CRICKET/Ashes TestIf honesty really is the best policy, whisper it softly in the presence of Mark Butcher. On the first day of this Test Butcher all but received the freedom of Melbourne for his generosity in choosing not to cheat by falsely claiming a catch.
Yesterday evening at the MCG, with England once more desperately struggling to stay in a Test match, he got his reward when a ball from Jason Gillespie cannoned almost from the face of his bat, on to his pad, and he was dismissed lbw for 25.
That the bowler must have known the circumstance is almost certain, something made all the more poignant by an incident three overs earlier when England captain Nasser Hussain hit a full toss from the leg-spinner Stuart MacGill low to mid-on where Gillespie dived and claimed a catch.
Hussain, on 14, remained at the crease, as virtually everyone does nowadays, and replays proved inconclusive to the third umpire, who was obliged therefore to find in favour of the batsman. If, as he may have, Gillespie took a clean catch he has a right to feel his integrity has been questioned. But how does that square with his subsequent dismissal of Butcher?
Similarly, it is difficult to see how Steve Waugh, the beneficiary of Butcher's sportsmanship, could justify standing with hands on hips when a simple edge from Craig White ended his attempt to score a 29th Test century with his total 23 runs short.
The Butcher incident left a sour taste after a day that had provided vast entertainment to another crowd of more than 50,000, beginning with Justin Langer who took his overnight 146 to 250, the fourth highest innings at the MCG, and ending with eight theatrical overs of high-octane, raw, aggressive and intimidating (as opposed to intimidatory) fast bowling from Brett Lee as he strained every sinew in attempting to put speed records off the dial.
This was the essence of Test cricket at the cutting edge. There is something about Lee that is vastly irritating at times. What cannot be denied, however, is that when Glenn McGrath takes his sweater and Lee removes his, hands over his sunglasses and walks back to his mark, a frisson of excitement goes through the crowd.
It was the 15th over of England's innings when Lee appeared at the City End, with the gap created by the demolition of the Ponsford Stand funnelling a breeze behind him. Michael Vaughan had already been bowled by McGrath - unluckily off the inside edge - and Australia were searching for further breakthroughs on a good pitch.
Lee's first over involved running through the gears: even a Ferrari has to accelerate. His next overs touched the heights, as gradually the heat was turned up. One ball to Marcus Trescothick touched 97mph; another was only two miles per hour slower.
This was heady stuff, each smack on Adam Gilchrist's gloves as the ball hammered into them greeted with roars from the backdrop of the Great Southern Stand.
Now Lee went round the wicket, banged the ball in short of a length and Trescothick, batting as well as he has all series, was unable to withdraw his bat quickly enough as the ball angled in, with Gilchrist taking the catch. It was an exhilarating dismissal but all the better for the thought that had preceded it.
Now Hussain got a roasting. A short ball may have flicked his glove - the umpire Russell Tiffin thought not - and yet another clipped his shoulder blade as he tried to pull. Once Hussain shut his eyes, swung mightily and the ball flew almost for six to square-leg.
Hussain, instinctive, gutsy and fortunate, survived to the close with the nightwatchman Richard Dawson. England were 97 for three, still 454 behind Australia and 255 away from avoiding the follow-on.
That Waugh declared at all, shortly before tea, to end the bowling misery for England's persistent but inadequate attack, was contingent on several things.
First Langer's dismissal after almost 10 hours - a cut sliced to backward point - ended any debate about his being allowed to have a shot at Brian Lara's Test record score of 375 (assuming he would have been granted permission to step over the sacred boundary that is Bradman's 334). Secondly, Waugh, intent on a 5-0 whitewash, may have been mindful of some impending indifferent weather late in the weekend.
Langer's departure also probably denied Martin Love the chance of a century on his debut. His unbeaten 62, however, will place pressure on Darren Lehmann, who has ruled himself out of the fifth Test because of the leg infection that kept him out here.
AUSTRALIA V ENGLAND
(Melbourne)
Overnight: Australia 356-3 (J L Langer 146 no, M L Hayden 102, S R Waugh 62 no).
AUSTRALIA First Innings
J L Langer c Caddick b Dawson 250
S R Waugh c Foster b White 77
M L Love not out 62
A C Gilchrist b Dawson 1
Extras lb11 w5 nb5 pens 0 21
Total 6 wkts dec (146 overs) ... 551
Fall: 1-195 2-235 3-265 4-394 5-545 6-551
Did Not Bat: S C G MacGill, B Lee, J N Gillespie, G D McGrath.
Bowling: Caddick 36 6 126 1 Harmison 36 7 108 0 White 33 5 133 3 Dawson 28 1 121 2 Butcher 13 2 52 0
ENGLAND First Innings
M E Trescothick c Gilchrist b Lee 37
M P Vaughan b McGrath 11
M A Butcher lbw b Gillespie 25
N Hussain not out 17
R K J Dawson not out 0
Extras b2 lb2 nb3 pens 0 7
Total 3 wkts (34 overs) ... 97
Fall: 1-13 2-73 3-94
To Bat: J P Crawley, R W T Key, C White, J S Foster, A R Caddick, S J Harmison.
Bowling: McGrath 7 2 18 1 Gillespie 8 4 8 1 MacGill 11 3 36 0 Lee 8 1 31 1
