness or his lack of ability to generate quick ideas is up for debate. Either way, it’s effects are averse. READ: Chris Rogers laments Australia’s lack of fight
Bell finally ended up with an absolutely delightful 53 before he was dismissed by Nathan Lyon. Bell got unnecessarily carried away into trying to hit him over the top when he saw the flight, but the ball dipped sharply at the last minute getting Bell’s leading edge which was pouched by David Warner.
Bell will kick himself for trying to go over the top when he was playing so fabulously through the ground. Nevertheless, his contribution to England’s success on day one can’t be overstated. Perhaps, if Clarke had been more proactive in switching plans earlier Bell would’ve departed for half as many runs.
A similar thing was noticed during the first Test at Cardiff when England batted first and Clarke’s obvious plan was to pepper the batsmen with short bowling in order to recreate in English minds the gory details of their humiliation in the previous Ashes series. But even after sufficient indication that the pitch didn’t offer the sort of bounce to trouble the batsmen Clarke refused to diverge from plan A.
In the process the Englishmen piled the runs and set up victory for themselves. In their tour of UAE, just after the Ashes 2013-14 and the successful away series in South Africa, Clarke seemed to be too rigid with his plans. Australia lost both Tests in the series. Clarke is a great planner and his plans work often but when they don’t Clarke’s inability to think instinctively is exposed. He’s a good captain, but to be great he’ll have to add that one facet to his leadership.
(Rishad D’Souza, a reporter with CricketCountry, gave up hopes of playing Test cricket after a poor gully-cricket career. He now reports on the sport. You can follow @RishadDsouza on Twitter)
