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Brad Haddin
re-marked his guard like a man who had given the possibility of losing
barely a nanosecond's thought. England's fielders swarmed around him,
convinced of the edge that would deliver them victory. James Anderson
was not so sure, having heard no sound. Behind Anderson, the umpire
Aleem Dar was even less aware of the possibility of a nick, not for the
first time in the match. Alastair Cook, Matt Prior and Anderson
conferred, briskly but calmly, before deciding to review Dar's decision.
Offering them not the slightest bit of notice, Haddin strode down the
wicket and conferred with Australia's last man, James Pattinson, ahead
of the next ball he looked so certain would come. As England held their
breath, Haddin and Pattinson began planning how to whittle those last
few runs down. They also had the chance to ponder for a moment how they
managed to get within 15 runs of an England team so few had expected
them to seriously challenge. A match flashed past their eyes.
Trent Bridge had revealed its charms and dramas slowly. First
impressions were seldom the same as final ones. Day one was frenetic but
lacking in poise, nerves playing as great a part in proceedings as
skills, tactics or conditions. Australia's first man through the wall on
day one had not been Ashton Agar, a nervous debutant yet to become the
popular phenomenon he is now. It was instead Peter Siddle, who confounded
the small army of critics who had questioned his place. England's first
blows were struck not by Anderson but Steven Finn, a hair's breadth
away from a grand hat-trick with Michael Clarke as its apogee.
Pattinson started the match not as a nerveless tailender, but a
decidedly keyed up fast bowler. He hurled down the first over of the
Test match, a nervy bouncer
to Cook followed up with a series of balls sprayed too wide to be of
any danger to the batsman. Haddin made a similarly ginger start to his
series, diving over a difficult leg-side chance offered from Pattinson's
bowling and then having his defence punctured second ball by a ripping
offbreak from Graeme Swann, who was never again quite as dangerous as he
had seemed at that moment.
The disarming of Swann was perhaps chief among Agar's many achievements. Apart from setting records for No. 11 innings and partnerships, bringing a smile
to cricket watchers the world over with his charismatic batting, and
holding his own as a tidy left-arm spin bowler, Agar showed a confidence
and assurance against Swann that can only improve Australia's chances
of combating him for the rest of the series. The way he advanced to
drive Swann on the second morning, lofting him imperiously towards the
Trent Bridge Members Pavilion, was to be tellingly repeated by Pattinson
as the target ticked closer on day five.
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The Huddle - Australia will have to move on
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The confidence with which Pattinson and Haddin faced up to Swann, Broad
and Finn left an enormous weight of pressure on Anderson. Throughout the
match he responded stirringly to Cook's demands, extending his spells
an extra over here or there, and coming back more frequently than either
of his pace counterparts. Ultimately Anderson's tally for the match
reached into a 56th over. Between them, Finn and Stuart Broad bowled
54.5. Anderson's pre-eminence as a fast-medium bowler in this series,
and in the world, is unquestioned. But he is highly unlikely to be able
to sustain the Trent Bridge effort for five Tests, let alone ten.
Something else that cannot be sustained, at least in Australian eyes, is the disparity in the two teams' use of the DRS.
Another slightly misleading point for much of day one had been
England's use of the system, notably a poor Finn review against his
caught behind dismissal. The more lasting pattern of the match would be
established late on the first evening, when Chris Rogers reviewed his
lbw dismissal and found himself on the wrong end of a marginal umpire's
call.
These would surface again and again to Australia's displeasure, though
England were also to be humbugged by Jonathan Trott's lbw exit when bat
appeared likely to have been involved. Broad's survival of a clear catch
to slip was less the denial of sportsmanship than a reminder of flawed
umpires, flawed Australian use of reviews and a flawed system.
Nothing, though, was quite so flawed as Australia's batting.
The memorable tenth-wicket stands in both innings played a huge role in
ensuring Clarke's team would stay close with England. They were in the
same instant a reminder that this side has been essentially relying on
freak batting events to keep them competitive for quite some time.
In 2011 and 2012 such happenings revolved around Clarke, who batted as
if in a perpetual dream. This year too few of the runs have come from
those men who answer to making them in their job descriptions. Clarke
has said he does not care where the runs come from, so long as they
arrive from somewhere. But no team can reasonably expect tail-end
miracles of the kind produced by Siddle in Delhi, Mitchell Starc in Mohali and Agar here to carry them towards any kind of consistent success.
Haddin knew this as he stood side by side with Pattinson, refusing to
believe the day was done. English hearts leapt briefly with joy when the
replay screen appeared to show a speck of heat on Haddin's inside edge,
then returned to a more laboured pulse as the third umpire Marais
Erasmus cross-checked Hot Spot with the stump audio. Only three days
before he had been oblivious to an inside edge by Trott.
Stern and confident, Haddin hung on to his thoughts of the next ball,
the next run and the final victory, right until the moment Dar crossed
himself and raised his finger. The younger Pattinson bowed his head, in
frustration and defeat. But Haddin stared straight ahead, not willing to
lose face. He kept his defiant posture on the walk off Trent Bridge,
even if the removal of his helmet revealed a face lined with pain.
However Haddin dealt with this defeat, he would not grant England the
opportunity to see it. If his stance said anything, it was this: it
isn't over.
Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
Feeds: Daniel Brettig
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