Aussies set down dominant marker ahead of The Ashes
Day 1: World Test Championship, The Oval.
Day 1: World Test Championship, The Oval.
Wednesday 7th June 2023
Australia 327–3 (Travis Head 146 not out)
We had all the fun of the cricketing fair here on Day 1 of the World Test Championship and for a dominant Australia, even in spite of their first day total after being put into bat, this will still be a far sterner test, pun intended or otherwise, than England’s warm up win against Ireland. Not only is this one-off Test Match a de-facto warm up ahead of The Ashes tussle with England this Summer, this is also Australia’s thoroughly earned and thoroughly deserved shot at being regarded as the Test Match Champions of the World. But first they must defeat a stubborn India who also desperately wish to wear that sporting crown, and although ending Day 1 in a supremely dominant position, Australia, as well as a below par India will know, there are four more days to go in this self monikered “Ultimate Test” and as such we’ll return to cricketing matters shortly. Why rush? We’ve had one absorbing day of Test Match cricket. There’s the prospect of four more in the English sunshine, and we must return to the beginning of our story before we return to the beginning of today’s play.
All the fun of the cricketing fair? Well not quite, but as is tradition, a day’s Test Match cricket immediately threw us all as a watching audience some rather delicious bones. Take for instance the “Toss you want to lose” and the Australian maxim of “Lose the Toss. Win the Game”. Both were in evidence as Indian captain Rohit Sharma called correctly and with a cricketing “green top” for a wicket and muggy conditions beneath cloudy skies, inserted Australia into bat. It was, ultimately, the toss you were happy to lose and with typical Australian brio ex opening batsman and tormentor of England in Ashes past Matthew Hayden, was immediately on the counter-attack in the TV commentary booth. Lose the toss and win the game? That remains to be seen.
As the crowd inside The Kennington Oval in London grew in line with its sporting volume we had the usual array of families, from budding cricket stars to babes in arms, fans of both nations sitting side by side (but with Indian fans dominating on an 80/20 scale) as well as no doubt local England fans and cricket fans from around the world for this one-off Test Match. There was the surreal sight of an Indian man painted from head to foot in the colours of his national flag rallying his tired team by blowing a marshalling cry through a conch shell, and we also had a prime time version of the “Commentators Curse” as well as a beautiful commentating rick as one of their TV analysts brilliantly described a typically swashbuckling boundary 4 from Aussie David Warner as “That’s just bread and butter — for David Butter!”.
David Butter is much more pleasing to the ear than David Warner!
Above the hullabaloo of losing the toss, commentators curses and fictional cricketers such as David Butter, the lasting image I had today was of a banana sandwich. Yes, above the Indian man painted entirely in orange, white and green body paint, a literal babe in someone’s arms or the young girl who couldn’t contain her excitement as she grabbed a selfie with Indian reserve player Axar Patel, the image of the day that struck me was of Australian captain Pat Cummins enjoying a post Tea Break banana sandwich and watching on without a care in the world. Still attired in his team’s casualwear and no need whatsoever for him to don his “whites” today, the Australian captain looked as comfortable with the cricketing world as you should be when your team is 250–3 and your mate Travis Head is scoring a majestic run-a-ball century, dispatching the Indian bowling to all parts of The Oval and, lest we forget, all after losing the opening toss this morning.
Lose the Toss. Win the Game?
That still remains to be seen but with an end of day “Stumps” total of 327–3, the banana sandwich eating captain of Australia must be a mightily proud man of his team this evening.
Ashes to Ashes: Through the night with the England cricket team 2021-2023
Ashes to Ashes: Through the night with the England cricket team 2021-2023 : Blackford, Mr Stephen Patrick…www.amazon.co.uk
A titanic tussle for the title of World Test Champions or not, I’m using this Test Match as an opportunity to “run the rule” over England’s upcoming opponents in The Ashes and quite frankly, it’s more or less the same team (or preferred starting XI) that smashed them all around Australia in a dismal end to the year 2021 and a sobering beginning to the next one. The starting XI here is minus Marcus Harris (replaced by the big runs of Usman Khawaja) and the hero of Melbourne and Sydney during the last Ashes Scott Boland is in for the seemingly always injured Josh Hazlewood. The key though is the core of these 13 players remains the same and both Khawaja and Boland deserve their place in the starting XI. Australia have a settled team and with players such as David Warner, or David Butter if you prefer, and Usman Khwaja having played cricket together since they were barely old enough to hold a cricket bat and the rest of the team a tight bunch of Aussie mates riding on the crest of a sporting wave and perhaps, to the ultimate world title in cricket.
After losing the toss, Pat Cummins’ team arguably won all three sessions today and without any argument whatsoever won the final two. Under those muggy overhead clouds and a green seaming wicket so helpful first thing to new ball bowlers, India held the upper hand for the first hour’s play restricting Australia to just 29–1 at the first drinks break and for the loss of Usman Khwaja for a cricketing “duck”. He played neither an attacking nor defensive shot and rather, in the vernacular of the great game “dangled” his bat to a delivery he should have left well alone and gifted a deserved wicket to Mohammed Siraj, by far and away India’s best bowler in the morning session and throughout the entire day. With Siraj and Mohammed Shami rested after the mid-session break, this was the signal for Australian batsman David Warner to make hay and accelerate the run scoring. The pugnacious street fighter that is David Warner raced spectacularly to 43 runs from 60 balls before he fell to that time honoured sporting curse of the commentator. As successful bowler Shardul Thakur began his run up, a TV commentator stated that Warner was looking dominant, solid and impressive and only a “mistake” could see his downfall. Mere seconds later, the Aussie batsman swiped at a wide delivery down the leg side and gloved a simple catch to Srikar Bharat behind the stumps. Mistake or not, it was, in cricketing parlance, a “strangle” of a way to get out, and Warner trudged off disconsolately but with perhaps the knowledge he is indeed in fine touch ahead of The Ashes.
Not good news for England.
There was also precious little in the way of good news for England in sessions two and three as two of their chief tormentors in Australia 18 months ago, Steve Smith and Travis Head, batted for almost the remainder of the day’s play, compiling a staggering partnership of 251 in the process, and taking their team from a possibly precarious 76–3 to an end of day stumps total of 327–3. Whilst Smith, in his brilliantly unorthodox way, inched his way to an overnight not out total of 95 runs from 227 balls received, the last Ashes “Man of the Series” Travis Head raced to a half century from just 60 balls received, a century from 106 balls received and ultimately an end of day not out total of 146 from 156 balls received. Anything wide or shot from a tiring set of Indian bowlers was summarily dispatched to the boundary and Head raced through the gears without giving a merest hint of losing his wicket and where he left off 18 months ago in Australia, the 29 year old from Adelaide picked up immediately here in London.
Whilst there is very little in the way of scouting good news for England, the same can be said for a tired and jaded looking India team who, save for the game’s first hour under helpful conditions, toiled in the sun for the remainder of the day for very little reward whatsoever. With Australia ending Day 1 on 327–3, their banana sandwich eating captain Pat Cummins must be targeting a 1st innings total in excess of 500, perhaps even 550 by mid afternoon tomorrow and then he can unleash himself, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland fresh upon some tired Indian batsmen having spent over a day and a half chasing around the outfield of The Oval in the sunshine.
Day 1 honours fall squarely upon David Warner, Steve Smith and particularly Travis Head as they’ve given their team a tremendous platform on which to build tomorrow and a huge position of strength from which to attack the heart of the India batting line-up.
It was all the fun of the cricketing fair today, and Australia have arrived to the Summer carnival meaning business.
The Ashes is 8 days away.
Thanks for reading. If you’re a fan of Test Match cricket, can I direct you to my three previously published articles on this grandest of all games?
England warm up for The Ashes with easy victory over Ireland
Ashes Diary — Day 1.medium.com
Who says Test Match cricket is boring? Kiwis win a thriller!
Day 5: New Zealand v England. Basin Reserve, Wellington.medium.com
Test Match up for grabs in thrilling final day shoot-out
Day 4: New Zealand v England. Basin Reserve, Wellington.medium.com