CRICKET TEST MATCH:IN THE brief respite before the return of the drizzle that had drenched early-morning Cardiff and the replacement of the covers on the square, Alastair Cook, padded and helmeted, stood on the pitch, first one crease and then the other, doing his visualisation, going through his shots: defence, cut, back-foot force, cover drive, pull.
It was a virtual dress rehearsal, the end of what has seemed an interminable build-up. Today the preparation, the talk, the speculation and hype stop. Today is showtime.
The momentum has shifted over the past week. England’s preparations have gone according to plan, with no fitness concerns, while Australia have been thrown into some disarray by the injury to Brett Lee, their most experienced bowler. One superb spell against the Lions, with its outstanding command of reverse swing, propelled him from fringe player to certainty.
However, there is a parallel between his breakdown now and that of England’s Andrew Flintoff a year ago: both returning from a long lay-off after an ankle injury; both going at it full bore to prove a point; both suffering torso injuries.
There will be optimism from Lee, but the reality is that it will be some weeks before he, and importantly, the Australian management will be able to trust him for a Test.
The pitch on which Cook stood has yet to reveal its secrets. It is all a bit coy. Opinions vary, but no one really knows how this pristine strip, one with no history on which to fall back, will play. It looks good, well turned out, the sort of pitch that, were it a man, would be designer-dressed but casual. There is an even a cover of grass but it is straw-coloured, with only the barest hint of live shoots, and one more day’s preparation and a final trim with the mower would settle that.
Yesterday it looked dry without being rock solid and with only a hint of clamminess to the touch. This is not baked hard but neither is it soft. There are no bare patches and any assistance for spinners would have to come from that rough created by the pace bowlers.
On the face of it there would seem little at which to carp for those with an interest in seeing a game go through all the scheduled days.
Assessment of pitches is often a case of pin-sticking, but it is essential that both teams get this one right, trusting their judgment. Although it is fanciful to suggest a prescriptive element to pitch preparation, the England hierarchy will have done their homework. When they selected their side to play Warwickshire in a practice game last week, it seemed as if advanced information, and their belief in a relative Australian vulnerability in a certain area, had prompted them to break with the habit of trying to keep the starting XI under wraps until the toss. The inclusion then of Monty Panesar to bowl alongside Graeme Swann as a spinning duo appeared to owe much to the reputation of Sophia Gardens.
Increasingly, though, it appears they have shown their hand early with a perfectly reasonable view that it will not affect how the opposition select their side. The indications yesterday were that Panesar would join forces with Swann for only the third time. They last did so in the final Test in Trinidad at the start of April when, on a dog of a pitch, they got through 130 overs between them, taking 10 of 18 wickets to fall. Since then Panesar has gone through a crisis of confidence, struggling to cope with England rejection.
Panesar’s inclusion would mean no place for Graham Onions, in fantastic form, whose new-ball bowling for the Lions played a crucial part in shackling the violent opener Phillip Hughes. In his absence, neither Stuart Broad nor Flintoff, who bowl from wider on the crease, is able to bowl the tight line with the inswing – that Onions employed from close to the stumps – without offering him the semblance of room he craves as the ball, even slightly, goes across him. Flintoff may have to bowl round the wicket.
Should the weather stay generally damp there could be a lot of seam bowling required too, which could strain the resource. However, those who know this ground well say that, whatever the appearance of the pitch, it can help spin to a degree throughout. Both spinners will have a large part to play.
Lee’s injury has presented the Australians with a conundrum. Their strategy was to be based around seam bowling, with the emphasis on reverse swing, and the use of part-time spinners rather than their single specialist tweaker, Nathan Hauritz.
Orthodox swing could play a bigger part.
Now, with their all-rounders apparently out of the equation, they must choose between Hauritz, whom they clearly do not want, or Ben Hilfenhaus, whose only appearance, against Sussex, proved chastening.
There is still a strong cutting edge in Mitchell Johnson (although there is too much talk and not enough evidence yet of his much hyped inswing: clever, perhaps, to get batsmen looking for something that is not there), Peter Siddle, who is quietly being eased into the series but has a glowing reputation for aggression and persistence, and Stuart Clark, who is incapable of bowling badly.
Overall, though, this has the makings of an attritional series, runs ground out and final-day pitches becoming more influential than recently. The predicted make-up of England’s side would indicate a strong desire to win the toss and bat.
Australia may not mind either way. By the end they may have batted each other to a standstill.
GuardianService
