Ashes 2013-14 1st Test: England gain upper hand on Day 1

Shane Watson seemed so focused on his front-foot defence that he neglected his back-foot game © Getty Images (File Photo)

Nov 21, 2013

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The playing eleven was as predicted, the decision to bat first was also as predicted and so was the predictable Australian top order collapse. On a pitch that looked easy paced, the Australian batsmen failed to find a game plan between pure aggression and rock-solid defence.

David Warner started as he would in a T20 match racing to 18 off 14 balls including four boundaries. But after he went into a conservative mindset, Warner managed only two fours and scored 31 off next 68 balls.  While he did leave the ball well and England bowled accurately; if he had kept the same mindset when he first started, Australia could have reached hundred at lunch.

Shane Watson in the meantime seemed so focused on his front-foot defence that he neglected his back-foot game. Watson’s innings of 22 was his slowest when he has crossed 20 in Test cricket and his mindset set right from the start signified a batting approach that was alien to him. England deserved the credit for placing straight mid-on and a straight short mid-wicket. The field that was set encouraged Watson to play across the line, but he resisted the temptation and got bogged down, as he could not find an alternative way to score.  Finally, he poked at a ball that he could have left alone.

Steven Smith was the only Australian batsman to show initiative on taking quick singles and rotating the strike. Through his brief stay, Smith managed to push the ball into gaps and used his hands cleverly to ensure the singles were the best way of putting England on the back-foot.

Even later in the day when Johnson and Haddin helped Australia to recover, the singles they managed were through clip off the legs or thighs rather than using soft hands to place the probing lines outside the off-stump.  

Throughout the day, the Australians played out 412 dot balls out of 560 balls, which effectively meant that they failed to score of 75% off the deliveries. It enabled England to bog Australia down and bowl consecutively at one batsman.   

Australia might well be satisfied at the close of the Day One, but on a pitch that was termed as ‘best’ looking Gabba pitch on Day One by Shane Warne, by blocking too many balls they allowed England to gain the upper hand.

(Gaurav Joshi is an Indian-born Australian who played with Michael Clarke in his junior days. He coaches and reports for a Sydney radio station. Over the years he has freelanced for Australia Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and is a regular on ABC cricket show Cow Corner. He is the author of the book “Teen Thunder Down Under” – The inside story of India’s 2012 U19 World Cup Triumph)