The Ashes Diary Page 6

  Inevitably there’s something you can laugh about in these moments, and the funny side of this was that I’d just stuffed about two full packets of chewing gum into my mouth, and while I was appealing, my cheek was bulging like a chipmunk with a mouthful of acorns. Mum always said, ‘Don’t speak with your mouth full!’ and here I was being beamed around the world, with a gob full of chewing gum.

  Anyway, there was nothing to laugh about at the time. I wish we could have stayed ‘in the moment’ and been able to forget the matter instantly. Peter Siddle bowled to Bell, and he defended it. I took my gum out of my mouth and threw it away. The game doesn’t stop just because something’s gone against you.

  Next ball, Bell drove at a ball that tailed away, and got a nick. It flew very low between Hadds and me. Hadds dived to his right, but the ball went below his glove. Being such an outstanding keeper, Hadds would have expected to take it. Sidds was filthy – at the situation, not at Hadds – and it was one of those moments when a piece of freakish cricket could have changed the mood back our way again. I don’t blame Hadds for one moment, as he kept going with great polish throughout a long hot day, and he had enough recriminations against himself. It was barely even a chance, that’s how low and fast it went. It’s always a good lesson, but it happens so often: the game doesn’t stop.

  This was one of those critical moments when the senior players have to show leadership. Jimmy Pattinson had a good appeal against Bell turned down, and umpire Kumar Dharmasena had to have a word to calm things down. But I felt that the boys showed remarkable restraint in the circumstances. Hadds and I decided to run fast between overs, like it was the first over of the day and we were full of spring, to gee the team up. We just had to show that we weren’t going to lose our bottle. At the end of play, I personally went around to each of the bowlers and congratulated them. Whatever had happened in the last hour was something that involved the umpire and the batsman. Our part in the day was to have bowled and fielded with great patience and discipline, and I was proud of the boys.

  The bowlers are very stiff and sore now. We’ve bowled something like 140 overs and tried everything we could think of to take wickets. The boys worked their backsides off, but didn’t have a lot of luck.

  Reverse swing and Swann’s spin are going to be big factors in the second innings, but I think if we can restrict England’s lead to somewhere between 290 and 315, we’ll have a target we can chase down.

  Saturday 13 July. Nottingham.

  What a day – again! Another hot day, both in the weather and under our collars. Keeping cool is the constant challenge, both physically and metaphorically.

  We were desperate to clean up England’s last four wickets, both to limit the number of runs we would be chasing and to get the best of batting conditions on a pitch that is showing signs of wear, but still playing well enough.

  The bowlers were exceedingly tired after how hard they’d worked yesterday, so the start was a bit ropy. The coaches and I talked about bowling with discipline, and they started a bit loosely. Then, a couple of overs in, Shane Watson and I moved away from each other in slips, each expecting the other to go for the ball, when Stuart Broad nicked one off James Pattinson. We’ve done so much slips catching practice that this was disappointing, but sometimes the ball flies into that exact centre point between you, so you each want to leave it for the other. Anyway, it was no excuse. I thought it was Watto’s catch, and Watto thought it was my catch, and we were both feeling apologetic.

  Fortunately, we didn’t have to pay too dearly. Our pacemen finished off the England innings before lunch, and we were left with 311 to win – pretty much within the band I was looking for when we arrived at the ground today. We’re good enough to get these runs, and the pitch, while difficult, is not a nightmare by any means.

  As we became used to in India on these dry, abrasive pitches, scoring is easiest against the new ball. It was essential for Watto and Chris Rogers to build a firm foundation and put a high price on their wickets. After a play and miss at James Anderson’s first ball, Watto played extremely well. I think it surprised some people that he went about his job patiently and methodically, when they might have expected him to go out and have a blast. It was a mature start. We expected no less from Chris, who was rock-steady again, providing a great example. They both got a few fours away early, but when things tightened up, they had the maturity to fight their way through the tough patches. Anderson tried to cramp Chris from around the wicket, but he was good enough to get through that period and won a small victory when Anderson was taken off, quite expensive, without a breakthrough.

  Swann was brought on to bowl in the first over after lunch. As expected, he was going to wheel away from one end while Cook rotated his pace bowlers at the other. Or at least Anderson and Broad – Finn seems to have fallen out of favour for the moment.

  Shane and Chris kept going, and in the dressing room we had a quiet feeling that we could do this. Swann was getting some turn, but it was slow off the deck and it wasn’t jumping. The odd one was keeping low, but the dangerous ball that can pop up and off the glove or the shoulder of the bat wasn’t in evidence. The slowness of the wicket meant that when Swann did drop short, he was quite hittable, and Chris and Shane both cashed in with some good pulls and cuts, and Shane put him away with one big sweep shot from outside off stump. Otherwise, the boys were watchful and looked to play straight.

  As the afternoon session wore on, the ball wasn’t swinging and the English fielding started to get a bit sloppy. This was what we wanted: for them to start questioning whether they were going to get a wicket. Shifts in pressure are subtle, but all-important. Of course you feel pressure as a batting team chasing a big total – 311 will be a record on this ground – but also, the longer a partnership goes on, the more that pressure shifts across towards the bowlers and fielders and their captain.

  It was going perfectly until the drinks break in the middle of the day. Shane and Chris had been together for 24 overs. First ball after drinks, Broad got a bit of inswing and Shane played slightly down the wrong line. Aleem Dar gave him out – which proved he had a finger, after all! – but Watto had taken a big stride forward and felt that the ball had swung enough to be missing leg stump, so he made the decision to ask for a review. That was okay, as he and Chris were going so well together, and I would back Shane in that situation. In the end, it was super-close. According to Hawk-Eye, it was just nicking leg stump, which meant the umpire’s call would stand. That meant a double loss for us: losing Shane, and losing a review.

  Eddie Cowan was on a king pair. Any time that’s the case, you’re nervous, but he worked his way through it. Meanwhile, Chris was given out, caught behind off a big turner from Swann, but immediately reviewed it. Even though the English fielders were carrying on, we felt pretty safe. When someone like Chris reviews a caught-behind decision that quickly, you know he hasn’t hit it. Sure enough, the ball might have made a noise when it grazed his pad, but it was nowhere near his bat.

  Ed and Chris worked well together for an hour. Now it looked like this could be the big partnership we needed to build our innings around. Finn came on, but Ed hit him and Swann for some nice boundaries. Chris brought up his First Test 50, and we were all very pleased for him. It’s been a long time coming, to say the least!

  They got close to tea. When the tension is so high, and the batsmen are locked inside their bubble of concentration, an interval is often the last thing they need. Replacing Finn after three overs, Cook brought Joe Root on to bowl a couple of overs of what looked like some pretty regulation off-spin. Chris dealt with his first over easily, but then, on the third-last ball before the break, which Root gave a bit of air, Ed edged his off-drive to first slip.

  Never a good waiter, I was eager to get out there. Chris and I were on the edge of the boundary five minutes before the umpires and the Englishmen came out to take the field. I was happy to make a statement of intent. I was very nervous, it goes without saying, but this was
the type of situation I train for and live for. We needed exactly 200 to win.

  Root had to bowl two balls to finish his over, and I was lucky enough to get one on my pads to turn away and get off the mark. No matter what the situation, getting that first run takes the edge off my nerves.

  Cook went straight to Anderson and Broad, which was what I’d expected. Broad’s first ball to me was a long hop outside off stump, but I was still a bit rusty and chopped it down past my stumps.

  Chris and I set about building a partnership. It was very hot and muggy, with a feeling of rain in the air, but the clouds weren’t coming in our direction. When Anderson came on, he covered the ball and bowled reverse swing both ways, which is something not many bowlers can do. I had a good sighting of how much the ball was doing. In that over, though, I played a couple of very positive forward defensive strokes, which can give me as much confidence as hitting a four. More, sometimes – I’d rather play a solid forward defence to mid-off than nick a four through second slip!

  With the ball keeping low and getting soft, and the heat, it still felt like we were back in India. Broad got one past me that kept a bit low. I told myself to keep watching the ball and playing straight. The one that was on the stumps and kept low was the one to look out for.

  After a nervous first 15 minutes, I called for some new gloves. My inners were soaked through. But I could feel my confidence rising. We have placed so much emphasis on defensive batting, and my balance was good as I kept out the dangerous balls. Broad slipped down the leg side a couple of times and I wasn’t quick enough to get my bat on them, but leg byes were as good as runs. I then hit a solid on drive, again to the fieldsman, but in such a way that I got the sense I was going to have a good day.

  In the 43rd over, after I’d been with Chris for half an hour, Anderson hit him on the body. Two balls later, Anderson got him. He bowled one with a scrambled seam, and Chris chipped the ball to mid-wicket.

  It was a blow, but I have full confidence in the rest of our batsmen. Steve Smith and Phil Hughes batted positively in the first innings and were seeing the ball well. Steve is a fidgety partner, but I don’t mind that. My nervous energy is always high early in my innings, and being with a guy who’s on a similar wavelength doesn’t bother me.

  The runs weren’t coming easily, though. Broad gave me one on my thigh that I was able to turn away fine for a boundary. Against Anderson, Smithy chased some wide full outswingers and hit them beautifully. The English fielders oohed and aahed, but I told Steve to keep watching the ball and backing himself.

  Swann came on for Broad, and while I was getting ready to face him he stopped the play to move his fieldsmen around in a painstaking kind of way. This is often just a ploy to disrupt your concentration and make you play at the other team’s tempo. My response is to think, ‘No, you’re going to play at my tempo.’ So when he was finally ready, I stepped off to the side of the wicket to take off my helmet and wipe the sweat off my forehead and out of my eyes. It actually was pretty tropical. I never thought Nottingham could feel like Sydney in summer!

  With the slowness of the wicket, it was hard forcing the pace against either the seamers or the spinners. The bounce and spin were varying and they were drying us up, waiting for us to play a false shot. I’d been keeping Swann out for a few overs when he bowled a looping full toss, knee-high, outside my off stump. I swung at it too hard and under-edged it towards mid-wicket.

  It was difficult to find any rhythm. I played some off drives against Anderson and then Finn, but both squirted away behind point – safely, but not where I’d wanted. Patience, patience.

  We got to the halfway point in the chase, 3/156, a little milestone. Then Broad came on from the Radcliffe Road end to replace Finn. He bowled me a fullish ball that wobbled a bit outside my off stump and went through a touch low. I played forward, and thought I felt my bat brush my pad on the way through. The English went up in a huge, excited appeal, but I wasn’t worried. First, I wasn’t sure if it had carried to Matt Prior, and second, I didn’t think I’d hit it.

  The umpires conferred on the carry – a worrying sign, because if I hadn’t hit it the carry wouldn’t matter. They referred it to the third umpire, and we waited. I spoke to Smithy, who said he hadn’t seen or heard a nick.

  While we waited, Kevin Pietersen challenged me. ‘I thought you were a walker.’ I turned around and said, ‘I’m not walking because I didn’t think I hit it.’

  I still wasn’t worried, even when third umpire Marais Erasmus sent down the message that it had carried to Prior, and Aleem Dar gave me out. I immediately referred it for the edge. We watched on the big screen, and I felt good – there was no white mark on my edge on Hot Spot. But the English had got a message from their dressing room, and they were beginning to jump about and celebrate. Soon enough, the third umpire upheld Dar’s decision, and I was off. Pietersen sent me on my way with some choice words.

  Back in the dressing room, the television showed there was the finest of marks against my edge. The third umpire has a monitor that is very high-definition, much more than the big screen we watch on the field, so that explained why we hadn’t seen it from the middle. Nothing I could do about it now anyway – I was out.

  People were going to compare my action with Broad’s the day before, I knew that. There would be the usual declarations that ‘you always know if you’ve hit it’. That’s not true – not in my years of playing cricket, anyway. Sometimes the nick can be so fine that I haven’t felt or heard it, or it’s been my bat handle clicking as I played the shot. Sometimes my bat has touched my pad, or boot, or the ground. Sometimes I haven’t been sure if I’ve jammed the ball into the ground or it’s bounced before I’ve hit it. Sometimes I haven’t been sure if the ball has hit my bat before my pad, pad before the bat, or a whole jumble. There are literally hundreds of situations where you don’t know for sure. And in a Test match, under the highest pressure, you’re not thinking or perceiving as clearly as you are during a relaxing hit in the backyard. My point is, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and the reason we need umpires is not just because players don’t want to be honest, but because they don’t know. That was me today. I wasn’t certain, so I asked for the review.

  The upshot was that I was in the pavilion now, with no turning back. Nothing I could do about it now. I’m pretty good at putting these things behind me, but it was a challenge after the previous few days.

  At any rate, I had to stay cool for the boys’ sake. Smithy was LBW to Swann the next ball; luckily it seemed definitive, so we hadn’t paid a price straight away for my using our last unsuccessful review.

  Neither Hadds nor Hughesy had faced a ball, but they were both out there, starting from scratch. A few minutes later, the rub of the green went against us in a different way. This time, Swann bowled around the wicket to Phillip, spun one savagely, and hit him on the pads. The English appealed excitedly, but Kumar Dharmasena gave him not out, indicating that the ball pitched outside leg stump. That was certainly the way it appeared to me: the ball had turned a great deal, and was going to hit middle. That and the television replay suggested it had pitched outside leg.

  But this time, the third umpire overruled the onfield umpire. The only common denominator was that it was another decision in England’s favour. When the wicket-to-wicket blue strip was laid on the TV replay, it showed the ball pitching right on the outside line of leg stump. Not much we could say about that. Our eyes had deceived us.

  I moved Ashton Agar up to number eight, which he’d certainly earnt with his first innings. He and Hadds had some nervous moments in the last half-hour, but got through Anderson’s return for the last three overs, and brought us to stumps at 6/174. Before going off, Hadds found Ian Bell to shake his hand and congratulate him on his century, which is typical of our vice-captain.

  After play, I did something a bit unconventional. Normally, the captain’s press conference is after the end of the match. Each day before then, the media manager brings out one outs
tanding performer, or the coach, to talk about each day. It’s not expected that the captain will talk to the media during the match. But I knew there would be a lot of debate about my dismissal, and I wanted to nip it in the bud. I told our media officer Matt Cenin that I would be happy to be the chosen player to talk about the day. In interviews, I repeated that I had thought I’d missed the ball, but accepted that I’d hit it. I wasn’t prepared to enter into any discussion about the merits or otherwise of the system. I’ve got enough to think about. But the bottom line is, it’s the same for England and us, we all know the rules, and they apply equally.

  When the boys were in the dressing room, I told them we had to believe we could win. This Test match has been a rollercoaster, and we are due for some ups. After our first innings, we know anything is possible. Six wickets down is probably two more than I’d have liked to be at this stage, but Hadds is just the guy for this situation, having made lots of runs against England in the past, and we’re all aware of what Ashton can do. Starcy, Sidds and Patto are all genuine number eight or nines who have made good runs in Test matches. We don’t have any bunnies. The pitch is playing well enough for a fourth and fifth day. We just have to believe.

  Sunday 14 July. Nottingham.

  Test cricket’s a great game. I don’t say that to be flippant: it really is. We have just played in one of the best matches of all time. People will talk about it for years. One day, we’ll talk about it in that way too. But for now, as captain of this team, it hurts too much to be philosophical. I feel wrung out.

  So much happened over the five days of this match, but there was a full Test’s worth of action in the two and a half hours that were played today.